Revival of Taxi Squad Won’t Sink Moose

It looks like the quality of talent on AHL rosters could be diluted for the next little bit.

With Omicron cases on the rise, the NHL is bringing back taxi squads until the February All-Star break. Each NHL team can have up to six players on the taxi squad. However, there is not a minimum amount of players required to be on this unique reserve list at all times. Now, AHL teams are going to have to be prepared to lose their best players at a moment’s notice, even more than usual.

The Manitoba Moose are as prepared as an AHL team can be at a time like this. You could argue they’re one of the deepest teams in the AHL. No, really.

Defence Wins Championships

The foundation of the Moose is their defence core, which has no shortage of insurance policies.

Their three-pairing deep defence — filled with promising Jets prospects — is the driver of the teams’ offense.  Ville Heinola, Jonathan Kovacevic, Declan Chisholm, Dylan Samberg and Leon Gawanke are the straw that mixes the Jets’ AHL affiliate’s drink.

#AHL defenceman 5v5 Leaderboard:

Goals, Primary Assists, Scoring Chances

Data via @InStatHockey pic.twitter.com/LWino8Ob63

— Jacob Stoller (@JLStoller) December 24, 2021

Even if the Jets bring up a defenceman (or two) to sit idle on the taxi squad, it probably won’t affect the Moose. Nelson Nogier, who is on an NHL two-way deal, has struggled to crack the Jets roster. He’s a viable candidate to either be a temporary taxi squad player or fill a void left by a departure of a defenceman.

Plus, they’ve got Trent Bourque and Hayden Shaw in the bullpen, too. Each has played in AHL games with the Moose before.

Four+ Lines of Forwards

Even before the taxi squad, the Moose were a bit shorthanded, as injuries to the Jets saw Winnipeg recall David Gustafsson, CJ Suess, and Kristian Reichel. Once Kristian Vesalainen and Andrew Copp return to full-time duty, the aforementioned players would probably slide down to the taxi squad.

If that were the case, this is what the Moose’s roster would look like:

Luke Johnson-Cole Perfetti-Austin Poganski

Mikey Eyssimont- Cole Maier – Jeff Malott

Evan Polei-Greg Meirelsis-Thomas Caron

Haralds Egle-Bobby Lynch- Todd Burgess

Ville Heinola-Jimmy Oligny

Declan Chisholm-Leon Gawanke

Dylan Samberg-Jonathan Kovacevic

A lower-body injury has kept Luke Johnson out since the fifth game of the season, but he’s a bona fide top-six piece (whose one-timer will help on the power play). Manitoba Head Coach Mark Morrison estimated earlier this month that Johnson would be back into game action around late December. Nicholas Jones has been battling injuries all year — his status is unknown — but when he’s healthy, the rugged forechecker (who plays very well with Cole Maier) has a palpable presence out there. He’s a good penalty killer, too.

Maier is one of the most underrated players on the Moose. With 14 points in 25 games this season, he is a sound defensive player who is strong on the forecheck and makes up for his lack of footspeed with solid instincts and awareness.

Got Goalies?

Mikhail Berdin and Arvid Holm have been holding down the fort all year (sort of), and losing one of them may seem like deflation to the team’s season. But not quite. The club also has Philippe Desrosiers under contract, who has a .918 SV% in the ECHL through 15 games this season (12-3-0). He spent last year on the Florida Panthers taxi squad.