The Coachella Valley Firebirds have made it to the Calder Cup finals in each of their first two seasons. Despite the success, there has since been a lot of movement within the Firebirds roster this offseason, with several stalwarts moving on to new organizations and several new players being added to the fold.
There is nuance to American Hockey League roster-building rules that we suspect many fans may not know about, so we thought we should dig in to explain how that works and how it has influenced the Firebirds roster.
American Hockey League and the “veteran rule”
The primary purpose for the AHL is to be a developmental league for potential NHL players. To ensure the league remains focused on helping players progress through its ranks, it has rules on roster construction. The “veteran rule” requires the gameday roster to include the following:
- A minimum of 12 skaters that have played fewer than 260 professional games – development players
- A maximum of one skater that has played fewer than 320 professional games – veteran exempt player
- A maximum of five skaters that have played over 320 professional games – veteran players
The roster breakdown applies to players that dress for each game, so it is possible to have more than five veterans on the roster, but only five can play on any given night. The veteran and veteran exempt classification only applies to players 25 years of age or older or as of July 1.
The calculation for determining the number of professional games played happens prior to the start of the season and is not adjusted during the season. For example, Cale Fleury was considered a development player during the 2023-24 season, since he started with 217 games played and was 24 years old. He had a birthday in November and finished the season with 282 professional games, which means he will be a veteran exempt player for the entire 2024-25 season, having passed the 260-game threshold.
Professional games are defined as games played in the NHL, AHL, and elite European leagues. Recognized elite European leagues include Svenska Hockeyligan (SHL, Sweden), Liiga (Finland), Kontinental Hockey League (KHL, Russia), Extraliga (ELH, Czech Republic), Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL, Germany) and National League (NL, Switzerland). Additionally only games played in European leagues after a player’s junior years count towards the veteran rule.
The veteran rule does not apply to goaltenders.
Coachella Valley Firebirds roster
Now, with the knowledge of the veteran rule, let’s take a closer look at how last season’s roster breaks down between development and veteran players. For the 2023-24 season, here are the player classifications (minimum 25 games played).
Unchanged 2024-25 roster
Hypothetically, if the roster remained unchanged going into the 2024-25 season, the breakdown would have been the following.
This is where we start to see the problem that has arisen for the Firebirds. To be in compliance with the veteran rule, the Firebirds would only be able to dress five of the nine veterans and one of the three veteran exempt players. To complicate matters, the Kraken need to ensure they have space for Jagger Firkus, David Goyette, Jani Nyman, and Ty Nelson, who are ready to join Seattle’s AHL affiliate.
Players that moved on
There are 10 Firebird players that have signed with another team or are currently free agents.
These players were without a contract heading into free agency. With eight of these players being veteran or veteran exempt, it was unrealistic for the Kraken to retain them all.
Of the 10 players, six signed with new teams in the first couple days of free agency, signaling they got a better offer or see a clearer path to the NHL with their new team. Of the four remaining free agents, Marian Studenic is the only stand-out with 44 points last season.
Peetro Seppälä who was a restricted free agent (RFA) was given a qualifying offer, so the Kraken retain his rights. He has signed with Örebro in Sweden.
Re-signed and added
The Kraken did re-sign veterans Max McCormick, John Hayden, and Gustav Olofsson. With Fleury moving to veteran exempt, the Kraken had one veteran exempt player and three veteran players going into free agency. This gives the Firebirds room to sign two veterans, and that is exactly what they did.
- Mitchell Stephens (C) – Two years, $775K AAV, two-way contract – veteran
- Maxime Lajoie (LD) – One year, $775K AAV, two-way contract – veteran
This gives the Firebirds a total of five veterans and one veteran exempt player. At this point, the Firebird roster is full in terms of veteran and veteran exempt players.
In addition to signing AHL veterans, the following players were signed:
- Brandon Biro (LW) – One year, $775K AAV, two-way contract – development
- Nikolas Brouillard (D) – One year, $775K AAV, two-way contract – development
Brandon Biro and Nikolas Brouillard are still classified as development players. They have 171 and 238 professional games respectively. This brings some experience to the roster but provides flexibility with the veteran rule.
Additional signings
- Josh Mahura (LD) – One year, $775 AAV, one-way contract – veteran exempt
- Ben Meyers (LW, C) – One year, $775K AAV, one-way contract – development
Josh Mahura and Ben Meyers are listed here because although they will compete for depth roles with the Kraken in training camp, we don’t believe they are guaranteed spots on the NHL roster.
Prospects typically do not fill the role of the healthy scratch, since it is usually better to get them playing time in the AHL. With this and their one-way deals in mind, Mahura and Meyers have inside tracks to making the big club.
2024-25 roster breakdown
Nothing is guaranteed until Training Camp, but Ryker Evans and Shane Wright appear poised to make the Kraken full-time in 2024-25. Assuming Mahura, Wright, and Evans are on the Kraken roster, here is how the Firebirds’ roster would look.
With this roster, the Firebirds are in compliance with the veteran rule, and they will maintain flexibility. There will also be options for filling out the Kraken roster if no additional offseason moves are made.
While it is a bummer to see players move on to other teams, it is part of the business side of hockey. Since the Expansion Draft, I have been hoping to see Kole Lind blossom into a full-time NHL player, but that just did not pan out for him in Coachella Valley or Seattle.
With the additions of the new prospects coming into Coachella, it will be exciting to see how these players perform at the next level.
Please comment below of you have any questions or thoughts on this veteran rule. You can also follow @blaizg on x.com