With season over, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders work to build and improve for 2024-25

CEDAR RAPIDS — It always was going to be difficult.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders had their top 13 point gatherers from last season move on. That included three players who ended up being National Hockey League draft picks last summer.

Then the team’s leading goal scorer unexpectedly bolted for a junior league in Canada in late November. And another every-game player unexpectedly decided to go back to his high-school team in Minnesota to play.

All of it was too much for the Riders to overcome. They won their final two United States Hockey League regular-season games last weekend but failed to qualify for the playoffs.

“A lot of players improved, and I think the guys learned a lot,” said RoughRiders Coach/General Manager Mark Carlson. “As players, they faced a lot of challenges this year. I was proud of, for the most part, how they worked and stuck with it. We didn’t reach our goal in the end. But this was a real good group of kids, and I think they learned a lot of things.”

Cedar Rapids finished with a 25-30-5-2 record and 57 standings points, which placed it seventh out of eight teams in the Eastern Conference. The top six teams in each conference made it to the postseason.

The Riders went 2-8 down the stretch, which really cost them, considering sixth-place Chicago edged them by four points.

“I think it’s a challenge no matter what, which is why this is a great league. It’s a challenge every year,” Carlson said. “Our job is to move guys on ... We’ve got to improve in all areas. We had multiple unforeseen things happen with the roster. But our job as a staff is to do a great job and find a way. I think there were a lot of great efforts, but we all, everybody, players, coaches, we have to improve on things.”

Cade Littler, a Calgary Flames draft pick, had eight goals in 14 games when he bolted for the British Columbia Hockey League. Caden Lee, another forward, had two goals and six points in 13 games, when he returned to Chanhassen High School.

After his high-school season, he also went to the BCHL.

Amine Hajibi led the Riders in points this season with 45 in 59 games. He is expected to return next season.

Landan Resendes led the club in goals with 14. Cedar Rapids scored 179 of them this season, which ranked 16th of 18 teams in the USHL.

Rudy Guimond, a Detroit Red Wings draft pick, played a team-high 32 games in net this season and is expected to return. The RoughRiders had four players appear on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings of 2024 NHL Draft-eligible players, led by defenseman Elliott Groenewold (66th among North American skaters).

The others were forward Resendes (168) and defensemen Erik Kald (211) and Zack Sharp (221). It will be interesting to see who returns to Cedar Rapids.

The club recently signed Canadian center Thomas Vandenberg to a tender, meaning he must spend the entire season with the club. The USHL drafts are in early May, with tryout camp in June.

“It’s going to be a very competitive camp,” Carlson said. “I know we say that every year, but I think this year will be especially competitive. We have some players who improved a lot during the course of the year, we have some good players coming off of our futures list, and, obviously, we plan on doing a great job in both drafts. It’s just going to be really competitive.”

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