UMaine 25-26: Marques My Word: Back to the Big Time

[Jacob0804]

Barr seems like a coach that would do well at one of the blue blood programs with a lot of NIL/player pay. He also looks the part but I’m not sure he has the mentality to “coach up” players or bring the “it” factor like Shawn Walsh had. I guess we will find out soon what he is made of….another season of regression and I think that he really faces a rising tide of people questioning if he is the right guy to lead Maine.

Queue the FB group name change to "fire Barr"

 

[Mac910]

I'm not terribly shocked on this one given the many comments that seemed to reference him directly (colgate turnover & benching) as well as general underperformance vs. the draft level & WHL performance. Not saying I wouldn't have liked to have him back, but not if the buy in being there was the issue. That same think applies to just about everyone in my view.

 

[umhockey91]

I think Poirier and Peterson are the 2 freshmen you work really hard to keep in the fold. Langlois is another that I hope they retain......everyone else?....meh.

They also need Scholle & Russell to have bounce back seasons if they return.

I don't see more than a dozen players from the current roster returning next season.

 

[McGoverners]

He won't be the only one to leave. Barr emphasized the culture how many times this year?

My question is did he choose to leave or was he told to?

 

[BlackBearFan19]

I was hoping Marques would stay as he has a lot of talent. IMO he underachieved this year and his game lacked the grit Barr wants. Wish him well and hope this isn’t an indication of a mass exodus.

 

[tylerzx2002]

Barr seems like a coach that would do well at one of the blue blood programs with a lot of NIL/player pay. He also looks the part but I’m not sure he has the mentality to “coach up” players or bring the “it” factor like Shawn Walsh had. I guess we will find out soon what he is made of….another season of regression and I think that he really faces a rising tide of people questioning if he is the right guy to lead Maine.

Barr was pretty direct talking about the issues with team culture throughout the season. If a team is mostly made up of guys looking at Maine as a stepping stone and not buying into the coach/system it seems pretty natural to assume that he likely would do better having a bunch of 2-4 year guys to develop instead. Maybe it caught him by surprise having so many new players and he's better suited to handle that moving forward? Time will tell I guess.

But to compete as a serious contender in the modern college hockey landscape you're likely going to need at least a few of those 1 year mercenary-type guys so him finding that balance is really going to determine whether Maine can rise up as a yearly contender or just another team in the mix.

 

[McGoverners]

But to compete as a serious contender in the modern college hockey landscape you're likely going to need at least a few of those 1 year mercenary-type guys so him finding that balance is really going to determine whether Maine can rise up as a yearly contender or just another team in the mix.

I've got $45 in my wallet for Landon Dupont. Do you think that will land him?

 

[LP_Hockey]

All the players mentioned in that piece had exhausted their college eligibility. The discussion here was regarding players leaving school early for minor league contracts, which are still rare because the organization is making far less of a commitment to the player than under an NHL contract. Straight minor league deals are pretty much subsistence level (AHL) or below (ECHL and even lower leagues).

Yes and no. There are a lot of reasons a player signs an AHL deal instead of a two-way ELC, and acting like those are automatically dead-end contracts for lesser players is just wrong.
It depends on the situation. Was he already a draft pick? What kind of AHL deal was offered? How much term or security is involved? Is the NHL club tight on contracts? All of that matters.

And if a player still has college eligibility left, that does not automatically mean staying is the best move. Maybe the organization wants him in its own development system sooner because it does not think he is being developed the right way where he is. Maybe the AHL team sees a specific role or missing piece they want to fill right away. Maybe they believe he is better off practicing and playing in a pro environment every day than spending another year in college.

Djurasevic just signed a two-year AHL contract plus an ATO for this year. That is not some throwaway offer. That is a meaningful commitment from the organization. As for Nadeau, it may only be a 1-year with promise of ELC for the next year. Devils recently did this with Matyas Melovsky.

And not every ELC is some huge statement either. Only so many players get ELCs each year, and some are handed out a lot more loosely than people want to admit. Look around pro hockey right now. There are ECHL teams with players on ELCs, while AHL teams are full of a mix of one-way and two-way players.

So treating an AHL contract like it automatically means a player is an afterthought just shows a misunderstanding of how pro hockey actually works. Only about 10% of top NCAA and major junior players even get to the AHL, so I would say getting there is pretty impressive. At this point - teams want to win. If they feel you will help them, you will get a chance.