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.
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.
