Strike one for next year's veterans in Rochester.
Karl Stewart, the 25-year old forward that joined the Amerks after the season started and provided a little bit of experience and stability on a team that sorely needed it, will not be returning to the team next season, whether an offer was in his future or not.
Not that he wouldn't have stayed had a deal been offered, but a contract was offered from Germany's Straubing Tigers and Stewart accepted, telling the D&C's Kevin Oklobzija, "What I went through last summer was what I'd call hockey-player hell. I had no NHL offers, no real tryouts, and no American League offers. I was training day in and day out and not knowing if I was going to be playing hockey or going back to school. I didn’t want to put myself through that again."
So that's a tough blow. Stewart is tied for the team lead in goals (18) and whether that's a bleak total for your scoring leader or not (Repik and Meyer both have 18 goals as well), he was certainly valuable to the team.
Stewart will finish up the season before moving on to Germany, so it's one more spot that will have to be filled this off-season.
Which leads me to the next tidbit:
Jacques Martin and Amerks' owner, Curt Styres, will be holding a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 to discuss next season's roster and team make-up. I don't know if they'll be answering any questions from some of the fans in attendance that will undoubtedly have some critical points to make, but it appears as though the PC will be shown live on the team's website: www.amerks.com.
Among the points outlined, the promise that goaltending will not be an issue next season. Of course, this leads to all kinds of questions. Are they comfortable with Plante/Shantz? Is Brodeur getting a contract? What of Beckford-Tseu's second year? Did he become Superman overnight?
Maybe the most curious question that may arise there, "Is Florida going to pursue Jacob Markström?"
When Anders Lindbäck (Nashville prospect) wrapped up his season, he had a 2.57 GAA and a .916% in 24 games. The first thing I thought was, "Maybe they're going to try to convince Markström that he won't have to battle for that starter's role if he comes to Rochester," but I looked a little further and saw that Lindbäck left Brynäs late last month and has since signed a contract with Timrå, a club that has wanted the goaltender for a while now.
I'm pretty sure I've read that Brynäs had a third young goaltender with good upside, but with Lindbäck out of the picture, the starter's job is (I'm assuming, here) once again, Markström's to lose, so I'm not getting my hopes up, there.
If you're wondering what Jacob's up to these days and you've recently seen Linus Omark's nifty shootout goal against Switzerland, then you now know what Markström has been up to - he's with the Swedish national team as they prepare for the 2009 IIHF World Championship that begins later this month.
As for the current goaltenders with the Amerks, Miguel Beaudry, the goalie brought over from the Central Hockey League to back up David Shantz, has been released. Mike Brodeur isn't ready to go, and although Tyler Plante's visit with Panthers' doctors turned up nothing serious, Chris Beckford-Tseu will be back with the club for the rest of the season - which ends this weekend with three games in four nights.
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