Olli Jokinen has been on the chopping block in Florida almost every season for the past eight years.  This year it actually happened.  The Florida Panthers traded Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Keith Ballard (21 points in 82 games in the 2007-08 season with Phoenix), defenseman Nick Boynton (12 points in 79 games last season) and the 49th overall pick.

The Florida Panthers still didn’t have a first round draft pick this season.  So, the first draft day was only truly interesting to major Amerks’ fans through any trades the Panthers made.

This lowers the possibility that Panther prospect Shawn Matthias will ever see time in a Rochester Americans uniform.  The Panthers will be in desperate need for some scoring and Matthias has the possibility to fulfill that role.  In four games with the Panthers last season he scored two goals.  It does open the door even further for the Panthers to sign a veteran center to lead the Amerks.

With the Panthers trading for two defenseman, the chances of current defensive prospects making the jump to the show are greatly dimished.  The Amerks defensive roster will most likely consist of Keaton Ellerby, Franklin MacDonald, Jordan Henry, Peter Aston, Luke Beaverson, and Michael Caruso.  These kids show promise, but shows even more how much of a need the Panthers will need to sign a veteran defenseman to help out, along with a veteran goalie to get through any tough times.

Here is a run down of the rest of the 1st round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft:

There were 13 trades that took place in the first round this year.  This is an outstanding amount concidering between 2003-2007 there were never more than 5 trades that took place in any of the first rounds. 

The 1st round trades from this year are as follows:

Cammellari was traded to the Flames for their 17th pick overall in the first round.

Pick #25 (Montreal) and 2nd round in 2009 to Calgary in exchange for #138 pick (Flames) and Alex Tanguay.

Leafs traded picks #7 this year and either (pick #60 this year and Toronto’s 3rd round pick in 2009) or (#68 this year and 2nd round from 2009) to the Islanders for their #5 pick.

Columbus Blue Jackets trade Pick #19 and 3rd round this year to Philly for RJ Umberger and 4th round pick this year.

Islanders trade #7 pick to Nashville for the #9 pick and the #40 pick

Buffalo Sabres traded pick #13 this year and 3rd round pick in 2009 for Kings’ pick #12.

Nashville trades #15 to Ottawa for #18 and 3rd pick in 2009

Devils traded pick #21 to Washington for picks #23 and #54

Devils trade #23 pick to Wild for pick #24 and 3rd round pick in 2009

Flyers trade #27 pick to Capitals for Steve Eminger and pick #84 this year

Ducks trade pick #28 to Phoenix for #35 and #39 this year

Here are the first thirty picks in the 2008 Draft:

1. Lightning - Steve Stamkos
2. Kings - Drew Doughty
3. Thrashers - Zach Bogosian
4. Blues - Alex Pietrangelo
5. Leafs - Luke Schenn
6. Blue Jackets - Nikita Filatov
7. Nashville - Colin Wilson
8. Coyotes - Mikkel Boedker
9. Islanders - Josh Bailey
10. Canucks (RIP Luc) - Cody Hodgson
11. Blackhawks - Kyle Beach
12. Sabres - Tyler Myers
13. Kings - Colten Teubert
14. Hurricanes - Zach Boychuk
15. Senators - Erik Karlsson
16. Bruins - Joe Colborne
17. Ducks - Jake Gardiner
18. Nashville - Chet Pickard (first goaltender selection)
19. Flyers - Luca Sbisa
20. Rangers - Michael DelZotto
21. Capitals - Anton Gustafsson
22. Oilers - Jordan Eberle
23. Wild - Tyler Cuma
24. Devils - Mattias Tedenby
25. Flames (RIP Mickey) - Greg Nemisz
26. Sabres - Tyler Ennis
27. Capitals - John Carlson
28. Coyotes - Viktor Tikhonov
29. Thrashers - Daultan Leveille
30. Red Wings - Thomas McCollum

The announcement will be made at 3pm Thursday at the arena atrium.  According to the Democrat and Chronicle the following people will be in attendance:

New owner Curt Styres and business partner Lewis Staats, Rochester Mayor Robert J. Duffy, Florida Panthers scout Jack Birch, American Hockey League vice president of marketing Chris Nikolis, National Lacrosse League commissioner Jim Jennings and arena general manager Jeff Calkins.

It has been a rough six months being an Amerks fan.  We didn’t know if the team would ever be purchased.  We didn’t know if the City of Rochester would ever negotiate a new lease with the team.  Many of us were confident things would work themselves out, but there was that chance we wouldn’t have AHL hockey in Rochester for the coming season.

Everything has worked itself out, there will be Amerks hockey, there is a new owner, a new lease, and it’s exciting to have a new NHL affiliation with the Florida Panthers.  Yes, I said excited to have the Florida Panthers coming to town.

A number of people are still going to be upset if Steve Donner is involved in any way with the team.  A number of people are going to be upset that the Buffalo Sabres are gone.  A number of people are saying that Mayor Duffy’s credibility is shot if the City did sign a new lease with Donner involved in any way.

Those people are justified.  It is now up to the Florida Panthers to help bring a winning Amerks team to Rochester in the coming years.  Actually, as long as they can produce a better team in Rochester than the Sabres do in Portland all will be forgotten, otherwise the “turmoil” will continue.

The new ownership of the Rochester Americans has a lot of work to do to convince fans to come back after the worst season in team history.  The Florida Panthers also have a lot of work to do to convince a town full of Sabres fans that they are dedicated to producing winning hockey in Rochester.  The Amerks winning is the only thing that matters moving forward.  If they win, people will come.

I’m confident that if everyone involved is dedicated to those things this new affiliation will be successful.

If the Amerks and Panthers are able to get the players out into the community I think they can and will win fans back.  It may be tough in a town full of Sabres fans, but it’s possible.  The Panthers prospects are some of the nicest people in the world.  They are friendly, dedicated, and don’t expect to be treated like celebrities (like some Sabres players did).

I would imagine that the affiliation deal will only be for a few seasons.  The Sabres signed a three year deal in Portland.  If the Panthers can’t produce a winning team and the Sabres get there act together at the AHL level, it’d only make sense for the Amerks and Sabres to get back together (especially only being separated by an hour drive).

No one is sure if the Amerks will be looking for fan input for the coming season, but we’re going to start writing some ideas we have that would help out in getting fans excited again, maybe someone at the Arena will take notice.

Kevin O said it best on his blog, “Boy, won’t it be nice to just talk about hockey for the next five years or so.”

A number of people have questioned whether it was really over, but news of the past few days has made everything all but official.

The Portland Pirates were previously affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks have now reached an agreement to be the NHL affiliate of the Iowa Stars.

With that deal official, Regier said Monday he soon will reveal plans about his team’s future.

The Iowa Stars were previously affiliated with the Dallas Stars. A spokesman for the Dallas Stars, who ended their affiliation with the Iowa Stars after two seasons, said last week the team will assign its minor league players to two AHL teams next season. Those two teams being the Portland Pirates and Iowa Stars.

So the Buffalo Sabres will be back to sharing an affiliation with an AHL team.

All of this opens the door for the Florida Panthers to be the sole NHL parent team of the Rochester Americans after sharing them with the Buffalo Sabres for the past two seasons.

Amerks fans have consistently said they do not want a dual affiliation. With the Sabres going back to that, all signs point to the team leaving as a good sign. The Florida Panthers have said they are committed to producing a winning team in the AHL as the sole affiliate, something the Sabres weren’t willing to do.

Only time will tell if the Sabres leaving has any sort of negative impact, but one thing is for certain, nothing can really be worse than last season for the Amerks franchise (knock on wood).

We made the road trip to not only get our fix of hockey, but to also check out many likely players that will fill the Rochester Americans lineup next season (assuming the Panthers become the sole affiliate).

Speaking of the affiliation, any player that was on the Amerks team last season showed a great sigh of relief when asked about last season.  All were happy that it’s over and are already focusing on next year.  I did ask if anyone had heard anything about the affiliation being made official and heard two responses, “it’s up in the air,” and “within a couple of weeks.”  All things that we have heard before.

One way to speculate that it’s more or less a done deal is that Amerk equipment manager Peter Bureaux was working the camp and dressed in Panther gear.

We had previously mentioned that it was a sort of “pre rookie” camp, but it in fact is rookie camp for the summer.  The Panthers typically hold rookie camp in July but they wanted to get a great look at all of there prospects before the draft takes place and see where they are at for next season.

Notable players missing from the camp were Stefan Meyer, Drew Larman, Rob Globke, Adam Taylor, and Anthony Stewart.  All players that still have not been resigned at this time.

Tyler Plante was not at camp either but is recovering from shoulder surgery.

Derrick Lapoint (4th Round pick in 2006) has been at camp but unable to practice as he recovers from a concussion suffered about a month ago.

It was a fast paced hard workout during the morning and afternoon sessions on the ice.  Having watched many Amerks practices last season it was like watching a different team but with the same players, if that makes sense.  The coaches were engaged and let the players know when they did well, and especially when they didn’t.  Something rarely heard or seen at Amerk practices.

Two factors could have attributed to that - the coaches, or the dual affiliation.  It was often easy to see the divide between the two sides.  It was probably also tough at times for the Amerk coaches to handle players the way there parent teams wanted, rather than one team.

It was well worth the three plus hour drive to Canada to spend the day at camp.  It was not only exciting to be watching hockey, but also exciting to watch a young group of players enjoying themselves and working hard.  Last seasons Amerk team often enjoyed themselves as well, but that didn’t result in much in terms of performance.  Time will only tell.

We will have much more over the coming days as far as details about individual players.

I’ll leave you with a list of those on the Teen Ranch Roster 2008:

Sergei Gaiduchenko(Goalie)
Michal Repik
David Shantz (Goalie)
Dan Collins
Tanner Glass
Corey Syvret
Keaton Ellerby
Brian Foster (Goalie)
Shawn Matthias
Franklin MacDonald
Derrick LaPoint
David Brine
Brady Calla
Luke Beaverson
Andrew Sweetland
Jason Garrison
Jordan Henry
Lachlan MacIntosh
Evgeni Dadonov
Selleck (not the actor Tom)
Michael Caruso
David Jarram
Michael Frolik
Peter Aston
Kenndal McArdle

The Florida Panthers have invited Lachlan MacIntosh from the University of New Brunswick, based on what we can find he is the player with the highest potential.

Courtesy of the Bugle Observer:

Right winger Lachlan MacIntosh, who had 227 points for Woodstock in three seasons (2003-2006), will be a special invitee by the Florida Panthers to its annual Teen Ranch pre-rookie development camp set for the May 26 weekend in New Caledon, Ontario.

The 22-year-old from Perth-Andover said last week he’s excited, and looking forward, to the opportunity to show his skills for the Panthers.

“It’s been a bit surreal,” said the University of New Brunswick skater, who stands 5′ 11” and weighs 184 pounds. “I’ve been told it’s the main pre-camp before the big rookie camp the Panthers hold every year. I will be going there to show them what type of player I am, to show my skills, and my physical game. Coach Tatarnic has always had a great impact on my career and I’m hoping to use what I learned from him, and being a Slammer, at camp.”

Courtesy of MJAHL.com:

The 22-year-old from Perth-Andover said last week he’s excited, and looking forward, to the opportunity to show his skills for the Panthers.

“It’s been a bit surreal,” said the University of New Brunswick skater, who stands 5′ 11” and weighs 184 pounds. “I’ve been told it’s the main pre-camp before the big rookie camp the Panthers hold every year. I will be going there to show them what type of player I am, to show my skills, and my physical game. Coach Tatarnic has always had a great impact on my career and I’m hoping to use what I learned from him, and being a Slammer, at camp.”

“Lachlan was a pure offensive player when I first arrived in Woodstock, but he worked on becoming an all-around player, and that has continued during his time at UNB under Gardner MacDougall and the V-Red program Tatarnic said. “He’s one of the most talented players I have ever coached for the Slammers and he was one of the best players at the CIS Nationals this year. He’ll do great. Either way, he’s someone who I know will also work on finishing his degree no matter what happens.”

We’ll share more information as it becomes available.

Frolik, Florida’s first round pick (10th overall) in 2006, spent the past two years playing for Rimouski of the Quebec junior league — the same team Sidney Crosby played for before he jumped into the NHL with much aplomb.

I would have the think Michael is going to have a very good shot at making next year’s squad out of training camp, and that’s probably the reason this deal took so long in getting done. The Panthers don’t have very many roster spots open at the current time, so look for some buy-outs to be on the way. I think Florida would like to have Frolik and Shawn Matthias — among others — to have a real shot to make it out of training camp.

Says Jacques: “We are confident he will help our organization for a long time. Michael has had two strong seasons with Rimouski and he is ready to compete for and earn a spot on our roster.”

The Panthers are done as far as prospects go, with d-man Keaton Ellerby (first round pick, 10th overall in 2007) signed earlier this month.

———–

Hopes are high on this kid, the rosters for next season are starting to take shape for both the Amerks and Panthers.

Martin Lojek was drafted in the 4th round, 105th overall, 2003 Entry Draft by the Florida Panthers. With the end of the 2007/08 season Lojek was to become a restricted free agent and likely continue to play in the AHL if he had been resigned by the Panthers.

Lojek has played in at least part of the past three seasons for the Rochester Americans on defense. In 156 games with the Amerks he tallied 13 goals and 19 assists. He only played in 5 games for the Florida Panthers where he had one assist.

Lojek is a big player at 6′4″ and over 230lbs, he needs to learn to use his body and become more involved in plays. Unless he finds a way to do that, it’s unlikely we’ll see him return to North American hockey.

From GuelphStorm.com: Mike Caruso Signs with Panthers

The Florida Panthers signed defenceman Mike Caruso to an entry-level contract on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Caruso, a 2006 fourth-round pick by the Panthers, recently completed his fourth full season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Guelph Storm.
 
The Mississauga native totaled 34 points, 10 goals and 24 assists in 62 games played and led the team in plus minus with a +21 rating.

Assuming the Florida Panthers are the Amerks’ affiliate next season, there is a good chance that Michael Caruso could be seen in Red, White and Blue within the next season or two.The Florida Panthers have now signed all but one of their 2006 draft picks who need to be signed by May 31st.  This is important because if they fail to do so, they could lose those players and they go back into the draft-pool.

The last player they need to sign is left wing, Michael Frolik.  He was the Panthers’ 10th overall draft pick in 2006.  Frolik has 138 points (55 goals, 83 assists) in 97 games with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic over the last two Seasons.  Most scouts believe he will be a star in the NHL within a few years.

The Florida Panthers have been taking care of business on all levels so far this off-season.  Former Amerk, Kamil Kreps was signed to a two-year contract with the Panthers after a good year in the NHL.  Wade Belak, who was aquired by the Panthers from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline, was also signed for two-years with the Cats.

As for the younger players, the Panthers have signed four players who should play in Rochester soon.  Luke Beaverson was the first signed.  He played six games with the Amerks this year and seemed to be a guy not afraid to play physical.  Something the Amerks have been lacking lately.

Also signed is Keaton Ellerby, a very promising defenseman who was the Florida Panthers’ 1st round draft pcik (10th overall) in 2007.  At 6′4″, the young defenseman needs to put on a little bit of weight at only 190 lbs.  But, that seems to be his only real problem.  He is seen by scouts as being a tough physical player who is more than willing to drop the gloves and throw some punches.

Brady Calla was signed recently by the Panthers as well.  He is a good two-way player who can fill a void on the 3rd line.  A good fast grinder.

With this most recent signing of Mike Caruso, the Panthers are showing they mean business and want to get things done.  This is great for the Amerks…assuming the Panthers are going to be stocking the lineup here in Rochester this coming season.

Besides waiting for lease and affiliation agreements to be announced, all Amerks’ fans can do right now is assume.  And here on LetsGoAmerks, we are going to assume that the Panthers are going to be our parent team until proven otherwise.

We are anixously awaiting July 1st when the Panthers can start signing veterans for their AHL team.  There are a few things that are needed more than anything to make the Amerks a contender again the the AHL.  And veteran players are on the top of that list.

LetsGoAmerks will have more updates throughout the rest of the summer and things become more clear.  Any lease or affiliation information can be found here.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers General Manager Jacques Martin announced today (May 20, 2008) that the club has agreed to terms on an entry level contract with RW Brady Calla.

Calla, 20, played in 52 games with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League after being traded from the Moose Jaw Warriors, for Panthers prospect D Keaton Ellerby, 16 games into the 2007-08 season. With the Blazers, Calla had 30 points (10-20-30) and 52 penalty minutes. Calla played in 39 games for Moose Jaw during the 2006-07 season, scoring 32 points (12-20-32) in 39 games. In four playoff games this spring for the Blazers, Calla had two assists.

“Brady is a young prospect who works hard, has defensive responsibility and plays with a physical presence,” said Martin. “We are very pleased to have signed a high-character individual like Brady and we look forward to his continued development and growth into a complete player within our organization.”

The 6-foot-0, 190-pound right wing, played for Team Canada and won the gold medal as alternate captain at the 2005-2006 U-18 World Championship. He was a member of Team Cherry at the 2006 CHL/NHL Top Prospects game.

Calla was drafted by the Panthers in the third round (73rd overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.