2023/24 Spirit Roster Projections

[donjohnson]

So, the season is behind us and it's now time to look forward to our Memorial Cup run. We know we'll be playing in late May but I think the goal is to put together a team that can win a conference and league title and put some permanent banners in the rafters. I'm going to make some assumptions below on OA's, Imports and Trades and then I'll list who I think will be our regular 12-13 forwards, 6-7 defensemen and 2 goalies.

Overagers:
We currently have 4 players eligible to be OA's...Dean Loukus, Roberto Mancini, T-Bone Codd and Ian Phillips. I think Loukus and Mancini are locks to be OA's and will be with us the full season. I think Phillips will either be waived or you'll see him sign with a University team. The interesting one is T-Bone...I've always liked the grit that he's played with but he has been injured now for 2 straight years and I don't think the team is going to take a chance on a 3rd. My prediction (assuming T-Bone wants to keep playing hockey) is a trade to somewhere in the Western Conference for a conditional pick. It will start as maybe a +/- 10th round pick and could be higher if he plays "X" amount of games with someone. I don't think the Spirit will decide on their 3rd OA until they know their goalie situation.

Imports:
I think Sapovaliv will be back next year...he had a great year and an even better playoffs but I don't think he's ready to go all the way up to Vegas so that means he'll be back for his 19yo season. Assuming we still have their rights, our 2nd import will be one of the two that we drafted last year. Petr Hauser (czechia) would be an OA which I think is unlikely although he's a teammate of Sapovaliv on World Jrs. The more likely candidate would be Martin Misiak (Slovakia) who is currently playing in the USHL so he's already in the US and it would be an easier move to get him to Saginaw. He played on Slovakia's World Jr. team.

Trades:
1) I think Luke McNamara will be moved with picks to a team that is sending us back 2 players. I just don't think he's ever felt comfortable in our system and could use a change of pace. There's a lot of talk of a trade with Kitchener and I think that would benefit both sides.

2) I think Olivier Savard needs to prove his toughness in the first half of the season or he will be traded. My prediction is that he won't and he will be dealt to Ottawa or Peterborough for a 19yo defenseman.

3) I think it's very possible that we also trade Sebastian Gervais. I like him as a player but I think he may need to get moved so the two rookies have room to skate.

4) Moore / Storch...If Lincoln Moore shows that he can be a physical, stick up for your teammate player, I think he'll have a regular spot in the roster. If he doesn't, I think he'll be moved. Storch has to show that he can win battles and be a productive player...otherwise he's too small and I just don't think he'll have a roster spot.


Here's how I think the team will shake out (not in any order):

Forwards:
1) Sapovaliv (Import)
2) Misiak (Import)
3) Loukas (OA)
4) Haight
5) Misa
6) Mangone
7) Willis
8) Sima
9) Stewart
10) Forward (From McNamara Trade)
11) Young
12) Clouthier
??) Moore / Storch

Defensemen:
1) Mancini (OA)
2) Parekh
3) Guo
4) Forgione
5) Defenseman (from Savard Trade)
6) Defenseman (from McNamara Trade)
7) Glavin OR Jovanavic OR Trethewey

Goalies:
1) Oke
2) Fullerton

This is now Oke's team and he's not in the shadow of Lennox any more. He's definitely shown that he can be a #1 goalie in this league on many nights and he's also had other nights that are total stinkers. He'll be given the keys to the franchise at the beginning of the season and if, after a few months, he's having a mediocre at-best season, the Spirit will have to find an OA goalie to bring in. I am confident that Oke will do well but the pressure is definitely on him this year and hopefully our defense plays like the playoffs (with regards to breakaways) and not like the regular season.

I have all the confidence in Drinkell as he's made the right moves and put us in position to land the Memorial Cup. Now I'm interested to see how he constructs the team this year and hopefully it's a fun ride for all of us!

EDITS IN BOLD SINCE I FORGOT THE TWO ROOKIES

[ricardo]

From what I understand, the two players picked in last year's import draft will go back into the pool and will need to be re-drafted by the Spirit in order to play for them.

I think T-bone Codd and Mathhew Jovanavic are the wild cards for next year's team. Both have been injured for pretty much two years now so you have to wonder how much patience the Spirit would have in bringing them into training camp in the fall. T-bone was around the team at the end of the season and through the playoffs, so it's not like he dropped off the face of the earth. I don't know if Jovanavic was ever at the Dow.

I'd like to see an experienced goalie brought in to push Oke to be a better goalie and maybe push him for playing time.

[eric8199]

You don't think Aiden Young makes the team? I expect him to take a spot and you never know, maybe one other impresses at camp and steals another one. I don't think the solution to playing through the postseason next year is to start with nearly the exact same lineup of kids minus our OAs from this year. I'm not going to name names, but I see a few on your list that I think will get pushed out for more talent in a season where everyone's going to want to play on this team. Look, trades should be a lot easier in the past, because you get traded here, you're all but guaranteed to play for a Memorial Cup. That's pretty good incentive.

[aj0512]

Yeah, there won't be much room for rookies on next year's roster, but I have to think (hope?) Young will be on the Opening Night roster as long as he has a good camp. Maybe Cloutier as well, who knows. Goaltending will be an interesting group to keep an eye on for sure. Hopefully Oke is ready for the challenge of being the full-time guy. The potential is definitely there, just need to see more of it. It will be a fun ride, but the pressure will soon be on to live up to Memorial Cup expectations. Back in October a lot of people were picking Flint to win the league this year with how much they brought back, but flopped. Windsor and Ottawa were colossal busts in the postseason. Hopefully we continue to develop players and the potential trades work out.

[IGive1]

I don't know anything, but who I think they could be targeting to add:

Florian Xhekaj - Brantford
Paul Ludwinski - Kingston
Dom DiVincentiis - NB

[donjohnson]

Crap... I forgot the rookies... I'll revisit my list but I don't see them getting much ice next year.

[kingpin794]

They’ll fit Young in. Have to make him look good if they decide to use him in a deadline deal. Clouthier should get time too between tourneys/injuries/illness.

Misa-Sapovaliv-Loukas
Willis-Haight-Mangone
Gervais-Trade-Sima
Young-Stewart-Moore
Storch-Clouthier

Parekh-Trade
Mancini-Guo
Forgione-Import
Glavin

Oke
Fullerton

-Think only Young and Clouthier make line up
-Harmer plays down for a year
-McNamara and picks for D man
-Brown moved for a pick
-picks for OA F if Codd can’t go

[donjohnson]

Apr 25, 2023 14:55:11 GMT -5 eric8199 said:

You don't think Aiden Young makes the team? I expect him to take a spot and you never know, maybe one other impresses at camp and steals another one. I don't think the solution to playing through the postseason next year is to start with nearly the exact same lineup of kids minus our OAs from this year. I'm not going to name names, but I see a few on your list that I think will get pushed out for more talent in a season where everyone's going to want to play on this team. Look, trades should be a lot easier in the past, because you get traded here, you're all but guaranteed to play for a Memorial Cup. That's pretty good incentive.

While I agree with you on "same lineup minus OA's won't work", that's not what I had in my list. I had 4 new players (Import, Forward Trade and 2 Dmen Trades) who I think will put us over the top. Between the 21/22 and 22/23 seasons we essentially added four players (Hill, Misa, Parekh, Willis) and made a significant jump in the standings. I think adding the four new players I mentioned will easily jump us into contending for a title.

[eric8199]

Apr 26, 2023 7:28:05 GMT -5 donjohnson said:

Apr 25, 2023 14:55:11 GMT -5 eric8199 said:

You don't think Aiden Young makes the team? I expect him to take a spot and you never know, maybe one other impresses at camp and steals another one. I don't think the solution to playing through the postseason next year is to start with nearly the exact same lineup of kids minus our OAs from this year. I'm not going to name names, but I see a few on your list that I think will get pushed out for more talent in a season where everyone's going to want to play on this team. Look, trades should be a lot easier in the past, because you get traded here, you're all but guaranteed to play for a Memorial Cup. That's pretty good incentive.

While I agree with you on "same lineup minus OA's won't work", that's not what I had in my list. I had 4 new players (Import, Forward Trade and 2 Dmen Trades) who I think will put us over the top. Between the 21/22 and 22/23 seasons we essentially added four players (Hill, Misa, Parekh, Willis) and made a significant jump in the standings. I think adding the four new players I mentioned will easily jump us into contending for a title.

I think if you look back at the 2018-2019 season you've already got the blueprint. I would not be surprised to see an almost entirely new group of OAs by the time we hit the trade deadline next season. With a guaranteed Memorial Cup shot, I don't think there will be room for players to take up a spot on the roster if they're not producing.

[MidlandSpiritFan]

A chance to get our 1st look at the new boys. Have already asked about dates, times, and location.

[donjohnson]

Not surprising but it looks like Ian Phillips is now with the Halliburton Huskies of the OJHL. He was not expected to be an OA in the league so good luck to him as he continues his career!

www.eliteprospects.com/player/582504/ian-phillips

[donjohnson]

Well...we are a week away from training camp and less than two weeks away from the first exhibition games in Erie.

I think the biggest question mark coming into the season is goaltending...is Oke ready to be the man in the net. He has definitely shown flashes of the ability and Team USA seems to like him since it's always tough for an OHL player to make the US team (ask Ty Voit and Sasha Pastujov). Last year Dennis Derosiers would always say on the broadcast "we'll go as far as Lennox takes us" and I think it's the same situation this year for Oke. With the trades we'll likely make, he's going to have a better team in front of him but he's still going to have to have a +/- 3.00 GAA and needs that save percentage to be around the 90% range. If he can hit those numbers, we'll be in good shape.

I think the other interesting storyline will be the overagers...currently with Phillips moving on, we have (3) 2003 players in Loukus, Mancini and T-Bone. With T-Bone's injury history, will the Spirit hang on to him or will they try to trade him? I think Mancini and Loukus will have a spot on the team but if there's an upgrade out there, one of them could be moved.

Finally, we are for sure going to be adding a top defenseman...losing Smith is a big loss and I think we're going to need another solid player for the powerplay back there. I would imagine at the beginning of the season you'll see 4 forwards out there with Zayne on the #1 powerplay line which is fine but you run the risk of SH goals without 2 dmen out there.

[aj0512]

In a sure sign that hockey season is right around the corner, we have a good ol' Saginaw and Barrie trade.

Saginaw receives:
-OA defenseman Braden Hache
-Conditional 2027 15th round pick

Barrie receives:
-Defensemen Olivier Savard
-Conditional 2024 3rd round pick (Kingston)

Hache was a 7th round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft by Florida. Between Kingston and Barrie last season, he had 19 points in 68 games and was a +24. Also had 9 points in 13 playoff games with the Colts.

My assumption with this trade is that T-Bone Codd is probably on his way out of town.

[ricardo]

I like the fact that the Spirit got a big body defenseman. That's something that's been lacking the past few seasons.

[donjohnson]

Love this trade...pretty steep price for an OA but I still like the trade a lot. I had predicted that Savard would be traded in my original post so I'll modify my lineup:

Forwards:
1) Sapovaliv (Import)
2) Zhugin Misiak (Import)
3) Loukas (OA)
4) Haight
5) Misa
6) Mangone
7) Willis
8) Sima
9) Moore Stewart
10) Forward (From Brown Trade)
11) Young
12) Clouthier
13) Storch

Defensemen:
1) Mancini (OA)
2) Parekh
3) Guo
4) Forgione
5) Hache OA (from Savard Trade)
6) Defenseman (from McNamara Trade)
7) Glavin OR Jovanavic OR Trethewey

Goalies:
1) Oke
2) Fullerton

I do still think that McNamara is going to get traded however since he wasn't drafted, I don't think we can swing the double player trade with him. I now think David Brown and picks will be moved as a part of getting a forward).