The Calgary Roughnecks have made a splash so far during the free agent period, not so much for what they have done, but for what they haven’t.
To start things off, they very quietly released all-time faceoff wins leader Geoff Snider to become an unrestricted free agent. They have also let free agents Daryl Veltman, Travis Cornwall, and Jeff Moleski move on as well. While they have re-signed transition players Karsen Leung and Tor Reinholdt, as well as defencemen Mike Carnegie and Tyson Roe, seeing four significant contributors from their 2015 campaign leave changes the complexion of the team quite a bit.
There’s also the possibility that team captain Andrew McBride might also be gone. He’s also a free agent, he’s closer to 40 than he is to 30, and it might be time for him to retire. Likewise, Shawn Pollock, who was brought in mid-season to spark the offense, is an unsigned free agent in his mid-30s that Calgary might just let move on.
While Snider’s point production was down in 2015, his faceoff dominance has been worth a goal per game due to the extra possessions the Roughnecks have enjoyed; without Veltman in the offensive mix, they’ll have to find a bunch more offense in other places.
With no indication that they’ll go after some help via the free agent route, it’s beginning to look like the front office is planning to rebuild using the draft, where the Roughnecks will make four picks in the first two rounds.
In a very deep draft, Calgary is positioned to bring in four players who could be game ready immediately and who can fill some of the holes left from all the departures—at a fraction of the cost. The young forwards that should be available when Calgary picks (they select fourth, seventh, 13th and 15th overall) could take up the offensive slack from Veltman and Pollock (if he leaves as well). There are also some quality defensemen available such as Derek Searle and Riley Quinlan who could potentially shore things up on the back end.
That still leaves a big hole in the faceoff circle. Curtis Manning and Garrett McIntosh have both taken draws for the Roughnecks over the last couple years, but in 2015 they combined to win just 46 of 120 faceoffs (38 percent), which made them the two worst faceoff men in the NLL by winning percentage. If they can’t find someone who can at least win around half the time, it will put this squad at a huge disadvantage.
All in all, it looks like the Roughnecks are paving the way for some significant changes in the roster and all current signs point to them going much younger. Whether those changes improve their fortunes for 2016 remains to be seen.
