This sounds eerily like the 2018/19 team where Boyd and Tourigny fell in love with the room they had, while the others juggled and moved pieces around. Not the direction I would go, but as the GM Boyd gets paid to make these decisions. Wholesale changes were and are not necessary but if people are foolish enough to believe they can not make this team better with size and experience, I will respectfully disagree.
At a high level there must be some knowledge of who is returning to the league to make a statement like this, IF it was made. Lots of speculation circulating but unlike last year non of the players were returned to junior prior to WJC camps which may be an indication that the players are being sent to get their last taste of junior hockey, and then will be returning to pro. This would leave a number of teams holding assets which Ottawa simply views as not significant enough to move the bar, and may truly believe that when all the pieces return they are good enough.
To me, the wildcard in all of this is Gardiner. It really comes down to what they think about his ability to maintain his current status as the 3rd line centre. If, in their opinion, Gardiner is just fine where he is, then I can see why they would feel they are ok where they are. They still would lack depth down the middle which is why in my opinion, regardless of what they think about Gardiner, they need to acquire a centre. You can’t go into the 2nd half and the playoffs with three OHL Centres and a few other guys that used to play centre but struggle playing the position at this level.
We have the OA spot open and I think we all agree they will acquire a centre. Morrison makes the most sense.
Foster - Morrison - Stonehouse
Pinelli - Rohrer - Boucher
Beck - Tolnai - Gerrior
Barlas - Gardiner - Kelly/Dever
In that scenario, Gardiner can drill up the lineup if a Centre goes down. He can also shift to wing in the top 9 if a winger goes down. I’d like to see them add one more player on the wing to guard against injury and stretch the lineup a little more but if they can stay healthy, I am ok with that lineup. They only have two 17 year olds in the top 9. Both have proven capable as the complimentary piece on the wing.
I am ok with the defence provided Matier stays healthy all season. Maybe add Costantini to that mix of staying healthy as well. I think any of the other 6 could be out of th lineup and I’d be ok with the “next guy up” scenario.
Both goalies are fine.
So, as long as they add the front line OA centre and maybe add another depth forward piece, they are competitive enough. Is it good enough to go all the way? I think it is if you look at no other teams acquiring more than one additional player. It likely won’t be enough if Barrie gets Clarke back and they also add two or three additional players on top of that. That sets up a Guelph scenario from 2019.
