New Thunder coach opens camp with fluid roster
Malcolm Cameron operated this offseason with the knowledge that some of the work would be done for him.
Cameron, the first-year Thunder hockey coach, balanced his own recruiting with the roster construction of Wichita’s new parent club, the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. The Senators will, by the start of the season, assign some players to Wichita to complete the Thunder’s roster.
The Thunder begin training camp Saturday with 22 players, but some members of the likely opening-day roster are practicing with Triple-A Binghamton of the American Hockey League. Wichita, the next level down, begins the season on Oct. 15.
“I know we’re going to get some players,” Cameron said. “I just don’t count on getting the maximum number, just because I know there’s going to be an injury during training camp. It’s a fine line between building depth and over-recruiting, and I didn’t want to get into a situation where we signed too many guys.”
Having an NHL affiliation creates constant roster uncertainty that can begin before the season starts.
Perhaps the most marquee signing of the Thunder’s offseason was Vincent Arseneau, a physical forward who helped Allen to ECHL championships the last two seasons.
Arseneau starts training camp this weekend with Binghamton along with five other Thunder signees, and if he makes the team, the Thunder will begin the season without one of its most high-profile players. The 24-year-old Arseneau has played 31 games in the AHL over the last four seasons.
“At the end of the day, if they end up playing up there, we’re just going to get somebody else,” Cameron said. “We’re still going to get good players. We’ve got a good group here right now, to start camp on the ice. Over the next couple weeks, it’ll play itself out.”
Cameron is prepared for player promotions because he’s experienced plenty of them in 10 seasons as an ECHL coach. He has also stocked the Thunder’s roster with younger players who have two or fewer years of experience and might advance through the Senators’ system.
Sixteen of the players in Wichita’s camp were born in 1991 or later and the youngest, forward Marc Zajic, turned 21 on Monday.
“The league is a younger league,” Cameron said. “It’s a prospect league, so you need players that are motivated each and every day to play their way up. I think we’ve accomplished that goal.
“We don’t necessarily have a lack of experience. We have a lot of guys with one and two years of pro experience, so it’s not like it’s a team of rookies. I wanted guys that were versatile, guys that could really skate, because speed is really, really hard to defend.”
Cameron’s goal is to move past the last three seasons, when the Thunder missed the postseason after consecutive Central Hockey League finals appearances. Last year, Wichita had the ECHL’s worst record and coach Kevin McClelland was not offered a new contract.
There is some familiarity, though. The Thunder has five returning players in camp, including last year’s captain Ian Lowe, who at 30 is the team’s oldest player.
“We wanted to kind of change the culture around here, and in doing that it’s hard to bring a lot of people back from an 18-win season and expect a different result,” Cameron said. “The guys we brought back are like everybody else, they have to earn their way onto the team.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 1:08 PM with the headline "New Thunder coach opens camp with fluid roster."