Normally, ECHL and AHL transactions aren’t that noteworthy; players come and go from minor league clubs with much regularity during the course of a normal hockey season. These aren’t normal times though.
With the pending resumption of the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning training camp set to raid the roster of the Syracuse Crunch, at least temporarily, Crunch GM Julian BriseBois has made a pair of call ups this morning.
Forward Alex Hutchings, a 4th round draft pick from the Barrie Colts of the OHL in 2009, and Charles Landry, an undrafted free agent in his 3rd professional season, have been recalled from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. Landry had previously been recalled by the Crunch, but played no games with the team. His promotion was purely for depth.
Hutchings is an interesting case, and not because of his 26 points in 30 games for the Everblades. Alex, in his third pro season, should have been a lock for the Crunch this season… under normal circumstances. But as was already noted, these have not been normal circumstances: with a roster packed with the reigning AHL champs and further bolstered with NHL talent displaced by the NHL lockout, Hutchings was given a place to play in the lower-tier ECHL, on a team that the Bolts share affiliation with.
Hutchings and Landry are to help stem the (at least temporary) losses of Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Cory Conacher, Mike Angelidis and Matt Taomina from the Crunch. All four players, plus defenseman Keith Aulie, have already been recalled by the Lightning. Will either Landry or Hutchings stick around past this next week? That’s unclear… But for the time being, they depart south Florida for upstate New York.
