Here’s an excerpt from the Hockey’s Future article by Jason Menard who previews how the Hamilton Bulldogs roster will look for the 2008-09 AHL season:
Forwards
There has been a fair amount of turnover in the Bulldogs’ forward corps. It was a case of out with the old regime and in with the new. Long-time Bulldogs such as Corey Locke and Duncan Milroy have said goodbye to the Steel City and Bob Gainey/Trevor Timmins-era draftees are filling those key roles. Even last year’s captain Ajay Baines headed west in the off-season to join Anaheim’s organization.
The first round of cuts is over and players like Max Pacioretty and Ben Maxwell are still with the big club. However, both are expected to be playing key roles in the new Hamilton era. Pacioretty was signed after just one year of college, and the organization is very high on his performance. In addition to the aforementioned duo, both Gregory Stewart and Matt D’Agostini are still at the Habs’ camp. This quartet is expected to be the backbone of this year’s edition of the club, with Stewart and D’Agostini expected to be among the first call-ups to the NHL.
Other new additions to the Bulldogs’ line-up include Ryan White, J.T. Wyman, Yanick Lehoux, Ryan Flinn, and Olivier Latendresse. Brock Trotter, signed out of the University of Denver mid-way through last season, is looking to build on a promising start in his first full campaign. Finally, Mathieu Aubin will look to stick with the AHL club full time this year after bouncing back and forth between the ECHL and AHL.
The forwards are deep and talented, with a solid diversity of speed, size, and talent. However, this influx of new talent could take a while to gel, especially considering Pacioretty and Wyman and just out of the collegiate ranks, and Maxwell and White are one year removed from the juniors. One thing that would help this tradition would be strong leadership, but the return of their best potential leader is currently in the air, as Kyle Chipchura stands a solid chance of earning a role in Montreal.