The staffing of the Abbotsford Heat continued unabated today with Sutter announcing the signing of veteran Carsen Germyn and rookie Ryley Grantham. Germyn was a free agent signing back in '04 and has been a fixture on the Flames various farm teams ever since. He scored a career high 28 goals for Omaha in 06/07, but has seen his production fall ever since. He's probably a career minor leaguer at 27 years old, but should provide good support for the farm's youngsters

In contrast, Grantham was a 6th dround draft choice for Calgary last summer, even though he was a 20 year old with a career high of 19 points in the WHL. Grantham is big (6'4") and known more for his fists than his other abilities. He was traded to the Kelowna Rockets this season, joining Mikael Backlund and the rest of the club on their journey to the Memorial Cup. He managed another 19 points as a an overager in the dub this year, putting his career projection somewhere between Eric Godard and Georges Laraque...if you're optimistic. He'll be Abbotsford's muscle this season.

Even though he was taken in the 6th round, drafting a goon makes zero sense to me. They are freely available on the waiver wire and in the free agent pool every year. Why bother? Perhaps the only good thing that may come of his signing is his presence in the org may deter Sutter from pursuing the McGrattan's of the world.