NOLLY'S NOTES - BLOG #36
Jul 18, 2023
Nick Nollenberger (aka Nolly) is the voice of the San Jose Barracuda. 2022-23 was his seventh year with the club. During the season, he can be heard at SJBarracuda.com, via the Sharks Audio Network and on AHLTV.com. A native of Santa Cruz, CA, Nolly played for the San Jose Jr. Sharks as a kid. His broadcasting career began while in college at the University of Arizona.
Hello Barracuda fans, I hope you're having a great summer. With the NHL Draft and development camp now in the rear-view mirror, and with the schedule for both the Sharks and Barracuda out, the season will be here in no time. In fact, we’re just 87 days away (as of 7/18/23) from the Cuda’s season opener on Oct. 13 against the Rockford IceHogs at Tech CU Arena. Is it October yet?
The next notable marker on the calendar, before the season begins, will be the 2023 Rookie Faceoff, which the Vegas Golden Knights are hosting this year. Although the exact dates have not been released, the Rookie Faceoff, which is often held in mid-September, serves as the unofficial start to a new year and the appetizer to training camp.
NHL Draft
The last time I wrote a blog, we were pre-draft, so there is a lot to get to. Let’s begin with what happened in Nashville back in late June. With the acquisition of an additional first-rounder in the Timo Meier trade, the Sharks had two picks in the opening round for the first time since 2007 and the sixth time in its history. Never had the organization drafted a pair of players in the first round from the United States, but that changed when they selected Will Smith (fourth overall) and Quentin Musty (26th overall) this year. In total, the Sharks called the names of nine players. With their first four picks, they went forward, then they selected three consecutive defensemen, before picking two more forwards to close things out.
The theme of the draft without a doubt was that the organization wanted to get bigger and more skilled, and that’s exactly what they were able to accomplish. Because these players are just 18 years of age, we won’t know if this was a good draft or not for several years, but the Sharks hope at the very least they've added 2-3 cornerstones to their franchise, and if that is the case, we’ll look back at Mike Grier’s first official draft as a smashing success. The only player the Sharks picked under six-foot was defenseman Luca Cagnoni from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. Sports are cyclical, and whether the large makeup of both this year’s Stanley Cup finalists had anything to do with the Sharks decision-making or not, it’s always been clear, in order to win in the playoffs, you need to be able to physically withstand it. This draft class adds a lot of much-needed size to the organization's prospect pool.
Free Agency
Before we talk about the new faces in the organization, I want to track back on who has signed elsewhere. As is often the case, AHL rosters see a lot of turnover from year to year. The Barracuda will certainly look different this upcoming season than they did in 2022-23. Below is a list of players who were with the team at the end of the season but are now in other organizations or have not signed at all.
| Player |
P |
New Team |
Signed |
Traded |
Unsigned |
| Andrew Agozzino |
F |
Ducks |
X |
X |
|
| Darren Brady |
D |
|
|
|
X |
| Kyle Crisuolo |
F |
Devils |
X |
|
|
| Aaron Dell |
G |
|
|
|
X |
| Luke Johnson |
F |
|
|
|
X |
| Martin Kaut |
F |
HC Dynamo (Czech) |
X |
|
|
| Artemi Kniazev |
D |
Jets |
|
X |
|
| Strauss Mann |
G |
Laval |
X |
|
|
| Derrick Pouliot |
D |
Stars |
X |
|
|
| Montana Onyebuchi |
D |
Coyotes |
X |
|
|
| Will Riedell |
D |
|
|
|
X |
| Patrick Sieloff |
D |
|
|
|
X |
| CJ Suess |
F |
Manitoba |
X |
|
|
| Max Veronneau |
F |
Leksands IF (Sweden) |
X |
|
|
| Jeff Viel |
F |
Jets |
X |
|
|
The Barracuda have added AHL/ECHL depth by signing forward Connor MacEachern and Anthony Vincent and defensemen Ethan Frisch and Roman Kinal to AHL contracts earlier this offseason. Additionally, the Sharks added a handful of veterans to two-way contracts, which means, in all likelihood, we’ll see them in the AHL at various points this year.
Carpenter, who played in 120 games over two seasons with the Barracuda from 2016-17 and an additional 74 games with the Worcester Sharks in 2014-15, has carved out an outstanding career for himself after going undrafted. His shorthanded overtime GWG in a decisive game 5, round one, matchup against the Stockton Heat at SAP Center in 2016-17, still stands as the biggest goal in the franchise's eight-year history.
Development Camp Takeaways
There is only so much you can surmise from Development Camp, and I’m not going to try and predict where a player may become down the road after a couple of practices, but it was just fun to have hockey back for a few days. The four-day event culminated in the Prospect Scrimmage at Tech CU Arena, and it was the perfect way to wrap up a week of bonding, testing and skill development. Players that played with the Barracuda a season ago and were at camp, included Thomas Bordeleau, Brandon Coe, Nick Cicek, Ethan Frisch, William Eklund (DNP), Danil Gushchin, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Tristen Robins, and Ozzy Wiesblatt. Wiesblatt, who replaced an injured player, was the only one from the group to play in the scrimmage.
There were lots of guys who stood out in the scrimmage but none more so than Musty, who scored twice during regulation, and once during the shootout. He’s big and skilled and that’s a rare combo. Another player that got me excited was Filip Bystedt, who the Sharks picked in the first round last year. The SHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2022-23, at one point lugged the puck over the offensive line and had multiple defenders just bounce right off him. I thought to myself, you don’t see that every day. Bystedt is expected to go back to Sweden next year but we’ll likely see him in either the AHL or NHL at the end of the year.
ECHL Extension
For four years (2018-22) the Sharks and Barracuda did not have an ECHL affiliate before partnering with the Wichita Thunder a year ago. On July 13, the organization announced a one-year affiliate extension with Wichita for the upcoming season. The Thunder were great partners a year ago, providing critical opportunities for prospects to play big minutes and evolve their games. At one point in the year, there were seven players in Wichita on either an AHL contract with the Barracuda or an NHL contract with the Sharks. Unfortunately, by the end of the year, only Mark Liwiski remained on the active roster because of injuries, trades or recalls. Hopefully this season, the team won’t be so impacted by roster upheaval.
Tahoe Tebow’s?
The ECHL announced earlier this month that the league would be expanding, adding a team in Lake Tahoe in 2024-25. Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who has a partial stake in two other franchises in the league, will be part of the ownership group. The team will play out of The Tahoe Blue Event Center, which is still being built, but is expected to hit completion next month. The Arena, like Tech CU, will hold 4,200 people.
2023-24 Schedule
The Barracuda announced its 2023-24 schedule earlier this month. The 72-game campaign will feature 36 games at Tech CU Arena against 12 different members of the AHL, including non-Pacific Division foes in the IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks), Texas Stars (Dallas Stars) and Charlotte Checkers (Florida Panthers). The Barracuda will open the season at home on Oct. 13 at Tech CU Arena against the IceHogs. For the full schedule, CLICK HERE. Check out the month-by-month breakdown below.
We close out this week’s Nolly Notes, but noting another coaching change in the Pacific Division. With two-time AHL coach of the year Mitch Love becoming an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals, the Calgary Wranglers officially hired former Abbotsford Canucks head coach Trent Cull as their new bench boss on Monday.
That will do it for this edition of Nolly's Notes. Thanks for reading and so long until next time.
#SJBarracuda