Following a disappointing 2015 regular season that saw them squeak into the playoffs on the last day of the season, the Calgary Roughnecks had a good playoff run that took them all the way to a tie-breaking mini-game in the West Division Finals against eventual Champion’s Cup winners, the Edmonton Rush.
Now Calgary’s front office needs to look back at what transpired in 2015 and figure out how to move forward into the 2016 season.
The Roughnecks currently have four restricted free agents—Curtis Dickson, Shawn Evans, Jon Harnett, and Dan McRae—and five unrestricted free agents—Mike Carnegie, Andrew McBride, Jeff Moleski, Sean Pollock, and Daryl Veltman. On July 7, they signed restricted free agent Frankie Scigliano to a three-year contract, rewarding the netminder for his solid performance between the pipes in 2015 when veteran Mike Poulin had a cold start to the season.
Firming up the goaltending situation, they also signed third-stringer Pete Dubenski to a two-year deal on July 31, giving them depth at that position. But it also opens up the possibility that they might look to trade Poulin to fill some gaps.
Poulin has one more year left on his current contract. Although he struggled during the regular season, his performance on the last night of the playoffs was arguably one of the finest outings of his entire career. It may have assured his future with the Roughnecks or it might have boosted his trade value if Calgary decides to shop him around.
It seems like a no-brainer that they’ll do everything they can to lock down star performers Dickson, Evans, and McRae, who are all critical pieces of the puzzle. Veltman had another good year with the Roughnecks, posting the fifth-most points on the team (57), including the third most powerplay goals and assists (nine and 15, respectively). As a result, it seems probably that they’ll seek to keep him around as well.
Carnegie led all Calgary defensemen in points in 2015 with 10 and was tied for second on the team in caused turnovers with 23. Moleski was second among Calgary defensemen in scoring (9 PTS). As a result, it seems likely that these guys will get signed in the coming days to keep the back end shored up.
Harnett had a career year in 2014 (16 points, 84 loose balls) but tailed off in 2015 (4 PTS, 46 LB). As a result, he might be on the bubble, but last year was in line with what Harnett typically gives you, so he could just as likely be on the “keep” list.
The real questions are McBride and Pollock. Team captain McBride is in his mid-30s and managed just a single point of offense and 37 loosies in 2015. No one can question his desire or his will to give it his all, but it simply might be time for him to hang ’em up. Pollock was acquired mid-season to add some right-side offensive depth but he’s also in his mid-30s and his 39 points overall on the season between Calgary and the Colorado Mammoth was his worst offensive output since 2011.
The reality is that it may be time to let McBride and Pollock go and look to the draft to add some pieces. Calgary has four picks in the first two rounds, selecting fourth, seventh, 13th and 15th overall. In a talent-rich draft such as this year, Calgary could be in a position to load up on some game-ready athletes. Assuming In Lacrosse We Trust’s very own Mike Mackley is bang-on in his ranking of the Top 50 players in the draft, the Riggers would get two-time Tewaaraton Trophy winner Lyle Thompson with their first selection, followed by forward Randy Staats, forward Dan Taylor, and defenseman Riley Quinlan, who is the third-highest ranked D-man in the draft.
Adding that much young talent via the draft could make McBride and Pollock expendable and could also open up the possibility of seeing the Roughnecks make a couple more high-profile moves to create opportunities for those young guns to get floor time early in their careers. Trading Poulin, or underused young transition Tor Reinholdt—or maybe a proven offensive threat like Dane Dobbie—could give the Roughnecks the chance to move even higher in the draft or get their hands on a couple veteran pieces that can bolster the team’s transition game, which starts to look thin after you get past Karsen Leung and Geoff Snider.
