If you take a look at the standings in the AHL right now, you might be surprised to notice that the St. John’s IceCaps are still among the league’s better clubs and are currently holding down the Atlantic Division lead midway through the season. It’s something we weren’t prepared for here on the Rock, since the team came together so quickly and it was hard to gauge future success on half of a Chicago Wolves lineup from last season.

The IceCaps have been a pleasant surprise, and no doubt they’ve earned the praise they get in this city. But recently they’ve struggled to put it on display for their fans, and if you take a closer look, things almost seem backwards.

You may or may not have heard that the IceCaps have been great on the road. That’s putting it lightly. This team didn’t lose a game in regulation until 2012, a 3-1 loss to the Marlies on New Year’s Day. Since then they’ve returned for a lengthy home stand, and despite two enormous wins against Division contender Manchester, have gone on to drop 3 of last four games against Toronto and WBS, respectively.

Why?

Well, to be quite honest, Cormier was a name I immediately recognized when I found out that St. John’s would be housing many of the Jets’ players in waiting. He’s been touted as one of their top prospects, and for good reason.

Despite his troubles in the past with on-ice behavior, Cormier did captain the Canadian World Junior team in 2010, which really threw him into the spotlight for many. He remains a player that fits the mold of an ideal checking center who can potentially become more of a threat as a power forward down the road. That’s why I’m so puzzled by his play (or lack thereof) as an IceCap.

Through 19 games this season, Cormier has only managed 5 points on a team that’s tops in the AHL. He’s been used on the penalty kill fairly consistently, but his play in other situations seems limited.

For a guy looking to develop his skills and reach the big stage, this has to be frustrating. He does see some minutes with offensive players like Klingberg and Mahachek from time to time, but is often slotted behind Holzapfel and Rosa down the middle. Some nights I’ve even seen Garth Murray log more time it seems.

It’s a tough pill to swallow because it seems that this team lacks punch in terms of aggressiveness, and Cormier often delivers that when on the ice. Last weekend things became a little chippy between the Caps and Admirals, so Cormier decided to lay a thunderous hit and responded when asked to fight immediately after.

Fast forward one week and Cormier gets completely crushed by Kyle Neuber of the Toronto Marlies. Who’s there to respond? Nobody. It should be noted that his ice-time did seem to increase against Toronto, likely because they boast such a tough team, but I still want to see more.

It’s just my opinion, and maybe I’m a little off base. But I think it’s in the Jets’ best interest to see as much as possible from this kid.

Cormier sees some tough assignments, as is evidenced by his minus six rating, but it doesn’t seem like he’s rewarded for it.

Cormier is an exciting young player, and it would be a shame for him to not reach full potential.

Klingberg has notched 6 goals for nearly a goal-per-game pace so far this season. Oddly enough, that matches his entire output from 57 games last season between the Swedish Elite League (SEL) and AHL. He’s heated up quickly, and when watching him on the ice, it isn’t too difficult to understand why.

It’s easy to see that Klingberg has the ability to recognize scoring opportunities and put himself in the right areas using his speed. It’s been said in the past that his game was believed to translate well to North American ice, and so far that’s proven true. Because of his size, he’s pretty tough to stop when charging toward the net – slowing a 6’3″ 210 lb guy (who isn’t afraid of the physical game, by the way) from going where he wants is tough when he’s only a few strides away.

It’s no surprise that the Swede is among tops on the IceCaps for shots on goal by a forward with 19. As their premiere player with a hot hand, the team has been feeding him pucks whenever possible and he’s delivering. However, with a shooting percentage upward of 25%, his numbers simply aren’t sustainable.

Of course nobody expects him to score 70+ goals, but that doesn’t mean he won’t continue to turn heads. And from speaking with some local media, it seems his mindset is totally in the right place as well – a few have mentioned that Klingberg is quite humble and easy-going, two traits that fit in pretty well here on the Rock.

From Hockey’s Future:

His biggest challenge will be to develop the patience and ability to recognize scoring opportunities more consistently.

Klingberg’s intensity is especially apparent on the forecheck and his aggressivenss in all three zones make him a difficult player to play against. He has good timing in his hits and rarely puts himself out of the play despite his physical style of play.

A late cut from the Jets’ preseason camp, Klingberg scored in his first game for St. John’s and will be a key player for the IceCaps as he works toward a callup. With NHL ready size and skating, it seems only a matter of timing before Klingberg becomes an NHL regular.

For a somewhat struggling Jets team, Klingberg’s success thus far has to be steadily on their radar. It’s argued that he is simply the team’s second best prospect behind Mark Scheifele, with Postma and Cormier obviously in the mix as well. With Scheifele being returned to junior, Klingberg could see some time in the NHL this season.

All of these players bring different skill-sets to the table, but as far as real scoring ability is concerned, Klingberg is well on his way to breaking out in a big way over here on the smaller rinks.

If he does, this season could be his first and last as an IceCap.

Ryan Fancey writes about the St. John’s IceCaps on his site the Ice Flow and you can follow him on twitter at @SJ_IceCaps for more Jets affiliate news.

Going into his third AHL campaign, Paul Postma is knocking (or trying to knock down) the door to crack the Jets lineup full-time. With only one NHL game to his credit, becoming a Jet won’t be easy, and it likely won’t happen this season.

That isn’t a slight on Postma, who led his squad – the Chicago Wolves – in points by a blue-liner with 45 last season. But for now it’s pretty clear that he’s an IceCap, or at least that’s the way it will look until some injuries arise.

Still basically a youngster, at only age 22, Postma is viewed as one of the Jets’ top prospects. The scouting report on this kid is that he can move well for his size (6’3″), doesn’t really need to have mean streak because of it, and has obvious offensive upside.

Drafted in the seventh round by the Thrashers in 2007 after a 24 point season with the Swift Current Broncos, Postma eventually went on to become a premier defender in the WHL, registering 84 points with the Calgary Hitmen two seasons later. He was then signed to an entry level contract with Atlanta.

With the Jets boasting a blue-line of seven guys under contract, the chance for Postma to reach the NHL in the immediate future looks pretty bleak. After signing Randy Jones, who has shown an ability to chip in a few points as well, the roster became blocked for the Jets. And Postma will likely have to wait another year to step in on a regular basis for the IceCaps’ parent club.

The key to all of this, however, is that the Jets will have both Jones and fellow defenceman Johnny Oduya on expiring contracts this season. Jones, now thirty, seems to be on the decline in terms of production, with only 13 points in 63 games this past season with Tampa. This makes me wonder if the Jones signing, only one year, is seen as a stopgap solution that will eventually open room for Postma to step in.

It’s up to Postma himself to prove that this is indeed the case by matching, and perhaps exceeding his performance from last season. The more points the better, and it’s clear that while he waits for his chance to become a Winnipeg Jet, Postma will be arguably the IceCaps’ most important player.

Editor’s Note:  Ryan is based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and has an excellent blog about the Jets AHL affiliate IceCaps.  He will be giving our readers some insight into what is happening ‘On the Farm’ each week.  If you have any questions for him about what is happening with the AHL franchise, send him an email at ryanfancey@gmail.com and follow him on twitter @SJ_IceCaps.

A number of the guys who helped Manitoba to a 93 point, 5th place finish last season are property of the Vancouver Canucks and will be heading to their as yet, undetermined AHL franchise.   In fact there are approximately 16 players on the current Moose roster of 28, whose rights are owned by the Canucks.  Familiar names like Bolduc, Lack and Tanev won’t be with us anymore.

More about our new AHL team after the jump.

The Thrashers have had an affiliation with the Chicago Wolves and 14 Thrashers prospects were playing in Chi-town.  The knock on the Wolves has been that they focus on some of their own player development and weren’t always so considerate of how the Thrashers players progressed.  There was even talk that the Wolves and Thrashers would dissolve their relationship at the end of the season.

Having said that players like Klingberg, Cormier, Machacek, Telegin, Postma, O’dell, and Kulda all have good shots at becoming NHL regulars.  (With Kyle’s return, he will be giving you a good look at our prospects, with Prospect Pulse).

Current Assistant GM Craig Heisinger will continue to play an important role and you can expect the guy responsible for helping to develop coaches like Vigneault, Arniel and Noel will have our new AHL affiliate running like a well oiled machine.

As we learn more about our new affiliate in St. John’s stick to our AHL Report for the latest development news.