Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Set the franchise record for longest winning streak. Signed the AHL's second-leading scorer. I saw one of the NHL's top prospects get shaken up in a trade that generated headlines throughout the game. Added an elite defender to that same trade.
The Cleveland Monsters packed in plenty for the long holiday weekend. The 10-game winning streak, which culminated in a thrilling, back-and-forth battle with Grand Rapids on Sunday, has moved them past Laval and into the lead in the North Division with 29 points. Their .725 hitting percentage (14-5-0-1) trails only Calgary and Toronto in the entire league.
On Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving in the US, the Monsters won their ninth game in a row to establish a franchise record. On Friday, they had 33 saves in it Zach Sawchenko to shut out Toronto in front of 14,171 fans at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Then on Saturday afternoon, the parent Columbus Blue Jackets completed a major trade with the Minnesota Wild focusing on the defenseman David Jiricek.
Jiricek, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft who turned 21 on Thursday, made the Blue Jackets out of training camp but appeared in only six games before being assigned to Cleveland on Nov. 20. Losing Jiricek is tough, of course, but the move back from Minnesota includes a defenseman. a promising 22-year-old The Daemon Huntwho had 29 points (3 goals, 26 assists) in just 51 games last season for the Iowa Wild. Cleveland could benefit from the return of the deal in future seasons, as Columbus received a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 third- and fourth-round pick, and a 2027 second-round pick.
Hours before Jiricek's deal fell through, the Monsters announced the signing of Rocco Grimaldi to an AHL deal that will keep him with the team for at least the rest of the season. After scoring 36 goals with the Chicago Wolves in 2023-24, Grimaldi went unsigned until the Monsters brought him in for a one-day tryout before the start of their season. The veteran has delivered more than that, using an 11-game point streak — the longest in the AHL this season — to move into second in the AHL with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in 16 games.
Against one of the Western Conference's top teams in Grand Rapids on Sunday, the Monsters erased three one-goal deficits before falling, 6-4 – their first loss since a 4-2 comeback against Rochester on Nov. 6. Cleveland passed outscoring their opponents 40-22 during a 10-game winning streak and moving up from sixth in the North Division standings.
Regardless of Sunday's result, Columbus management – led by a new general manager Don Waddell and Monsters GM Chris Clark – should be happy with what happened in Cleveland. The club lost a few key pieces to a team that lost by one goal in a trip to the Calder Cup Finals last June, but they look to be a formidable opponent again in 2024-25. They split the opening weekend series in Hershey; he got a road break from a tough Charlotte team; beat Milwaukee twice in the last two weekends; and has beaten Toronto three times already, handing the Marlies their only two losses of the season so far.
Grimaldi is one of four monsters who have already reached 20 points this season. First round pick Denton Mateychukhis 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 20 games paced all AHL defensemen, earning him AHL Rookie of the Month honors after scoring 17 points in 13 games in November. Trey Fix-Wolanskythe Monsters' leading scorer in each of the past two seasons, continues to produce with 11 goals and 11 assists so far in 2024-25. Second year ahead Luca Del Belluz he has scored 11 goals in 20 games, surpassing his career total of nine.
The possible addition of Hunt will help bolster a blue line that includes Mateychuk, Corson Ceulemans, Stanislav Svozil, Samuel Knazko and veterans Madison Bowey. And on the net Jet GreavesNovember's AHL Goalie of the Month after finishing 7-1-0 with a .927 save percentage and one shutout in eight appearances.
The Monsters are also looking for a good schedule in December. After visiting Milwaukee tonight, Cleveland has played eight games in a row at home, where they have gone 6-1-0-1 so far this season. The homestand opens Friday with a game against Syracuse.
“Columbus has a bright future with many of these guys because they care,” the head coach Trent Vogelhuber said minutes of the Monsters' Game 7 overtime loss at Hershey back on June 12. “They love hockey. They know what it takes to win. It's about being kind to each other… to the guy next to you. That's how you win. That is the only reason we have reached this point.”
For the returning players who went through that postseason struggle, as emotionally wrenching as it was in the end, they learned lessons. Combine that with a promising group of newcomers, and this year's Monsters have the potential to cause havoc around the AHL.
In the American Hockey League for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the league's top scorer in 2016.
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