Locked-out NHL players stay sharp in ECHL

The trickle-down effect of the NHL lockout will be on display tonight at Orleans Arena, where the Wranglers will host the Ontario (Calif.) Reign in their only ECHL preseason home game, at 7:05.

The Reign feature veteran NHL defenseman Paul Mara, one of several NHL players expected to play in the ECHL this season.

While only NHL players on entry-level contracts can play in the American Hockey League during the lockout, all others can choose where they want to keep their skills sharp, whether in Europe or the ECHL.

"I wouldn't say it's something I necessarily agree with," Las Vegas coach Ryan Mougenel said of NHL players in the ECHL. "I find it hard to take away from a kid trying to make a living in the game versus someone who's done very well for themselves. It just doesn't seem fair.

"It's unfortunate for the (locked-out NHL) players, but that doesn't mean they should go and take someone else's job that's making $525 a week."

The Wranglers will play Friday at Ontario before wrapping up their exhibition schedule with games Monday and Tuesday in Anchorage, Alaska, against the Aces, who have signed NHL players and Alaska natives Scott Gomez, Nate Thompson and Joey Crabb.

Gomez, a Montreal Canadiens forward, played for the Aces during the 2004-05 NHL lockout - earning ECHL Most Valuable Player honors - but he reportedly plans only to practice, not play, with Alaska this season.

Thompson, Crabb and Gomez - who has two years and $14 million remaining on his contract - agreed to pay for their own insurance, which Mougenel said costs about $15,000 per month.

"A lot of players want the (ECHL) teams to absorb (the cost of insurance), but it's a salary cap violation in our league," Mougenel said.

The ECHL has a weekly salary cap of $12,400 for 20 active players, who make an average of $620 per week.

Las Vegas returns a solid core of players from last season's Western Conference champions - who earned the franchise's second berth in the Kelly Cup Finals - but it doesn't feature an NHL player.

While Mougenel said he would love to sign someone such as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland, a former Wrangler and Las Vegas resident, he doesn't see it as a long-term solution.

"At the end of the day, when the lockout ends, he goes back up, and I'm short a defenseman," Mougenel said. "For the integrity of our team, I don't think it makes sense to have a guy for maybe four weeks, two weeks, or one game."

Aside from the influx of NHL players in the ECHL, the league also will feature a plethora of AHL players, who will be moved down to make room for their NHL brethren.

"I'd say the ECHL quality of player probably went up," Mougenel said.

The Wranglers, who aren't affiliated with an NHL team, return several players Mougenel thought would start the season in the AHL, including goalie Joe Fallon, defenseman Jamie Fritsch and forwards Josh Lunden and Eric Lampe, who exploded for a franchise-record 37 goals last season.

Fritsch, Lunden and Lampe currently are in AHL camps with Abbotsford, St. John's and Houston.

Las Vegas also returns forwards Judd Blackwater, Scott Campbell, Chris Francis, Adam Huxley, Geoff Paukovich and Sean Wiles, goalie Mitch O'Keefe and defensemen Channing Boe and Mike Madill.

"There's always a lot of good players that come through here," Madill said. "We're always real competitive, and I don't think that changes too much with the lockout."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.