Cleveland Monsters Hit Home Run Signing Roman Ahcan
Photo Credit: Cleveland Monsters
Cleveland Monsters General Manager Chris Clark understands the value of having highly skilled draft picks on a team, but his hockey heart lies with a physical guy. “It’s the way I play. It’s my mentality,” explained Clark. “I like to have physicality on my team.” Another quality Clark enjoys in players is the ability to play big. “I like to have big guys,” said Clark. “But, if you’re not big, I’d like you to play big.”
This larger-than-life style of play attracted Clark to 5’9” forward Roman Ahcan while he was playing for the University of Wisconsin. “He’s not big, but he plays like he’s 6’3”. He doesn’t back down from anybody,” said Clark of Ahcan’s style of play. Luckily, during the 2021-22 season, Cleveland was looking for the specific gritty skill set Ahcan possessed and Clark began to pursue him.
Due to the standard in the NCAA, Ahcan’s hits were considered “too hard” and he would occasionally be kicked out of games. While some GMs and scouts might consider that a liability, Clark was impressed and used the hard-hitting ways of the AHL as a selling point to get Ahcan to sign with the Monsters. “I was like, I want you to play the exact same way and I guarantee you’re not going to get the same penalties,” said Clark. “I guarantee you’re not going to get kicked out of the game. You play that way, you’ll have huge success in this league.”
On March 10, 2022, Cleveland signed Ahcan to a Professional Tryout for the rest of the 2021-22 season and a Standard Player Contract for the 2022-23 season. Throughout 146 games spanning three seasons, Ahcan amassed 20-23-43 with 95 penalty minutes in the regular season and scored two goals during the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs. When he didn’t end up on the stat sheet, Ahcan was finding different ways to step up for the Monsters by laying hard hits, getting under the skin of the opposition, and taking pucks away before opponents could take off on breakaways. It felt like, as Clark put it, “the Monsters hit a home run signing Ahcan.”
With an influx of draft picks making their appearance in Cleveland and Columbus, it appeared there wasn’t space for Ahcan to return to the Monsters' roster in 2024-25. When training camp rolled around he headed to North Carolina to partake in the Charlotte Checkers camp on a Professional Tryout contract. Unfortunately, a few days later, the Florida Panthers began sending players to Charlotte, and Ahcan was released from his PTO on October 8th.
Two days later, Cleveland signed Ahcan to a PTO. According to Ahcan, it was an easy decision to come to the Monsters for the 2024-25 season. “I was in Charlotte. Then I went to Savannah. They called me back here and I drove back,” said Ahcan. “It’s as simple as that.”
Since signing a PTO in October, Ahcan has been nothing but impressive for the Monsters. “He only has one gear. He only knows one way. It’s the hard way, and that’s why he’s made a career for himself at what people would say is an undersized player who plays a hard game,” said Head Coach Trent Vogelhuber of what Ahcan has brought to Cleveland this season. “He does it the right way. Plays hard and that’s why we love him. So, definitely, an example for other people because he does it every night.”
Part of Ahcan’s success this season stems from the way he follows the puck from the start of the play until the very end.
While many find this style of play impressive, the ever-humble Ahcan explained it’s just a normal way to play hockey. “I think it’s part of every line. There is someone who is going to go get the puck. I feel like that’s my job,” said Ahcan. “I think our whole line does the same thing well.”
By the time November rolled around, Ahcan was tied for fourth in the AHL with seven goals and quickly became the talk of the town. Soon the questions “When will Ahcan be signed to a Standard Player Contract for the 2023-25 season?” and “What more does he have to do to earn a contract?” began to be asked by both media and fans. On November 8, 2024, Cleveland responded to these questions by signing Ahcan to a SPC for the remainder of the season.
If he keeps up this level of play, the question will soon become “When will Ahcan be signed to a NHL contract?”
