The AHL is a developmental league. How does the league ensure that teams keep player development as the top priority, and how does this affect Wilkes-Barre/Scranton?
Let's take a look at the rules.
WHAT IS THE DEVELOPMENT RULE?
The AHL has a rule that says of the 18 skaters on the roster (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a game, at least 13 must be qualified as “development players.”
It's important to point out that this is for who dresses in a game, not just who is on the full roster. So a team can carry more veterans than they are allowed to play, they just must scratch the excess veterans.
WHAT CONSTITUTES A "VETERAN?"
Of the 13 development players, 12 must have played in 260 or fewer professional games and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games.
So, of the 18 skaters in an AHL lineup, only six can be veterans who have played in 260 or more career professional games. Of those six veterans who have played at least 260 professional games, one must have fewer than 320 professional games on their resume.
"Professional games" include the NHL, AHL, and "elite European leagues," unless the player played in the European league while junior-aged. European leagues that count towards veteran status in the AHL are the top leagues in the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland
In this case, the ECHL does not count toward the professional games counter since it's a lower league.
These numbers are calculated at the beginning of the season. If a player hits 260 or 320 during the season, their status doesn't change.
Playoff games do not count toward the total.
Starting in 2020-21, a player also must have turned 25 years old by July 1 to count.
For example: Joseph Blandisi is currently at 246 professional regular season games (159 AHL, 87 NHL) as of Oct. 25, 2019. He will presumably hit 260 during the season, but since he was at fewer than 260 games before the start of the season, he will not count as a "veteran" in the AHL until 2020-21.
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT WILKES-BARRE?
Wilkes-Barre is carrying more than the maximum of five veterans, which means not all can dress at the same time. The veterans (with their game counts prior to the 2019-20 season) are as follows as of Oct. 25:
• Andrew Agozzino, forward: 488 games (467 AHL, 21 NHL)
• Joseph Cramarossa, forward: 344 games (285 AHL, 59 NHL)
• Ryan Haggerty, forward: 285 games (285 AHL)
• Jamie Devane, forward: 306 games (304 AHL, 2 NHL)
• Stefan Noesen, forward: 275 games (116 AHL, 159 NHL
• Andreas Martinsen, forward: 408 games (112 AHL, 152 NHL, 144 DEL, Norwegian games don't count)
• Kevin Czuczman, defenseman: 349 games (336 AHL, 13 NHL)
• Reid McNeill, defenseman: 296 games (296 AHL, Austrian games don't count)
• Zach Trotman, defenseman: 315 games (232 AHL, 83 NHL)
• David Warsofsky, defenseman: 458 games (403 AHL, 55 NHL)
When putting together a roster, Mike Vellucci can only dress six of those players, and of the six, one must be one of the few (Trotman, McNeill, Noesen, Devane, Haggerty) who have played fewer than 320 games. There are no restrictions on who the other five can be.
WHAT ABOUT THE ECHL?
The ECHL is also a developmental league, so they also have a development rule.
In the ECHL, a team can't have more than four veterans on its active roster at all (not just the game roster) or reserve list at any time. The ECHL considers a veteran to be a skater who has played 260 regular season professional games of any kind. However, if the player is on an AHL or NHL contract (as opposed to an ECHL contract), they count as a veteran if they have played 260 professional games and are 24 years old or older.
European leagues that count towards veteran status in the ECHL are the top leagues in the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland.
