Draft roundup & free agency primer

The NHL draft took place Friday and Saturday and the Wild did their best to rack up a few more youngsters to contribute to the future of the franchise. Since we'll probably see most of these guys more than the Wild fans will, it's worth the time to take a look at who they picked up and when they might fall into the loving arms of the Houston Aeros.

BUT FIRST: Check this link out. The WBS Penguins beat writer, Jonathan Bombulie, assembled this monster list of every AHL free agent and ranked the first 250 of them. Whether you agree with his rankings or not, this is a truly ambitious and tedious undertaking, yet incredibly thorough. To get all the names together, much less a little comment on each. Holy moly. My hat's off to the guy. Hell, I'll even toss a bra at him. It's that impressive.

Of course, I disagree with Taffe's quite high ranking, and I think goalies Joe Fallon and Mike McKenna are underrated, but those are the only ones I felt particularly strong about just scanning the list.

Free agency aka Hockey Christmas begins on July 1, so it won't be long before the big fish in the AHL pond will be spoken for and one or two need to be spoken for by the Aeros to help guide and bolster this group of very young prospects coming up.

Anyway, on to the new baby Wildses. I'm gonna start with the lowest pick first and work up to the first round pick.

Nanne

7th Round: LW Louie Nanne
Nanne just turned 18 earlier this month, will play junior in the BCHL this year, and then has committed to the University of Minnesota, so he could be as much as 5 years from turning pro. He is the grandson of Lou Nanne, a long-time Minnesota North Star, and the son of Marty Nanne, a scout for the Wild.

Bertschy

6th Round: C Christoph Bertschy
This Swiss prospect sounds like a skilled, handsy guy, average sized if he stays the 5'10" he is currently, having just turned 18 in April. He's got 2 more years on his contract in the Swiss League, at which point, if the team still wants to sign him, we could see him in Houston.

Gunnarsson

5th Round: D Daniel Gunnarsson
I like the symmetry of how 5 of the 7 picks this year have names that start with the same letter as their position. Seriously. Check it out. Anyway, 20 year old Gunnarsson is Swedish (shocking, I know) and played in the Swedish Elite League last season, and will again next season. He's a 6'4" stay-at-home defenseman, so he'll have that nice long reach like a Justin Falk.

Gilmour

4th Round: C Adam Gilmour
Gilmour is already 6'2" and pushing 200 lbs as an 18 year old. He's got a year of USHL junior hockey to play and then will play for Boston College. He's a long way away from becoming an Aero unless he turns into a huge stud and leaves college early to turn pro. But he was a rock star for his Mass. high school team with nearly 2 points per game.

Mr. Serious

3rd Round: D John Draeger
Good sized kid from the pro hockey factory of Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Draeger is headed to Michigan State for his college career. Again, we won't see him for a few years.

Here's another good look at the 3-7 round picks and a little more about them from Dan Chan at Hockey Wilderness.

Bussieres

2nd Round: LW Raphael Bussieres
Bussieres will be 19 in November, which means he'd be eligible to play in the AHL after one more season in the Quebec Major Junior league. It sounds like he's a sturdy, gritty power forward type with some offensive touch and is a bit of a pest. So, he's a taller Cal Clutterbuck? Wouldn't mind that at all.

More from HW on Bussieres...

Dumba

1st Round: D Matthew Dumba 
That's pronounced DUM-buh, FYI. A former teammate of Darcy Kuemper's with the Red Deer Rebels, Dumba's 17 years old and won't be eligible for the AHL until the 2014-15 season, which means he either makes the Wild full-time before that, or we'll see him in a couple of years. He's an offensive defensman who likes to crush bodies, which is kind of an interesting combination. Brent Burnsian, maybe. Should be a fun kid to watch whenever he gets up to the pros.

And again, the details on Dumba from HW...

Almond signs in Switzerland; Rau, Genoway re-signed

The first big(ish) roster change for the Aeros dropped this morning with the news that Cody Almond has signed to play for Servete in Geneva (Swiss League) next season through 2015.

He is a restricted free agent, so the Wild could have re-signed him, but it appears that won't be happening. If the Wild had no intention of re-signing him, I'm surprised they didn't try and trade him. Maybe they did and couldn't find a taker. I don't want to speculate much as I'm sure we'll get more word on the thinking behind it shortly (and I'll update here).

Personally, I'm a little surprised, but not a whole lot. Almond showed a ton of promise during Constantine's last season, but hasn't looked the same since. I don't know if it's a system issue or what.

Seems a lot of guys are opting for Europe over the AHL lately. Money is better, travel is better, fewer games on the schedule, the hockey is less physical. It's kind of a "make hay while the sun shines" and live someplace interesting (Geneva would not suck at all, I feel sure) mentality that's hard to argue with if your path to the NHL seems to be getting muddier instead of clearer as you get older.

Time to get the ol' movement tracker started in the sidebar of the blog. Tis the season, and probably a lot more to come in the next few weeks.

Also, brief update to note that Chad Rau and Chay Genoway were re-signed by the Wild as expected.

Norfolk wins the Calder Cup

The Norfolk Admirals just swept through the Toronto Marlies in such a way that there was never any question as to who deserved the cup.

What that team accomplished this season was nothing short of jaw-dropping. They were a machine, and they were the best team in 2011-12, and because of their 28-game winning streak - or whatever it got up to - they will go down as one of the most impressive puck units in hockey history.

On the Aeros front, all is quiet and the LA Kings are still trying to secure their first Stanley Cup. Boy, they sure did look nervous in Game 5.

The off-season for hockey is just about here.
October is no where to be seen in this 106-degree heat index.

Until later, enjoy your summer.

Solar Bears affiliation and a look ahead

Let's get caught up on some of the stuff that's gone on in Aerosland lately:

Orlando Solar Bears

The most noteworthy of the off-season news is the Wild/Aeros organization aligning with the former-IHL(1995-2001)-revived-as-ECHL(2012) Orlando Solar Bears.

Last season, the Aeros didn't have an ECHL affiliate (and I think that's probably fortunate for whoever would have been the affiliate because all that roster turnover might have trickled down and debilitated that club, too).

Here's a spiffy video from Rich Bocchini to tell you all about it:



And if you like press conferences, executives in suits, awkward jersey presentations, or deciphering echo-y audio, here's the presser in Orlando.

I don't know that this really changes much of anything, though I'm sure it has the potential to make life either easier or harder for GM Jim Mill depending on how the relationships go.

Oh, and thanks to Swamphockey for finding this Solar Bears fan blog and this Solar Bears Fan Forum.

Roster Moves (or lack thereof)

Icevet suggested in the comments of the last post that a better use for our blog than discussing whether we might have a team here in 2 years, would be to talk about the up and coming players for the Aeros. I thought it would be too early to get into that, but after combing the Wild's contracts, I think it's worth at least a high-level look right now.

The Aeros and the Wild had a number of free agents floating around (figuratively for most, but literally for Jeff Taffe) so a lot is still in the air. We'll have some real meat to chew on on or after July 1 when free agency opens.

But here's a quick look at who is definitely back (barring trades, etc.):

• Matt Hackett - Everything the Wild is saying suggests they want to either keep Harding or find a veteran backup for Backstrom, while letting Hackett get some more seasoning down here. 
• Darcy Kuemper - He will almost certainly continue his tandem with Hackett. The Wild are close to signing a goalie prospect, Johan Gustafsson, but have said he'll stay in Europe next season regardless. They just have to sign him by June 1 or lose his rights.

• Drew Bagnall - Last summer he signed a 2 year deal, so of the past two seasons' veteran core, he's the only one who will definitely be back. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see DiSalvatore back, but then I also wouldn't be surprised to see someone else make a better offer for him.
• Tyler Cuma - Another year on his contract before he's an RFA.
• Kyle Medvec - Another year for him before RFA, too.
• Steve Kampfer - One more year on his deal, but he might be up with the Wild all season.
• Marco Scandella - Same as Kampfer, except I'm almost certain he'll stick with the Wild out of camp.

• Justin Fontaine - One more year on his current contract. Will be an RFA.
• Kris Foucault - Two more years before he's an RFA.
• Joel Broda - One more year on his contract before turning RFA.

Here are the Restricted Free Agents, meaning the Wild get first dibs on re-signing them, but they don't have to. Generally RFAs do get re-signed. I won't make any assumptions either way on these guys and just give you the full list:

• Dennis Endras (I said I wasn't going to make assumptions, but I'm assuming this experiment is over. I haven't seen his name mentioned anywhere in the plans.)

• Chay Genoway
• Justin Falk - Likely will stay with the Wild all season.
• Kris Fredheim

• David McIntyre
• Nick Palmieri
• Jarod Palmer
• Cody Almond
• Carson McMillan
• Chad Rau

And then behind all these guys are a bunch of youngsters just starting entry level deals. Some of them are signed just to keep their rights (their contracts will push a year if they don't play more than 9 pro games with the Wild next season and are too young to be sent down to the AHL), and some are genuinely turning pro. But then some will stick with the Wild and others will spend some time in Houston. I really have no idea how these kids will shake out this season:

• Jonas Brodin
• Josh Caron
• Bjorn Krupp

• Jason Zucker
• Zack Phillips
• Charlie Coyle
• Brett Bulmer
• Johan Larsson
• Colton Jobke

Not being a student of non-pro prospects (except the goalies), I can't speak any further on any of these guys. The general sense in the organization is excitement for all the new blood after a few good years of drafting (FINALLY), but how much of that actually benefits the Aeros? I have no idea.

By the by, I used Capgeek.com for all the contract info here, so apologies if any of it is a little off. Nothing sent up any red flags for me, though, so hopefully it's accurate.

Generally, my mindset is to not get too excited about the rookies (except the goalies). They're going to develop at whatever pace they develop, while the leadership of the Aeros locker room is what really matters in terms of whether it's an enjoyable season for fans. If a rookie contributes to that enjoyment, hey, the more the merrier, but I tend to expect those guys to just learn the ropes the first year. Or if they're THAT good, they'll just go on up to Minnesota.

So, what I'm looking for is who Mill can snag from the AHL veteran ranks. Who's the glue going to be? Even if DiSalvatore comes back, I think we've seen that he and Bagnall can't "raise the kids" alone.

Equipment Sale

In case you've missed the news thus far, the Aeros are doing their equipment sale Memorial Weekend Saturday (May 26). Get to Sugar Land Ice early if you want some stuff, as lines form before the doors open at 10 a.m. There's a tournament going on that weekend, too, so you can get your hockey itch scratched, too, if you like.

Things that make you go, Hmmmmmmm

Famous Song? Yes ... Famous catch phrase, yeah ... that, too.
But recent news in the minor league hockey world has to make you think a little bit about where Wild prospects might end up after 2012-13.

SUX (Airport code for Sioux Falls) has a nice arena. 

The Toyota Center lease is up after next season, and Aeros president David Burke confirmed to me late during the season that the team is working with the building to hammer out a new lease. They do play in one of the league's nicest facilities ... and they pay a pretty penny for that.

They are also exploring other places for the team to play ... in Houston. Hey, you're not smart if you're not looking for the best deal, right?

Last week, a minor league sports ownership group (Sioux Falls Sports, LLC) in Sioux Falls announced that it sold out to former the Wild's former owner and that the current COO for Minnesota Sport Entertainment (who own the Aeros) was joining that group, too.

Then, today, SF Group announced the hiring of Tom Garrity as their President and CEO. Who is Tom Garrity? Nobody except the former two-time President of the Aeros.

No, I am not saying the Aeros are going to pack up and get moved to Sioux Falls. But all of this is not a coincidence. Tom Garrity is one of the very best on this planet at putting butts in seats and he has the resume to show that. He also has a good repoire with that group, and I am sure that helped Tom land that pretty sweet gig.

From a business standpoint, the Wild-owned Aeros would benefit tremendously from lowering their operating costs AHL hockey is for-profit hockey. The Wild have every right to get the best deal for their product. But the Aeros are in the top 10 in attendance every year, and because of IAH, they can get their prospects to just about any city in North American before Noon central.

The flight time from IAH to MSP is just 140 minutes, and 1,094 miles is not that big of a deal when you consider relationships like Worcester/San Jose.

Sioux Falls has a brand new hockey arena, seats about 12,000 and would be an attractive proximity facility for the Wild. But it is Sioux falls and long term, I think it would be a complete fail for the AHL.

Moline didn't work, Omaha didn't work, Des Moines didn't work, Abbotsford is not working, OKC is not working ... and the list goes on and on.

Right now is not the time to worry about the Aeros leaving, but the next few months will be key. If the Wild and Toyota Center don't get something worked out before Christmas, then it might be time to get a little nervous.

And That's All, Folks!

The end had to this Aeros season had to come sometime. And it came tonight.

The Aeros lost 5-2 to the Barons, losing the series 3-1. I don't think anybody should be really shocked by that result. The Barons were just that good, the Aeros just that depleted. Mike Brodeur was in goal again tonight and Matt Hackett was scratched.

We'll all probably come in later with a few thoughts on this season just gone by -- I'll try to throw up more tomorrow. But this has been a really tough season for the team. Brodeur was the seventh goalie to start between the pipes for the team this season. It's not because the goalies were bad, but because they were either called up to Minnesota, disappeared to Europe, or were injured.

The team didn't have the offense it did last season, and once Casey Wellman was traded in mid-season the team's ability to score hit about 10 on the difficult scale. As it was, with the injury situation in Minnesota, and with the way that team cratered, most any Aero with any skill found himself with the Wild at some point, making it near impossible to getting any continuity with the lineups, which probably doomed the team more than anything. And frankly, I think the absence of Jed Ortmeyer and Warren Peters, who were key guys both on the ice and the locker room for this team were heavy factors in how this season ended up.

So that's it. The Aeros won't be playing into June this season, but if it means anything, there's this: the Aeros were the only one of the final four Calder Cup teams to actually make the playoffs this season.

Belated Woo! Aeros escape elimination with 1-0 win

Yep, our bad. I was going to post last night and saw Andrew had a draft of something started, so I assumed he was writing something on last night's surprising (at least to me) 1-0 win to avoid elimination.

My apologies for the delay, because indeed, the Aeros (and you guys) deserve a little snuggle for pulling out a win in what my Negative Nelly mind was certain was going to be a resounding sweep. I didn't think, even if the Aeros played their best, that the Barons would get shut out. But they did and that's what it took for the Aeros to win last night.

First, tremendous kudos to Brett Bulmer on his first professional playoff goal. He played 8 games during the Aeros' run for the cup last season, but had no points for it. This year, he has 2 points (1g, 1a) in just 3 games. Gotta love when a kid can come right out of juniors and make a difference like that.

You also have to love Mike Brodeur, who's played literally just 4 or 5 games this season due to recovering from hip surgery all year, coming in and pitching his first playoff shutout AND first playoff win. Bob Mason told me a few games back that they basically just took a flyer on him, not really knowing what kind of goaltending they'd get if he was called upon.

Well, as it did with Fallon, the dice rolled the right way and Brodeur basically saved the season with his 31 saves.

Not to give too much credit where it should actually be spread around better, because it is a team game after all, and the Aeros did a good job in the first two periods keeping shots close and respectable (11-11 and 7-9 OKC in the first two periods respectively). In the third, the Aeros got slammed with a full 2 minute, 5 on 3 to kill off, and then another 2 minute minor, so that tilted the shots in OKCs favor quite a bit in that period (3-10).

But Brodeur told Joe afterward that the boys kept shooters wide and the posts helped him out quite a bit, too. An inch in the wrong direction and I think we would have see a whole different outcome. Which is to say, the Aeros need to get penalties under control by Tuesday because the hockey gods are only so generous with the bounces.

Back at it at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday, and the Barons are probably kicking themselves for missing out on the R&R they could have been having the next few days if they'd done their jobs Sunday. Do it right and you can golf AND be in the playoffs. Sorry, Oak City. (Not sorry.)

Aeros Lose Game Two, Face Elimination Sunday Night

Last night it was hard to tell just how much of the loss was on the Aeros not showing up to play the game, and how much of the loss was due to the Barons being the superior team. Tonight we know the answer.

The Aeros lost Game Two of this opening round Best of Five series to the Barons by the score of 4-1. Yes, the Aeros actually did find a way to score a goal on Yann Danis. And they actually appeared to make more of an effort, holding the Barons to only 37 shots tonight while totaling a stupendous 20 shots of their own. (Cody Almond scored at 3:48 of the third period.)

But though the Aeros effort factor was noticeably improved, it just didn't matter, so superior was the play of the Barons, proving tonight, perhaps even more than last night, why it is that they're the number one seed in the Western Conference.

Matt Hackett made a valiant effort to play tonight, stopping 19 of 21 shots. But he played injured, and whatever injury he suffered last night he aggravated horribly on the second goal, leaving the ice bent at his waste, not to return.

But even if Hackett wasn't injured, it would be difficult to see the Aeros finding a way to contend on Sunday and take this series to a fourth game. And frankly, if the Aeros were able to win Sunday and take it to game four on Tuesday, does anybody think they're healthy enough, or talented enough, to make it to game five on Wednesday?

It was an ugly day in Houston today. Massive storms that caused power outages throughout the city as the afternoon moved into evening. And the Aeros game tonight was just as ugly as the weather outside.

There's Ugly, Then There Are The Aeros In Game One

There's ugly, and there's ugly. And damn, there was this game one 5-0 loss to the Oklahoma City Barons.

Andrew covered it pretty well below. And I'll have more in the Press tomorrow, but let's just say this: if Matt Hackett continues to be the only player showing up to play, then the Aeros Calder Cup run ends on Sunday night in Oklahoma City.

Here's how bad it was. In just over 36 minutes of play, Hackett faced 37 shots. That's over a shot a minute. That he only let in four goals was, in my estimation, rather remarkable. And I know what John Torchetti said after the game -- we were all down there -- but it sure looked like Hackett got injured before the third goal, and he really had trouble moving around before the fourth goal. Then again, when you're having to carry an entire team on your back because they're refusing to play, you're probably going to feel some pain.

Torchetti put the loss on himself, saying it's his fault for not getting the team properly prepped to play. There might be something to that, but it looked like they didn't even give a damn out on the ice. And frankly, if the Barons hadn't of taken their feet off of the gas in the third period, I could've easily seen the final score being about 10-0.

They'll give it a go again on Friday for game two. Torchetti says that Hackett's healthy and that he'll be playing. But frankly, if the rest of the team fails to show up again, it's probably not even going to matter.

View from the Pressbox - Aeros don't show for Gm.1

Well, what can you say about that?

If you are going to play one game that poorly, go ahead and get it out of the way, right? It's happened before, and we've seen it in Game 6 a few years ago in Milwaukee, and even though the score wasn't as bad, the Aeros played a couple of duds during last season's Cup run.

But they just didn't show up for Thursday's Game 1 against the OKC Barons at home.

Matt Hackett kept them in the game for the first period, but when the sorriness continued in the second, there just wasn't a whole lot he could have done to keep the puck out of the net.

And even though he was named the No. 3 star of the game and kept the Aeros from losing 8- or 9-0, I really cannot excuse his loss of temper after the fourth goal. When I thought he was injured, it seemed a bit OK to for him to crack his stick over the cross bar, break it and then kick the remains into the back of the net.

I get it; you're hurt and want to keep going ... and you're mad about busting your groin and being out for the rest of the playoffs. But when Torchetti confirmed that not only was he not hurt but that he was going to be playing tomorrow, I realized the only reason he did all of that is because he was mad.

Hackett is a fiery guy, he plays with passion and feeds off that. But he is going to see these kind of games again and again and again ... He's got to learn to control his emotions when the defense is nowhere to be found and Kris Fredheim can't find a loose puck the defenseman should have cleared.

Hackett will be an NHL goalie sooner or letter, and he needs to stay even and use a poker face when things are spiraling out of control both in front of and behind him. He's responded well to these situations in the past, and now he is going to have to do it again to save the Aeros' season.

The Aeros played three must-win games in the last two weeks (Peoria, San Antonio and Texas) and they won all three. They'll need to make it four in a row to give themselves a shot against the Barons in OKC.