The training camp roster for the Toronto Marlies was released Monday.
In many ways, it could also be seen as the initial training-camp lineup for the Newfoundland Growlers.
A total of 36 players are listed for the Marlies’ camp, which begins in earnest today with on-ice sessions in Toronto. However, with 20 or more contracted players — or a full team’s worth — still to be cut by the parent Toronto Maple Leafs and sent to the American Hockey League, much of the first-wave Marlies can be expected to be eventually bumped down to the ECHL’s Growlers.
The Marlies’ start-up group of three dozen breaks down this way:
• Two goaltenders — Kasimir Kaskisuo and Eaamon McAdam — signed to National Hockey League contracts with the Maple Leafs.
• Fifteen players, including St. John’s native Zach O’Brien and injured centre Kristian Pospisil, signed to AHL contracts with the Marlies.
• Five players — goalie Michael Garteig, defencemen James Melindy of Goulds and Kristians Rubins, and forwards Marcus Power of St. John’s and Semyon Babintsev — who are signed to ECHL contracts directly with the Growlers and are attending the Marlies’ camp on a try-out basis.
• Twelve other players attending on a tryout basis, including netminder Justin Peters, forward Eric Selleck and defenceman Kyle Cumiskey, three 30-somethings who have played in the NHL.
• Two defencemen — Sean Durzi and Mac Hollowell — who were drafted by the Maple Leafs in June, but are still unsigned. Both are age-eligible to turn professional this season, but both can also be returned to the junior ranks as overagers.
Some notes, based on the above:
• Of the six players who have already been signed directly by the Growlers, only defenceman Adam Pardy — who is seen as the likely first-ever captain of the ECHL expansion team — is not attending the Marlies’ camp, apparently by his own choice.
“There is no specific reason,” the 32-year former NHLer told The Telegram Monday night, “(but) I have no real interest in it … been to enough camps.”
• While most of the other Growlers will come out of the contingent signed to AHL deals, it’s well worth paying attention to all those tryouts, including those looking to extend their careers.
Cumiskey, for instance, has played in 139 NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks, winning a Stanley Cup with the latter team in 2015, but injuries and resulting surgery limited the 31-year-old to just 29 games in the past three years and he didn’t play at all last season.
And then there is Peters, who has appeared in over 80 big-league games with the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals and Arizona Coyotes. It’s likely the 32-year-old goalie has been brought in as insurance in case any one of Garrett Sparks, Curtis McIlhenny or Calvin Pickard, the trio battling to be Frederik Andersen’s backup with the Leafs, departs via trade or waivers.
But in any case, if Peters and/or Cumiskey are signed for the Marlies, it will push a player to the Growlers, or at the very least keep one in the ECHL for the time being.
• There is always the longshot chance either of these former NHLers could end up in Newfoundland, keeping in mind that there are rules regarding how many veteran players (not including goaltenders) ECHL teams can have in their game-day lineups.
However, as far as potential Growlers among the tryouts go, the focus should perhaps be more on the likes of centre Quentin Shore, the former Ottawa Senators draft pick who spent the last two seasons in the ECHL; winger Jakub Stukel, drafted but unsigned by the Vancouver Canucks, and who earlier this year finished up a Western Hockey League career that has seen him accomplish the rare feat of having played major junior games in six different seasons; or even the 6-3 Selleck, a 30-year-old heavyweight with hard hands and pretty quick feet. Since 2010, that’s been enough to get the big guy into three NHL contests and to earn berths with eight different AHL clubs, averaging three PIMs per game in the process.
The first assignments to the Growlers could be made later this week, with the Newfoundland team’s own training camp beginning Sunday, where yet another group of tryout players, including forward and Bonavista native Scott Trask, will be among the participants.
The Growlers’ first of three exhibition games — all against the Beast — is Thursday, Oct. 4 in Stephenville, with the others to follow Oct. 5 in Deer Lake and Oct. 7 in Clarenville.
The club’s inaugural regular season begins Oct. 12 at home at Mile One Centre against the Florida Everblades.
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