I sort of agree with
@dirty12 with respect to Kingston. They are a bigger team in the key areas. If they manage to get solid goaltending, they do have enough size that they could be more of a handful in the playoffs. With the right acquisitions, they could be competitive. It still comes down to how far the other teams go but I think you are correct. They need at least one of Gibson or Andonovski. Plus they need a centre, preferably one that can play as the 1C and push Guindon down to 2C. That is where Wakely would have come into play. I am not sure what other Centres of that quality will hit the market. It looks like it is mostly wingers.
Kingston has the picks but I don’t think they have the players to be able to make those trades. Hopkins will play 3C and you cannot trade him. I doubt the remainder of your ‘07s would push a needle and the only ‘06 you could potentially use (Williamson), you need to keep. I think the handcuffing starts and ends with no ‘08 1st round pick. Picks are great but you can’t buy everything you need with them. Certain players require other players as part of the package. But, I think if the Fronts are patient, there may be a couple teams standing at the end looking to sell players and the only chair left when the music stops could be Kingston. In that situation, Kingston holds the cards and can leverage the draft picks. That is pretty much what Guelph did in 2019. Last team standing ended up with Suzuki for peanuts.