Titans Make Biggest Moves Of Off-Season Yet

Andy Bohmbach led the Titans with 27 goals and 37 assists last year, and returns for the 2012-13 season

On Monday, the Titans announced the return of their leading scorer from last season.  But that’s not all.

The team is bringing back forward Andy Bohmbach, but also made public the return of Adam Presizniuk and the addition of former Dartmouth defenseman Connor Goggin.  Also, Trenton is bringing in Joe Trotta as an assistant coach.

Let’s take this one step at a time…

Bohmbach was typically one of the best players on the ice while with the Titans last season.  He led the team in the major offensive categories — Rob Bordson would have, but went up to the AHL and stuck midway through the year — despite a ten-game stint with the Adirondack Phantoms.  This will mark his third season in the ECHL, and he’s tallied 28 and 27 goals in his first two seasons with Toledo and Trenton, respectively.

Presizniuk is most notable to me for having the most annoying last name to try to remember how to spell while on deadline.  Ahem.  Aside from that, he enjoyed a brief AHL stint with the Providence Bruins.  The durable 25-year-old was sixth on the Titans in goals (13) and third on the club with 27 assists in 69 games.  But he’ll need to improve on both of those totals if he’s going to get increased ice time.

Goggin is a 23-year-old defenseman who will be entering his first full professional season.  In four seasons with Dartmouth, the 6-foot-2, 180 pounder tallied 14 goals and 27 assists, with his point totals increasing in each of his last two seasons.  He got an extended look in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs at the end of last year, playing in 12 games while registering two assists along the way.

Trotta has spent the past seven seasons in the NHL as a video coach for the Anaheim Ducks, and won a Stanley Cup ring with them during the 2006-07 season.  He is a former ECHL assistant coach, and replaces Todd Fedoruk, who joined the Titans during last season.

“We are very excited to have someone with Joe’s credentials coming on board,” said Titans’ CEO Rich Lisk in a team press release.  “His time the NHL will prove to be very valuable to our team and the development of our players.”

The Titans have now either signed or agreed to terms with 17 players — all forwards or defensemen.  The Flyers are sure to send around three to five players to the Titans, meaning a few of the guys you’ll see listed at the bottom will be without jobs once the season begins.

The team is also expecting one contracted goalie from Philadelphia, and it seems possible that the Devils could send a goalie here as well depending on how things play out.  The recent signing of Scott Munroe by the Flyers to an AHL deal would seem to push Cal Heeter down to Trenton — it seems unlikely that Niko Hovinen would come to the capital city as of now — but it’s uncertain which goaltender the Devils would send down if they were to do so. 

Two contracted goalies could put the Titans in a difficult situation if one needs to leave for an extended period of time, and Brian Stewart recently signed with Bakersfield, which eliminates a quality free agent possibility who would have been a great fit.  Trenton would then need to rely on an A-League type goaltender, perhaps an Adam Dekker-type, to get them through.

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2012-13 Titans: Andy Bohmbach, Adam Presizniuk, Connor Goggin, David de Kastrozza, Derrick Pallis, Ryan Grimshaw, Mitch Versteeg, Drew Akins, Alexandre Beauregard, Ryan Hayes, Jacob Drewiske, Steve Schultz, Ray DiLauro, Eric Baier, Matt Germain and Mark Armstrong.  Additionally, Gregor Hanson has officially agreed to terms.

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com