Free agency fireworks could start tonight @ midnight
AFHL farm team roster limit will increase from 12 players to 23 players
May 31st, 2011
The first thing to remember when shopping for diamonds in the free agency rough: the key to success in all hockey formats is carefully crafting a well-rounded team. The question is what players are still available in such a deep league? Currently, there are about 700 players signed to AFHL contracts (20 teams with 35 players each).
Most AFHL GMs admit they have no idea who to sign let alone who is still available. But the consensus among those team builders and rebuilders is that they plan to be patient rather than pounce, hoping the glut of available players will depress the market and eventually names will pop up here and there.
“It depends on how the market goes,” Montreal GM Keith Cancilla said. “You can speculate – we’ve been speculating for months. But (tonight) speculation will turn into reality. And I don’t know whether stuff is going to happen in the first 24 hours of this roster limit increase or whether it’s going to be spread out and become a league-wide waiting game.”
Newly hired Wolves GM Jason Briggs suspects there will be a bit of both.
“I think most people are uncertain as to what’s going to happen come (tonight) – I know I am,” Briggs said. “And I think we’re just going to research, prepare and see how it unfolds.”
The free agent pool is lacking in overall depth, but if there’s one position that bucks a trend, it’s in goal, where there are a multitude of free agents looking for jobs.
“It’s the year of the goalie, it seems,” netminder Alex Kangas told theAFHL.com on Monday night.
Kangas, a prospect goalie for the Thrashers (soon to be Jets) is one of many of the free agent goalies. As Kangas looks at his options, he has competition. Joining him in the free-agent waters are prospect goalies such as his former teammate Edward Pasquale, and Columbus’ Gustaf Wesslau.
“You look into stuff and try to understand what’s going on, but ultimately, it’ll come down to which teams believe in you and believe you’re a fit,” said Red Devils goaltender Al Montoya. “And you know, a lot can change at the draft. You have your teams in line that you think need goaltending, but then they make a trade. You really never know what team you’re going to play for come the first game of the season.”
Vipers GM Chris Hartley says goaltending is very important in this league but you’ve got to go after what’s best and grow your players from within.
“I’ve said from Day 1 that I think the way to win the AFHL Stanley Cup is to grow your own,” Hartley said. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t surround those guys with good, quality players.”
June 2nd, 2011
Call it whatever you want. A housecleaning. A makeover. A revamping. No matter how you slice it, the new GMs are usually the most active in making trades during the offseason so it should be interesting to see which of the four new GMs will be most trigger-happy in this offseason.
“Not sure of the exact number of trades I made, but I think it was close to 15, maybe even 20 trades shortly after I was hired last summer,” said Warriors GM Mike Brunetta who’s going into his second season as an AFHL GM. “The new GMs better be ready to receive a ton of offers during these next few months. My suggestion is to just talk to as many GMs as possible.”
Most GMs must be drooling over the thought of making a trade with one of the new GMs for a star player such as a Jarome Iginla, Nicklas Backstrom, Martin Broduer or even a Ryan Getzlaf. Some of them have already begun fielding offers for their top players.
“Since I arrived, I’ve had three calls,” said Thunderwolves new GM Jason Briggs. “It doesn’t take very long for people to recognize that you’re going to do some house cleaning.”
The talk is that GM Briggs could be the most active of the new GMs, only five days after being hired he’s already offered up several players that include Milan Hejduk, Ryan Malone, and Sergei Bobrovsky in trade chatter.
“I wouldn’t put anything past any of these guys,” said Montreal GM Keith Cancilla. “They’re capable of anything.”
The fact that the total number of players traded at the 2010 trade deadline dropped off at the 2011 trade deadline could change the thinking of GMs as they pursue players in this offseason.
“Every team has their own philosophy,” Red Devils GM Jordan Carbone said. “Everybody has got their eye on the new GMs’ rosters. I think you just saw what happened at last year’s trade deadline where there wasn’t a lot of trades. I think part of that reason was because of the unknown of new GMs in this offseason. You’d think that would impact the trade market also.”
Rumors surrounding the new GMs making trades have been light this week, but expect them to pick up after the trade freeze is lifted on Friday.
New Mustangs GM gets fired on just the 11th day of his tenure
June 10th, 2011
Tom Schmansky didn’t last a summer, let alone a winter, as coach and GM of the Mustangs franchise.
Hired less than two weeks ago, Schmansky was abruptly fired Friday in his 11th day on the job. His legacy will be the shortest GM stint – 11 days – in AFHL history, shattering [former Hitmen GM] Grahame Booth’s record of 97 days.
“This is a decision made by me, I felt that I had no choice,” AFHL Commissioner Anthony Furino said about the dismissal of Schmansky. “It’s obviously a mistake made on my part to have made a decision in hiring him without having done a complete and proper interview that could have been done, should have been done.”
Furino said the conflict with Schmansky involved the flurry of big, lop-sided trades he made in such a short period of time. In his first trade, he sent goaltender Jaroslav Halak to Hollywood for Devante Smith Pelly and a second round draft pick. In his last trade, he tried sending all-star forward Rick Nash and all-star goalie Jonas Hiller to Victoria for Nick Foligno, Artem Anisimov, Jason Akeson, Spencer Machacek, and Rob Schremp.
“The trade made absolutely zero sense for the Mustangs especially after Schmansky already dealt Halak,” North Bay GM Mike Brunetta said. “Maybe if he was getting some blue-chip prospects in return but he’s not. The only nice piece is Artem Anisimov but he doesn’t make up for the rest of the deal. If you look at the Mustangs depth chart, Anisimov would be slotted behind Ryan Getzlaf, Patrice Bergeron, and Brandon Sutter which means Anisimov would be a bench player.”
Several other GMs in the AFHL agreed with Brunetta’s view, including Toronto GM Jordan Carbone.
“Makes no sense at all,” Carbone said. “This guy is taking a cup contending team and ruining it. All he had to do is make some minor trades. Even if he made no trades at all, the current roster would have contended for years to come with the core Blake Wilson built. He’s basically throwing it all away for nothing. Howard, Hiller, and Halak were the best goalie tandem in the league. Okay, so he traded Halak, we’re all over that. But now for him to also trade away Hiller and not get a goalie in return is just f*cked. To rely on just Howard or any one goalie in this league is a recipe for disaster. Ask Buffalo GM Daryn Beckman how he felt when Craig Anderson went down last season.”
Carbone also pointed out the goaltending depth on Victoria’s side of the deal.
“Victoria has Carey Price, Steve Mason, Devan Dubnyk, and Jack Campbell as top goalie options. At least one of those goalies should be going back to Windsor. For Schmansky to trade Nash and Hiller and not get a goalie in return is just stupid.“
Montreal GM Keith Cancilla described it as brutal.
“It’s brutal,” Cancilla said. “I would have traded way better prospects for Nash and Hiller. The trade has to be vetoed. There’s no value going back to the Mustangs. Two proven players for a bunch of prospects.”
When the commissioner was asked how he felt about Schmansky’s approach to trading, he said his main priority should have been to get the biggest return while filling a need.
“Running a franchise in the AFHL is just like running a business,” Furino said. “You always want to look at all of your options before you make a big decision. Before you trade any superstar player, you’ve got to make contact with as many GMs as possible so you can be certain that you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck. Clearly, Schmansky did not do that. So despite his commitment to me that he could work in this environment, his flurry of big trades in less than two weeks, in the offseason with no reason to rush, expressed to me his philosophical opposition to winning in the AFHL.”
Schmansky did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
“We appreciate the time and effort Tom has put into his two week tenure here in the AFHL,” Furino said. “He’s a good man but unfortunately he’s got the right skill set for the wrong league. We wish him all of the best in his future endeavors.”
Furino added that he will hire another new GM for the Mustangs franchise by the end of next week.