The Rockford IceHogs roster will have a different look in the 2024-25 season. As is the case around the AHL, the IceHogs roster is turning over. Along with a slew of fresh prospects, veteran talent is also a priority to fill out organizational depth and provide leadership.
Rockford, along with its NHL affiliate, the Chicago Blackhawks, have made steady progress in building the AHL roster as a new season approaches. However, there are still a lot of holes to fill in terms of bringing in veteran support for what will be a young team.
Key IceHogs Departures
The IceHogs saw a big part of their offensive punch move on last month. Mike Hardman (22 G, 15 A) signed with New Jersey. Michal Teply (12 G, 18 A) will be playing in Europe. Luke Philp, Rockford’s MVP in 2023-24, is now with the Capitals. Veterans David Gust (16 G, 26 A), Rem Pitlick (14 G, 19 A), and Anders Bjork (10 G, 17 A) remain free agents and will be hard to replace.
On the blue line, Filip Roos (2 G, 14 A) inked a deal with Ottawa this summer. Defenseman Josh Healy is currently a free agent.
Key Returnees
The Blackhawks re-upped with Brett Seney (23 G, 40 A), last season’s top scorer. Also returning with NHL two-way deals are Zach Sanford and Joey Anderson, who figure to log big minutes for Rockford.
The IceHogs brought back several players on AHL contracts. Veteran pieces include Brandon Baddock, who skated 63 games for Rockford last season. Baddock was a fourth line regular who matched Healy for the team lead with five fighting majors.
Also signing AHL deals with Rockford are two solid contributors from last season’s club. Jackson Cates (11 G, 14 A) was valuable at the faceoff dot and was able to fit in to several line combinations after signing a PTO with the IceHogs in December of 2023. Austin Strand (5 G, 5 A), helped stabilize the back end after being obtained in a mid-season trade.
Rockford also brought back goalie Mitchell Weeks on an AHL contract. Weeks has spent most of the past two seasons with the IceHogs ECHL affiliate, the Indy Fuel. However, he’s been solid for Rockford in several call ups in that time.
This brings us to…
Key Veteran Pickups
In this area, the IceHogs have made no progress. Yet.
There is a lot of veteran talent still looking for work as the summer wanes. Rockford needs to obtain at least a couple of additional pieces before training camp.
The IceHogs certainly have the room to bolster the roster with experienced names. AHL rules allow five veteran players (more than 320 pro games) along with an additional exemption (261-320 games played) on the ice each night.
Rockford has four veteran level players (Anderson, Seney, Baddock, and Sanford) and one veteran exempt player (Strand). Signing at least one more veteran on each side of the puck should be a priority in the coming weeks.
Perhaps the IceHogs can bring back a player like Gust or Pitlick on an AHL deal. If not, they need to secure reinforcements from what is a very deep pool of veteran free agents still looking for a contract.
It’s hard to imagine so many quality players being available this late in the summer. Rockford would do well to bring a couple aboard by the end of this month. We will have to stay tuned to see if the IceHogs have more signings to announce in the coming weeks.
