Rochester Americans Roster Report: Oct. 10

The Rochester Americans open their season tonight against the Adirondack Flames, with the teams facing off at 7:05 p.m. at the Blue Cross Arena. Before the opener, here’s a brief primer on what players are currently with the Rochester Americans and how their lineup looks.

ROCHESTER AMERICANS: FORWARDS

With Johan Larsson’s reassignment this morning, the Rochester Americans have 15 forwards on their roster. Of those, 11 played at least one game with the Amerks last season, including assistant captains Matt Ellis and Philip Varone.

Varone led the team with 61 points in 69 games last season; he also had a team-high 43 assists. Joining them in Rochester is forward Luke Adam, who led the team with 29 goals last season.

Also returning to the Rochester Americans: forwards Joel Armia and Tim Schaller, who will both play in their second AHL seasons this year. Armia had 27 points in 54 games last year, while Schaller tallied 18 points in 72 games.

Forward Dan Catenacci is also back on the Amerks lineup, ready for his second full season with the club. Catenacci was the lone player to suit up in all 76 games last season for Rochester; he had 10 goals and as many assists in that time.

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Other returning members: Johan Larsson, Kevin Sundher and Colin Jacobs. Larsson had 41 points in 51 games with the Amerks last season. Sundher had 20 points and 25 penalty minutes in 60 games. Jacobs had two points in 24 games with Rochester, spending part of the year in the ECHL, where he had five points in 20 games with the Elmira Jackals.

Mikhail Grigorenko and Justin Kea are also back in Rochester. Kea played one game at the AHL level last season after spending the season with Saginaw of the OHL. Grigorenko spent nine games with the Amerks but played most of the year in Buffalo, and is likely to get called up upon an injury at the NHL level.

Several new forwards in the Amerks lineup this season include Zac Dalpe, William Carrier and Jordan Samuels-Thomas, all property of the Buffalo Sabres. Free agent Akim Aliu signed a professional tryout with the Amerks on October 9 to round out the forward lineup.

With 15 forwards on the roster, there will be some scratches heading into tonight’s season opener. There’s also potential for a few players to still be reassigned to ECHL Elmira.

ROCHESTER AMERICANS: DEFENSEMEN

With the overflow of forwards, the Rochester Americans have just six defensemen in their roster – five of whom have spent time with the club in years past.

Captain Drew Bagnall will lead the charge, with Nick Petrecki, Chad Ruhwedel, Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and Matt Mackenzie all returning to the team. The lone newcomer on the blueline is AHL rookie Brady Austin, who spent most of last season with the OHL’s London Knights.

Ruhwedel was second in defensive scoring in Rochester last season, with 28 points (4-24) in 47 games. Gauthier-Leduc and Mackenzie each had 10 points, in 51 and 64 games each, respectively.

Bagnall had 81 penalty minutes and 51 shots on goal, while Petrecki had 28 penalty minutes and 12 shots in 14 games with the Amerks. He spent most of the season with the Worcester Sharks.

Austin had 28 points and was a plus-49 in 60 games with the Knights.

ROCHESTER AMERICANS: GOALTENDERS

At least for now, the Rochester Americans seem to have a pair of solid goaltenders.

Nathan Lieuwen appears to be the team’s starting netminder. He had a solid season last year, racking up a 2.34 GAA and .922 save percentage in 32 games played. With Matt Hackett’s injury, Lieuwen is set to take the reins in net, with Andrey Makarov as his backup.

Makarov spent part of last season in the ECHL but came to Rochester when the injury bug hit Buffalo. He ended up stepping up and playing 10 games, with a 7-3-0 record. He had a 2.20 GAA and .927 save percentage and earned his first NHL call-up in the process.

Once Hackett returns, all bets are off, but for the time being, these two are your AHL goaltenders.

The Rochester Americans open the 2014-15 AHL season against the Adirondack Flames on October 10.