Eastern Conference teams set up with new looks | TheAHL.com

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer

AHL rosters continue to take shape, and opening weekend is in the books.

Eight teams across the league have new head coaches, and every team has a new-look roster to one degree or another. The first several weeks of the AHL season are for building familiarity among new personnel, getting systems work down pat, and establishing a foundation that can carry a team in the season’s second half and into the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Let’s look team-by-team at the Eastern Conference. A breakdown of the Western Conference will follow later.

BELLEVILLE
Under head coach David Bell, the Senators are a tough out. They split opening weekend, winning at Rochester and falling in a shootout at Syracuse. The Crunch will become a familiar early on for the B-Sens, who will face Syracuse five times before U.S. Thanksgiving. Ottawa has assigned sniper Adam Gaudette to Belleville after he had a league-leading 44 goals last season with Springfield.

BRIDGEPORT
Complete with an all-new logo that pays homage to the parent New York Islanders’ mid-1990s look, Bridgeport plays eight games out of 11 on the road between Oct. 25 and Nov. 22, an early test for Rick Kowalsky’s club as the Islanders attempt to rebound from missing the Calder Cup Playoffs each of the last two seasons. Chris Terry, Liam Foudy and Pierre Engvall are among the new faces.

CHARLOTTE
The Checkers always are in contention and have not missed the postseason cut since 2016. With the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers as their parent team, the two sides have built a strong roster in Charlotte. Veteran blueliner Trevor Carrick returns to the team where he won a Calder Cup in 2019, and the Checkers also have brought experience at the position in Jaycob Megna and Tobias Bjornfot. Chris Driedger, who took Coachella Valley to the Calder Cup Finals last season, helms the team in net while established forwards Kyle Criscuolo and Matt Luff are new as well. New acquisition Aidan McDonough’s four goals in two wins on opening weekend won him the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week honor.

CLEVELAND
The Monsters, who fell one goal short of the Calder Cup Finals last June, are backed by goaltender Jet Greaves following a strong season of development. First-round pick Denton Mateychuk, the Western Hockey League’s defenseman of the year last season, is a full-timer now with the Monsters after a stout postseason performance last spring. Rocco Grimaldi, whose 36 goals ranked third in the AHL last season for Chicago, was a last-minute addition to the roster who could have a major impact. Opening with five straight road games is a challenge, but the Monsters already gained a split in a two-game opening series at Hershey.

HARTFORD
First-round pick Brennan Othmann and 25-goal scorer Brett Berard are back with the Wolf Pack to continue their development after strong rookie seasons. Dylan Garand returns with that much more experience in net to team with veteran Louis Domingue once again. Hartford has reached the division finals each of the last two seasons, and perhaps this year they can take another step under rookie head coach Grant Potulny.

HERSHEY
Three-peat. That’s the goal in Hershey, where the Bears are trying to become the first team in 63 years to win the Calder Cup three consecutive times. They brought in forwards Luke Philp and Spencer Smallman along with defenseman Brad Hunt, an AHL First All-Star Team pick last season with Colorado. Ivan Miroshnichenko and Vincent Iorio headline the returning young core, and Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson are back in net.

LAVAL
Laval has one of the most exciting groups of prospects in the AHL, and there is no shortage of local excitement and attention from Montreal Canadiens fans. Owen Beck, Sean Farrell, Riley Kidney, Filip Mešár, Joshua Roy and Luke Tuch are among the top young forwards. AHL All-Rookie Team selection Logan Mailloux can anchor the blue line, and Jakub Dobeš was a workhorse in net as a rookie last season. Pascal Vincent takes over the Laval bench after leading the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, and Monday’s addition of forward Alex Barré-Boulet gives Laval an elite offensive threat, too.

LEHIGH VALLEY
Alexei Kolosov’s progress in net will be something to watch closely. Forward Oskar Eklind is another intriguing addition after notching 17 goals last season in the Swedish Hockey League. Anthony Richard comes over from Providence to lend offensive help. Forward Massimo Rizzo is coming off three strong seasons at the University of Denver that featured a pair of national championship titles.

PROVIDENCE
Boston Bruins management always puts together a strong veteran core in Providence, and this year is no different. Signees Cole Koepke and Riley Tufte made the Boston roster after spending time in the AHL last season. But the P-Bruins have new forwards in Vinni Lettieri and Jeffrey Viel while the back end has Jordan Oesterle and Billy Sweezey now in place. Forwards Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov can take big leaps this season, too.

ROCHESTER
Much is new in Rochester this year. Head coach Seth Appert is now in Buffalo as an assistant coach. Captain Michael Mersch retired, and other familiar faces moved on. First-round pick Konsta Helenius is an Amerk at 18 years old after going 14th overall in the NHL Draft this summer; he continues a long line of top picks in Rochester. Anton Wahlberg is also in Rochester after a late-season spin. Mike Leone takes over as head coach.

SPRINGFIELD
Armed with a new seven-year extension to remain part of the St. Louis Blues organization, stability is the theme for the Thunderbirds. Steve Konowalchuk takes over in his first pro head-coaching job and he will have some quality depth up and down his roster, including returnees Hugh McGing, Nikita Alexandrov, Tyler Tucker and captain Matthew Peca. Forward Zach Dean, a 2021 first-rounder, returns to Springfield for his second pro season.

SYRACUSE
Always in the mix, the Crunch roster stocked up with several late-summer moves. Forwards Logan Brown, Jujhar Khaira, Gemel Smith, Joel Teasdale and Jesse Ylonen all should help quite a bit. Defensively, Tobie Bisson, Derrick Pouliot and Steven Santini have come to Syracuse to lend veteran leadership. Joel Bouchard goes into his second season leading the Crunch.

TORONTO
The Marlies added forward Alex Nylander, someone who could be a sniper in their line-up. He joins a familiar core of Joseph Blandisi, Kyle Clifford, captain Logan Shaw and All-Star Alex Steeves. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray has fought injuries recently and is in net as he tries to make his way back to the NHL. Defenseman Topi Niemelä had a strong first season with the Marlies.

UTICA
The Comets hung around in contention deep into the end of the regular season in 2023-24 before falling short of a playoff bid. They bring back enough of the core from last season to contend again and will be hungry to return to the Calder Cup Playoffs. First-rounder Chase Stillman will try to build on a promising first season and take on a larger role, and Mike Hardman joins the Comets after scoring 22 goals in Rockford a year ago.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON
Kyle Dubas always paid close attention to the Marlies when he was general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now that he is running the Pittsburgh Penguins, that approach is no different, and the front office overhauled the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton roster. New head coach Kirk MacDonald has Sebastian Aho, Jimmy Huntington, Boko Imama, Boris Katchouk, Mac Hollowell and Dan Renouf all on board to give the AHL Pens a much different look. Rookie defenseman Owen Pickering is a first-round pick, and close attention will be paid to newcomer Sergei Murashov in net.

On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.