Winnipeg Jets’ AHL Prospect Tracker

The St. John’s IceCaps’ season gets underway this weekend. Training camp is over. A final round of cuts has been made and now the team opens with a short road trip through Springfield and Connecticut before returning to ‘The Rock’ late next week.

The IceCaps are keeping 28 roster players to start the season, but who exactly draws into the lineup remains a question mark. There are a few players that are obvious locks, but who plays at the the bottom of the lineup in game one is anybody’s guess. How the goalies will split work is a question mark too.

Let’s take a look at the Ice Caps Current roster (Starred are players I expect to play in game 1):

Goalies: Edward Pasquale*, Mark Dekanich*

Defensemen: Paul Postma*, Derek Meech*, Zach Redmond*, Julian Melchiori, Will O`Neill, Ben Chiarot, Dean Arsene, Travis Ramsey

Forwards: Carl Klingberg* (LW), Jason Gregoire (LW), Derek Whitmore* (LW), Ivan Telegin (LW), Hunter Tremblay (LW), Ray Kaunisto (LW), Alexander Burmistrov* (C), Patrice Cormier* (C), Ben Maxwell* (C), Eric O`Dell (C), Brian Sutherby (C), Aaron Gagnon* (C), Maxime Macenauer (C), Spencer Machacek* (RW), Jason King* (RW), Kevin Clark (RW),

Injured: Jason Jaffray (LW) (Injured), Raymond Sawada (RW), John Albert (C), Ryan Schnell (LW)

I am not sure which of the remaining players will squeeze into the lineup, but I don’t expect many of the youngsters to ride the pine early. It’s also worth noting that a few of left wingers have spent time on the right side and will likely play there at various points this year, so don’t get married to their listed positions.

From top to bottom, the ‘Caps have some impressive depth. It will be interesting to see how the final roster shakes out. I also suspect that a few players will be reassigned to the ECHL if any more NHL games are cancelled or as injured players get return to action.

Ice Caps October Schedule:

Thoughts:

• It will be interesting to see which goaltender will earns more starts this year. Pasquale showed flashes last year, but Dekanich has been a dominant AHL goaltender.
• Holy crow, the Ice Caps have a ton of gritty two way centres.
• Can Klingberg continue to pile up points like he did in the preseason? I have never seen him as a goal scorer at the NHL level, but he has immense physical gifts. It will be interesting to see what he does in his sophomore season.
• Will the IceCaps have a standout forward this year? Can somebody place themselves among the league's scoring leaders or will the team truly score by committee again this year?
• I am very curious to see how Ivan Telegin and Julian Melchiori look in their first pro seasons. The way they adjust will tell us a lot about their long term potential. If they flash early, they could work their way into big minutes if the lockout ends any time soon.
• I expect Burmistrov to log big minutes. Let’s hope those minutes come with heaps of scoring.

What will you guys be looking for from the Ice Caps? Do you have any expectations? Let us know in the comments section.