Lone Wolves (Part 2): Building An AHL Roster From Scratch

This is Part Two in a mini-series on the 2023-24 Chicago Wolves 'Lone Wolves' coming from an extended, in-depth 1-on-1 interview with Wolves GM Wendell Young.

If you missed 'Part One: How Did It Come To This', it can be found here and also below. Part One details what went wrong between Carolina and AHL-Chicago through the perspective of Young, who was at the forefront and experienced the disagreements/discrepancies first-hand.

Part One: How Did It Come To This -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/lone-wolves-part-1-how-did-it-come-to-this

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While both sides remain committed to saying that the decision for the Carolina-Chicago affiliation breakup was a decision they didn't make, the end result left the Hurricanes without a place to put their NHL-contracted players outside of their 23-man roster limit at the NHL level.

It also left the AHL's Chicago Wolves without an NHL partner, which led to General Manager Wendell Young's massive chain email to over 100 hockey agents to get the ball rolling with their stated intentions of operating as an AHL franchise completely independent of an NHL partner in 2023-24.

"Usually, when you have an affiliation, you're basically looking for five-six players that fill needs somewhere where there's not signings, or draft picks/prospects from the NHL team," Young told InsideAHLHockey.com. "This year, I had an empty board to start season, so it was really unique."

When it came time for Young to begin putting together the 2023-24 roster, he knew that the talent pool of players eligible to be signed to an AHL deal was going to be limited.

"It was a situation where I would call an agent and say.. Okay, I don't have any NHL contracts. I don't have an NHL camp. I have no prospects camp and I have no prospects tournament. Which one of your clients would be interested in signing an American League deal?"

Young was also aware that his team, in order to have the active playing roster compliant with the American Hockey League's (AHL) development rule, couldn't just be loaded with over-the-hill veterans.

AHL rules state that, of the 18 skaters (goaltenders excluded) in the active lineup, only six skaters can be 'veterans'. players who entered the season with over 260 pro games of experience. And of those six, one must have fewer than 320 games of pro experience. This sixth veteran, in that 260-320 game range, is sometimes referred to as the vet-extra.

"If I could sign 25 veterans, I'd have one hell of a team," Young told InsideAHLHockey.com with a laugh. "The toughest part was getting [non veteran players] that weren't already under contract with an NHL team or another [AHL] team."

In terms of his sales pitch, Young said that he was pretty blunt and to the point.

"No draft pick entitlement. Best player plays," he explained. " I guess one of the advantages of us being independent, there's no first round or second round or high prospect, whatever, that's gotta play. Everyone knows that. Players know it, coaches know it, management knows that there's a pecking order, but my sales pitch was I'll give a platform for these guys to succeed. Hopefully some of these guys go to get an NHL contract and make it back to the NHL or to the NHL."

Whether or not the 2023-24 Chicago Wolves will be a contender in the AHL remains to be seen, as the regular season got underway this weekend. One thing is for certain. Regardless of the circumstances which led to this unique situation - this is the first AHL team playing without an NHL partner since the 1994-95 Worcester IceCats - all sides agree the current situation is not good for anyone involved.

"This being independent is not the perfect situation for anybody. It's not good optics in any way for anybody," Young said, adding, I"t's not a good operational way to be - especially for an NHL team. So we're trying to resolve it. We're trying to not be independent next year. But if we are, we are. We move forward, and do what we do."

The Roster

The Wolves have continued to make moves leading up to the regular season, as they added veteran forward Rocco Grimaldi to a PTO last week.

And now, as multiple sources have confirmed to InsideAHLHockey.com, the Wolves are bringing in former Anaheim Ducks forward Max Comtois - likely on a PTO similar to the one Grimaldi signed.

Goaltenders: Julien Junca (PTO) and Adam Scheel Keith Kinkaid is currently with the New Jersey Devils.

Defensemen: Tory Dello, Matt Donovan, Tyson Feist, Cavan Fitzgerald, Alex Green, Owen Headrick, Austin Strand and Mitchell Vande Sompel

Forwards: Peter Abbondonato, Max Comtois (PTO), Cory Conacher, Hank Crone, Dominic Franco, Hudson Elynuik, Rocco Grimaldi (PTO), Kyle Marino, Connor McClennon, Josh Melnick, Isaac Ratcliffe, Cole Schneider, Nathan Sucese, Chris Terry, Ryan Wagner (PTO)