PROSPECT REPORT: A Q&A with Mark Dennehy

The Binghamton Devils are coming down to the final games of their AHL regular season and this year, they're playing meaningful hockey as the weather starts to turn. The B-Devils are in the hunt for a playoff spot and are in that position after an incredible run in the latter half of the year.
New Jersey has plucked away several of the players, needing to fill voids on the NHL roster, but Binghamton head coach Mark Dennehy couldn't be prouder to lose those players to the NHL club. As he told me, this is what he's here to do: get players ready for success at the NHL level, send them up and hope to see them at the end of the year.

Given the most recent AHL success, I wanted to check in with Dennehy and understand what has gone so well for the team this year and how he has seen his players grow and develop.
Speaking one-on-one with Dennehy this week, I learned a lot about how he coaches, what he values and how this run has been impacted by so many different people. We chat about Devils prospects like Jesper Boqvist, Mike McLeod and Joey Anderson, we delve into the impact Cory Schneider had on his group, and what the warm weather arriving really means.
I hope you enjoy and learn more about the organizational structure and culture from my conversation with Mark!
Amanda Stein:Mark when I was looking at the stats, I knew I had to reach out! You're on an unbelievable run of 24-7-0-0 in your last 31 games, after starting the year 9-17-4-0, so I'll start off by asking how much fun are you all having right now in Binghamton?
Mark Dennehy:It's why you are a part of the game, right? If you're not competitive and you don't want to win, then this is definitely not the vocation for you.
You know, you've got to enjoy the wins too. The losses always hurt, and as difficult as last season was, you've got to enjoy these wins. And I tell these guys, as we're on a little bit of a hot streak, I tell the guys -- and the guys are exhausted - we've got to clap this one out.
You can enjoy this, it's okay to enjoy this. So, it's been great. I'm happy for the players.
AS: What were you seeing at the beginning of the year, based on the record, that maybe wasn't going as well for you guys and was there a moment where you got concerned that it's 'here we go again'.
MD:Well, you know, you really have to guard against that because every day is new and it's what you make it.
And that's something that coaches preach all the time is process, right? And so, if you don't [as coaches] buy into that, guys aren't going to buy it. So, if I for a second start to think, 'here we go again', then that's exactly what's going to happen. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
But players win hockey games. We've got a great veteran contingent here, and I give [Binghamton General Manager Tom Fitzgerald] a lot of credit for going out and signing guys like Ben Street and Chris Connor, Julian Melchiorri, [Matt] Tennyson, I could go right down the line. And then you look at our young guys, they are starting to come along and you see a player like Egor Sharangovich, who has really, really played well for us of late.
Joey Anderson came down [out of training camp] with the right attitude and just embraced it. He got his confidence back authentically and now you see what he's doing at the NHL level. Mikey McCloud is another player, so the players are starting to develop, and that's part of the natural process. It can be painful, last year was painful, but I think you're starting to see some of the fruits of that labor.
AS:You beat me to it, mentioning players like Joey and Mikey. I want to talk a little more in-depth about some of the players you've had and are continuing to coach. I remember when Joey was called up and he told me he was ticked off that I didn't make the NHL team, but just went down to the AHL and almost found a swagger in his game he didn't even know he was missing. What did you see from Joey in that experience?
MD:You know, people don't realize how hard the NHL is, and it's an incredibly hard place to learn on the job.
I just listened to a webinar with Jared Bednar [head coach of the Colorado Avalanche] for the NHL coaches association, and he talked about how when coaching in the East Coast Hockey League, it was all about winning, right? He had a small owner it's about winning.
When you coach at the AHL level, it's about winning, but it's also about development. And then when you're in the NHL, it's about winning again. So, these NHL coaches, it's about winning. And it's hard for young guys to develop on the fly. And you've got to deal with a little bit of lack of success.
So, coming down here, a lot of these guys that had good camps that got sent down. They all came down with a great attitude. They weren't happy about it. They want to be in the NHL, but they were going to make the best of the situation. And they were going to make sure that whatever holes in their game they had, they were going to fill.
That's the first part, right? It's having the right attitude. And then they put in the work. So, Joe was getting a lot of chances early in the season. He's a very responsible player, wasn't giving a lot up, but he wasn't capitalizing. And it probably wasn't until, 10 or 12 games in that all of a sudden, the puck started going in the net for him again, but he didn't change the way he played defensively.
He was just taking advantage of the chances that he got. You could see his confidence growing.
AS:You've mentioned Mike McLeod a few times, and I've seen it. When he came up last year, versus how he's looked in his recall this year, it's almost like a completely different player. When you look at like the fundamentals of his game and just the way he plays, let alone confidence, what do you feel is like the biggest difference that you've seen from year one to year two.
MD:I think an understanding of the structure of the game. He's always had an ability, I mean, he's got a big-time motor, he's got huge compete. He's able to get in and out of situations with the puck that not a lot of players can. Coming in, there wasn't a lot of structure to his game. He had the puck so much that he had to learn how to play without it a little bit.
So that's been a big growth area for him, is his understanding, how to play without the puck. Then it's also putting himself in a position to either go get [the puck] himself or support his defenseman or his line mates to get it back. I can only imagine, I wasn't able to watch him at the junior hockey level, but he must've had the puck the entire time.
Cause even at the American Hockey League level when he gets it, he can hold onto it a lot longer than other players can. You can't play that way at the NHL level, there's no one good enough to do that, there's so many good players and so you've got to get better at playing without it.
AS:I know you keep up to date on everything going on within the franchise at the NHL level and a player who has really endeared himself to the Devils fan-base in Jesper Boqvist. He comes to the NHL right away, unable to immediately play in the AHL because of league agreements, but what would you say to those who are maybe questioning why he's not here at the NHL level again?
From your coaches eye that you say, this is the AHL where he should be right now?
MD:You know, he's a guy that has top six skill right. Right? He's the guy that has top six skill and he wasn't in a position yet physically to compete for top six minutes. So, you're playing him almost out of place.
Even when he's in the lineup, if he's playing down the bottom of your lineup, it's not playing to his strengths while he's here. He's a top six-forward for us. He's going to get top six minutes, He's going to play in all situations, four-on-four, five-on-four. We've had him out five versus six, killing penalties.
When you have a player that's skill set, I'm going to put him out there as much as I can. And there's also been some teaching that goes along with it. It's also he had the puck so much at lower levels. It's figuring out how to play without it. But kudos, kudos to all these guys, who have come down with a great attitude.
And I think a lot of it has to do with Tom [Fitzgerald's] candor with these young players. There's no BS with Fitzy, none. They trust him, and they know why they're here. It makes for a better situation because we're here to get to work. They're here to play.
Then there's another side of this too, for Jesper. He's, he's among his peers.
A lot of these guys at the NHL level are married with kids and when they're done with their job's at the rink, they go to their families.
Whereas these young guys, I saw it at the collegiate level, that the team bonding that goes on, being around their peers helps too. I think having, Fabian Zetterlund here, really helps a bit of that too [for Jesper]. All that goes into, and at the end of the day, what you want is you want when he goes back up, to be ready to compete for those top six, top nine minutes, because that that's the type of player he has the potential to be.
AS:What was it like having a veteran, an NHL veteran, going through a difficult year in Cory Schneider, spend much of the season with the Binghamton group?
MD:I would say number one is: humility. When you have a player that, has been an NHL All-Star, that's had the type of career that he continues to have and he's down in the [AHL] not moping around and is working on his game how can any of these younger players not feed off of that?
He's a world-class person, a guy that, that if you spend any time around him, you're rooting for. There are a lot of really happy people down here for him now that he's been able to go back to where he's playing so well at the NHL level.
But I would his demonstration of work ethic [had an influence]. He came down to work. He was on a mission, but also his humility are the two things. He was really good with the young players, all of them. I remember we had a team meeting, and this was before we kind of got going - we were having some troubles defensively and they were similar to some of the things that were going on up in New Jersey.
We're having the team meeting and Cory jumped in and basically said "listen, you know, we had the same issue in New Jersey and this is all we did…" And afterwards he came up to me and he said, "I sure I hope you don't mind me vocalizing." I said, Cory, shame on us as coaches if we don't use the veterans on this team as a resource.
He's played a lot of games. He's seen a lot of hockey. To me, it's not what you say, it's where you say it, how you say it and in what manner. I welcomed it and, didn't insert himself a lot, but when he did, it was insightful and it was well positioned.
And I know it meant a lot to my players.
AS:What, what have you seen on this second half year run that's impressed you the most? What has allowed you guys to have this hot streak?
MD:It starts at the top. I will say consistency in our leadership.
This is a team that also had an eight-game losing streak, I think in November. We meet with the veterans and the captains pretty regularly, and there was no ambivalence, our meetings were the same with the eight-game losing streak as they were with the eight-game winning streak. It has always been "this is what we need to do." It's about positive feedback an open line of communication and they understood, they didn't like where we were at the time, bu they understood that we've got some young players and there's some growth to do. That's going to take place here. That's why I'm happiest for them because it's been slow and steady and these guys have just stuck with it, they haven't wavered.
AS:Do you feel that there's someone on your team that has flown under the radar?
MD:A lot of them. I mean, really a lot of them. And I think as time goes on, you're going to see some more guys. You've got Janne [Kuokkanen] up there now... This is a good group. This has been such a fun group to coach, with Sharangovic, Nate Bastian is a guy that comes to work every day, and he's really, gone from a guy last year that people would leave the rink and say, 'geez, you know, 42… what a game' and now it's almost just expected. And he brings it every day. Marian Studenic as really started to emerge, there's Josh Jacobs, New Jersey had a taste of him. There's a lot of guys. How about [goaltender] Gilles Senn. The growth he's had from the beginning of the year and rookie camp untill now is huge.
I'm actually looking at our board right now, and we haven't even talked about Brett Seney, who played 55 games in the NHL, now he's got 19 goals here.
There are a lot of guys that are pulling at the rope right now.
AS:You have a new goaltender and Zane McIntyre, he comes in and has been great for you guys. Small sample size, but how is your goalie tandem?, I mean, he's been playing awesome for you guys. How much, how great is it to have, you know, that tandem for you?
MD:You could say it's been "In-Zane!", I've got no filter!
He's won a lot of hockey games in his career, he's been a real pro and obviously gotten off to a great start.
I think he's given up one goal in his first three games. That's not a pace that you're going to be able to do for a whole season. But what I really like about Zane is, and he's made some amazing saves, he really has, but what I really like about it is that a lot of pucks hit him right in the chest. He doesn't have to make a lot of amazing saves. And what that tells me is he's getting to his spots. He sees the puck, he's very mechanically sound and guy that helps without a lot of credit here is, is Scott Clemmenson.
He's awesome. You look at the young goalies in this organization, I mean a Mackenzie Blackwood, is two years removed from playing in the East Coast league.
And the growth of Gilles Senn, everybody he touches tends to get better. I give Clemmer a lot of credit.
AS:I remember talking to you last year and you were telling me how, that moment where you get to tell players that they've been called up to the NHL, no matter whether it's their first or second time, is an important and valued moment for you. When you get to do that and then see those players go on and make a different, thinking specifically of someone like Mackenzie Blackwood, what type of pride does that fill you with?
MD:You know, it's funny, I tell them all the same thing. I say, I hope to see you at the end of the year. You know, they go up and you want them to go up and you want them to stay up and you want it to really stick and for them contribute to the organization. When I first got hired, that was the point - it's the number one thing here, the development.
You know, uh, there are some, uh, real important assets in Binghamton, um, and we want to make sure that, that we see them through that process, the developmental process. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Sergei Bylin, Ryan Parent. You know I got a text from someone in the organization when Josh Jacob went up commending Ryan in almost like a proud father, proud Papa way, that some of these younger guys go up…. I can't count the number of hours of video that Sergei has done with Mikey McCloud and Joey Anderson. It's those guys that do a lot of the work and we're all pretty proud of it.
We've got our board here and I've got the New Jersey logo up, and I see the guys that were here, that are up there now and we watch most of their games and we're all really happy for the success they're having.
AS:When you look towards the rest of the schedule, the way you guys are playing, you're in a playoff spot right now, how excited are you for this end of the year and what your guys can do going forward?
MD:I don't know the exact date, Amanda, but we had a standings board in the lounge, we took it down months ago.
If you're winning hockey games, you don't have to worry about standings, right? It's like the golfer that's on the 17th, you do have a responsibility to look over your shoulder at the leaderboard, to see what kind of lead you have. But if you spend too much time looking at it, you can take time away from doing what's really important: That's preparing your team to play hockey games. We know where we are, we have nine road games and six home games left. We know who we're going to play, but we've got to concentrate on everything game to game because that's what we want our players to do. So, we as coaches have to do the same.
AS: How valuable do you think a playoff run or any type of playoff experience, the fight to get in there can have for your guys?
MD:We started this conversation talking about competing, and if you're a true competitor, you want to be playing meaningful, meaningful games when the weather gets warm. We had a four-point game against Toronto a couple of weeks ago and now we're coming up on games against Laval who we're competing for that last spot with. Those are meaningful games. We are playing meaningful games and outside it's starting to get nice out so, there's no better feeling.