Kingston Frontenacs 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 4)

[ScoutLife4]

Agreed. And they have the picks to do that.

The challenge is that only fills the gaps to make a viable contending roster. It doesn’t address the “over the top” type additions other teams may make on top of having the viable roster. Also, as mentioned, they likely can’t have average goaltending contending with teams that have top tier goaltending.

Goaltending is a funny issue. Goalies can crawl out of the woodwork or fall off on a yearly basis. So, I wouldn’t say any particular goalie is 100% a dud. However, I do think we can apply a percentage chance on whether a goalie is poised to make a jump forward. I’m not sure either of Vaccari or Lalonde will make that jump forward. Neither are bad. Just average.

Kingston has the luxury of having two replacement level goalies so if one gets injured, they can lean on the other. That is very advantageous compared to some of the competitors but you cannot rely on competitor injuries to contend.

I am curious to see what Kingston will be capable of doing on the trade front and whether one of the two goalies can get on a heater early.

So much can happen during the season.
Brantford, barrie or brampton having a goalie go down with long term injury would set them way back.
I'm still not sold on Barrie's back end either - they are going to need to rely on Hilly heavily as its not really any better then Kingstons at this point. Will they go from 8th to a top team by adding just an OA dman and Gardiner but giving up Brauti? -I'm not so sure.

I feel like most of us would agree its likely a 3 way horse race with 2 trailing in the East.
Brampton, Oshawa, Brantford
With Barrie and Kingston looking up at them.
then everyone else.

after writing this i remembered Barrie also got Hemming. Maybe he will be the difference maker? -It still doesn't help the back end though.

 

[OMG67]

So much can happen during the season.
Brantford, barrie or brampton having a goalie go down with long term injury would set them way back.
I'm still not sold on Barrie's back end either - they are going to need to rely on Hilly heavily as its not really any better then Kingstons at this point. Will they go from 8th to a top team by adding just an OA dman and Gardiner but giving up Brauti? -I'm not so sure.

I feel like most of us would agree its likely a 3 way horse race with 2 trailing in the East.
Brampton, Oshawa, Brantford
With Barrie and Kingston looking up at them.
then everyone else.

after writing this i remembered Barrie also got Hemming. Maybe he will be the difference maker? -It still doesn't help the back end though.

Barrie added Bertucci and they get Akey back from missing pretty much the entire season last year.

Akey, Bertucci, and Aitchison is a pretty solid top 3. On top of that, if you believe the rumours, they would end up with Eliasson from Niagara as well. There seems to be some rumblings about that happening dependent on where Eliasson gets reassigned.

Passmore and Tiller are a pretty decent 3rd pairing.

I think if Eliasson ends up in Barrie as rumoured, they may have the strongest back end in the entire league.

They are also super strong down the middle at centre (Jelsma/Beaudoin/Gardiner). It will more come down to whether they can acquire a strong goal scoring winger to anchor the first line.

If they end up with Eliasson and can acquire an elite goal scoring winger plus a depth scoring winger, they will be set and I think they are likely the team to beat. That is mostly dependent on Oshawa and what they do. I think Oshawa likely has the inside track with their size.

Rolling back to Kingston, their issue is they need as many as three teams to get into injury trouble to be the leader of the pack. That is a tall order. I could see a situation where one of those three teams has inopportune timing for injuries and it holds them back but not all three.

 

[dirty12]

Harding is quite a bit better than many realize, I believe; but Brampton is currently a distant second best D in the conference to Barrie right now.

Cam Allen if made available, would imo make the Kingston defence second best in the conference; until, Brampton or Sudbury added Andonovski.
Brantford and Oshawa (after Barlow trade) would need to add two defencemen.

Erie would be the other team most interested in Allen, I think.

 

[frontsfan67]

Barrie added Bertucci and they get Akey back from missing pretty much the entire season last year.

Akey, Bertucci, and Aitchison is a pretty solid top 3. On top of that, if you believe the rumours, they would end up with Eliasson from Niagara as well. There seems to be some rumblings about that happening dependent on where Eliasson gets reassigned.

Passmore and Tiller are a pretty decent 3rd pairing.

I think if Eliasson ends up in Barrie as rumoured, they may have the strongest back end in the entire league.

Completely agree. That’s why I put them higher than other people.

They are also super strong down the middle at centre (Jelsma/Beaudoin/Gardiner). It will more come down to whether they can acquire a strong goal scoring winger to anchor the first line.

Shocking to me that jelsma is back. Did not anticipate that happening. They have 2 real good defensive minded centre and another one that is fast and skilled for the third line in gardiner. Very well set up there.

If they end up with Eliasson and can acquire an elite goal scoring winger plus a depth scoring winger, they will be set and I think they are likely the team to beat. That is mostly dependent on Oshawa and what they do. I think Oshawa likely has the inside track with their size.

I agree. And Oshawas experience of going to the OHL finals helps too.

Rolling back to Kingston, their issue is they need as many as three teams to get into injury trouble to be the leader of the pack. That is a tall order. I could see a situation where one of those three teams has inopportune timing for injuries and it holds them back but not all three.

I don’t think there’s a large gap that separates them from Barrie, Brampton or Oshawa right now but yeah I agree they need to do some adding if they want to be above those guys

 

[frontsfan67]

Cam Allen if made available, would imo make the Kingston defence second best in the conference; until, Brampton or Sudbury added Andonovski.

Why wouldn’t kingston be in on him? Gibson also is another player to watch

Brantford and Oshawa (after Barlow trade) would need to add two defencemen.

Kingston needs a whole new second pair
They will fill that 3rd OA spot with the best available so whether that’s wakely, Allard, Abraham (Centres) or guys like Deangelis, J Leblanc, McCoy if made available (D) or wingers like Swick, Van Steensel. Or if ludwinski comes back they save some picks there and can buy more 19 year old defencemen for sure like Andonovski, Gibson, Allen if made available

 

[dirty12]

Why wouldn’t kingston be in on him? Gibson also is another player to watch

Kingston needs a whole new second pair
They will fill that 3rd OA spot with the best available so whether that’s wakely, Allard, Abraham (Centres) or guys like Deangelis, J Leblanc, McCoy if made available (D) or wingers like Swick, Van Steensel. Or if ludwinski comes back they save some picks there and can buy more 19 year old defencemen for sure like Andonovski, Gibson, Allen if made available

Not sure I understand completely. I did suggest Allen for Kingston, but not Andonovski because of the price and he would make four LD in the top four; just like I would not consider Gibson for Oshawa.
I think Allen would be considered <Gibson <Andonovksi.

I like the idea of J.LeBlanc a lot if OA goalies end up not counting.
A.Leblanc-McNamara-Battaglia would be a line to have out against other top lines.