Utica Comets sign Curtis Valk to AHL contract

Photo Credit: Sarah Hobday

The Vancouver Canucks organization simply can’t have enough Medicine Hat Tigers alumni in the system.

On Wednesday the Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets, signed undersized scoring forward Curtis Valk to an AHL deal for the 2015-16 season. Valk, 22, put himself on the organizational radar with a stellar performance at the Penticton Young Stars tournament in 2014, and was a point per game player with the Kalamazoo Red Wings of the ECHL before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in February. 

This is an organizational depth move, and insurance for the Comets should one of their key scoring forwards – whether it be Alexandre Grenier, or Brendan Gaunce – stick with the Canucks. 

Valk, who isn’t related to Sportsnet analyst and former Canucks forward Garry Valk, still isn’t formally Canucks property, and many AHL-level deals have an out that would allow a player to sign with an NHL team. Also Valk’s injury status will cause him to miss roughly a month of action yet:

Though his chances of developing into an NHL regular are very slim – among forwards of a similar stature and age who produced as Valk did in the ECHL last season only one (Chad LaRose) managed to appear in 200 NHL games – it seems very possible that Valk, a prolific scorer at every level, could be a useful player at the AHL level for the Comets this season.