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Around the minors: banners, camp cuts and a Hartford reboot

Kitchener, Chicoutimi and Everett raised championship banners while NHL camps sent dozens of players to the AHL.

Ferda Desk·3 min read
A plain championship banner is raised toward the rafters of a small junior hockey arena while players in unmarked jerseys watch from the blue line.
A plain championship banner is raised toward the rafters of a small junior hockey arena while players in unmarked jerseys watch from the blue line.
Illustration: Ferda Hockey

Banners went up across the CHL, NHL camps sent a wave of bodies to the AHL, and a couple of ECHL rooms got their scorers back. Here's the week in the minors.

Three champions raise banners on opening weekend.

Kitchener raised its third Memorial Cup banner and fifth OHL title banner Friday at the Aud, per the CHL. The place was sold out. It was the Rangers' first Memorial Cup in 23 years, won 6-2 over Everett in Kelowna.

Chicoutimi celebrated its first QMJHL title in 32 years, and Everett raised the first WHL championship banner in franchise history Saturday.

Ferda read: three packed barns, three teams that get to play the "defending champ" role every night. Junior hockey's opening weekend is the best free advertising the sport has.

The AHL just got a lot more crowded.

Monday's camp cuts sent eight Bruins to Providence, per Pro Hockey Rumors. Seattle moved 24 players, most to Coachella Valley. Vancouver sent 11 out, most to Abbotsford. Tampa Bay returned seven players to junior and the USHL, and the Islanders sent four to the OHL and WHL.

Ferda read: this is the week AHL coaches find out what they're actually working with. Every one of those Kraken kids is fighting for a Coachella Valley roster spot that didn't exist a week ago.

Hartford is the Rangers' rebuild lab.

The Wolf Pack finished last in the AHL's Atlantic Division at 26-38-5-3 and have made the playoffs three times since 2013, per TheAHL.com's Patrick Williams. New York responded by hiring Jay Leach as head coach in June, with Calder Cup winners Bob Woods and John Stevens on his staff.

The talent coming in includes 2026 fifth-overall pick Alberts Smits, Boston College grad Drew Fortescue and 2024 first-rounder Liam Greentree.

Ferda read: Chris Drury's line about the goalie position being "competitive" is GM-speak for Dylan Garand earning a real look after four AHL seasons. Hartford hasn't mattered in a decade. It's about to.

Carbery goes home to Hershey.

Spencer Carbery coached the Capitals to a 5-2 preseason win over the Flyers at GIANT Center on Monday. He went 104-50-9-8 in that building with the Bears from 2018 to 2021, per NHL.com. Six Capitals who won Calder Cups in Hershey were in the lineup. Carbery on the return: "walking into this building – I get goosebumps."

Ferda read: the AHL is where coaches learn to run a room full of guys who all think they should be somewhere else. Carbery is proof it works as a finishing school for coaches, not just players.

ECHL rooms bring their scorers back.

Idaho re-signed Liam Malmquist, who put up 26 goals and 47 points in 72 games as a rookie last season and earned rookie of the year honors, per the ECHL. Wichita brought back Ryan Finnegan after a career-high 25 points in 60 games.

Ferda read: a 26-goal rookie on an ECHL deal is exactly the kind of guy who gets an AHL call the first time somebody upstairs gets hurt. Idaho kept him. Smart.

Sources