Led by head coach Kevin Dineen (entering his fourth season with the team), the New Jersey Devils’ AHL affiliate will look to return to the Calder Cup playoffs after missing out for the first time since moving to Utica in 2021-22. In 2023-24, the Utica Comets went 32-29-5-6, which was not good enough to make the postseason. Given how desolate their roster became at time, due to injuries with the big club, and injury woes of their own, it was a miracle the team was still within striking distance of a potential playoff spot.
If the team wants to return to the playoffs in 2024-25, the Comets will need to be one of the top-five finishers in the AHL’s North Division. The top three North Division teams will get an automatic advancement to the second round, while the No. 4 and 5 teams in the North will need to play a best-of-three series. Last year, the Comets finished sixth in the seven-team division.
The 2024-25 season got underway last weekend where the Comets dropped their first two games in convincing fashion. On Friday, the Comets lost 5-0 to Syracuse, then on Saturday, Utica lost 4-1. It was certainly not the beginning to the season Dineen and staff wanted and they’ll look to get into the win column Saturday and Sunday against Belleville and Toronto, respectively.
Forwards
Last year, the Comets scored the 16th-most goals in the AHL. Additionally, their power play was the second worst in the league. This year, with some more consistency in personnel up front, the team will look to improve on both those rankings, especially the woeful power play.
The offense features three of the Comets’ six (including defenseman Andy Welinski who is on a PTO) veteran players, according to AHL rules (note, only five can be in the lineup at once). Those three are Ryan Schmelzer, Joe Gambardella, and Justin Dowling. Schmelzer, who is set to captain the Comets for the fourth-straight season, had a career season with 52 points in 2023-24. Meanwhile, Gambardella (who is still rehabbing from surgery according to Ben Birnell of the Sentinel Media Co.) and Dowling have combined for 934 AHL games and 610 career AHL points.
Elsewhere, Max Willman and Shane Bowers both have several years of AHL experience while Willman has 68 NHL games under his belt. The Devils acquired the 25-year-old, former first-round pick Bowers from the Bruins before the 2023-24 season for defenseman Reilly Walsh. In his first season with Utica, Bowers had 14 points in 43 games while also spending eight in the NHL with New Jersey. Willman (29 years old) really excelled with the Comets in 33 games last year, posting 22 points.
Of course, the Comets do also have some intriguing young forward talent with the club. Of those who fit that description are Xavier Parent, Josh Filmon, Nolan Foote, Chase Stillman, Brian Halonen, and Dylan Wendt. Stillman, likely the highest-touted of the bunch, due solely to his status as a 2021 first-round pick, had 24 points in 54 AHL games during his rookie season last year. Foote, who is still only 23 years old, was limited to only eight total games last year due to injury, however, has always performed well in the AHL and seems like a constant threat to crack a NHL roster at some point.
Wendt and Parent are both undrafted free agents with some pedigree. Specifically, Parent, who finished third on the team in scoring last year, excelled at the Prospect Challenge in the offseason and has several years of point-per-game plus production (in the QMJHL and ECHL) under his belt. The most impressive being a 106-point season during his final year in the QMJHL. Meanwhile, Wendt, was signed last year out of Western Michigan University. He had 44 points in 38 games with the program in his final season of college hockey.
Halonen, who is now 25 years old, missed quite a bit of time with injury last year, however, was extremely efficient when he came back. He scored 20 goals in only 35 games, building on a 30-point season in 2022-23, which his first full year at the AHL level. Lastly, Filmon, who was just activated off the injured, non-roster list prior to Utica’s game on Sunday, is only 20 years old and seems like a potential steal in the making. He had back-to-back seasons of a point-per-game plus player in the WHL after being drafted by the Devils in the sixth round of the 2022 draft. His first full season of professional hockey will be worth watching closely.
Other forwards on the roster to begin the season are Nathan Légaré, Jack Malone, Filip Engaras, Mike Hardman, and Samuel Laberge. Meanwhile, Adam Beckman (181 career AHL games) is currently injured but slated to factor in for the Comets at some point.
Defense
Last season, the Comets defense gave up the 11th-most goals in the league. Their penalty kill, however, was very strong, ranking sixth in the AHL. With more continuity, one hopes the five-on-five defense will improve.
As mentioned above, the Comets have three defensemen who fit the AHL’s “veteran rule.” Those are Nick DeSimone, Colton White, and Andy Welinski (PTO). DeSimone has 343 career AHL games under his belt while White and Welinski have 256 and 321 career AHL games, respectively. Each have played over 35 games in the NHL as well. Interestingly enough, White was drafted by the Devils in the sixth round back in 2015. He played several seasons with the Devils’ AHL affiliate before leaving for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons spent with Anaheim/San Diego (NHL/AHL) and returning as a two-way contract free agent this season.
Younger prospects Daniil Misyul, Topias Vilen, and Mikael Diotte all project to play valuable minutes as well. Misyul, a 2019 third-round pick, came over after 184 career KHL games and played his first full season with Utica last season. He has started out on the top pair alongside DeSimone.
Vilen and Diotte, both 21 years old, are intriguing prospects. Vilen was drafted in the fifth round back in 2021 and impressed during 54 AHL games and six ECHL games in his first full season in North America last year. He may be one of the more underrated prospects in the Devils’ system. Unfortunately, he was placed on the injured, non-roster list before the season began, so he is currently missing time with an injury. Lastly, Diotte was an undrafted free agent and signed with the team after a QMJHL junior career that spanned 207 games. In his last QMJHL season in 2023-24, he posted a plus-55 rating and 42 points in 59 games played. As a result, he won the Kevin-Lowe Trophy as the top defensive defenseman in the QMJHL and as a result the Devils rewarded him with an entry-level contract.
Santeri Hatakka, who Devils fans became familiar with last season in 12 games with the big club, also projected to be an integral part of the Comets’ season. However, according to the Devils, Hatakka underwent successful shoulder surgery just before the beginning of the season. His estimated return date has yet to be disclosed.
The last two defensemen on the Comets roster are Will MacKinnon and Jackson van de Leest. MacKinnon is a 24-year-old undrafted free agent who played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire. He has 117 ECHL games under his belt, and got his first taste of AHL action last year with Utica. Van de Leest, 23 years old, also is an undrafted free agent who got his first taste of professional hockey last season with 14 ECHL games and six AHL games with Utica.
Goalies
The Comets are rolling into the season with two goaltenders; Isaac Poulter and Nico Daws.
Daws, now 23 years old, struggled in 10 AHL games last season, posting a .890 save percentage. Of course, he has some NHL experience (46 career games across two seasons) where he has posted a career .894 save percentage and a negative-11.63 goals saved above expected. His longest run in the AHL was for the entirety of the 2022-23 season, posting a .904 save percentage across 33 games. This is an important year in his development, as he is running out of time to emerge as a legit NHL-caliber player.
Poulter was a breakout star for the Comets last year, posting a .911 save percentage in 28 games to go along with a 17-8-1 record. The 23-year-old was rewarded with a two-way contract from the Devils. After spending his junior career with the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL; posting a .911 save percentage in his final junior season, he spent 2022-23 in both the AHL and ECHL. Now, he will look to build on a sensational 2023-24 campaign and further his development.
Additionally, Jeremy Brodeur was assigned to the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder along with fourth-round rookie Tyler Brennan.