RALEIGH — Just days before the opening of NHL training camps, Rocco Grimaldi didn’t know if his hockey career in North America was over.
“I didn’t get any offers at all. It’s been a couple of years where I haven’t had an offer from anyone — NHL, AHL, nothing,” Grimaldi said early in training camp.
Grimaldi is a proven scorer in the American Hockey League, with more than 160 goals. Last season with the Chicago Wolves, he set career highs in goals (36), assists (37) and points (73) and was a second-team AHL All-Star. He also has two 10-goal NHL seasons on his resume.
Jobs, however, can be tough to come by for players like Grimaldi. The AHL was once home to countless veterans, either longtime NHLers playing out the end of their careers in the minors or those who never broke through and established themselves as top second-tier players.
“It’s been hard,” Grimaldi said. “It’s been frustrating, for sure, but I still have the passion for this game. Obviously, the last few seasons being down low, I kind of showed that I’m a pretty good player, I guess — three different teams and consistent with every team. I think that’s harder to do than just being with the same team every year and being consistent.”
There are fewer spots for players like Grimaldi with the AHL’s veteran rule, which puts in permanent marker the league’s intention to be the top feeder of talent to the NHL.
“I think it’s always been development heavy,” Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky said. “I just think what’s changed is they’ve made it hard to have your whole top six and top four be a bunch of ringers.”
The AHL’s veteran rule says teams must have a minimum of 12 skaters who have played fewer than 260 professional games for each game. Teams can also have five veteran players with 320 or more professional games and one veteran “exempt” player with fewer than 320 games.
Opportunities for players like Grimaldi — who said he didn’t find out until Sept. 15 that Carolina was offering him a professional tryout — can be difficult to find.
“They’re terrible,” Grimaldi said of the AHL’s veteran rule. “They’re honestly, as nice as I can say it, the rules are a complete joke. The league, since I’ve gotten in, has gone way downhill, and I’m really disappointed about it.”
Hurricanes assistant coach Jeff Daniels played more than 500 games in the minor leagues and was head coach of the Hurricanes’ top affiliate in both Albany and Charlotte from 2008 to 2015. Both he and Grimaldi said veterans play a crucial role off the ice in helping young players understand life as a professional. Daniels recalled veterans having him over dinner when he was a young pro and also seeing it as a coach with veterans showing rookies how to learn basic life tasks like grocery shopping.
“You don’t need a lot of them, but you do need a couple, just those guys that understand why they’re there,” Daniels said. “They accept that role. They’ve been around a long time, and they can show the younger players how to be a pro, how to practice the right way, what to do off the ice.”
Grimaldi said when he first turned pro in 2014, he was surrounded by experienced players who helped show the way.
“This is my 11th year,” Grimaldi, a 2011 second round pick by the Panthers, said. “When I came in as a rookie, I had I can’t even tell you how many guys who were like 30, 34 years old — veterans, former NHL guys. I was playing with Greg Zanon, Dan Ellis, Shane O’Brien, Dany Heatley, Bobby Butler. We had so many good players that played in the NHL for a long time, and that helped me and helped (MacKenzie) Weegar and a couple of us other rookies.”
A hurdle for a player like Grimaldi, who is listed at just 5-foot-6 and 180 pounds, is NHL teams often want to surround their prized prospects with players who can offer on-ice protection should a rookie need it.
“I do think a lot of teams when they’re looking at their veteran spots, part of what they’re looking for is a player can make the team better,” Tulsky said, “but a lot of times they’re looking for size and toughness from those veteran spots. … A team that does want to start off looking for size and toughness in their veterans and then has a couple of call-up guys, they might run out of veteran spots before they get to someone who they just think is a good player.”
Carolina, for example, has a wealth of prospects earmarked for prominent roles.
That means making room for Grimaldi is both a logistical and financial decision. For one, Grimaldi has earned a decent guaranteed salary (either on a two-way deal or an AHL deal) given his track record. But the Hurricanes — who, as part of the agreement to again have the Wolves as their top affiliate, are responsible for paying the players — are committed to getting their prospects major developmental minutes.
Grimaldi — if on a two-way deal — would probably be unlikely to earn a call-up over those prospects, and he would likely play in a middle-six role and not crack the top power play with the Wolves. Paying him as a top AHL player wouldn’t make sense.
You can see the conundrum Grimaldi finds himself in. An independently owned AHL team without restrictions and a thirst to win at all costs would probably love to throw a bunch of money at Grimaldi to play in such a role. The veteran rule keeps teams from loading up that way — and costs players like Grimaldi lucrative jobs.
“I understand the tension here,” Tulsky said. “NHL clubs want to make sure that there is always a place for their prospects to develop, and AHL clubs sometimes want to see their league be as competitive as possible and have as much flexibility to sign good veterans as they can.”
Former Hurricanes draft pick Chris Terry, who played with the Wolves last season when the team was independent and without a parent club, landed an AHL contract with the Bridgeport Islanders last week. For the 35-year-old, his career in North America continues.
Grimaldi, meanwhile, was released from his tryout by the Hurricanes on Sunday. At 31, his career could be coming be ending after his best pro season.
“If I’m meant to be here, I’m going to be here, and if I’m not, I’m not,” Grimaldi said at the start of camp. “So I’m just going to do the best that I can, control what I can control, and not worry about all the other stuff.”
