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AHL's Tucson Roadrunners File Plan To Split Season Between Tempe, Tucson

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The Stars will remain without first-line center Roope Hintz as they kick off the Western Conference Final against the Oilers tonight, head coach Peter DeBoer said (via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). He remains day-to-day and is an option to return for Game 2 on Saturday.

Hintz sustained an upper-body injury in Game 4 of the second round against the Avalanche and hasn’t played since. The Finnish pivot had struggled to produce up to expectations with two goals and six points in 11 games, but the re-emergence of 21-year-old Wyatt Johnston as a post-season x-factor has canceled that out.

Just capping off his sixth NHL season, Hintz had 65 points in 80 regular season contests. Matt Duchene takes his place on the top line between Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski, while Johnston and Logan Stankoven form a formidable depth attack alongside veteran Jamie Benn. Dallas has gotten scoring from everywhere – Craig Smith is their only forward without a goal thus far – a trend that will need to continue to offset Edmonton’s superior star power.

Elsewhere out West:

  • Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland would like to bring back pending unrestricted free agent winger Jonathan Drouin, saying during today’s end-of-season media availability that, as of today, it won’t be a challenge with their offseason cap cushion (via Meghan Angley of DNVR Sports). However, it would be extremely difficult to fit him in if he signed at market value once Gabriel Landeskog comes off long-term injured reserve and Valeri Nichushkin is activated from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, both of which are expected to happen at some point in the 2024-25 season. Evolving Hockey pegs a Drouin extension in Colorado to come in at $4.75MM annually for four seasons. Playing a significant chunk of the season alongside former major junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon, Drouin had a career-high 37 assists and 56 points in 79 games.
  • Professional hockey may stay in Tempe’s Mullett Arena next season, at least on a temporary basis. The AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, the former affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, are filing a proposal to split their 2024-25 home games between Mullett and the Tucson Convention Center, reports Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports. The Roadrunners are expected to re-affiliate with the NHL Utah franchise next season after they purchased the Coyotes’ hockey operations, moving them to Salt Lake City after a nearly three-decade stint in the desert. Coyotes/Roadrunners owner Alex Meruelo, who still owns the branding and naming rights to the club and can re-activate the franchise with a new arena built within five years, previously said it was a priority to have the AHL club maintain a connection to the Phoenix metro area by playing games at Mullett. The AHL’s Board of Governors will vote to approve the plan next Thursday, Morgan said.

NHL-Affiliated Prospects Playing In 2024 Memorial Cup

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The field for the 2024 Memorial Cup, the top club tournament in junior hockey, is set. The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, the OHL’s London Knights and the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors all swept their respective league championship series within the last two days to advance to the CHL championship tournament, joining the host Saginaw Spirit of the OHL.

This year marks the first Memorial Cup held in the United States since 1998, which was hosted by the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. The Spirit will attempt to become the first U.S.-based team to win since the Chiefs in 2008, and they have a strong chance. They’re stronger than a typical host team, finishing second in the league in the regular season with a 50-16-2 record and trailing London by just two points. They were eliminated by London in six games in the Western Conference Final.

The Knights lead the way with 10 NHL-affiliated prospects on their roster, including two first-round picks in Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk and Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan. The latter was named the OHL playoffs MVP after leading the Knights in scoring with 10 goals, 24 assists and 34 points in just 18 games. He had 15 points in four games in their championship sweep over the Oshawa Generals.

If you’re looking for some non-Stanley Cup Playoff hockey to watch, check to see if your favorite NHL team has prospects suiting up in the tournament, which begins May 24:

Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL champion)

D Mikaël Diotte (Devils, free agent signing)
RW Ethan Gauthier (Lightning, 2023, 37th overall)
RW Alexis Gendron (Flyers, 2022, 220th overall)
D Vsevolod Komarov (Sabres, 2022, 134th overall)

NHL Utah 2022 first-round pick D Maveric Lamoureux is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March.

London Knights (OHL champion)

C Denver Barkey (Flyers, 2023, 95th overall)
D Oliver Bonk (Flyers, 2023, 22nd overall)
C Easton Cowan (Maple Leafs, 2023, 28th overall)
D Jackson Edward (Bruins, 2022, 200th overall)
D Isaiah George (Islanders, 2022, 98th overall)
RW Kasper Halttunen (Sharks, 2023, 36th overall)
C Jacob Julien (Jets, 2023, 146th overall)
C Kaleb Lawrence (Kings, 2022, 215th overall)
C Max McCue (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Landon Sim (Blues, 2022, 184th overall)

Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL champion)

RW Jagger Firkus (Kraken, 2022, 35th overall)
D Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets, 2022, 12th overall)
D Kalem Parker (Wild, 2023, 181st overall)
D Vojtech Port (Ducks, 2023, 161st overall)
LW Martin Rysavy (Blue Jackets, 2021, 197th overall)
C Matthew Savoie (Sabres, 2022, 9th overall)
C Brayden Yager (Penguins, 2023, 14th overall)

Saginaw Spirit (host)

C Owen Beck (Canadiens, 2022, 33rd overall)
LW Josh Bloom (Canucks, acquired from Sabres in 2023 trade for Riley Stillman)
D Rodwin Dionicio (Ducks, 2023, 129th overall)
D Jorian Donovan (Senators, 2022, 136th overall)
C Hunter Haight (Wild, 2022, 47th overall)
C Ethan Hay (Lightning, 2023, 211th overall)
G Nolan Lalonde (Blue Jackets, free agent signing)
C Matyas Sapovaliv (Golden Knights, 2022, 48th overall)
C Joseph Willis (Predators, 2023, 111th overall)

Connor Ingram Wins 2024 Masterton Trophy

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On Tuesday, the NHL revealed the winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award.  Today, they announced that goaltender Connor Ingram is the recipient of the 2024 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

The 27-year-old was mired in the minors early on in his career before stepping aside in 2021 to treat a previously undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder and lingering depression, entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  He returned for the 2021-22 season, making his NHL debut with Nashville while putting up strong numbers with AHL Milwaukee.

That performance was enough for Arizona to put in a claim for him on waivers in 2022-23, a move that worked out well for both sides.  After a slow start, Ingram played to a respectable .907 SV% on a rebuilding team while posting a 3.37 GAA.  That was enough for the Coyotes to give him a three-year, $5.85MM contract last summer.  He rewarded them by maintaining that same save percentage while shaving 45 points off his GAA while playing in a career-best 50 games, positioning himself as the starter heading into their first season in Utah.

Other finalists for the award were Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen and Calgary defenseman Oliver Kylington.  Andersen returned after missing most of the season due to blood clots while Kylington was away from the team for more than a year and a half for mental health reasons before returning this season.

The NHL will now take a bit of time off from announcing its award winners.  Next up on the schedule will be Saturday when the Selke Trophy winner will be revealed.

Offseason Checklist: NHL Utah

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The offseason has arrived for three-quarters of the NHL for teams that either missed the playoffs or were eliminated in the first round.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Utah.

The hockey operations staff that formerly comprised the Arizona Coyotes entered the 2023-24 campaign looking to take a measured step forward. They’d last made the playoffs in 2012, excluding the COVID bubble, and had already seen one season of improvement under head coach André Tourigny.

Early on, it looked like they may have had a prayer of ending their playoff drought, keeping pace in the wild-card race with a 19-14-2 record on New Year’s Day. Without a suitable arena plan in place by the All-Star break, though, relocation rumors again surged and, as players and staff have since admitted, fueled a long run of losing play.

They still ended the season with a respectable 36 wins, their most since 2019, and look a step closer to playoff contention. Under new ownership in Utah and a relatively endless supply of cap space and draft picks this summer, general manager Bill Armstrong has the opportunity to accelerate the yet-to-be-named roster’s rebuild in a big way.

Take Care Of Their Own

As a result of their previous situation, Utah has one of the lowest amounts of standard player contracts signed for next season in the league (22). That impact is felt mostly on defense, where not a single NHL-ready player is signed for 2024-25.

The good news is only two of their NHL regulars on the back end, Josh Brown and Travis Dermott, are unrestricted free agents. Everybody else is under team control, including their youthful top pairing of Sean Durzi and J.J. Moser.

The former relished the opportunity of being the Coyotes’ number-one defenseman last season, his first in the desert after they acquired him from the Kings last June. He responded with a career-best 41 points and a -1 rating in 76 games, averaging 22:43 per game and quarterbacking their top power-play unit. His possession impacts at even strength were among the best on the team, and while he may not be a long-term number-one guy on a championship team, he solidified his status as a first-pairing piece for the present. Evolving Hockey projects Durzi to receive a four-year deal worth around $5.9MM per season, an agreement both sides should be happy with.

Moser, who was also solid this season with 26 points in 80 games riding shotgun with Durzi, also needs a new deal. The 23-year-old has completed his entry-level contract. Michael Kesselring and Juuso Välimäki, who each held top-four roles for a decent chunk of the season, are also RFAs.

Utah has much less contractual work to do with their forwards. Among NHL regulars, only Barrett Hayton is an RFA, while enforcer Liam O’Brien is headed for unrestricted free agency but seems a good bet to re-sign. Nonetheless, gearing up for a big offseason spending spree will require a better indication of what their salary cap picture will look like with their RFAs and other returning players taken care of – especially if Armstrong and owners Smith Entertainment Group plan on gracing the $87.7MM upper limit.

Land An Impact Defenseman

The Coyotes’ biggest improvement last season was their offense. Ranking 16th in the league at 3.10 goals per game, it was certainly good enough to get them into the playoffs if their defense saw a marked improvement from last season.

Obviously, that wasn’t the case. Outside of Durzi and Moser, it was a rough go for most Coyotes blue-liners last season. Even Välimäki and Kesselring had some good moments throughout the year, but other regulars like Dermott and Mathew Dumba, prior to his trade to the Lightning, were bleeding quality chances against on a nightly basis.

Reports earlier in the month indicated that a top-four defenseman, along with a second-line center and a top-six winger, was on Armstrong’s shopping list for Utah’s roster this summer. A cursory look suggests it should be his biggest priority.

Kesselring and Välimäki proved last season they could stay afloat, each logging possession metrics slightly better than the team average. But having both of them in a top-four isn’t ideal, especially with a solid but pedestrian first pairing in Durzi and Moser. Adding a right-shot defenseman to complement Välimäki to slot in behind Durzi on the depth chart, allowing Kesselring to be increasingly effective in third-pairing minutes, would have a considerable domino effect. Can Armstrong land a Brett Pesce or Matt Roy on the UFA market? He’ll certainly have the cash.

Complement Cooley

Priority number two behind adding a defenseman among Armstrong’s already-dictated targets is adding a complement for Logan Cooley as a top-six center. The 2022 third-overall pick struggled early on in the season, getting caved defensively and failing to drive play, but settled in throughout the season en route to a solid 20-goal, 44-point rookie campaign. Averaging nearly 16 minutes per game, he’s not quite ready to be a bonafide first-liner between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, but he’s getting there. They’ll need some help to avoid overextending him too early in his career, though.

Adding a 1B center who can split top-six duties with Cooley would allow Nick Bjugstad and Hayton to center the club’s third and fourth lines, suddenly creating extremely solid depth considering they both rose to the occasion when relied upon for top-six usage this season. They can occupy top-six minutes to ease the burden on Cooley if necessary, but it’s not ideal if Armstrong and Smith believe playoffs should be in the conversation for Utah in 2024-25. The production wasn’t there for Hayton, who had just three goals and 10 points in 33 games despite spending most of his time when healthy next to Keller, but his 54.9 CF% at even strength was the best on the team, and he looks to be a reliable, two-way pivot to anchor their third line in the long term.

Jack McBain is also in the mix at center but, like the others, is much more comfortable in a bottom-six role. There aren’t many bonafide top-six options on the free agent center market this summer, so if Armstrong is looking to leverage some of Utah’s many upcoming second-round picks, it would be wise to do so.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Hockey Canada Releases 2024 World Championship Roster

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May 7: Celebrini and Fantilli have returned home from Czechia, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The former will participate in tonight’s 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, while Fantilli’s reasons for departing are undisclosed. It’s unclear whether they’ve been removed from the roster entirely. In a corresponding transaction, the team added Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul to the roster.

May 3: Hockey Canada has released its roster of 22 players who will wear the maple leaf at the 2024 World Championship, which begins next week in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. There are three open spots left to be filled throughout the tournament as more teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Much like the initial World Championship roster that USA Hockey released weeks back, it’s almost completely made up of NHL talent – a rarity for the top-level countries at this tournament recently. The return and promise of future best-on-best international tournaments in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics has players and front offices looking at this year’s Worlds as a tune-up and initial evaluation for those events.

In fact, the only non-NHL player on Canada’s tournament-opening roster will be in the league next season. That’s presumptive 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who continues his 2023-24 campaign after taking home the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in his freshman season with Boston University. Their offense is highlighted and led by Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard and Kraken sniper Jared McCann, while Sabres defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power highlight the back end. Blues netminder Jordan Binnington is expected to serve as the team’s starter.

The full roster is as follows:

F Connor Bedard (Blackhawks)
F Michael Bunting (Penguins)
F Macklin Celebrini (2024 draft-eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (Sabres)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Ridly Greig (Senators)
F Dylan Guenther (NHL Utah)
F Andrew Mangiapane (Flames)
F Jack McBain (NHL Utah)
F Jared McCann (Kraken)
F Dawson Mercer (Devils)
F Brandon Tanev (Kraken)

D Bowen Byram (Sabres)
D Kaiden Guhle (Canadiens)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Kraken)
D Colton Parayko (Blues)
D Owen Power (Sabres)
D Damon Severson (Blue Jackets)
D Olen Zellweger (Ducks)

G Jordan Binnington (Blues)
G Nico Daws (Devils)
G Joel Hofer (Blues)

Utah To Build New Practice Facility

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Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks will return to Milwaukee for another pre-season game at the Fiserv Forum. The Blackhawks will take on the St. Louis Blues on October 5th, 2024, two years after Chicago first played at the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Two years ago, the preseason game in Milwaukee sold out in just minutes and brought in over 15000 fans to watch the Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild. This time around the Blackhawks are hoping for more of the same from the passionate fanbase. The city of Milwaukee is currently home to the Milwaukee Admirals, who are the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Nashville Predators and averaged over 6K fans a game this season.

In other evening notes:

  • TSN Insider Chris Johnston is reporting that Utah has plans to build a brand-new practice arena that will house two or more NHL-standard ice rinks. The team hopes that the new building will be completed prior to the 2025-26 season, and it will also be the team’s official office. The building will also be used for recreation activities as well as youth and amateur hockey. The team is currently in the process of finding a temporary training and practice facility for next season.
  • Former Winnipeg Jets forward Kristian Reichel has signed a three-year contract in Germany to play with Adler Mannheim (according to Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News). The move means that the 25-year-old will be leaving the Jets organization after spending the past six seasons with the team, primarily as a member of the Manitoba Moose. Reichel just completed his best professional season in the AHL, having registered 23 goals and 19 assists in 70 games. The son of Robert Reichel was undrafted but worked his way through the minors and eventually signed an ELC with the Jets in 2020 and made his NHL debut in 2021-22. He played in 15 NHL games over parts of two seasons, tallying a goal and two assists.

NHL Utah Plans To Add Top-Six Forwards, Top-Four Defenseman

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NHL Utah general manager Bill Armstrong is among those getting a fresh start from Smith Entertainment Group’s purchase of the Coyotes’ hockey operations assets. He’ll have a comparatively endless cash supply this summer, with the ability to spend up to the salary cap and roughly $43.25MM in offseason space, among the most in the league.

Armed with a gigantic supply of second and third-round draft picks over the next few seasons as well, many have speculated that Armstrong will be one of the most aggressive GMs in the coming months. That seems to be the case, with The Fourth Period reporting NHL Utah will scour both the free-agent and trade market for a second-line center, a top-six winger and a top-four defenseman to add to an already promising core of ex-Coyotes talent.

The Coyotes still fell far short of a playoff spot this year, but their 36-41-5 record was their best since the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Their success was mainly influenced by their best depth scoring in years. They ranked 16th in the NHL in scoring with 256 goals after finishing with 207 and 228 in each of the last two campaigns.

Team defense was still an issue, failing to control the majority of shot attempts and scoring chances at 5-on-5. Goaltending took a step forward in the form of Connor Ingram’s strong .907 SV% and six shutouts, but backup Karel Vejmelka’s poor season over his 38 appearances dragged their overall puck-stopping just below league average.

Still, the players who needed to improve did. 19-year-old Logan Cooley had a strong rookie season, finishing the year with 20 goals and 44 points while averaging 15:49 per game after a middling start to the season that saw him demoted to fourth-line usage at times. Offseason trade acquisition Sean Durzi was passable as their number one defenseman, putting up 41 points in 76 games with a 52.2 CF% at even strength to lead Arizona blue-liners.

The roster wasn’t built for playoff contention yet, especially after one-year UFA pickups Mathew Dumba and Jason Zucker both flamed out and were traded for scraps at the deadline. But with another step forward from Cooley and full seasons from youngsters Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther, both of whom put up great per-game numbers in more limited action, they should be expected to stay in the conversation for a longer period of time next season.

And that’s before adding any external pieces into the equation. Adding in a second-line center leaves Nick Bjugstad and Barrett Hayton to more comfortably slot into bottom-six roles down the middle after holding their own in top-six spot duty the past few campaigns. Options on the open market are slim – Elias Lindholm likely leads the way among true centers that are pending UFAs, but he still may cost a bit too much for Utah’s blood with their entire defense core, including RFAs Durzi and J.J. Moser, needing new deals. He’d also likely have options for more dedicated first-line minutes elsewhere after averaging north of 18:30 per game in six straight seasons.

There are some other capable options, like Chandler Stephenson, who will almost definitely go to market with the Golden Knights fresh out of cap space next season. Jonathan Marchessault is an understandably higher priority to re-sign. Max Domi has done well rebuilding his value in Toronto and could reunite with the new incarnation of the Coyotes club that drafted him 12th overall in 2013.

Some spicier and more impactful names exist on the winger market, dominated by Jake Guentzel, Sam Reinhart and Steven Stamkos. It’s hard to imagine them choosing what’s essentially an expansion market over other opportunities, but if Armstrong comes calling with a truckload of cash, the thought of playing an impactful veteran role to supplement Clayton Keller among Utah’s up-and-coming offense could be appealing. Someone like Viktor Arvidsson, Matt Duchene, Vladimir Tarasenko or Teuvo Teräväinen is likely a more attainable target.

And they could end up being a better value proposition than the big names, something that could be important considering a top-four defenseman is their biggest hole to fill. Moser and Durzi are fine as a top pair but not ideal for a contending team – especially with very few proven commodities behind them outside Juuso Välimäki. Adding a right-shot defenseman will likely be the play to slot in with Välimäki behind Durzi. There are multiple true impact options available there, including Brandon Montour, Brett Pesce, Matt Roy and Chris Tanev.

It’s a tad early to know which names will pop up on the trade market, which Armstrong could likely use to plug their declared second-line center vacancy, given the lack of attractive options on the free agent market.

NHL Announces 2024 Bill Masterton Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has announced the three finalists for the 2023-24 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is given to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” The nominees are goaltenders Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes, Connor Ingram of the Arizona Coyotes, and defenseman Oliver Kylington of the Calgary Flames.

Andersen started the season well with a 4-1 record in his first five games. However, he was diagnosed with a blood clotting issue early in the year and missed four months of action that ended up totaling 49 games. He returned to the Hurricanes crease late in the season and finished the year off on an elite level, posting a 1.30 GAA and a .951 SV% as he went 9-1-0 down the stretch. He’s continued his solid play in the postseason, going 4-1 with a .912 SV% and a 2.25 GAA as Carolina dispatched the Islanders in five games in the first round.

Ingram was close to retiring in 2021 but received assistance through the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program to deal with lingering mental health issues, which he said earlier this year was undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder. Blossoming into a true starter this season with the Coyotes, he registered a .907 SV%, a 2.91 GAA and a 23-21-3 record. He also tied for the league lead with six shutouts and played in a career-high 50 games.

Kylington spent a year and a half out of the NHL and made his return at the midway point of the 2023-24 season. He was also away from the game for mental health reasons, staying on personal leave for the entire 2022-23 season and working with support staff during his time away from the Flames. The 26-year-old re-established himself as a regular upon his return, averaging 17:15 in ice time per game with three goals and five assists.

The NHL has yet to announce an official date and place for the NHL awards show.

Jakub Voráček Announces Retirement From Playing Career

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Long-time Philadelphia Flyers winger Jakub Voráček has announced his retirement from playing in an exclusive March interview with Martina Jandová of Czechia’s Showtime Program. The 1,000-game veteran cited 12 concussions as the reason he can no longer play, describing four of the injuries as, “heavy”. This announcement brings an official end to Voracek’s career, something many speculated would happen after he accepted a job supporting Jaromir Jagr’s Kladno at the start of the season. Voráček said, “I started helping with the A team. [Jagr] called me in September to ask if I could help. So I decided to try it part-time. I enjoy it a lot. We’ll see what happens in the future, but I can’t go on the ice anymore.”

Voráček will retire as a member of the Arizona Coyotes despite never suiting up with the team. His rights were traded away from the Columbus Blue Jackets at last year’s Trade Deadline, with Columbus receiving Jon Gillies in return for the cap dump. Columbus drafted Voráček with the seventh-overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, taking him in a top 10 that also featured Patrick Kane, James van Riemsdyk, and Logan Couture. Voráček played one more season in the QMJHL – the league he was drafted out of – before debuting with the Blue Jackets in the 2008-09 season. His rookie year brought just nine goals, but still a solid 38 points, in 80 games.

Voráček was the focal piece of the 2011 blockbuster trade that sent a then 27-year-old Jeff Carter to Columbus for a 21-year-old Voráček and the draft picks used to select Sean Couturier and Nick Cousins. It was in Philadelphia that Voráček built his legacy, recording six separate 20-goal seasons and consistently rivaling 50 or 60 points. His career-year came in 2017-18, when he managed 20 goals and 85 points in just 82 games.

Columbus would re-acquire Voráček in 2021, sending Cam Atkinson to Philadelphia. Voráček would play in 90 more games with the Blue Jackets, scoring 68 points, before his career came to a close midway through the 2022-23 season. Voráček totaled 1,058 games in the NHL, netting 223 goals and 806 points. He remains the third-highest scoring Czech player in NHL history, behind just Jagr and Patrik Elias.

Coyotes Assign Conor Geekie To AHL

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With the franchise being relocated to Utah for next season, there aren’t many too transactions coming in the near-term future for the Coyotes.  However, there was one today as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-assigned center Conor Geekie to AHL Tucson.

The 19-year-old was the 11th overall pick two years ago by Arizona, giving them another potential core piece up front.  Geekie got off to a dominant start this season with WHL Wenatchee, notching 20 goals and 29 assists in just 26 games before leaving to play for Canada at the World Juniors where he had three points in five contests.

Upon his return from the tournament, Geekie was moved to Swift Current who was stocking up for what they hoped was a long playoff run.  He produced at a similar clip with the Broncos, tallying 23 goals and 27 helpers in just 29 games; all told, finished with 99 points in only 55 appearances, finishing fourth in the league in points per game.  However, the playoff run wasn’t as long as they were hoping for having lost to Moose Jaw in the second round.  Geekie was still productive in the postseason, however, collecting six goals and three assists in nine contests.

With the assignment to the Roadrunners, Geekie can now get his first taste of AHL action with Tucson, a team that finished second in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference.  It should be a good test for him as Geekie will be able to turn pro full-time next season.

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