Erie Otters 2022-23 Off-Season Thread (Part 2)

[NOA]

There is some weird stuff. The OHL media notes shows Petes traded OS ‘23 to Sudbury in the Stilllman deal even though NB had conditionally traded that pick to Saginaw in the Fantili deal; NB used that pick this past draft.

Yeah I find it funny people even rely fully on those OHL media notes when it’s probably just some random low paid person entering the data from a team’s media release. Which again is why I decided to start tracking on my own because it’s easy to just follow 1 team. The only stuff that gets difficult are the conditionals but it’s not like the media notes or this forum accurately tracks those either. For what it is worth, I was 100 percent accurate for 2023 draft despite the spreadsheet previously being wrong about it

This is what I have upcoming for Erie (rounds 2-6):

2024: 2nd, 3rd, 6th
2025: 3rd*, 4th, 5th
2026: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th

*Part of Gilmartin condition, unclear what those conditions are

In an ideal world, Erie at least fills the gap in 2025 and can add a 3rd and another 4th. If they never traded for Gilmartin they would have all those 2025 picks plus an extra 3rd in 2024. And it’s not like their season last yr or outlook this coming year would be any worse without Gilmartin. Smh, DB has just killed the future every year. He just keeps pushing back the problem with picks while continuing to build a mediocre roster.

Fimis might be a solid player this year and my stance could change, I’ll accept that possibility. But on the surface that trade (combined with Gilmartin) is going to haunt the team. They finally had a real asset to sell off (Kyrou), the first time since T Raddysh and what do they do? Turn around and trade them all away for an underperforming 18 year old. Without those 2 trades, here would be the outlook for the next 3 drafts:

2024: 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 6th
2025: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
2026: 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th

Could easily add a depth piece for this yr, maneuver some picks to stock up for 2025/2026 draft capital, and make a legit run in a year or 2. Instead…

Let’s hope the silver lining is a solid to good season with Fimis playing a bigger role given the investment they made in him

 

[dirty12]

Yeah I find it funny people even rely fully on those OHL media notes when it’s probably just some random low paid person entering the data from a team’s media release. Which again is why I decided to start tracking on my own because it’s easy to just follow 1 team. The only stuff that gets difficult are the conditionals but it’s not like the media notes or this forum accurately tracks those either. For what it is worth, I was 100 percent accurate for 2023 draft despite the spreadsheet previously being wrong about it

This is what I have upcoming for Erie (rounds 2-6):

2024: 2nd, 3rd, 6th
2025: 3rd*, 4th, 5th
2026: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th

*Part of Gilmartin condition, unclear what those conditions are

In an ideal world, Erie at least fills the gap in 2025 and can add a 3rd and another 4th. If they never traded for Gilmartin they would have all those 2025 picks plus an extra 3rd in 2024. And it’s not like their season last yr or outlook this coming year would be any worse without Gilmartin. Smh, DB has just killed the future every year. He just keeps pushing back the problem with picks while continuing to build a mediocre roster.

Fimis might be a solid player this year and my stance could change, I’ll accept that possibility. But on the surface that trade (combined with Gilmartin) is going to haunt the team. They finally had a real asset to sell off (Kyrou), the first time since T Raddysh and what do they do? Turn around and trade them all away for an underperforming 18 year old. Without those 2 trades, here would be the outlook for the next 3 drafts:

2024: 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 6th
2025: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
2026: 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th

Could easily add a depth piece for this yr, maneuver some picks to stock up for 2025/2026 draft capital, and make a legit run in a year or 2. Instead…

Let’s hope the silver lining is a solid to good season with Fimis playing a bigger role given the investment they made in him

It’s the official site of the OHL.. It should be expected to be mostly accurate.
Picks are easy to come by. Mysiak, an OA, a goalie, maybe Sova could be moved by the deadline and Erie would be flush with picks.

Erie did alright in the last year imo. Something had to change. Alfano, Gilmartin, & Mysiak help balance a very small forward group, and will allow Spence, Fimis, & Molnar to develop with less pressure. It should be good for Artichuk, Sagniuk, & Bressette too.

In addition to giving the new coach something to work with, I think the personnel moves made gives Erie a chance to be a very good team in 2024-25 which is the Spence and Schaefer draft year.

 

[NOA]

It’s the official site of the OHL.. It should be expected to be mostly accurate.
Picks are easy to come by. Mysiak, an OA, a goalie, maybe Sova could be moved by the deadline and Erie would be flush with picks.

Erie did alright in the last year imo. Something had to change. Alfano, Gilmartin, & Mysiak help balance a very small forward group, and will allow Spence, Fimis, & Molnar to develop with less pressure. It should be good for Artichuk, Sagniuk, & Bressette too.

In addition to giving the new coach something to work with, I think the personnel moves made gives Erie a chance to be a very good team in 2024-25 which is the Spence and Schaefer draft year.

The problem with the theory of the potential moves you mention at the deadline is if those players end up getting real value in return, it probably means Erie is having a good season and if such, I don’t see anyway they move all those players. Maybe 1 of them but even moving 2 would be a stretch if they are playing 6/7 seed hockey because it could mean they risk falling out of the playoffs again. If they are somehow playing better, 4/5 seed hockey, no chance DB is going to mess with that but rather take all the love and praise he can get after the last 5 years…

Right now, Sova is their best asset. Misiak is someone they could potentially move but with an Import tag, he will need to impress to get a real market. Goalies aren’t worth much in the league unless you are top end and I don’t see that. Bressette could have a market but he’ll need to stay healthy and consistently produce to do so.

I don’t dispute the size issue as I pointed it out 1-2 years ago - they eventually needed to address it. I just don’t necessarily think Fimis did that (he’s 5’11) and Gilmartin was just an overpay for what he is as a player. Erie got baited by the “he’s an NHL pick!” tag instead of just recognizing he was nothing more than a middle 6 player who had some discipline issues.

 

[dirty12]

The problem with the theory of the potential moves you mention at the deadline is if those players end up getting real value in return, it probably means Erie is having a good season and if such, I don’t see anyway they move all those players. Maybe 1 of them but even moving 2 would be a stretch if they are playing 6/7 seed hockey because it could mean they risk falling out of the playoffs again. If they are somehow playing better, 4/5 seed hockey, no chance DB is going to mess with that but rather take all the love and praise he can get after the last 5 years…

Right now, Sova is their best asset. Misiak is someone they could potentially move but with an Import tag, he will need to impress to get a real market. Goalies aren’t worth much in the league unless you are top end and I don’t see that. Bressette could have a market but he’ll need to stay healthy and consistently produce to do so.

I don’t dispute the size issue as I pointed it out 1-2 years ago - they eventually needed to address it. I just don’t necessarily think Fimis did that (he’s 5’11) and Gilmartin was just an overpay for what he is as a player. Erie got baited by the “he’s an NHL pick!” tag instead of just recognizing he was nothing more than a middle 6 player who had some discipline issues.

I don’t think Erie will trade players that will be good for the team next season. I was just pointing out that they could, and that picks are easy come by.
I do think there is a fair chance that a goalie is moved, and offers for Mysiak who will not be back next season will be difficult to refuse.
Fimis does not make the team bigger or smaller. Fimis adds a lot of skill and with Terrance should give Erie an excellent 1-2 at centre next season when they hope to contend.
When judging the necessity of the Gilmartin trade, remember that Molnar & Fimis were not yet with the otters; and, Gilmartin was likely in large part brought in to be a buffer for Spence. A lot of good players take longer to develop or are ruined by having too much put on them too soon.

 

[NOA]

I don’t think Erie will trade players that will be good for the team next season. I was just pointing out that they could, and that picks are easy come by.
I do think there is a fair chance that a goalie is moved, and offers for Mysiak who will not be back next season will be difficult to refuse.
Fimis does not make the team bigger or smaller. Fimis adds a lot of skill and with Terrance should give Erie an excellent 1-2 at centre next season when they hope to contend.
When judging the necessity of the Gilmartin trade, remember that Molnar & Fimis were not yet with the otters; and, Gilmartin was likely in large part brought in to be a buffer for Spence. A lot of good players take longer to develop or are ruined by having too much put on them too soon.

I hear what you’re saying. Reality is it doesn’t matter as much for me if the team is better this year and their youth is developing. For instance, I’m not going to disagree with the Fimis trade if he puts up around or over a PPG and contributes.

At some point, they need results. Then it gets a bit easier to move around assets and recoup picks if you have good players to put on the market

 

[ZinErie]

Can Misiak be traded? I thought imports couldn't be traded for 1 year after they were drafted.

 

[dirty12]

Can Misiak be traded? I thought imports couldn't be traded for 1 year after they were drafted.

I believe any import provided they play one game for the team drafted by can be traded January 1st or 1st game upon returning from Christmas break.

 

[ZinErie]

The Otters announced the fan fest for opening night. Really enjoyed it last year. Going to be country music again this year. Hopefully we'll have a wide range of music in the future.

 

[OttersFan]

Any word on what the announcement could be tomorrow?
Are they firing Dave Brown for Stan Butler to take over? They’re already cleaned the front office.
Or could it be additional staff?

 

[Mata]

Any word on what the announcement could be tomorrow?
Are they firing Dave Brown for Stan Butler to take over? They’re already cleaned the front office.
Or could it be additional staff?

If I had to guess, it will be the singer for their STH event.

 

[OttersFan]

If I had to guess, it will be the singer for their STH event.

There’s a STH event with a singer?

 

[ZinErie]

Probably announcement of their new captain.

 

[NOA]

Probably announcement of their new captain.

Unlikely. Those announcements typically don’t come until after preseason / right before season starts. How can the team vote or know their captain when they haven’t even had a camp yet?

I also think they already announced the home opener event singers so that doesn’t seem like it. And this seems like an announcement for the full fanbase, not just STH

Probably something worthy of buzz - such as player signing, alumni guest(s), jersey news, etc. Since they already announced alternates and they don’t have many big prospects unsigned - I’ll guess it’s related to guest appearance of some kind. Maybe jersey retirement? Hmm

 

[ZinErie]

The announcement was for this year's promotions. Erie Panthers night on 12/30 will be cool. That will be the 1st time the Otters have ever played a home game on my birthday. A fact that is interesting only to me. One new one is Indigenous people's night.

 

[ZinErie]

There's no doubt Johnston will be one of the overagers. They're giving away 3 bobbleheads this year. Johnston, Terrance and Schaeffer.

 

[NOA]

The announcement was for this year's promotions. Erie Panthers night on 12/30 will be cool. That will be the 1st time the Otters have ever played a home game on my birthday. A fact that is interesting only to me. One new one is Indigenous people's night.

What a buzz kill.. they really needed to hype the release of just their promo calendar ?

 

[ZinErie]

Apparently they're as excited for the coming season as we are, lol.

 

[OttersFan]

Well it’s safe to say Johnson is a lock for an OA. Can’t see them making a bobble head of him for them to trade him away a month later. It could still happen because Erie isn’t the best at keeping their finances straight.

 

[Mata]

Has anyone seen a camp roster yet? Trying to see, outside of the obvious, who will be here to watch.

 

[ZinErie]

 

[NOA]

View attachment 739310

Don’t think there is anything noticeable other than:

1) No Logan Sawyer. College commit. Another stupid draft pick and waste of high asset by DB and company. 2nd round pick in 2022 and never even came close to signing him.

2) Good to see Molnar here. There were some suggestions by others that he may not be back due to legal issues back home and/or potential other reasons. Wouldn’t have been surprised to see him leave after last year didn’t work out but he appears back which is a good thing

 

[Mata]

Don’t think there is anything noticeable other than:

1) No Logan Sawyer. College commit. Another stupid draft pick and waste of high asset by DB and company. 2nd round pick in 2022 and never even came close to signing him.

2) Good to see Molnar here. There were some suggestions by others that he may not be back due to legal issues back home and/or potential other reasons. Wouldn’t have been surprised to see him leave after last year didn’t work out but he appears back which is a good thing

Also, perhaps team white had 2 invites that didn't show? Just speculation. They could have 2 imbalanced teams for any number of reasons.

Excited they are here and hopefully it is a super productive week. Wishing all the kids a healthy and safe camp and hopefully they all play at their very best!

 

[OttersFan]

Also, perhaps team white had 2 invites that didn't show? Just speculation. They could have 2 imbalanced teams for any number of reasons.

Excited they are here and hopefully it is a super productive week. Wishing all the kids a healthy and safe camp and hopefully they all play at their very best!

They had Nicholls and Signoretti’s camp name plate for sale in the team store. Possibly two of team whites invites?

Don’t think there is anything noticeable other than:

1) No Logan Sawyer. College commit. Another stupid draft pick and waste of high asset by DB and company. 2nd round pick in 2022 and never even came close to signing him.

2) Good to see Molnar here. There were some suggestions by others that he may not be back due to legal issues back home and/or potential other reasons. Wouldn’t have been surprised to see him leave after last year didn’t work out but he appears back which is a good thing

Molnar heavily apologized for his poor performance last season. I hope he can be successful this year.

 

[the dog]

Who's odd man out as overager?

 

[ZinErie]

Who's odd man out as overager?

Either Gilmartin or Saganiuk.