While we have been busy covering all the latest additions to the Vancouver Canucks, we have been giving less coverage to some of the depth players signings with other teams.  We cannot forget the baby Canucks down in Utica as that franchise’s role with Vancouver has continued to be stronger every year.

Without further ado, here are some of the roster changes down in Utica we’ve seen in the past two days.

Sanguinetti was signed in the 2014 off-season and quickly became one of the Comets’ top defencemen.  He has only had a few opportunities in the NHL, namely a 37 game stint with Carolina two seasons ago.  In his time in the NHL, he has posted very strong possession and scoring chance numbers but has yet to put up many points. 

With the unlikely chance of playing in the NHL with the Canucks system, Sanguinetti has left to join the Buffalo Sabres where he is earning a very high AHL salary on a two-way contract worth $600k / $250k

Taylor Fedun’s signing looks to be a reactionary move to replace defensive veterans.  Staying put is Alex Biega, who announced his own re-signing (the last Canuck to do that was Tom Sestito), who will be looked upon to strengthen the Comets back end.  

Cal O’Reilly is a loss that is going to hurt the Comets.  He was the first player signed to the Comets via an AHL Standard Player Contract when they lured him out of the KHL a month into their inaugural season.  As their most recent captain, he lead the team in scoring and was known for leading all players in the playoffs in points (with over 20) before scoring a single goal.

Like Sanguinetti, O’Reilly is still looking for his break in the NHL.  He has had more opportunities but has yet to score much or post strong possession numbers.  He has not given up on his dream as he was also signed by the Buffalo Sabres to a two-year contract worth $700k per season to play with his younger brother Ryan.  

Kane Lafranchise was signed last off-season as an AHL depth defencemen and split his year between the Utica Comets and the Kalamazoo Wings.  He signed this off-season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the New York Islanders affiliate, on an AHL Standard Player Contract.  As a replacement level AHL defencemen losing him is not a huge loss to the future of the Comets franchise.

The Richard Bachman signing was already covered on July 1st.  As a “highly coveted 3rd string goalie” he will look to help the Comets return to the Calder Cup finals.  I covered Bachman in some detail when I review the Comets vs Oklahoma City.  Bachman looks to be a credible improvement over Joacim Eriksson but unlikely will be the AHL talent that Jacob Markstom was.  Last season, he was just over AHL average save percentage by 0.05 and had a low Quality Start percentage of 50%.  

With Joacim Eriksson having left North America for the KHL and the re-signing of Joe Cannata as the Utica’s backup (for his second stint), Bachman will likely be given the role of starter at the beginning of the season.

To help ease the loss of O’Reilly, the Canucks signed Blair Jones on Friday to a one year, two-way deal.  Jones is a big centreman who has produced like a top-6 AHL forward for a few seasons now, and will play high in the Comets’ lineup.  With Linden Vey currently penciled in as Vancouver’s fourth line centre, it’s not out of the question that Jones sees some NHL action either.

Last year, Jones scored 21 points in 33 games as a member of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL playing a top-6 forward role for the young team.  He has seen time with Calgary and Philadelphia the past two years but is a replacement level player.  He will help replace O’Reilly on Utica’s depth chart.

As of right now, there is a lack of veterans in the forward corps of the line up.  Guys like Brandon DeFazio have yet to be re-signed but have yet to receive a contract elsewhere, while Cory Conachar has departed for Switzerland.  Mike Zalewski, Darren Archibald, and Will Acton are also free agents.  In a perfect world, which agrees with Scaffolding Theory (also known as the new Toronto development method), the lack of veterans is a good thing as it allows prospects to be put in top role and given maximum opportunities to develop in a development league. 

But if there is anything we know about Jim Benning et al. and his old school hockey thinking – he does not feel the same way.  Benning feels that the best way to develop prospects is to play in a winning environment.  Look to see more veteran forwards like Jones signed to take up the top-6 positions in Utica.

It was reported that the Canucks are in contract talks with AHL veteran Adam Cracknell and Curtis Valk is being given a second opportunity with the franchise.  Valk has been invited to the Canucks prospect camp this week.

Finally, ex-Canuck prospect Patrick McNally has been signed to a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks.  While he was not signed by the Canucks because he was not as good as Ben Hutton and Jordan Subban, it’s frustrating to see talent given up when the regime is still signing lesser talents in Ashton Sautner and soon-to-be converted winger McKenze Stewart.

Once we are sure of the final signings to fill out the Utica roster we can start penciling in the line up.