Ottawa 67's 2023-2024 Off-Season Thread (Part 2)

[OMG67]

My point is that you have to develop the players so that they are ready to take the reins when they reach 18. If you play a person on the fourth line and only give them a couple of minutes a game, you are not going to develop them.

I agree they hae to earn it. But look at this team and you can see that we need to give these players some ice time at the beginning of the year. Practice is working on the systems, but until you get into a game and actually have to play against other teams, you are not going to gain confidence.

With this team, we know that we are not going to be a top 4 team; therefore, the goal has to be to develop the young players for next year and the year after. If not, then we are going to have a team with no experience or ability.

On a team like ours, we don't need to be high on the first line. We need to get the third and fourth lines some ice time. Next year, we will have 5 OA again, which means we will lose a line. Whitehead has to be able to fill in at least at the #3 line, and it would be nice to have him at number 2. But that comes with experience, not sitting on the bench. If he is not going to make it then he should be traded somewhere tht he can play If not then we end up with another logjam of players that no one wants due to their scholarships.

with the signing of Conway, does that mean that MacK is now on the market?

maybe we can do a swap Mack for a center.

I see four potential OA’s for Ottawa - Barlas, Horner, Foster, and Dever.

I think we need that third goalie to allow MAcK to sit out games instead of wasting an OA slot on a backup. When he doesn’t start, DC can put Conway in as backup and play the other three OA skaters. Allows for some flexibility. Additionally, when we have an injury this year, we won’t need to dress a BUG. Las tyear we had a lot of game with a BUG. When that happens, the BUG can only be an injury replacement. The signed player has to start all games. When MacK was out, Donoso had to play every game with no rest days.

Dirty said it best. When you draft tiny players, they need more time to physically mature before they can play. I think that has more to do with kids like Whitehead and Yanni. Depth on the wings held back Hilton and Houben. Tough to get those guys in the lineup when the wing depth is strong and last season, that was the case.

I fully expect the younger guys to get more ice organically. Less depth, more ice…

 

[frontsfan67]

My point is that you have to develop the players so that they are ready to take the reins when they reach 18. If you play a person on the fourth line and only give them a couple of minutes a game, you are not going to develop them.

I completely agree. Just saying scouts look at stuff even the hardcore fan may not look at such as the heights of their dad, shoe size(if it’s a big size they may grow lots), where they’re at now, where they’ll be in 2-3 years, their position etc.

if they’re smallish at 15 that’s alright. Lots of people grow. I know someone from when I was in high school- they were about 5’5 and they grew to be 6’6 by the end of it

Beckett Sennecke I believe was 5’10 when he was drafted to Oshawa. Right now he is 6’3.

Evan Headrick on Kitchener I believe was drafted at 5’7 here this past draft but they’re hoping he can sprout up a bit too. I believe I read somewhere on the Kitchener page that his dad is 6’2. He could be another Beckett sennecke type of guy(sprouting up not comparison) here in the ‘O

 

[Petes1987]

I completely agree. Just saying scouts look at stuff even the hardcore fan may not look at such as the heights of their dad, shoe size(if it’s a big size they may grow lots), where they’re at now, where they’ll be in 2-3 years, their position etc.

if they’re smallish at 15 that’s alright. Lots of people grow. I know someone from when I was in high school- they were about 5’5 and they grew to be 6’6 by the end of it

Beckett Sennecke I believe was 5’10 when he was drafted to Oshawa. Right now he is 6’3.

Evan Headrick on Kitchener I believe was drafted at 5’7 here this past draft but they’re hoping he can sprout up a bit too. I believe I read somewhere on the Kitchener page that his dad is 6’2. He could be another Beckett sennecke type of guy(sprouting up not comparison) here in the ‘O

Mike Ricci was 5 foot 6 and maybe 150 pounds when the Petes scouted him for the 1987 draft and was 6 foot 1 and 180 pounds by training camp.

 

[beastintheeast]

I see four potential OA’s for Ottawa - Barlas, Horner, Foster, and Dever.

I think we need that third goalie to allow MAcK to sit out games instead of wasting an OA slot on a backup. When he doesn’t start, DC can put Conway in as backup and play the other three OA skaters. Allows for some flexibility. Additionally, when we have an injury this year, we won’t need to dress a BUG. Las tyear we had a lot of game with a BUG. When that happens, the BUG can only be an injury replacement. The signed player has to start all games. When MacK was out, Donoso had to play every game with no rest days.

Dirty said it best. When you draft tiny players, they need more time to physically mature before they can play. I think that has more to do with kids like Whitehead and Yanni. Depth on the wings held back Hilton and Houben. Tough to get those guys in the lineup when the wing depth is strong and last season, that was the case.

I fully expect the younger guys to get more ice organically. Less depth, more ice…

My point is that with DC and his thing with using older players and leaving the young ones to rot like he did last year there is no guarantee that he will give players the minutes they need,

Time will tell, but I still say that in the early part of the season, you have to give these kids the ice time needed to gain experience and confidence 2 minutes a game is not going to do it.

 

[PuckLucker]

My point is that with DC and his thing with using older players and leaving the young ones to rot like he did last year there is no guarantee that he will give players the minutes they need,

Time will tell, but I still say that in the early part of the season, you have to give these kids the ice time needed to gain experience and confidence 2 minutes a game is not going to do it.

That's old school mentality with coaches aged 55+ who think young players will be waiting in the wings with full trust and team buy-in after being overlooked for 2 years.

The OHL Team better be top 2 in the league and crazy deep in talent if you're only giving rookies 5-6 minutes of playing time

 

[OMG67]

That's old school mentality with coaches aged 55+ who think young players will be waiting in the wings with full trust and team buy-in after being overlooked for 2 years.

The OHL Team better be top 2 in the league and crazy deep in talent if you're only giving rookies 5-6 minutes of playing time

The issue with rookie ice time goes back to the 2022-23 season when Boyd was unwilling to move any bodies at the deadline. That was a huge mistake and lacked foresight. Setting the 2nd round loss aside, Boyd kept bodies he should hav ke own wouldn’t get ample ice time the following year as returning players.

That 2023-24 team was set to return 10 forwards and 7 D-Men. As it turned out, Rohrer declined to return and Beck requested a trade so we ended up having some room but we only had one centre (Gardiner). So, we needed three centres and had 4 open spots up front. Horner ended up moving up front which reduced that to 3 open spots at forward. We added Lawrence temporarily and then replaced him and added Kressler and Maillet. So, back to 11 forwards without any rookies factored in yet.

They drafted Uronen and Korbler. So, technically we are now at 13 forwards. Uronen ended up injured for the year so that settles us at 12. Still no rookies. Well, that isn’t truly fair. Horner and Dever should be considered rookies. Probably could add Kelly to that mix too. So, there were those three that did get a fair bit of ice time as younger players up front. Same with Korbler. So, we cannot say we didn’t insert any rookies. We can say we didn’t insert any 16 year old rookies. That would be fair.

On the back end, we returned 6 quality D-Men. Ewles was moved out and Mayer was brought in. That kept the balance at 6. No room for Dietsch.

So, from my perspective, if you have a GM that hoards players, how can you inject 16 year old rookies into your lineup? Even this year we have NINE LWers. Pinelli, Gerrior and Foster will get priority of course. Maybe two of them move to the right side but even so, you have Horner and Korbler on the right side. Do you play Horner as a 4th line RW at 19 years old? Probably not. Again, hoarding bodies and logjamming the roster.

This issue of 16 year olds not playing isn’t a DC problem. It is a Boyd problem. EH hoards players. He loathes trading them. HE should have lightened the load at the deadline in the 2022-23 season and added a couple extra “go for it now” rental players. It would have improved that roster and given us a better chance at a Championship as well as made it a little easier for DC to insert the 16 year olds.

 

[OMG67]

Regarding MacK, I took a look at the other team rosters to see their goaltending situation. It looks like there are three teams that “may” consider upgrading hteir goaltending by using an OA spot… Sarnia, Sudbury, Windsor. Sudbury is a bit of a long shot with their solid three OA’s. The yard more likely to try to snag a 19 year old if they find a need. The other two are possible.

So, this notion of moving MacK for a packag eof pick sis highly unlikely. It is more likley he would be a waiver player and end up in another league. Anything can change. Injuries can happen. But, barring that, I cannot see him getting moved any time soon if that is the strategy.

 

[dirty12]

Regarding MacK, I took a look at the other team rosters to see their goaltending situation. It looks like there are three teams that “may” consider upgrading hteir goaltending by using an OA spot… Sarnia, Sudbury, Windsor. Sudbury is a bit of a long shot with their solid three OA’s. The yard more likely to try to snag a 19 year old if they find a need. The other two are possible.

So, this notion of moving MacK for a packag eof pick sis highly unlikely. It is more likley he would be a waiver player and end up in another league. Anything can change. Injuries can happen. But, barring that, I cannot see him getting moved any time soon if that is the strategy.

I really think the wolves perceived goalie situation is way over blown. Though I do not think it’s absurd to believe there is a chance of Schenkel to the wolves if there are a series of SSM-SBY trades to be made.
If Brampton-Kitchener and Barrie-Niagara can conspire; why not Soo-Sudbury

 

[sirius67fan]

Ekberg is in town, playing tonight! Pinelli, Foster and my guy Gerrior not dressed. Mac/Nelson between the pipes.

 

[mianjo]

67's lead 3-0 after 1

0-1
Amidowski N.
Koerbler K. + Mews H.
08:47
0 - 2
Kelly C.
Hilton C. + Barney T.
18:35
0 - 3
Barlas C.
Mayich M.

 

[mianjo]

Thomas Barney played 3 pre-season games for Halifax Mooseheads, now with 67's?

 

[mianjo]

4-0 after 2

Goal
#24 Kimi Körbler (1) scores. Assists: #6 Thomas Sirman
2nd 19:06

 

[NoQuit67s]

Thomas Barney played 3 pre-season games for Halifax Mooseheads, now with 67's?

Well he seems to fit the 67s size profile...

 

[mianjo]

5-0

Goal
#28 Caden Kelly (2) scores. Assists: #18 Jack Dever, #17 Jordan Perrier
3rd 13:04

 

[mianjo]

67's win 5-0

Scoring

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	T
OTT	3	1	1	5
NB	0	0	0	0

Shots on Goal

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
OTT	10	12	10	32
NB	13	15	12	40

Stats

PP	FOW
0/2	33
0/1	26

 

[mianjo]

Henry Mews with 8 shots tonight

C 27 Ekberg, Filip 0 0 + 2 1 0 10/18

Ottawa 67's Goalies​

Player	MIN	SAV/SH	In	Out
Nelson, Jaeden	26:40	17/17	1st/0:00	2nd/6:40
MacKenzie, Collin	33:20	23/23	2nd/6:40	3rd/20:00

 

[beastintheeast]

With the shortage at defence, I can see Gerrior being traded for a bag of pucks and a case of beer.

Not that he is a good forward on this team but we need both OA D and please Boyd do not sign Barney let him go back to the CCHL

 

[OMG67]

With the shortage at defence, I can see Gerrior being traded for a bag of pucks and a case of beer.

Not that he is a good forward on this team but we need both OA D and please Boyd do not sign Barney let him go back to the CCHL

Why not add a D-Man for a case of beer and a bag of pucks? Or move Horner back to defence for a few weeks until Dietsch is back?

Also keep in mind that they could sign a kid to a contract and as long as he doesn’t play 10 games, he doesn’t eat a card. That’s an option too.

 

[beastintheeast]

Why not add a D-Man for a case of beer and a bag of pucks? Or move Horner back to defence for a few weeks until Dietsch is back?

Also keep in mind that they could sign a kid to a contract and as long as he doesn’t play 10 games, he doesn’t eat a card. That’s an option too.

Agreed, but eventually, we have to lose an OA.

We are looking at moving Sirman, Gerrior or, outside chance, MacK. None of these are going to bring much in the way of return, so it makes sense to trade them just so they get to play somewhere and we open a spot on the team.

I don't worry about Stonehouse as that will work itself out when he is healthy

My biggest worry is Boyd offering the 5.8" midget a card.

 

[OMG67]

Agreed, but eventually, we have to lose an OA.

We are looking at moving Sirman, Gerrior or, outside chance, MacK. None of these are going to bring much in the way of return, so it makes sense to trade them just so they get to play somewhere and we open a spot on the team.

I don't worry about Stonehouse as that will work itself out when he is healthy

My biggest worry is Boyd offering the 5.8" midget a card.

There is no market for Sirman. Gerrior is far too important for this team to move. Mack may see a market develop but at this point, I am not certain one will. We’d need to see a massive injury or two. The Petes also have Sztuska out there as a potential OA goalie on the market.

I think it is far more likely that Sirman ends up waived. If Stonehouse comes back, he will be valuable enough to trade to a contending team. We end up with Mayich, Gerrior, and MacK.

The only variable to that is I think Mayich is tradable. Boyd could decide to keep Sirman and accept the trade assets from the Mayich deal instead.

I have zero issues keeping MacK this year. Conway and Nelson are both only 17 years old. It would be good for both of them to ease into their rookie season. Conway would likely play a lot in the CCHL. Give him a few spot starts in the OHL in the 2nd half. He’d also be available as an injury replacement. If a market opens for MacK at the deadline then we can reassess.

 

[sirius67fan]

With the shortage at defence, I can see Gerrior being traded for a bag of pucks and a case of beer.

Not that he is a good forward on this team but we need both OA D and please Boyd do not sign Barney let him go back to the CCHL

One Gerrior is not getting traded imo. Two he's a very good player, kind of insulting to say he's worth a bag of pucks and a case of beer!

 

[OMG67]

The lines last night were interesting:

Hilton - Whitehead - Kelly
Perrier - Dever - Horner
Houben - Barlas - Yanni
Amidovski - Ekberg - Korbler

There are a bunch of pairings there I could see stick. Dever and Horner played together down the stretch and in the playoffs together. Ekberg and Korbler make sense. Even Barlas and Yanni make sense. We are missing Pinelli, Foster, and Gerrior in that lineup. So, three guys need to come out. Perrier would be one for sure. I think Hilton and Houben likely rotate in and out through the first half. But, who is the 3rd? You gotta think Kelly is the odd man out but he scored two goals last night. I highly doubt they sit out their first rounder.

To me, it looks like a battle between Yanni and Kelly for the last RW spot and Hilton and Houben for the last LW spot.

 

[sirius67fan]

The lines last night were interesting:

Hilton - Whitehead - Kelly
Perrier - Dever - Horner
Houben - Barlas - Yanni
Amidovski - Ekberg - Korbler

There are a bunch of pairings there I could see stick. Dever and Horner played together down the stretch and in the playoffs together. Ekberg and Korbler make sense. Even Barlas and Yanni make sense. We are missing Pinelli, Foster, and Gerrior in that lineup. So, three guys need to come out. Perrier would be one for sure. I think Hilton and Houben likely rotate in and out through the first half. But, who is the 3rd? You gotta think Kelly is the odd man out but he scored two goals last night. I highly doubt they sit out their first rounder.

To me, it looks like a battle between Yanni and Kelly for the last RW spot and Hilton and Houben for the last LW spot.

For me I would like to see Barlas moved to give icetime to the younger players. Not a bad player but I think he deserves a chance to fight for a bigger role elsewhere. I agree it's probably better to let Perrier develop in tier 2. This would leave us with 13 forwards and let internal competition decide who gets more icetime. I still have hopes for Kelly but he needs to establish himself early this year or he might be on the outs. Will be interesting to see who among the young guys breaks out. I expect a jump from Whitehead just based onhis motor. The one that intrigues me is Yanni though, liked what I saw last year.

 

[OMG67]

I think Kelly needs the pre-season to be honest. I don’t think Boyd will waste cards early.I think all of Hilton, Houben, and Kelly need to show something in the pre-season.

I think Yanni and Amidovski are safe. Perrier is in the CCHL. Because Houben is a 17 year old, they could simply give him another year in the CCHL to let him grow into his body more.

But, both Hilton and Kelly are 18. Both need to prove they have the chops to play and contribute now. IF they don’t show it, I cannot see them wasting cards on them by giving them a little time early in the season only to release them 10 games into the season.

 

[sirius67fan]

My lines to start the year fwiw right/center/left

Gerrior/Ekberg/Pinelli
Horner/Dever/Yanni
Kelly/Whitehead/Foster
Korbler/Amidovsky/Hiltoo
Extra: Houben
CCHL perrier
Traded/Waived: Barlas
To explain a bit the first line is our clearcut top line. The other three are interchangeable and I tried to give our three promising players ( Whitey, Yanni, Amidovsky) linemates to succeed.Foster is a solid winger for Whitehead and Kelly who has some size/snarl gets his chance. Their size helps Whitehead imo. As OMG said I like the Horner/Dever combo and Yanni adds playmaking talent and again plays with two more physically mature players. And yes I'm slotting Amid at center right away as imo we need to develop him there. He has a talented versatile winger in Korbler and HiltonHouben can cycle on left wing at least initially.