Erie Otters 2023-24 Offseason Thread (Part 2)
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They have had goalie coaches before but they weren’t successful. I guess the hope here is a new voice will be the difference. Not a lot of experience as a coach but not zero either. Worth the shot, and I like his connection to Erie (born and raised). If successful, maybe he stays longer than most would and he’s more true to being “full-time” than some past guys in this position
Misiak was officially sent back to Erie. Credit to Zin for reporting this months ago. I would imagine Molnar is the odd man out, but it will be interesting to see if they get anything in a trade, just release him, or try to even shop Misiak. I think it’s clear with the Sova move that they are planning to keep Misiak (maybe to justify taking him #1 overall last year, maybe hide ceiling?), but I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of shopping him. If I were the GM, I would at least explore what the offers look like for both and evaluate the roster. Trading Misiak would open up an OA spot that could be huge later on. However, with the import/OA tag - Misiak probably has not much of a market
Kingpin794
Smart A** In A Jersey
Dhockey16
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I haven't seen an announcement. I'd guess some combination of Fimis, Spence, Schaefer, Alfano and Terrance. Terrance probably gets the C.
frontsfan67
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- Dec 3, 2022
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Was thinking this exactly. Prob either fimis or Terrance for the C and Schaefer takes over next year
Terrance shared the C with Sova last season, so it's reasonable to assume he'll be the captain. Of course, when you assume...
Generally speaking - when we trade a player they have a breakout year and production seems to double ..
So there’s that
Kingpin794
Smart A** In A Jersey
I was being a bit facetious about the price of a potential Molnar trade but the Barrie/Niagara trade does kind of set a price.
Hard to compare given that Eliasson is an NHL pick and younger. Taking that into account and going off nothing but vibes, I don’t think Molnar will get more than a mid round pick. Largely depends on the market, and I’m too lazy to look up how many teams even have an import spot open or could use an upgrade but guess would be it’s only a handful of teams. Then of those teams, how many are even interested in adding Molnar specifically? Its such a small market and if one team is bidding against themselves, Erie will probably sell him for peanuts..
He did? I thought it was 100% Sova. I know Sova missed a few early games while at Leafs camp, but I don’t remember Terrance wearing it during those games either.
I just googled it. Sova wore the C and 5 players, including Terrance wore an A. No idea why I thought otherwise, lol.
They have had some split captains in the past and a lot of split As (ex: 2 for home games; 2 for road games). I prefer to have the standard amount - just give me 1 C, 3 full time As. To me, it’s like “when you have 2 quarterbacks, you have none.” When you have 5-6 “leaders,” who’s actually the leader? I hope a few guys separate themselves as the full-time leaders of the room
My season preview / predictions
Record: 39-21-5-3
I think they get off to a slow start without Schaefer/Edwards and Erliden might take some time to adjust, if he does at all. Goalie still a huge question mark for me and it’s not a wild take to say it will make or break their season. I’m also not sold on their depth or basically anyone outside of their top 7 forwards / top 4 defensemen. Right now I think they finish in the range of 4-5th in the conference but that said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them finish in the 3 spot. I just have enough question marks to make me skeptical of what the ceiling is. Also, this is a slight dig at SB - who for 25 years of coaching before he arrived in Erie, only managed 4 seasons with 40 or more wins.
MVP: Fimis
It would be easy to say Schaefer but we don’t know how long he’s going to be out with the illness. Fimis finished his year (19 games, including playoffs) with 12g 19a for 31pts while registering points in 17 of those games. He was Mr. Consistent down the stretch and I think he is able to carry that into this season as an OA. If he can sustain even 80% of the point production he got in his last 19 games, that would be good for about 90 points across a full season.
Most improved: Hammond
Or at least I hope.. Erie is going to need another forward to step up and the leading returning candidates are Hammond / Royston. Hammond had a solid preseason in terms of production (6gp, 3g/3a). I’m not expecting huge points from him but getting around 25-28pts would be somewhat reasonable and a big jump for him over last year. I also will add Henry to the mix of most improved - Going through the draft process and NHL camp experience has to give him some confidence and hopefully a bigger jump in his development as he enters his second full season.
Keys to Success:
Beyond the most obvious of goaltending, the key to the season for me is really going to hinge on whether or not their best talent is playing like some of the best talent across the league. When I say this - I’m pointing to the trio of Schaefer/Spence/Terrance. I would like to see all of them over a PPG (or at least Schaefer is close), and I want them to take over some games. If those guys play like they are some of the best in the league, then it’s going to make it that much easier for “complimentary” pieces like Fimis, Misiak, and Alfano to be productive and lessen the impact of depth issues.
Terrance had a hot start last year but fizzled out after WJC. In his first 28 GP, he had 22g, 12a and 34 pts. I would like to see more apples but if he produces like that for a full season - that’s about 83 points. Meanwhile, Spence was really streaky last year - he once had a 10 game point streak, had 17pts in 13 games, and another time with 18pts in 13 games. In those 26 games, he had 35pts, which was 56% of his point production in only 39% of the games he played. On the other end of that - He had 4 different stretches where he didn’t produce a single point in 3+ games (one time where he went 6 games without a point). At his best of times (during those 2 point streaks I referenced), he would be at about 92 points across a full season. Bottom line: both Spence and Terrance have shown the talent and ability to produce - they just haven’t done it over a full season. If Erie gets ~90 points from Terrance, Spence, Fimis - then they should be in a great spot by the end of the year
Record: 39-21-5-3
I think they get off to a slow start without Schaefer/Edwards and Erliden might take some time to adjust, if he does at all. Goalie still a huge question mark for me and it’s not a wild take to say it will make or break their season. I’m also not sold on their depth or basically anyone outside of their top 7 forwards / top 4 defensemen. Right now I think they finish in the range of 4-5th in the conference but that said, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them finish in the 3 spot. I just have enough question marks to make me skeptical of what the ceiling is. Also, this is a slight dig at SB - who for 25 years of coaching before he arrived in Erie, only managed 4 seasons with 40 or more wins.
MVP: Fimis
It would be easy to say Schaefer but we don’t know how long he’s going to be out with the illness. Fimis finished his year (19 games, including playoffs) with 12g 19a for 31pts while registering points in 17 of those games. He was Mr. Consistent down the stretch and I think he is able to carry that into this season as an OA. If he can sustain even 80% of the point production he got in his last 19 games, that would be good for about 90 points across a full season.
Most improved: Hammond
Or at least I hope.. Erie is going to need another forward to step up and the leading returning candidates are Hammond / Royston. Hammond had a solid preseason in terms of production (6gp, 3g/3a). I’m not expecting huge points from him but getting around 25-28pts would be somewhat reasonable and a big jump for him over last year. I also will add Henry to the mix of most improved - Going through the draft process and NHL camp experience has to give him some confidence and hopefully a bigger jump in his development as he enters his second full season.
Keys to Success:
Beyond the most obvious of goaltending, the key to the season for me is really going to hinge on whether or not their best talent is playing like some of the best talent across the league. When I say this - I’m pointing to the trio of Schaefer/Spence/Terrance. I would like to see all of them over a PPG (or at least Schaefer is close), and I want them to take over some games. If those guys play like they are some of the best in the league, then it’s going to make it that much easier for “complimentary” pieces like Fimis, Misiak, and Alfano to be productive and lessen the impact of depth issues.
Terrance had a hot start last year but fizzled out after WJC. In his first 28 GP, he had 22g, 12a and 34 pts. I would like to see more apples but if he produces like that for a full season - that’s about 83 points. Meanwhile, Spence was really streaky last year - he once had a 10 game point streak, had 17pts in 13 games, and another time with 18pts in 13 games. In those 26 games, he had 35pts, which was 56% of his point production in only 39% of the games he played. On the other end of that - He had 4 different stretches where he didn’t produce a single point in 3+ games (one time where he went 6 games without a point). At his best of times (during those 2 point streaks I referenced), he would be at about 92 points across a full season. Bottom line: both Spence and Terrance have shown the talent and ability to produce - they just haven’t done it over a full season. If Erie gets ~90 points from Terrance, Spence, Fimis - then they should be in a great spot by the end of the year
It's about damn time you posted this...hahaha!!!
Record: 43-20-3-2
MVP: Spence is due for a HUGE jump in production and I think he gets it with him and Frasca skating together this season, breaks the PPG mark and see him at 1.4 or higher.
Leading Scorer: Edwards...if his foot doesn't linger, I think Fimis and him play well together and just keeps finishing over and over.
Best Rookie: Oliver Phillips has my vote over the others. He's a Stan Butler prototype, minutes will be very limited for rookies given how many return, but I think he finds a way to play above expectations this season.
Most improved: I'm going with Misiak...it wasn't that he played poorly last season, but he wasn't on the score sheet as much as I believed he would be. I think if he runs with Terrance they will have a crazy big, physical, and fast line and Misiak will show this on the score sheet.
I believe the season hinges upon two things..
1. The growth and leadership of Schaefer in the back to set the tone and propel ALL of our defensive players forward.
2. Erliden in net having to stand on his head to win some games for us.
Our offense SHOULD be among the best in the league and there is no shortage of firepower. They should win the high scoring contests and if our defense matures enough to fill in holes to protect our net, we can win the close ones with solid back line play as well.
I think we finish 3rd in the conference this season.
Also to note:
Assuming Molnar is dealt it would be the first time in a long time that Erie only has a single "smaller" player IMO at forward. Edwards listed at 5'8, whereas outside of Molnar at 5'10, everyone is 5'11 and taller. A massive turnaround from only 2 - 3 years ago.
Assuming Molnar is dealt it would be the first time in a long time that Erie only has a single "smaller" player IMO at forward. Edwards listed at 5'8, whereas outside of Molnar at 5'10, everyone is 5'11 and taller. A massive turnaround from only 2 - 3 years ago.
Yup, we knew it would take some time to reverse that but finally in a much better, more ‘normal’ spot. Now, I hope they don’t keep trying to just draft big, 6”4 players and go the other route .. all they have to do is just not got get caught taking too many smaller players. It’s easy enough to do. Just primarily draft kids that are 5’10-5’11 and above. You don’t need to focus on drafting tall players, but please just focus on not drafting too many small players..
You Otter Be There
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My guess Erie will have 38-42 win this season. I don’t post much cause i no longer live in Erie. I come home two to three times a year. But I love to read what everyone post. You guys are the best!! You otter 
be there!! I can’t wait for tomorrow!!
be there!! I can’t wait for tomorrow!!
3 Minute Minor
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- Sep 29, 2009
- 5,201
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Looks like Clarke made the team out of camp so I'll be an Erie Otters fan this season I suppose
Welcome!!
Why is this the first time I’m satisfied with the leadership group in like 7 years? I just like when there are no splits of C/As and I really love when the best players are also wearing the letters. Happy for Terrance, always thought he represented himself / the community well. It’s easy to see/hear why these guys are leaders. Feel good about this group
Challenger can win rookie of the year, he should have gone top 3 in the ohl draft. He can be a first round pick in the NHL draft in 2 years. Very dangerous acceleration at all times, determined, puck hunger..
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