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Minor Thunderings: Bridgeport signs Rosen, Johnson, Gagnon, Milner, Escobedo

A few connections in these five signings, a few likely meant for ECHL Stockton.

By Dominik
Now officially official.
Now officially official.
Douglas Jones-US PRESSWIRE

Five signings announced from the New York Islanders' AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and with relevance to their new ECHL affiliate in Stockton, Calif.:

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers announced today that five players have agreed to terms on minor league contracts. Forward Justin Johnson joins the organization on an American Hockey League (AHL) deal, while forward Ben Rosen, defensemen Mathieu Coderre-Gagnon and Sean Escobedo and goaltender Parker Milner have agreed to two-way (AHL/ECHL) contracts.

Johnson: Scott Pellerin would be familiar with Johnson, a fighter and the only one of these additions on a one-way deal. He's 32, counts as an AHL veteran, spent the last three seasons with Manchester (where Pellerin previously coached), and has plenty of ECHL history, including in Alaska in 2009-10 under current Isles assistant coach Brent Thompson and with current Sound Tigers assistant Eric Boguniecki.

Coderre-Gagnon: His signing was murmured about on the Internets for a while. He spent the last three seasons with the QMJHL's Shawinigan Cataractes, which means the Isles would have seen him while watching Kirill Kabanov on their Memorial Cup championship run in 2011-12. A defenseman, he can also punch people some.

Long Island BU Boys -- Escobedo and Rosen: These two Long Island and Boston University products are making the jump to pros, with Rosen already getting a Bridgeport ATO at the end of last season. Rosen was also in last month's development camp, where he was listed at 5'10", 190 lbs. Here is a feature on Escobedo from the 2012 prospect camp.

Milner: Milner became the myth, the legend around the time of the 2013 draft when B.D. Gallof tweeted that the Isles had signed him. Formal details were either still to be dotted, or they saved it for later with basket-of-signings announcements like this one. He's from the other half of the main beanpot rivalry: Boston College. And he's quite possibly the goalie slated for Stockton.

On that note, the Islanders goaltending tree as it stands now:

  • Evgeni Nabokov (old Ironhorse)
  • Kevin Poulin (two-way, second contract)
  • Anders Nilsson (two-way, final ELC year)
  • Kenny Reiter (believed to be minor-league deal)
  • Milner (AHL/ECHL deal)

That's probably how things will stand come fall.