NEW REGIME BEGINS SATURDAY
Oct 10, 2015
By Tom Witosky -| Follow @witoskyahl
In the American Hockey League, a lot can change in a year.
Just ask the fans of the Portland Pirates and San Antonio Rampage, teams that were severe also-rans in the 2013-14 season, but made the playoffs the following year. With the Iowa Wild, which hasn’t made the playoffs since moving from Houston to Des Moines two years ago, that is the challenge and goal for the 2015-16 season that begins Saturday at home against Charlotte.
“That’s our goal,” Brent Flahr, Iowa’s general manager, said recently. “Our goal is to develop players for the NHL down here, but to do that, you have to learn how to win and that is going to be the focus here.”
While it’s dangerous to predict how well any AHL team might perform in any given season because of potential injuries or demands from the parent NHL club, what has to be accomplished by Iowa this year is pretty plain. It basically boils down to goal differential.
Portland and San Antonio illustrate precisely that in their one-year turnarounds last season. In 2013-14, both teams gave up more goals than they scored by wide margins. Portland was -62 in 2013-14, but a +13 the following year when it finished eighth in the Eastern Conference. San Antonio had a 54-goal turnaround reversing from a -29 to a +26 in finishing 3rd in the Western Conference.
A dramatic improvement in that goal differential for Iowa (-66 in 2013-14 and -73 in 2014-15) is what is in order and something that major changes in the Wild’s roster this season is expected to reverse.
“We want several veterans on the roster who will be leaders down here on and off the ice and hopefully the young guys will be able to take a step,” Flahr said.
As Iowa forms its initial roster for the season, Head Coach John Torchetti describes it as a “good mix” of veteran and young players capable of improving the team’s performance this season.
“Team comes first at all costs – end of subject. That will be a big push of what we are going to see this season,” Torchetti said.
Here is a breakdown of why Iowa appears to be in a stronger position as the AHL opens:
Defense – With Minnesota always emphasizing its defensive style of hockey, Iowa Wild fans will get a look early at two of the NHL club’s top prospects – Mike Reilly and Gustav Olofsson – and two veterans who likely will be matched with them.
Reilly, 22, signed with Minnesota this summer after deciding not to sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets that drafted him in the fourth round in 2012. Reilly scored 75 points in 80 games with the Minnesota Gophers and has displayed an excellent ability to move the puck out of the defensive zone and to distribute the puck. Reilly was one of the final players sent down to Iowa largely because Coach Mike Yeo wants him to play regularly.
Olofsson, 20, missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, but has impressed Torchetti and Minnesota’s coaches with his play in training camp. “Oloffson looks fantastic. He’s looked really good. He moved the puck well, he had great vision, he skated well,” Torchetti said. Olofsson provides steady play and like Reilly an ability to move the puck into the offensive zone – a must for Wild defenders.
Maxime Fortunus, 32, signed a two-year contract with Iowa and is expected to provide leadership in the locker room as he did in Texas when the AHL Stars won the Calder Cup two seasons ago. Considered a steady defender, Fortunus, who shoots from the right side, has been matched up a lot with Olofsson, who shoots from the left. Although with Reilly’s arrival, you could see both paired with Fortunus at times.
Tyson Strachan, 30, remained in the Minnesota camp until close to the end. The 6-foot, 3-inch, 215-pound defenseman played more than half of last season with the Buffalo Sabres and has seven AHL seasons. “A kid like Strachan is another character guy, “ Torchetti said. Several of these guys had the chance to be NHL guys too and Strachan was one of them. He still could go up and be there a while.”
Offense – Better goal production is a must, according to Torchetti. “We averaged 1.8 goals per game last year. This isn’t rocket science. Last year, there was a goal a game we weren’t getting,” he said.
Torchetti said that the goal will be to get at least three players, if not more, to get more than 40 points this season.
With center Tyler Graovac, who led Iowa’s scoring last season, sticking with Minnesota to begin the season, scoring will fall mostly on several young players, but they also will have several veterans to provide increased firepower.
Christoph Bertschy is among the Wild’s top prospects this season. The 21-year-old Swiss player has played 150 games in that country’s top hockey league and is considered an Eric Haula or Justin Fontaine type player. Drafted in the 6th round by Minnesota in 2012, Bertschy has impressed Torchetti. “Berchy is a good heady player. He’s been one of the top development guys in camp.”
Zack Mitchell, 22, signed as a free agent last year with Iowa and proved his worth finishing with 35 points last season on a line with Graovac and Marc Hagel. “Mitchell has looked good. He has put on a little more strength,” Torchetti said.
Brett Bulmer, 23, signed a one-year contract over the summer on an uptick following Minnesota training camp. Bulmer impressed Minnesota coaches with a hard-nosed approach to his game and his conditioning. “This is the best conditioned that he’s ever come into camp,” Mike Yeo, Minnesota’s head coach, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune recently. “He’s put in the work this summer.”
Zac Dalpe, 25, signed a free agent contract with Minnesota after splitting last season between AHL Rochester and NHL Buffalo. The 6-foot, 1-inch center is expected to bring strength and size into the slot along with Grayson Downing. “Dalpe and Downing are going to be what we have been missing. We are going to be stronger up the middle,” Torchetti said. Unfortunately for Iowa, Downing was injured in Traverse City and won’t be available at the start of the season. He is not expected to miss significant time.
Goalies
What was considered to be the biggest question mark for Iowa may have been resolved with the help of the Boston Bruins. Jeremy Smith, who had a 2.05 GAA with AHL Providence last season, has been loaned to Iowa this season. The 26-year-old veteran goalie has 2.29 GAA over the last five seasons. In addition, veteran goalie Leland Irving has played credibly in camp, leaving Flahr with a decision about sending the club’s two rookie goalies – Brody Hoffman and Steven Michalek – down to the ECHL. If both veteran netminders are manning the Iowa crease, it would be one of the top tandems in the AHL this season.