For the Cleveland Monsters, this will be a year of transition.
Then again, every season is in the AHL, a development league where players come and go with regularity. Rarely do they stay in one spot long enough to build bonds with a fan base, but it happened in Cleveland the past few years.
Trey Fix-Wolansky became perhaps the most popular player in Monsters history over the past six seasons, setting every offensive record for the franchise in his time with the club. Jet Greaves wasn’t far behind when it comes to acclaim in the Forest City, winning plenty of admirers while setting the franchise mark for wins between the pipes.
But neither will suit up for the top affiliate of the Blue Jackets when the season begins tonight in Utica. Fix-Wolansky became a free agent this offseason and signed with the New York Rangers organization, while Greaves has earned a full-time promotion to Columbus and started the Blue Jackets’ season opener last night.
PROSPECTS CENTRAL: Stay up-to-date on the CBJ future all season long
As big a transition as it will be for the Cleveland faithful, it might be even more pronounced in the locker room. Head coach Trent Vogelhuber will have to skipper a team that returns several of the same faces but will have to get leadership from some different sources than the past few seasons.
Much of it will come from a veteran group that includes captain Brendan Gaunce and alternates Hudson Fasching, Dysin Mayo and Owen Sillinger. But a young core of CBJ prospects that includes such names as Luca Del Bel Belluz, Mikael Pyyhtiä, James Malatesta, Hunter McKown, Corson Ceulemans and Stanislav Svozil – all of whom are in at least their third seasons in Cleveland – will also be put to the test in the leadership department.
“It’s so valuable to grow leadership from within,” Vogelhuber said. “Those guys are growing, and we’re trying to teach them to be leaders as well as they mature into the middle of their careers. It happens quick. You’re a rookie, and then two years later, I ask a lot of them. I think that’s good for their growth in the long term and obviously good for the team and the organization.”
Those players will be counted on as the Monsters look to make a third consecutive playoff appearance. Cleveland made it all the way to the Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2023-24 before suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss to eventual champion Hershey, then last year’s squad captured its opening playoff series before falling in the North Division semifinals against Laval.
Player development is the No. 1 priority at the AHL level, but to the Blue Jackets, a big part of that growth comes from winning. The Columbus organization was thrilled when the Monsters captured the Calder Cup in 2016, then several of the players moved up to the NHL level and helped the Blue Jackets amid a run of four consecutive playoff appearances.
The hope is that the recent postseason berths at the AHL level continue, with results that can be transferred to the NHL squad.
“It’s the expectation,” rookie defenseman Guillaume Richard said. “They’re trying to get us ready with a winning mentality, and obviously we’re working hard to maybe get a call and then you get there and you already know the expectations. It’s all working in one way with Columbus and Cleveland to try to teach us the same mentalities.”
Familiar Faces Return
Sixteen players who skated in a game with Cleveland a season ago are back on the roster at the start of the campaign, but one player who doesn’t fit that bill might have the Monsters most excited.
Gaunce was re-acquired by the Blue Jackets in a trade this summer and returns after serving as captain of the Monsters in 2023-24. A veteran of 189 NHL games, the 31-year-old forward gives Cleveland not just a consistent scorer but someone who Vogelhuber can count on to help push the room.
“He was a guy that we spent multiple years with, and for my first two years as a coach, he was there for a big chunk of it,” Vogelhuber said. “He spent a lot of time in Columbus as well, but I think it’s so important for a coach, especially a young one like me, to have those guys that do it right and you can lean on. To have him back in the organization, somebody that puts the team first, work habits are what they are, and is a pro, I think it’s massive.”
Gaunce played 12 games with Minnesota a year ago as well as 39 games with team’s AHL affiliate in Iowa, posting 29 points. When he was acquired on draft day by the Blue Jackets in a deal for Cleveland forward Cam Butler, Gaunce embraced the chance to return to the organization.
“It was exciting for my wife and I,” said Gaunce, an Ontario native who is expecting his first child this winter. “We’re just excited to be in a place we’re comfortable with. We loved it (here). That’s not to say we didn’t love Minnesota either, but sometimes family stuff comes first, and it’s exciting to come back for sure.”
The Monsters will return four of their top six point scorers from last season in Del Bel Belluz (27-26-53), McKown (13-18-31), Roman Ahcan (18-11-29) and Sillinger (11-18-29). Forward Justin Pearson (who has signed a PTO), defenseman Stanislav Svozil, forward Max McCue, defenseman Ole Julian Bjørgvik-Holm, defenseman Will MacKinnon and Malatesta all played at least 40 games with Cleveland a season ago.
Pyyhtiä has been a regular with the Monsters the past two seasons up front when he hasn’t been in Columbus, where he played 47 games a season ago. Veteran goalie Zach Sawchenko is back after playing in 27 games with Cleveland while paired with Greaves.
Another big piece is defenseman Corson Ceulemans, a first-round draft pick of the Blue Jackets in 2021 who was in the midst of a strong season but played just 33 games because of injuries.
“He was really taking a step,” Vogelhuber said. “It’s never something you want to see, but the bright side is he had an opportunity to really build his body out in the last nine months, which is a big step he had to take. The third (pro) year is a big one for him, and he’s going to be an important player for us.”
New Blood Enters
It’s also worth watching a pair of young, exciting CBJ draft picks who got a taste of the action a year ago in Cleveland and now return for their first full seasons with the club in forward Luca Pinelli and Richard.
After a high-scoring junior career with Ottawa of the OHL, Pinelli quickly gained the confidence of the Cleveland coaching staff last spring when he had four points in six playoff games. Selected in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, the wing played on Canada’s World Juniors team last year and is a tenacious, responsible forward.
Richard, meanwhile, was taken in the fifth round of the 2021 draft and spent the past four seasons patrolling the blue line with Providence at the college hockey level. A second-team All-Hockey East choice as a senior, he joined the Monsters at the end of the season and jumped right into playing good minutes with the team, posting three goals and six points in 14 games between the regular season and playoffs.
“It was a really nice way to end my season,” Richard said. “It gave me confidence going into the summer, so that’s good, and getting that playoff experience when we were here against Toronto and in Laval, those were big atmospheres, so it was great to get in that mind-set a little bit of pro hockey.”
Cleveland also welcomes a pair of college free agents the Blue Jackets signed last spring in forward Jack Williams and defenseman Caleb MacDonald, both of whom will be making their AHL debuts this fall.
On the veteran front, Cleveland has received a trio of players who have NHL experience from the Blue Jackets in forward Fasching, defenseman Mayo and goalie Ivan Fedotov. All are callup options during the season who have played regular roles in the NHL.
The Monsters made another addition Thursday when they signed defenseman Will Butcher, who has played 275 career NHL games and spent last season in Europe.
