Ottawa 67's 2019 Offseason Thread

[EON]

Final 2018-19 Season Thread: Ottawa 67's 2018-19 Season Thread (Part 4)

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[OMG67]

I am not going to complain about deadline moves. Sure, no offence to Chiodo and Maksimovich but I'd rather have had the size of Saigeon and the puck movement on the back end of Durzi but both of those we acquired were great players that contributed in a big way. To criticize after the fact wouldn't be fair.

I also will not criticize the management team for not being willing to trade anything other than draft picks in trades. That was their strategy to protect this year and next. I have no issues with that as a strategy. We had loads of picks to use so they used the number of picks adequate to obtain the players they wanted-needed.

The reality is we shouldn't have expected a team like Guelph to load up to the degree they did. No one would have predicted they or any other team would add:
Suzuki
Durzi
Phillips
Entwhistle
Gogolev
Gordeev

That is not usual. They made a commitment with roster moves to go after it hard this year and it paid off. They may suffer for it in the future but that was a decision they made.

 

[OMG67]

Now the debate on what to do going forward starts.

I think if we use this season as a learning year, we need to first determine whether we want to go down the Brian Kilrea route and be perpetually good but rarely win a Championship because we are unwilling to significantly buy and sell. Simply develop our players and tweak the roster now and then and be satisfied with a playoff birt and the occasional Conference Final and League Final appearance.

OR

We give in to the more recent trend of buy and sell. If we go down this road, what year is considered the year to sell and what year to buy.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

so the team was 14-0 in the playoffs until Dipietro got injured
Then lost 4 straight in the OHL final
Talk about a heart breaking loss

 

[OMG67]

so the team was 14-0 in the playoffs until Dipietro got injured
Then lost 4 straight in the OHL final
Talk about a heart breaking loss

Sure but I don't think goaltending was to blame. It may have been a factor but the reality is Ottawa was outplayed in front of the goalie.

 

[BarberPole9]

Now that the offseason thread has been created, we look onwards....

Here are my positional thoughts post-draft and pre-summer

GOALIE:
Andree
Cranley

Depth: 5th rounder Max Donoso

DEFENSE:
Bahl-Belanger
Okhotyuk-Wilson
Rippon-Peric
Jack Matier
Teddy Sawyer

Depth: 4th rounder Ranvir Gill

WILCARD: Hoefenmayer returns and they absolutely have to trade at least one veteran defenceman, as there's nowhere near enough ice for all seven returnees plus both recent signed picks in Matier and Sawyer. I feel like they will need tYo move at least one veteran regardless to make sure that you can rotate Matier/Sawyer into the sixth spot like they did with Hoef/Hudson Wilson four years ago.

FORWARDS:
Keating-Rossi-Clarke
Bitten-Hoelscher-Quinn
Brendan Sirizzotti-Tolnai-Maggio
Yule-Crete-Jack Beck
Dick
Thomas Johnston

WILDCARD 1: Kody Clark, though signed by Washington as a 2nd rounder is sent back for one more season for a little more seasoning.

WILDCARD 2: Colby Ambrosio, ranked for the 2020 draft decides to come to Ottawa to play with other eligibles in Rossi, Belanger, Quinn, Tolnai, Cranley, etc and the team adds a top nine forward for no acquisition cost other than a likely Gold package.

This is the group where we are very light- losing Chmelevski, Felhaber, Maksimovich and Chiodo and likely Clark out of the top 9. My feeling is that if this team is indeed looking to contend for a conference title, this group needs to be boosted.

All that being said, this team is in an envious position for 2019-20 and the coming years.

 

[PuckStop75]

Goaltending is always a factor, 24 goals against and 0.820sv% in the final 4 games, with 2 one goal games. Win as a team, lose as a team and the goaltending could have been better just like everyone else.

 

[BarberPole9]

Now the debate on what to do going forward starts.

I think if we use this season as a learning year, we need to first determine whether we want to go down the Brian Kilrea route and be perpetually good but rarely win a Championship because we are unwilling to significantly buy and sell. Simply develop our players and tweak the roster now and then and be satisfied with a playoff birt and the occasional Conference Final and League Final appearance.

OR

We give in to the more recent trend of buy and sell. If we go down this road, what year is considered the year to sell and what year to buy.

With the big surge in attendance at the end of the year, would OSEG consider taking a stab at a Memorial Cup bid in the 2020-2021 season? If they do, the team could return essentially the entire roster listed above other than Keating, Hoelscher, Bahl, Wilson and Okhotyuk. They would obviously need to renovate the boxes, but maybe this year's run is the real impetus for OSEG to invest in the arena.

 

[OMG67]

With the big surge in attendance at the end of the year, would OSEG consider taking a stab at a Memorial Cup bid in the 2020-2021 season? If they do, the team could return essentially the entire roster listed above other than Keating, Hoelscher, Bahl, Wilson and Okhotyuk. They would obviously need to renovate the boxes, but maybe this year's run is the real impetus for OSEG to invest in the arena.

Personally, that is what I would do. The only issue is the management has always bunches in this season with next so I am not sure what is in their plans.

I made the mistake of referencing the old Import rules regarding NHL draft players which means once Rossi is drafted, it is likely he will go AHL meaning he won't be here that season.

 

[OMG67]

Goaltending is always a factor, 24 goals against and 0.820sv% in the final 4 games, with 2 one goal games. Win as a team, lose as a team and the goaltending could have been better just like everyone else.

In small sample sizes like the four losses, the stats can lie. Although the goaltending could have been better, it doesn't mean it would have made a difference. The 67s were completely outclassed on the ice in front of the goaltender. If they'd have won that series it would have been the goaltender stealing games entirely. The reality is Guelph was by far superior to Ottawa in this series. In fact, I'd say if anything, Andree was better than Popovich. He was tested much more and the quality of the scoring chances were considerably higher as well.

That said, we already had two wins so maybe DiPietro could have wrestled Game 5 away from Guelph bringing it home for Game 7 but even that may be a stretch.

 

[Buttsy]

IMO it’s easy to see who to blame for the OHL Final collapse of the 67’s ........ clearly the blame belongs at the feet of OMG67 who was trash talking the Storm Forum ahead of the series. If only we fans had that kind of impact on the outcome of a game or a series.
All the credit to the Storm, trading Ryan Merkley when you are actually going “All-In” was as gutsy a call that I can remember. Burnett has one Big Pair of Kahuna’s and read his team perfectly.
As for the actual practice of loading up IMO I think it’s crap for the sport as so many teams 2/3 of a season in are saying to their fans and players “we suck better luck next year”. BUT if one team does it all teams are forced to do it to keep pace.

 

[OMG67]

What are the “realistic” chances of competing for another Championship sometime int he next four years? That is the big question for sure.

The good thing is, by all accounts, we have drafted well the last two or three drafts. The problem, IMO, is we’ve drafted well for depth but not very well for top of roster. For example, neither Graham Clarke nor Cam Tolnai are serious contenders to be a top of league players. Usually your first round picks are the ones you build around. I am not sure either of those players are worthy of the build around monicker. As good as Matier projects, he also isn’t the type of player (at least profile) that you build around. HE may end up being a good D-Man but he projects more like a #2 style guy.

Please don’t jump on me for being honest. I am just being realistic as opposed to generous.

Guys like Jack Quinn may end up being better. That is where the drafting has been good.

All championship teams have a couple players that you build around. If you don’t have those players, you have to go out and acquire them. This is what Guelph did. On a side note, I am still shocked they got Suzuki and Durzi for what amounts to less than we traded for Maksimovich. They traded more to get Phillips alone! But I digress....

Right now, I am hard pressed to find a single player that we can honestly say is an anchor of our roster next year or the year after. This year you could look at Chmelevski or the emergence of Felhaber and suggest we have two. Next year? Rossi? Bahl? I am not sure either of those guys are cornerstones of a Championship. They don’t possess they type of skill set to really be that player. Rossi will not be like Suzuki this year, not a chance.

So, the question then begs the answer, do we have one the following year? I think that answer is no. After all the trades shake down, we will be left with Clarke, Quinn and Peric from the 2017 draft. All good players but none of them are cornerstones. That means we’d have to look more seriously at our 2018 draft. We have Tolnai, Cranley (backup to Andree probably), Belanger, Crete and Maggio. Again, all good players but none that stand out as a cornerstone.

`This means, IMP, we need to acquire a cornerstone. The best way to acquire a cornerstone is at the deadline. You either acquire one that is a bonafide cornerstone (Konecny) or you sell a player and get a prospect that projects to be a cornerstone (Chmelevski). The reason why I used that example is we experienced both sides of that trade as polar opposites.

So, let the debate begin! Do we acquire guys like Suzuki and Durzi at a high cost next season and make another run or do we sell off a few high value players for assets that can either be used to acquire those players in the future or acquire players that project to be those players of the future.

 

[OMG67]

IMO it’s easy to see who to blame for the OHL Final collapse of the 67’s ........ clearly the blame belongs at the feet of OMG67 who was trash talking the Storm Forum ahead of the series. If only we fans had that kind of impact on the outcome of a game or a series.
All the credit to the Storm, trading Ryan Merkley when you are actually going “All-In” was as gutsy a call that I can remember. Burnett has one Big Pair of Kahuna’s and read his team perfectly.
As for the actual practice of loading up IMO I think it’s crap for the sport as so many teams 2/3 of a season in are saying to their fans and players “we suck better luck next year”. BUT if one team does it all teams are forced to do it to keep pace.

I think Burnett was able to take advantage of a horrible Buyers Market.

HE was forced to trade Merkley. HE didn’t want to be there and they didn’t want him there. The challenge was getting something for him!

The steal came at the very end where he traded a 2nd and a couple thirds plus a reasonably decent younger D-Man for Suzuki and Durzi. The reality was OS was playing musical chairs and were caught at the end of the song with no damned chair and had to get something for those two and that was the best they could get. Let’s face it, they traded more for Phillips than Suzuki and Durzi. Good on GB to manage to pull that one off. IT was the difference maker for sure. Without those two, I doubt Guelph gets past London in round 2. Hell, it may have been tough for them to get out of round one if they were facing OS with Suzuki and Durzi on their roster!

 

[sirius67fan]

Personally, that is what I would do. The only issue is the management has always bunches in this season with next so I am not sure what is in their plans.

I made the mistake of referencing the old Import rules regarding NHL draft players which means once Rossi is drafted, it is likely he will go AHL meaning he won't be here that season.

I think its NHL or OHL for Rossi in 20-21 as he will have been drafted out of the O or is there a different rule for imports?

 

[sirius67fan]

What are the “realistic” chances of competing for another Championship sometime int he next four years? That is the big question for sure.

The good thing is, by all accounts, we have drafted well the last two or three drafts. The problem, IMO, is we’ve drafted well for depth but not very well for top of roster. For example, neither Graham Clarke nor Cam Tolnai are serious contenders to be a top of league players. Usually your first round picks are the ones you build around. I am not sure either of those players are worthy of the build around monicker. As good as Matier projects, he also isn’t the type of player (at least profile) that you build around. HE may end up being a good D-Man but he projects more like a #2 style guy.

Please don’t jump on me for being honest. I am just being realistic as opposed to generous.

Guys like Jack Quinn may end up being better. That is where the drafting has been good.

All championship teams have a couple players that you build around. If you don’t have those players, you have to go out and acquire them. This is what Guelph did. On a side note, I am still shocked they got Suzuki and Durzi for what amounts to less than we traded for Maksimovich. They traded more to get Phillips alone! But I digress....

Right now, I am hard pressed to find a single player that we can honestly say is an anchor of our roster next year or the year after. This year you could look at Chmelevski or the emergence of Felhaber and suggest we have two. Next year? Rossi? Bahl? I am not sure either of those guys are cornerstones of a Championship. They don’t possess they type of skill set to really be that player. Rossi will not be like Suzuki this year, not a chance.

So, the question then begs the answer, do we have one the following year? I think that answer is no. After all the trades shake down, we will be left with Clarke, Quinn and Peric from the 2017 draft. All good players but none of them are cornerstones. That means we’d have to look more seriously at our 2018 draft. We have Tolnai, Cranley (backup to Andree probably), Belanger, Crete and Maggio. Again, all good players but none that stand out as a cornerstone.

`This means, IMP, we need to acquire a cornerstone. The best way to acquire a cornerstone is at the deadline. You either acquire one that is a bonafide cornerstone (Konecny) or you sell a player and get a prospect that projects to be a cornerstone (Chmelevski). The reason why I used that example is we experienced both sides of that trade as polar opposites.

So, let the debate begin! Do we acquire guys like Suzuki and Durzi at a high cost next season and make another run or do we sell off a few high value players for assets that can either be used to acquire those players in the future or acquire players that project to be those players of the future.

Afew comments I do think Rossi and Bahl are cornerstone players for next year. Rossi seemed to be tired at the end of the year but I suspect he'll light up the league the next two years. He'll come back stronger and used to the league next year. The year after I agree I don't see Clarke as a cornerstone because of his skating but he could be a top scorer with the right players. Its too early to make a judgement on Tolnai but I see great upside, hockey sense is there. Give it time OMG after all Chem turned out OK despite somebody on this board initially had written him off. Quinn imo has the potential to be special and Belanger could surprise so lets see how they develop. The wild cards are Ambrosio, Petersen, Willmer, Boucher and Burnside.

 

[sirius67fan]

As to the debate OMG proposed between going all in or be competitive every year I have to think about it. I see option #3 which is to build a program like London and be a contender every year. I think this year is the foundation of this. No reason it can't be done if OSEG is fully invested as they appear to be the last 2 years bringing in quality hockey people.
Barring this imo if we target a go for it year in the next four I feel next year is where we are the closest. We have a top goalie , a solid veteran D and some solid pieces in front in Rossi,Keats, Hoelcher and Quinn. We however would need to gut our draft picks and likely trade Matier, Tolnai,and maybe others. Too much unknown to plan to go all in in the following years.

 

[OMG67]

I think its NHL or OHL for Rossi in 20-21 as he will have been drafted out of the O or is there a different rule for imports?

It is different for the Imports. The best example is Sandin for SSM that played for the Marlies this year.

 

[OMG67]

As to the debate OMG proposed between going all in or be competitive every year I have to think about it. I see option #3 which is to build a program like London and be a contender every year. I think this year is the foundation of this. No reason it can't be done if OSEG is fully invested as they appear to be the last 2 years bringing in quality hockey people.
Barring this imo if we target a go for it year in the next four I feel next year is where we are the closest. We have a top goalie , a solid veteran D and some solid pieces in front in Rossi,Keats, Hoelcher and Quinn. We however would need to gut our draft picks and likely trade Matier, Tolnai,and maybe others. Too much unknown to plan to go all in in the following years.

I don't think building a model "like London" is possible. We may have the resources but we are pretty far off from a reputation perspective to really factor that possibility in at this stage.

Regarding Chmelevski, I believe I stated he wasn't fit to be a centre, more of winger. Although I was wrong, he is somewhat of an outlier as you seriously cannot look at a player and project him to outplay his ceiling. We were very fortunate to see Felhaber outplay his ceiling this year. It doesn't happen often enough to count on it.

Regarding your NCAA bound players. Again, this is something you cannot count on. If it happens, it is a bonus. There have been no indications this is a possibility.

If Rossi is a cornerstone type player at 18 years old next season, he won't be here as a 19 year old. He will be playing pro as he is eligible to play AHL.

We really don't have the assets to compliment the team next year unless we unload the rest of our picks through the next five drafts. We are already a little short on picks after this deadline. If we empty the cupboard for next season (I believe we have four eligible 2nds and three or four 3rds), we will have to sell off assets the following season to recoup them. So, we either sell off a few high value assets this year (Bahl, Hoelscher, Rossi) at a much higher value return or we wait the extra year and sell off Clarke and Peric for nowhere near what we'd get for the other trio.

 

[Millpond]

I think Burnett was able to take advantage of a horrible Buyers Market.

HE was forced to trade Merkley. HE didn’t want to be there and they didn’t want him there. The challenge was getting something for him!

The steal came at the very end where he traded a 2nd and a couple thirds plus a reasonably decent younger D-Man for Suzuki and Durzi. The reality was OS was playing musical chairs and were caught at the end of the song with no damned chair and had to get something for those two and that was the best they could get. Let’s face it, they traded more for Phillips than Suzuki and Durzi. Good on GB to manage to pull that one off. IT was the difference maker for sure. Without those two, I doubt Guelph gets past London in round 2. Hell, it may have been tough for them to get out of round one if they were facing OS with Suzuki and Durzi on their roster...


I wish DeGray had insisted on some conditional picks with the Storm . Say another 2nd Rd puck for each of winning the western conference, league and Playoff MVP.

Seriously, the 67's made some calculated moves, which paid off. You made it 6 games into the league finals, , didn't sell the farm, and return a ton of talent. You'll be good for years to come.
I love visiting the Ottawa rink .

 

[OHL insideout]

Hello from an OS fan. The 67's had a great season and were a pleasure to watch!
sirius67fan - you now think your teams management would trade "Matier, Tolnai and maybe others"?
IMO, this WAS the year for the 67's to "go for it" and they missed the boat!
Suzuki and Durzi were there to get but your management team wouldn't trade a roster player + draft picks for them.
I know there are 67 fans that are saying not to dwell on the past or in hindsight of what did/didn't happen this season but I think it was a huge mistake not making a deal for those two elite players, as your strong nucleus of talented players may never be as good again moving forward.

 

[sirius67fan]

Hello from an OS fan. The 67's had a great season and were a pleasure to watch!
sirius67fan - you now think your teams management would trade "Matier, Tolnai and maybe others"?
IMO, this WAS the year for the 67's to "go for it" and they missed the boat!
Suzuki and Durzi were there to get but your management team wouldn't trade a roster player + draft picks for them.
I know there are 67 fans that are saying not to dwell on the past or in hindsight of what did/didn't happen this season but I think it was a huge mistake not making a deal for those two elite players, as your strong nucleus of talented players may never be as good again moving forward.

No I don't think they will trade them. We are just discussing hypotheticals. All I'm saying is if we were to go all in (last year being in the past) we need to do it next year and would need to trade young players as we don't have enough picks alone to upgrade our forward group. As for Suzuki Durzi, hindsight is easy but we don't know enough of all the factors last year to make a judgement imo.

 

[OMG67]

No I don't think they will trade them. We are just discussing hypotheticals. All I'm saying is if we were to go all in (last year being in the past) we need to do it next year and would need to trade young players as we don't have enough picks alone to upgrade our forward group. As for Suzuki Durzi, hindsight is easy but we don't know enough of all the factors last year to make a judgement imo.

We also don’t know whether those players would even want o go to Ottawa. We don’t know if the players we would have had to trade would have waived their no trades to go there. The players most likely to go are Ottawa boys and I doubt they would go. Personally, I would have traded Graham Clarke in a heartbeat if it meant getting those two. Thing is I doubt Clarke would have even considered waiving to leave Ottawa. That left Lucas Peric and Cam Tolnai as the only two viable players to deal. I’d have dealt Peric but not Tolnai. Again, would Peric have waived? Who knows.

 

[beastintheeast]

I think that Option 3 of building a team with a reputation like London's or Killer's is possible. In Ottawa. What it is going to take is a system of drafting and player development. Of the coach staying here and being happy developing players for the future adn developing assistant coaches.

Ottawa always had the reputation and if you look at drafts in the past there have been NHL teams that have moved up in the draft to get an Ottawa 67 player.

As to Clark, I agree that he seems to be slow BUT if the NHL team tells him to improve his skating or they will leave him in the O or EC then he will. As to cornerstone players and players that you build around

Rossi is that player this year.

Tolnai is an unknown let's face it he got caught in a strange position where he was relegated to the 4th line. We have seen many players that played the fourth line come to the front and be the stalwarts of the team.

This team is built to be a contender for the top of the conference again next year and for the future.

Remember as long as you are a good team the drawback is that you are not going to get the best draft picks. You have to get the right draft pick. Look at the numbers Stratis put up this year.

As to this year MISSION ACCOMPLISHED BOYS!

You provided everyone with great hockey and exciting times. You brought back life into the barn.

WELL DONE!

 

[dirty12]

OS did not only get Woolley for Durzi & Suzuki, they got 2 1/2 seasons of Kirwan too. 12g, 10a - 29gp; and, 5pts in 5 playoff games.
Something like Peric, Quinn & 2,3,3,4 was never a consideration for the ‘67s

 

[sirius67fan]

I don't think building a model "like London" is possible. We may have the resources but we are pretty far off from a reputation perspective to really factor that possibility in at this stage.

Regarding Chmelevski, I believe I stated he wasn't fit to be a centre, more of winger. Although I was wrong, he is somewhat of an outlier as you seriously cannot look at a player and project him to outplay his ceiling. We were very fortunate to see Felhaber outplay his ceiling this year. It doesn't happen often enough to count on it.

Regarding your NCAA bound players. Again, this is something you cannot count on. If it happens, it is a bonus. There have been no indications this is a possibility.

If Rossi is a cornerstone type player at 18 years old next season, he won't be here as a 19 year old. He will be playing pro as he is eligible to play AHL.

We really don't have the assets to compliment the team next year unless we unload the rest of our picks through the next five drafts. We are already a little short on picks after this deadline. If we empty the cupboard for next season (I believe we have four eligible 2nds and three or four 3rds), we will have to sell off assets the following season to recoup them. So, we either sell off a few high value assets this year (Bahl, Hoelscher, Rossi) at a much higher value return or we wait the extra year and sell off Clarke and Peric for nowhere near what we'd get for the other trio.

Even though I agree our reputation is not like London....yet I think we have all we need to get there. The team has turned heads this year now we have to be good for successive years through a cycle which I think we have the talent base to do and then maybe a few top american/ canadian flyers show up. Then we have excess players which we trade for picks a la London and restock etc... One big key is front office and coaching stability. Otherwise we have a great city, educationnal facilities, a good size barn and hopefully a resurgent fan base. If we sustain our success over a few years it can be done. I guess as I'm writting this I'm coming to the conclusion to return to your original question that we need to strive in the next 3 years to sustain success so I'd lean to avoid the go all in strategy for now to build the reputation.