As soon as they were hired last summer, Rochester’s new bosses promised a return to glory. General manager Randy Sexton and coach Chris Taylor talked of family, competitiveness and the playoffs.
It worked. The Amerks ended a three-year playoff drought last season, using talent and camaraderie to finish third in the American Hockey League’s North Division.
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The satisfaction disappeared as quickly as the Amerks.
Rochester’s reward was a first-round matchup with Syracuse. Tampa Bay’s minor-leaguers trounced the Sabres’ prospects, sweeping the three-game series with ease.
“Clearly, the playoffs didn’t go the way we expected,” Sexton said this month. “When we put together our team this year, we fully expect that we’ll have at least as good a season as we did last year. Certainly anything short of a much better performance in the playoffs will be a disappointment.”
The Amerks believe they are on the right path. The next step is winning a playoff series, something the franchise hasn’t done since 2005. Rochester hasn’t played for the Calder Cup since 2000 and hasn’t won the AHL title since 1996.
“Last season went in many ways the way that we wanted it to,” Sexton said. “We made a good step forward in terms of creating the right culture. We still have some work to do there, but I think for the most part we’re well along our way.
“We created competition for spots. We created a much more positive environment. We created the work ethic and made improvements in many ways.”
BIGGEST ON-ICE QUESTION
Who will be the go-to players?
The past few seasons, it was easy to peg who’d start on the top lines in Rochester. Buffalo simply didn’t have enough depth to create meaningful competition.
That’s changed. There will be surprises during Sabres training camp, and that will impact who is in the Amerks’ opening-night lineup.
“We don’t know who all is going to be coming to Rochester,” said Taylor, who went 37-22-17 during his first season on the bench. “We all want them to have a fair chance up in Buffalo and try and crack the lineup. It’s going to be an exciting time.”
The Amerks could feature Tage Thompson, the 2016 first-round pick who arrived from St. Louis in the Ryan O’Reilly deal. If he earns a job in Buffalo, Justin Bailey or Nick Baptiste could be ticketed for Rochester for the fourth straight season. And those uncertainties are only at the right wing spot.
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Still, Sexton isn’t content.
“We’re not there yet,” he said. “We still, in my opinion, have another layer of depth that we need to add organizationally. That’s more likely to come through some trades and through the draft over time.
“But clearly, if I look back to where we were a year ago and where we are today, we’re cautiously optimistic and enthusiastic, candidly, about where we are organizationally in Buffalo, Rochester and Cincinnati (of the ECHL).”
DEPTH CHART ANALYSIS
Center: With a mix of veterans and talented prospects, the middle should be Rochester’s strong point. Captain Kevin Porter will be back after tying for the team lead in goals (17) and finishing fourth with 42 points. The 32-year-old was even more important off the ice, helping to foster the family atmosphere that had players raving.
Sean Malone finished his first pro season with 10 goals and 17 points in his final 35 games, then had a solid playoff. It was a significant step forward. Kyle Criscuolo put up 15 goals and 34 points in 51 games, which earned him time in Buffalo.
The wild cards are Rasmus Asplund and Andrew Oglevie. Asplund, 20, already has four years of pro experience in the Swedish Hockey League. Oglevie recorded 36 goals and 80 points during his final 76 games at Notre Dame. If they don’t make the Sabres, they’ll be relied upon heavily at the AHL level.
The Amerks also signed Myles Powell, who was a collegiate star at nearby Rochester Institute of Technology. He was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award during a senior season that featured 26 assists and 39 points in 37 games.
Left wing: Most of the goal scoring should come from this spot. Victor Olofsson led the Swedish league with 27 goals in 50 games, and he’ll fire his cannon while developing an all-around game. C.J. Smith was leading the Amerks in scoring during his first pro year before a late-season injury limited him to 17 goals and 44 points in 57 games.
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Danny O’Regan, who can also play center and right wing, impressed with six goals and 15 points in 18 games after being acquired in the trade that sent Evander Kane to San Jose. He’s an established AHL performer (36 goals and 98 points in 112 games) who wants to make a mark in the NHL (one goal and five points in 24 games).
Then there’s Alex Nylander. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft longs to be in Buffalo but hasn’t succeeded in Rochester. The 20-year-old will be a focus of training camp.
Rochester will also have Yannick Veilleux, Dalton Smith, Vaclav Karabacek, Vasily Glotov and Pascal Aquin trying to make the team or report to Cincinnati.
Right wing: Wayne Simpson joins the Amerks after excelling in Providence and Hershey. The 28-year-old has 30 goals and 91 points over the previous two seasons, and he’ll be a veteran scoring presence.
Thompson could bolster the first line. The 20-year-old split last season between St. Louis and its affiliate in San Antonio, recording eight goals and 18 points in 30 AHL games.
Rochester has brought back Judd Peterson on an AHL contract. Originally a 2012 seventh-round pick that Buffalo chose not to sign, the forward appeared in two games after graduating from St. Cloud State. Though his collegiate goal totals dropped from 16 to 11 to six during his final three seasons, the Huskies selected him as a captain during his senior year.
The Amerks also signed seven-year AHL veteran Tyler Randell and brought back Arvin Atwal, who split last season between the AHL and ECHL. Eric Cornel, a second-round pick by the Sabres in 2014, has just 14 goals and 18 assists during the first two years of his entry-level contract. His third year in Rochester will determine his future.
Here are possible line combinations:
With so many players jockeying for ice time, those lines could change regularly.
“Part of the development process is learning that you’ve got to show up every day and not only work but also compete for your position,” Sexton said. “Last year, we had it for the most part. This year, I believe we’ll have it in spades.”
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Left defense: The Sabres have reinforced this spot, which should be a boon to the Amerks and a daily swap meet for Taylor. There are eight defensemen on the left side alone, enough to fill the starting lineups in Rochester and Cincinnati with two guys to spare.
Brendan Guhle is likely to be back after a debut season that featured eight goals and 26 points in 50 games. He’s Buffalo’s top defensive prospect not named Rasmus Dahlin, so there’s a chance he wins an NHL job.
Lawrence Pilut is the most intriguing player. The 22-year-old was named best defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League. He led blueliners with 38 points, including 30 assists. His puck movement will be vital to Rochester’s success if he can adjust to the smaller North American rinks.
Buffalo acquired former Boston University captain Brandon Hickey from Arizona. Amerks alternate captain and Rochester resident Nathan Paetsch is back with Andrew MacWilliam, who spent time in the top four last season as a defense-first guy. The Amerks also signed junior-hockey standout Tobie Paquette-Bisson to a two-year deal. They still have Devante Stephens and Brycen Martin, who spent much of last year in Cincinnati.
Right defense: This side is anchored by three veterans and a U.S. Olympian. Will Borgen joined the Amerks after representing the United States and leaving St. Cloud State. He played in eight games and watched the playoffs as the organization took a cautious approach. The 21-year-old will get way more work this season.
Zach Redmond, Taylor Fedun and Matt Tennyson are back to provide points and leadership. Redmond signed a two-year deal after pacing the Amerks with 47 points, including 15 goals. Fedun and Tennyson alternated between Rochester and Buffalo, using their NHL experience to teach young players how to be a pro.
“We have a lot of guys returning, and they built a good culture,” Taylor said. “The biggest thing is your core. When you have a core group of players as we do with Porter, Tennyson, Redmond, Fedun and Nathan Paetsch, those guys help keep bringing that culture and bringing how to work every day.”
Here’s how the defensive pairings could look many nights:
Goaltender: Scott Wedgewood bounced around last season, playing for Arizona of the NHL and Binghamton and Ontario of the AHL. He’ll be easy to find this season. He’ll be in the Amerks’ crease.
The 26-year-old, drafted in the third round by New Jersey in 2010, went 3-1-1 with a .915 save percentage in seven AHL games. His best season in the minors was 2015-16, when Wedgewood was 14-3-3 with a .933 save percentage in 22 games with Albany. The organization would like him to feel comfortable all year in Rochester while Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark handle the goaltending in Buffalo.
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For the second straight season, the Amerks’ backup will be Adam Wilcox. The 25-year-old went 12-7-2 with a .903 save percentage in his first year with Rochester.
ROSTER ADJUSTMENT
Syracuse not only rocked the Amerks in the goal column during the playoffs (18-10), the Crunch also put a hurting on players throughout the year.
“Every time we went to Syracuse they took advantage of us,” Taylor said. “We’ve added a little bit more meanness to our team.”
Randell has 489 penalty minutes in 288 AHL games. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Veilleux had 78 penalty minutes in 58 games with Laval last season. Dalton Smith led Rochester with 102 minutes. They could slide into the lineup for physical matchups and provide protection.
“The day of the enforcer is long gone,” Sexton said, “but we want to create a team identity. I think to a large degree we did that last year, but clearly a higher level of overall team grittiness and competitiveness is part of the identity that we want to have in Rochester, Buffalo and Cincinnati.
“We’ve taken some steps to address that. We think it has to come from within, but we’ve also added a few players we think will help accelerate that process for us.”
FINAL ASSESSMENT
It would be foolish to assume ALL of the Amerks’ young hopefuls will blossom right away. Asplund, Olofsson and Pilut will be making a big adjustment from Swedish hockey to the North American game. Oglevie, Hickey and Borgen had stellar college careers, but the pro game is a huge step. Can Malone continue his growth? Will Nylander become reliable?
That’s a lot of questions, but the answer to many will be positive. The prospects are legitimate players. Though it may take time to excel, the team should be peaking when the playoffs arrive.
That’s exactly what Sexton and Taylor want. The organization made its return to the postseason last year. They want to win in the playoffs this year. With talented young players joining a veteran core, Rochester could celebrate a series victory for the first time since 2005.
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“It’s a big year for a lot of different individuals, and they all know it,” Taylor said. “I’ve talked to a lot of the guys, and they understand where they’re at, what the organization is looking for, the compete.
“From last year to this year, it’s a big change. I’ve seen a big change in just the guys at development camp and then coming into rookie camp. They’ve matured. They know what they want and how to get there. It’s up to them now.”
(Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
