Sound Tigers roster breakdown

FORWARDS

Four key players graduated to Long Island, leaving lots of holes. The team will look to rookies like Jesse Joensuu (a force in his only preseason game), Vladimir Nikiforov (5-foot-mumble, but skilled and speedy), Rob Hennigar (not much bigger, but a playmaker) and Tomas Marcinko (big and skilled), and to youngsters like Trevor Smith and Sean Bentivoglio to continue to develop. Free-agent pickups Mike Iggulden and Kurtis McLean will also be relied on. Returning veterans make this a deep group.

DEFENSE

The organization is already beset with injuries. The Islanders have two men out, and the Sound Tigers have Chris Lee out, so what had looked like a deep corps is stretched to start. Still, Bridgeport boasts youngsters like Dustin Kohn, Andrew MacDonald and Jamie Fraser, who'll be expected to step forward; Joe Callahan is a solid veteran addition.

GOALIES

There's plenty of potential here, but Yann Danis and Peter Mannino will have to make it translate into results. Danis is coming off a couple of tough years in the Montreal organization, where he went from prospect to afterthought; the Islanders are high on him. Mannino is a rookie goalie out of Denver University. Nathan Lawson, who had a nice camp, and Mike Mole are in Utah if needed.

OVERALL

This franchise has spent two years on the bubble, missing the playoffs on the third-to-last day of the 2006-07 season

and on the second-to-last day of last season. In a bear of a division -- Hershey is loaded, and Wilkes-Barre, Philadelphia, Binghamton and Norfolk all have their supporters -- it won't be easy to get over the top, but there's enough talent here that there's no reason they can't at least challenge for a playoff spot.

-- MICHAEL FORNABAIO