I fully agree on this assessment but do feel that Sudbury is being crowned a bit early. They were a sixth place team last year.
Let’s not forget that Ottawa was the best team in the league in the first half last year WITHOUT an injured Tyler Boucher and Jack Beck. They were also WITHOUT Pavel Mintyukov and Logan Morrison who were acquired midseason.
Their only losses from the team that took them to first are Cam Tolnai, Vinny Rohrer, Anthony Costantini and their leader Jack Matier. All very good players who had question marks going into last season.
IMO Ottawa returns an excellent core of returning skaters and the best Goalie tandem in the league. Uronen looks great so far and they have two open OA slots.
I can see the team dealing Jack Beck and playing this current roster to the division lead at the deadline. They can add two OA’s and a 19 year old.
This is the year to go for it. Next year there will be Missy, Brantford, Sudbury, Oshawa, Barrie and Kingston. Niagara will be better. At this point only Sudbury and possibly North Bay, both in the other division are the only likely contenders.
With six 2nds and seven 3rds over the next three drafts, Sudbury has the ammo to do some damage on player acquisition. Factoring that into the equation places them as the favourite. They are a pretty deep team with a lot of stud forwards. They will score goals in bunches this season. If their Import pick (Vondras) can shore up their goaltending, I really think they will walk to the Conference lead. They have solid OA’s returning with the ability to potentially add assets through moving at least one of them.
Barrie, Mississauga and Brampton are young but could surprise. North Bay is likely a seller. They will have a decent first half but their second half will likely be weak.
Oshawa, Peterborough and Niagara are battling for the final playoff spot. I give the nod to Oshawa.
Kingston should be good but their final standing will depend on whether they make some deals to add players to make a bit of a push.
I feel Ottawa is strong enough right now even without Beck to win the division. The division is so weak. But, is that an accomplishment considering how weak the division is? Some really easy points to gain this year.
To me, this is shaping up to be a status quo kinda season For Ottawa. They will trade Beck and probably Donoso. They may tinker and add some cheap OA’s where they feel there is a gap (centre). Liar and is a player I would target if they are trying to move in the cheaper circles. I think Sudbury will make him available early. To me, McCallum and Anania are ahead of him in the OA depth chart. Then it is a tossup between him and Toure. It will depend on how their defence shakes down. They also may entertain the OA goalie If they aren’t certain about Vondras.