Derlique Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Lou announced today that Gedig and Faust would both sign minor league deals. Shame for Gedig that he doesn't get an ELC but he wasn't likely to get to the NHL this year regardless. Not really familiar with Gedig, but is he supposed to be anything? Maybe fill the Salvador role next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefiestygoat Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Really happy they signed Gedig, somewhat surprised it wasn't to an ELC but that's fine. I don't really get the Faust signing a whole lot. I guess he'll take the "Harry Young ECHL role" over. They have a ton of D and Faust never really seemed to improve much in college. Took him until last year to really get off the 3rd pair. On the other hand Gedig captained Ohio State last year plus some time his junior year, played in all situations over the years, and seemed to improve his overall game in 4 years. I don't expect Gedig to turn into anything special, but I could see him as a serviceable NHL D a few years down the road. By my count the minor league D right now are: Severson, Helgeson, Scarlett, Hrabarenka, McPherson, Burlon, Gedig, and Faust. I could see them re-signing Kelly for his leadership. Not really familiar with Gedig, but is he supposed to be anything? Maybe fill the Salvador role next year? If the Devils are looking for a physical D to replace Salvador after this year, I think it would probably be Helgeson over Gedig. I still think Severson will be on top of the depth chart to get moved up though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Devils signed Dan Kelly to a 2 year deal. Everyone here knows I'm not a big +/- guy, but Dan Kelly has been a +37 in Albany while the rest of the team has been... not that. The Devils are -95 as a team over that period, although I don't know what the PP/PK breakdown is, it's likely that NJ is down pretty big at even strength. There's some caveats with all of this of course - Kelly is likely to play when the opponent's team's net is empty and his is not, he probably plays the PK and not the PP, and it's possible he's not facing top lines. Still, even if we downgrade him to +0, that's still impressive given Albany's awfulness over the last 4 seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadvlfan Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 I don't know anything about Albany's economy but it seems like even when Carolina had the franchise they still struggled with attendance. During those years they were still averaging under 4,000 a game and were towards the bottom of the league in attendance. I know the Devils have gotten some heat from people up there about how they've handled the team since the River Rats days. Plus an Albany season ticket holder told me that a lot of people that did go to games when Carolina had the team stopped once the Devils took it over again. Maybe Albany just isn't that great of a market? The travel from Newark as you mention isn't ideal but at roughly 4.5 hours I guess it wouldn't make it a stumbling block to relocating. Have to imagine any relocation takes place for the 2015-16 season That seems to be the target date for the whole shake up of minor league hockey to go into effect. I go to games here (Norfolk Admirals) and get maybe if lucky 1500 weekdays, 2,000 weekends. Ticket prices are $14 cheapest. The "scope" arena can seat around 9K. ODU basketball used to play there. But when the Admirals were ECHL team, tix were $5 on up. Family of 4 for $20. doesn't seem all that long ago. This place sold out many times! Why would lou move further away? Flyers farm team moved back close to home (Allentown) I would think Lou mihjt want a lil closer. Connecticut? Why AHL games in A. City? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titans04 Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 (edited) Very interesting and wondering if the devils will do this. I know Lou and past and current coaches and players have said having the team in Albany is convenient due to it being only about a 2-3 hour car ride from Newark. One of the main reasons why they moved from Lowell (devils purchased the loch monsters and renamed them the devils back around 2005ish after the river rats changed affiliations with the Carolina who later moved to Charlotte to be the checkers) to Albany was to bring them closer and make emergency call ups easier. I know if they do move to Manchester it's still not as bad as other teams who have their minor league team on the opposite of the country, it's still reduces their flexibility somewhat in that regard. I'm still curious to see what is the reason for the Albany devils attendance issues. Is the local economy tough or the locals apathetic? From what I remember the team on the ice have not been great but they haven't been that bad either. Their AHL affiliates regardless of where they've been have made the playoffs maybe twice in 13 years or something along those lines, that's about as bad as it gets. They develop apathy no matter what market they're squatting in at the time, it's part of the deal. Hey it works for their model I guess which is to home grow a few here and there basically pinning them down salary wise and jump from market to market when enough local fans stop going. All attendance numbers at the minor league level are inflated which make their published number even more scary. It is what it is. If you combine Trenton making the playoffs rarely if ever when they were there the on ice futility is even more startling. One of the years Trenton did make it the team was essentially put together by the org before the Devils showed up. Without a doubt Trenton was trending in the wrong direction before the Devils came to town but they essentially scorched the earth and left 6 months after signing a 10 year lease. The rate of decline escalated greatly once they rebranded and as Lou said painted the town red. The clowns that come in behind them had no clue how badly and were destined to fail right from the get go. They were extremely successful and finishing off what was once a good thing. Edited September 4, 2014 by titans04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefiestygoat Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Looking over the training camp roster and it appears that Kelly Zajac and Chris McKelvie are both back on AHL deals. Also, looks like Albany may have RW Paul Thompson on an AHL deal. He's on the training camp roster and wasn't listed as a tryout. He turns 26 in Novemeber, is 6'1, 198 lbs. AHL career: 200 GP 39-34-73, -3, 223 PIM, 0.37 Pts/GP. Played 4 years at UNH - all with Sislo.Seems like D Renat Mamashev may be open to an AHL (though I don't see room for him in Albany). According to TG he moved to Long Island to be with his wife which is why he left the KHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derlique Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Renaud Lavoie @renlavoietva 34s Waivers: JACOB MARKSTROM VAN DARCY ZAJAC N.J JOE WHITNEY N.J SCOTT TIMMINS N.J MICHAEL SISLO N.J TIM SESTITO N.J DAN KELLY N.J B.BURLON N.J Some more cuts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.