The Comets Roster Series Part 1: Departures
By Jeremy Davis
7 years ago
Photo credit: Lindsay A. Mogle / Utica Comets
Hockey is back! While the NHL gets underway tonight, the AHL is not far behind. We like to keep a close eye on our friends in Utica, and I’ll be handling the Comets weekly reports again. Before we get into the day-to-day and week-to-week activity, there was plenty of offseason activity that has affected the makeup of the team.
This is the first of a five part series that examines the changes in the Utica Comets roster between the 2015-16 season and the upcoming 2016-17 season. This article will cover player departures, those members of last year’s Comets squad that won’t be returning in September, and how their exits will affect the team.
Brendan Gaunce (C/LW)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 46 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 63.0% | 21:28 | 2.31 |
This one is going to hurt.
While I’m certainly happy that Gaunce has broken camp with the Canucks (I’ve been pushing for it all offseason), there’s no denying that his absence will be a blow to the farm team. Not that anyone is really going to feel bad about it – that’s the nature of the business, and growth and promotion is always the goal.
Gaunce led all Comets in points per game at the year of the season, and was an integral component in all situations. He led all forwards in estimated ice time while playing all three forward positions in the top six, was a staple on the first power play unit, and received regular penalty kill duty. Given the value that Gaunce provided, losing him will likely be the toughest pill to swallow.
At this point, it’s too early to say if Gaunce’s AHL career is behind him, but he won’t be starting this season in the minors.
Alex Biega (D)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 43.8% | 22:24 | 1.15 |
The argument could certainly be made that Biega shouldn’t be a departing player (and in fact, it’s one that I’ve already made), but he has managed to crack the Canucks opening roster, so here we are.
Despite my indignation at Biega being on the Canucks roster, his absence in Utica will certainly be notable, where he was much more useful. Nicknamed Bulldog for his voracious battle level that has endeared him to the Canucks’ management and coaching staff, Biega was given the Comets captaincy last season. He didn’t stick around for a particularly long time, as once he got called up to the big club, he never returned. On a side note, given that Biega is at least starting away from Utica, it appears that the Comets will be assigning a new captain soon – but they aren’t in any hurry.
Useful as Biega was, his spot in the lineup as a right side defenceman will be well taken care of, as Troy Stecher and Jordan Subban will man the top two right defence spots on the depth chart.
Ronalds Kenins (LW)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 41 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 52.9% | 13:23 | 2.51 |
Once known as the Latvian Locomotive, Ronalds Kenins spent a honeymoon period in the spring of 2015 as the apple of Vancouver’s eye. His arrival coincided with the blossoming of Bo Horvat, and with Jannik Hansen they formed a fourth line that could often compete with the top line in terms of entertainment and production. Kenins was a wrecking ball on the ice, and delightful off of it. His deceptive (read: flukey) shot earned him three goals in his first seven NHL games, earning him mountains of attention and affection. He even scored a home playoff goal.
Then the summer of 2015 happened. By the time the 2015-16 season was set to begin, the Latvian Locomotive was no more. Kenins was cut from the Canucks and sent to Utica, where he promptly injured his knee and spent a large portion of the first half of the season on the shelf.
Even upon his return, Kenins was pretty underwhelming, including a lackluster NHL call up. Like Chris Higgins had experienced in the NHL, the injury had caused Kenins to lag behind in terms of the speed of the game – when everyone else was in mid-season form, Kenins was just trying to find his legs.
Eventually he found his game and went on a bit of a tear to finish the season, but it appears to be too little too late for the 25-year old, as he was not offered a contract for the coming season. It’s difficult to determine exactly what the Comets are losing with Kenins leaving. Even at the end of last season when Kenins was producing, he was scoring goals from a bit of a distance and the banging and crashing was largely absent. Perhaps this was due to recovery from injury, or some mental affliction due to the down year he was having, but the Latvian Locomotive seems to have left the station for good.
At least we’ll always have that magical February in 2015.
Joe Cannata (G)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | Record | GAA | Sv % |
| 40 | 20-13-5 | 2.52 | .909 |
Joe Cannata was one of the two main goalies that split time in net for the Comets last season, and for my money, he was the better one. While he started a little slow, Cannata came on strong in the middle of the year and clearly held the better numbers of the pair throughout the latter half of the season. Still, Green rotated Cannata and his other goaltender Richard Bachman like clockwork, as they alternated starts for months on end.
Even with better numbers, Cannata was always going to be the odd man out in Utica due to circumstances beyond his control. His contract was up at the end of the year, while Bachman was signed through 2016-17 (and later extended through 2017-18 as the solution to an expansion problem). With Demko coming in, there was only room for one veteran goalie on the roster, and Bachman, being older and owning a small bit of NHL experience, was the pick to remain. Cannata signed with Washington on July 1st, and will play with the Hershey Bears this season.
Taylor Fedun (D)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 63 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 49.3% | 20:39 | 1.52 |
Taylor Fedun was brought in as a free agent prior to the 2015-16 season to replace Bobby Sanguinetti, the Comets all-star defenceman who departed that same summer to sign in Buffalo. While he wasn’t an all-star himself, Fedun was a bonafide top pairing defenceman in the AHL, and he played like it in Utica – until he injured his hand and missed a pile of games in the middle of the season.
It wasn’t that long ago that Fedun was considered a decent prospect. He signed in Edmonton as a college free agent following his senior year at Princeton, and after a good rookie season in the AHL, he broke camp with the Oilers in 2013. Then it all went wrong. Fedun broke his leg in an icing race, and even though he managed a miraculous recovery, his status as a prospect has passed him by. Now 28, Fedun is seen only as a depth defenceman, despite having posted seven points in 12 career NHL games. He’s very capable of running a power play, and he often ran the top unit in Utica. This year, with offensive defencemen like Jordan Subban and Troy Stecher, the Comets will be able to stomach the loss of Fedun. He’s signed a deal with Buffalo, but will start his season in the AHL with Rochester.
Jon Landry (D)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 47 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 54.5% | 17:18 | 1.92 |
Jon Landry was picked up partway through the 2015-16 season on a PTO, and later signed to an AHL contract. He spent most of last season in a partnership with Jordan Subban, one that proved quite fruitful over the course of their time together: they had the two highest points per game among Utica defencemen.
Landry’s presence likely had a positive effect on Subban’s development, as the two like to play similar styles, leading to a lot of offence from the back end when they were on the ice. Offseason signing have made Landry redundant however, and the 33-year signed an AHL deal with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for this year, in what will be his second tour of duty with the New York Islanders’ affiliate.
Travis Ehrhardt (D)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 64 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 44.2% | 19:50 | 1.18 |
Travis Ehrhardt had a breakout season offensively last year, with his point total jumping from seven points in 2014-15 to 25 points last season. While the Comets were dealing with a combination of defensive injuries and defensive call ups, Ehrhardt played a lot of minutes for Travis Green’s club, and usually acquitted himself okay. However, he’s not the player you want as a long term option up the lineup.
Ehrhardt was on an AHL contract, and with the Canucks signing a number of defencemen to play in the American League this year, Ehrhardt was bumped out of a job. He ended up in Switzerland, playing for Geneve-Servette of the NLA.
Alex Friesen (C)
2015-16 Stats
| GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| 65 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 48.4% | 18:40 | 1.53 |
Alex Friesen has the notoriety of being the only member of the Canucks’ 2010 draft class to play an NHL game. Granted, it was only one game, and it came at the age of 25, but it still counts. Friesen has developed rather nicely over the last couple of years and has turned into a useful AHL forward, but his days as an NHL “prospect” are long behind him – it’s just taken a few years too many to adjust to the professional game.
Friesen left the Canucks organization this offseason, signing a one-year, two-way deal in St. Louis. While the Canucks aren’t losing a prospect, the Comets are losing a reliable middle six centre that could move up and down the lineup and provide some secondary offence. Friesen has produced at roughly a half point per game over the last two seasons, and is coming off of a career year in goals with 14.
Blair Jones (C/RW)/T.J. Hensick (C)
2015-16 Stats
| Player | GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| B. Jones | 36 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 53.6% | 12:07 | 2.06 |
| T. Hensick | 19 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 50.0% | 20:33 | 2.30 |
These players basically count as one, since Blair Jones was actually traded for T.J. Hensick at the AHL trade deadline.
Blair Jones was signed in the offseason in part to replace some of the offence lost when former captain Cal O’Reilly signed in Buffalo, though he was admittedly a poor man’s version of the former Comet. His season in Utica ended up being more analogous to Brandon Sutter’s in Vancouver: brought in to provide centre depth, he started the year on the wing instead. A short ways into the season, he sustained an injury and sat out for a long period of time. The similarities end there though, as once Jones got compeltely healthy, the Comets shipped him to Charlotte (Carolina’s affiliate) in return for T.J. Hensick.
Hensick was a much more acceptable replacement for O’Reilly, and it’s a shame the Comets didn’t have the advantage of deploying him all season. Like O’Reilly, he was a heavily pass-first centre, piling up primary assists with just a few goals to go with them. He certainly helped them down the stretch and into the playoffs, but the Comets were far from a contending team last season, and Hensick wasn’t enough to move the needle much at all in that regard. Hensick signed an AHL deal with the Ontario Reign in the offseason, while Blair Jones has jetted off to Germany to play with the Iserlohn Roosters.
Linden Vey, Chris Higgins, & Brandon Prust
2015-16 Stats
| Player | GP | G | A | P | GF% (5v5) | eTOI | eP60 |
| C. Higgins | 22 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 45.5% | 16:14 | 2.18 |
| B. Prust | 9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 46.7% | 20:00 | 2.33 |
| L. Vey | 26 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 45.5% | 20:00 | 1.73 |
There’s no reason that the Comets would have expected to get players like this back, but it’s a loss anyways. Due to some lackluster performances (or terrible injury luck in Higgins’ case), the Comets had the luxury last season of a few seasoned NHL veterans on their roster.
Linden Vey started the year as the Comets number one centre, after disappointing in Canucks camp and being beat out by Adam Cracknell. He started the year on a point per game pace, thanks largely to Hunter Shinkaruk’s sky high shooting percentage. He tailed off a bit, going cold for nearly a dozen games. But, injuries befell the Canucks and Vey got recalled, never to return to Utica.
In the summer, Vey signed a deal with the Calgary Flames. He failed to break camp there, cleared waivers and was subsequently reassigned to the Stockton Heat – one of the Californian teams that the Comets don’t come into contact with.
Higgins and Prust came much later in the year. Both were victims of the Canucks sudden fierce adherence to a speedy youth movement, and found themselves back in the minors for the first time in many years. Both handled the situations like professionals and displayed impressive production in Utica (Higgins even had a hat-trick), as well as receiving rave reviews from their younger teammates.
Higgins signed a PTO in Calgary in September, while Prust signed a PTO in Toronto. Both were released earlier this week.
That does it for the players that won’t be returning to Utica to start the 2016-17 season. Aside from Brendan Gaunce, most of the losses were quite easy to replace. In the next entry in this series, I’ll examine which players are returning to Utica this season, and what we can expect from them in another year with the Comets.
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