Kingston Frontenacs 2024-25 Season Thread, Part I

[frontsfan67]

You couldn’t be more wrong about Frasca and Thibodeau.
Keeping them IN the dressing room would have been disastrous.
They got rid of a lot of problems moving them and used the picks from Frasca to upgrade their C depth bringing in Guindon.
Plus Thibodeau is an under sized 19 year old that is no where near good enough to come back in his OA year. Has no leadership qualities and a Dad that will make you beat your own head off a wall.

And they also got very good packages for them both- I was very impressed with cooper for that. If they wanted to just use the picks they got from Frasca and Thibodeau to put towards 18-19 year olds they could do that or if they want to hoard them for the next few years they can do that too. Bottom line trading those two was a blessing in disguise especially with a guy like Hopkins breaking out who is 2 years younger than thibs and 1 year younger than frasca.

If Ludwinski comes back, who do you get rid of? I really do not think he will be back I think he is getting used to AHL on a team that is fairly strong on LW

I agree about the problem children. There is a reason that they did not get a huge haul for either one or that none were really drafted.

Heyes for sure

With them having a crap ton of centres guys like Hopkins and probably Dervin play wing if a guy like ludwinski comes back and Mann roles 3 lines the whole game(as he pretty much already does)

Then when Guindon and Ludwinski (if he gets reassigned here) age out the younger guys like Hopkins and Dervin can take over the centre position for next year.

 

[frontsfan67]

Looks like Betts gets the start - won't be able to watch but will be following as best as I can.

Smart of them to play him. Hopefully they ease him in against the teams they should beat this year and giving him that confidence should work wonders for him next year when he is on the team full time.

 

[OMG67]

The Frasca trade may have been “the best of a bad situation” but it still does not discount the fact that the trade value of their ‘06 1st basically was an OA. I can understand issues with the ‘05 draft. With the Covid year previous, teams didn’t have a strong sense of what they were really picking so that draft was a bit more of a crap shoot. But, you gotta hit on 1st rounders and if you don’t, it is tough.

No matter how you look at it, you cannot truly contend by taking a year by year approach to building a contender. That is EXACTLY what Kingston has done. They played the deadline last year thinking about last year. There was no thought about this year. None.

So many Fronts fans pointed to the age of the roster suggesting this year was the red circled year. I don’t think the management agreed. I was shocked when Ludwinski wasn’t traded. If this year was the year then that is the Trade Deadline 101 trade. I’d have been fine with using a few assets on Dubois as his replacement to ensure the team remains competitive gearing up for this year but not moving him was odd. Then drafting a not so signable ‘08 on top of that? Then trading two key forwards in the offseason (troublesome or not) and expecting to take heavy strides forward?

I’d say the Fronts are somewhat lucky to be where they are under those circumstances. Very fortunate. Fortunate enough to now look at the tradable assets and think back about how poorly the deadline decisions were last year that have handcuffed the Fronts into potentially not getting out of round one if the arms race passes them by. This HAS TO BE at least a Conference Finals appearance level team. This year fades into a rebuild period so there is no looking to next season.

If the Fronts are unable to make competitive trades with their draft picks, I really think they need to at least consider a couple seller moves to help the next rebuild. Give it a shot int he arm. I think buying is still Plan A. You are backed into that corner too far but if the arms a race shapes up to be too much, I think Plan B cannot be status quo. Focus on Plan A though.

 

[OMG67]

Kieran Dervin is a good get. The question is whether he will agree to be traded. He is more valuable to Kingston as a trade piece at the deadline than a roster player this year. Playing in the U-18 loop at 17 isn’t really a strong enough level to make the OHL transition. Maybe he plays 4th line this year on a contending team in Kingston?

 

[frontsfan67]

Kieran Dervin is a good get. The question is whether he will agree to be traded. He is more valuable to Kingston as a trade piece at the deadline than a roster player this year. Playing in the U-18 loop at 17 isn’t really a strong enough level to make the OHL transition. Maybe he plays 4th line this year on a contending team in Kingston?

Why would he come here to get 4th line minutes? He would be better off staying with st Andrew’s this year and coming next year. We roll 3 lines pretty equally. They probably agreed that he could be included in the top 9 over a guy like Ben pickell who is 19 and won’t be back next year where Dervin will (and obviously will be a top player on the team too with us losing half the damn team)

 

[OMG67]

Why would he come here to get 4th line minutes? He would be better off staying with st Andrew’s this year and coming next year. We roll 3 lines pretty equally. They probably agreed that he could be included in the top 9 over a guy like Ben pickell who is 19 and won’t be back next year where Dervin will (and obviously will be a top player on the team too with us losing half the damn team)

Or he will be a traded to a team he will get playing time for….

He’s an Ottawa boy. That is a player that could finally be used in a Mews deal. I am not saying I know anything but a Mews deal could be on the table now.

 

[frontsfan67]

Or he will be a traded to a team he will get playing time for….

He’s an Ottawa boy. That is a player that could finally be used in a Mews deal. I am not saying I know anything but a Mews deal could be on the table now.

Maybe. Not sure about any of the details I’m sure in the coming weeks we will find more out however I can’t see him getting sent to Ottawa as it appears Cameron doesn’t enjoy playing the younger guys. I predict he stays with the fronts as he can learn from Mann who is one of the best coaches in the league and still get consistent top 6/9 playing time on one of the best teams in the east as a rookie and then next year when everyone graduates or gets traded (Soto, Battaglia, Miedema?)Hopkins, Dervin get more playing time and more responsibly. And then Dervin gets to go to penn state.

 

[OMG67]

If he plays top 9 coming out of U-18, your team will be worse this year. Depth forwards is not your issue. You are placing unrealistic expectations on the player.

 

[frontsfan67]

If he plays top 9 coming out of U-18, your team will be worse this year. Depth forwards is not your issue. You are placing unrealistic expectations on the player.

Dean Létourneau played on Kierans team last year and went first round to Boston. Not comparing him to dean but Kieran is doing well ppg wise.

He should be atleast around Ben pickells skill level and that should be enough for him to play 3rd line LW

As I said before don’t think he would come over to play 5 mins a night on the 4th line with Buttar and Weir lol. Would be better off going to the USHL or continuing with prep hockey