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Post by spiritfan8 on May 14, 2024 19:50:47 GMT -5
Donjohnson—I should qualify the DiB critique by saying that even though I thought he was the weakest of the 3, he looked like he had a solid upside. Have to see if he uses it.
Eric—actually, we agree—I would not notice Harmer for stretches of time. Until I did. Didnt think he looked as good as last year, but didnt think he was bad, either. And again, 3 on 3–for me, anyway—is very tough to evaluate players.
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Post by donjohnson on May 15, 2024 12:27:31 GMT -5
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Post by kingpin794 on May 15, 2024 13:34:00 GMT -5
Kinda figured they were going to sign him. As I said he’s part of gold star management and Saginaw was featuring him heavily in the lead up to camp. He’s got the size to handle himself next year. Always good to keep that American pipeline open. |
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on May 17, 2024 21:29:55 GMT -5
Dionicio just signed his ELC with Anaheim so pretty safe to say he will not be back in Saginaw as an OA next season.
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Post by aj0512 on Jun 4, 2024 15:20:27 GMT -5
OHL teams can now resume making trades. Not sure how active Saginaw will be at this juncture, but our friends down in Flint are making some moves today (they've sent out like 14 draft picks). I have no idea who might be the front-runner in the West Division next year; I would be tempted to pick Flint if they didn't have such a bizarre trade deadline this past season.
The Flint #Firebirds acquire Chris Thibodeau and a 4th (‘28) from the Kingston #Frontenacs in exchange for 2nd (‘27), Soo 3rd (‘26), 3rd (‘28), Mississauga 5th (‘25), 5th (‘27), 15th (‘25) and a conditional 2nd (‘28).
The Flint #Firebirds acquire Nolan Collins, Joshua Colosimo, Evan Konyen, Matthew Mania from the SBY #Wolves in exchange for Daks Klinkhammer, Gavin Ewles, KIT 2nd (‘27), SOO 2nd (‘27), BAR 3rd (‘27), MISS 3rd (‘27), SAR 4th (‘25), 4th (‘28), PBO 5th (‘27), 7th (‘25), 9th (‘25).
Obviously Saginaw takes a step back. I think the Hounds will, too. If I'm the Soo, I'm probably selling off whatever assets this upcoming season and building around Brady Martin/Travis Hayes in a couple years. Windsor should be better. Sarnia...well, who knows.
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Post by donjohnson on Jun 10, 2024 13:13:49 GMT -5
OHL teams can now resume making trades. Not sure how active Saginaw will be at this juncture, I don't see Saginaw really doing anything crazy before NHL Camps but I think it's possible that they make a deal for an Overager defenseman and looking at the list on hfboards, looks like both Sudbury and Guelph have some candidates available like Budnick or Donovan McCoy that I think could be a good fit for not a lot of cost. The other thing that will be interesting is the leadership group for next year...this year they obviously had a strong leader in Hache...they will need that strong leader again next year. My Predictions: C - Nic Sima A - Joey Willis A - Sebastian Gervais A - Calem Mangone Sima is a stretch but the only returning captain is Willis and as much as I like him, I just don't see him as a Captain. Sima (at least on the ice) is the hardest worker out there and brings a blue-collar attitude so I can see him as the Captain. Gervais was an honorable mention this year and I see him moving up. All 4 of these guys are grinders and would be good to set the tone for the team. I don't see Misa or Parekh as getting a letter but it's possible they're thrown a bone. |
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Post by eric8199 on Jun 10, 2024 14:11:42 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised to see us not name a captain for a while. I think a lot of next year for us is going to hinge on where we are heading into the deadline. I think we could take another run, if things start well and adding will help, or we could just as well start building for the future. While we lose a lot of skill this year, we still have some strong anchors who will only improve going forward.
I know that Parekh gets a lot of flack from a few folks, and those folks are pretty critical of his defensive ability, but both the OHL and the CHL considered him to be the top defensemen this year, so it looks like those folks are out-voted. lol. I expect he will improve even more defensively and offensively going into next season, and could be a major anchor for us into the near future.
I always kinda chuckle when we try to predict captains on here because none of us know how these guys are off the ice, and that's 90% of what determines a captain.
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Post by partyroy on Jun 10, 2024 14:58:32 GMT -5
Based on his on-ice demeanor and work ethic - Sima would be a great captain. He celebrated wins where he played 1 or 2 shifts just as hard as he celebrated wins where he was a big contributor. Sitting behind the Spirit net all season, my favorite part of winning games was watching the different handshakes and dances he did depending on the guy heading out the door. He had a different system of celebrating for each guy. I'm not sure his hands will ever catch up with his effort but his defensive ability and wall/corner play keeps him valuable. He saved a breakaway and probable goal against Drummondville just on speed and effort.
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Post by donjohnson on Jun 11, 2024 7:47:40 GMT -5
I wouldn't be surprised to see us not name a captain for a while. I think a lot of next year for us is going to hinge on where we are heading into the deadline. I think we could take another run, if things start well and adding will help, or we could just as well start building for the future. While we lose a lot of skill this year, we still have some strong anchors who will only improve going forward. I know that Parekh gets a lot of flack from a few folks, and those folks are pretty critical of his defensive ability, but both the OHL and the CHL considered him to be the top defensemen this year, so it looks like those folks are out-voted. lol. I expect he will improve even more defensively and offensively going into next season, and could be a major anchor for us into the near future. I always kinda chuckle when we try to predict captains on here because none of us know how these guys are off the ice, and that's 90% of what determines a captain. I can totally see that happening...naming a handful of "A"s and seeing how the year shakes out. That said, I think if someone comes in to camp and sets the tone right away and it continues into the season, I can see that person being named captain. I also agree with you that we have no idea how they are off the ice...some guy may look like a leader on the ice but off the ice he just sits back, does his work and moves on without providing much leadership for the team. |
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Post by kingpin794 on Jun 11, 2024 9:40:20 GMT -5
Rough depth chart going into the offseason:
Willis-Misa-Mangone(OA)
Harmer-Gervais-open
Sima-Hay-Moore
Zhilkin-open-Clouthier
open-Storch
Looks like 3 or 4 F spots open. Assuming at least one of these is an Import. Rest will be prospects.
Parekh-Bishop
Guo-open
Glavin-Jones
Seinko-open
2 D spots open. Considering Forgione was scratched down the stretch, we won't likely use an OA spot on him. Agree we could bring one in to help take pressure off the young guys. But also I could see the other Import spot being used on a top 4 D. 8th D going to a prospect.
Oke or Lalonde
Papineau
open
One of Oke of Lalonde will be the starter. Papineau backing up. Prospect being the 3rd down in junior B.
This team on paper is pretty middle of the pack. Don't really have any way to add so the only way to contend this year is to absolutely knock it out of the park on the import draft, and then get a high end prospect like Charlie Trethewey to show up. Barring that, I think we hold our own until December, sell off a bit, and settle into a 5 or 6 seed.
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Post by aj0512 on Jun 11, 2024 12:31:21 GMT -5
The West Division seems pretty wide open this year IMO. It wouldn't surprise me if we're at or near the top of the division around the holidays before we (inevitably?) sell at the deadline. I have no idea how the goaltending situation will play out; that's probably what I'm most curious in.
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Post by kingpin794 on Jun 11, 2024 16:22:43 GMT -5
The West Division seems pretty wide open this year IMO. It wouldn't surprise me if we're at or near the top of the division around the holidays before we (inevitably?) sell at the deadline. I have no idea how the goaltending situation will play out; that's probably what I'm most curious in. The whole western conference is going to be a mess next year. The Soo, Kitchener, and Owen Sound are going to be real bad. Sarnia is still super young and lacking fire power. They probably are 7th. Then I think there’s a group of us, Windsor and, Erie in the 4-6 range. I like what Flint has added and they have plenty left to add a Barlow or whoever. It’s their division. Then Guelph should be decent? Who knows. London could lose a lot or a little. Either way I think they are unfortunately first in the west again. Whoever makes it out of the west next year is getting beat by the east champs though. 4 or 5 really good teams over there (Steelheads, Brantford, Oshawa, Kingston, Barrie). |
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Post by eric8199 on Jun 11, 2024 21:38:15 GMT -5
The West Division seems pretty wide open this year IMO. It wouldn't surprise me if we're at or near the top of the division around the holidays before we (inevitably?) sell at the deadline. I have no idea how the goaltending situation will play out; that's probably what I'm most curious in. I don’t think us being sellers is inevitable at all. |
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Post by kingpin794 on Jun 26, 2024 16:55:35 GMT -5
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Post by kingpin794 on Jun 26, 2024 20:15:59 GMT -5
Will mention that Epperson is still projected as a possible late round pick. If he pans out with some ice time and we add another Draft pick via the import draft, flip the Lalonde picks for an OA on D, we might be able to piece together a fun team.
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