Ottawa 67's 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[44 95 plus tax]

Message sending is part of coaching, though. You can't keep rewarding a kid for not doing what he has been asked or not buying into team goals and concepts. Dave Cameron has been a very successful coach at many different levels for decades - say what you will about him, but he is a teacher first and foremost. He's not there to coddle an 18 year old kid - he's there to push that kid to be his very best and to be coachable. I'm on Team Cameron on this one...

Has he been a successful coach, though? 56% winning through his coaching career. Hasn't won a championship. Came close with St. Mikes, but other than that pretty much one and done in the playoffs.

 

[dirty12]

north bay can retool and be competitive i beleive

In 2025-26.
Romani and the top returning OAs will have to go to cover the cost of rental players.

 

[OMG67]

Was that maybe the coach sending a message? I don't know the internal dynamics, but Cameron strikes me as the kind of coach who wouldn't hesitate to send a wake up call to a player who he thinks needs it. I don't think flipping that changes much either - we were clearly several exits short of being able to stay with the Generals...

IF you aren’t going to play your best lineup and it doesn’t matter anyway then why play the games?

 

[ScoutLife4]

I think what gets lost in the weeds on forums like this is you have to remember the coach knows his team better then any of you.
There psychical health. mental health and overall capabilities.

It was just a week ago that people here were giving DC shit for not playing Gardiner. Turns out he's playing with a badly injured shoulder. (I'm hearing it needs to be surgically repaired)

 

[OMG67]

In fairness to Dave Cameron, the team construction is drafts based on Tourigny as a coach. We need to transition to drafting for Dave Cameron players. We are now at the point where the 19 year olds next year will be the last cohort from the drafts pre-DC. So, if Gardiner and Stonehouse weren’t playing as much, maybe they aren’t DC type players? If that is the case, the organization needs to move on from those players and start moulding a DaveCameron team? That is if DC is the guy they want long term, of course. If they draft players that don’t suit DC’s style then go get a coach that suits the style of play for the players they are drafting.

Whitehead basically sat in the stands post-deadline. He was the one 16 yea role that was actually signed to player card. The rest were affiliate players. If we can’t even dress one 16 year old draft pick on the 4th line, then either the draft was horrible or we have a log jam of players blocking the development of 16 year roles on the 4th line. For reference, the Generals had a 16 year old Centre on their 3rd line that had 6 points int he regular season. I seem to remember someone last year at the deadline mention something about a potential log jam of forwards and that maybe it would be a good idea to dish off a few forwards at the deadline and lessen the picks used becuase we;d have a hard time dressing the returning players and draft picks. If only I could remember who said that last year…..

 

[Hinterland]

I think what gets lost in the weeds on forums like this is you have to remember the coach knows his team better then any of you.
There psychical health. mental health and overall capabilities.

It was just a week ago that people here were giving DC shit for not playing Gardiner. Turns out he's playing with a badly injured shoulder. (I'm hearing it needs to be surgically repaired)

I like Cameron and have defended almost all of his decisions but Gardiner shouldn't have played at all. He was terrible and visibly injured. Kelly was terrible and probably injured as well. Yet still Cameron kept on playing them. Chase Yanni is young but I thought he was fine in pretty much every single game this season. That 4th line, with him on it, was a force in the Brantford series, playing with lots of energy. It was a puck chasing liability in the Oshawa series when Yanni got scratched. I applaud Cameron for playing Körbler but he should have played Yanni (and Whitehead) as well. Not necessarily in big roles but it doesn't make sense to play clearly injured players over healthy ones who proved they can add value in previous games.

 

[OMG67]

I think what gets lost in the weeds on forums like this is you have to remember the coach knows his team better then any of you.
There psychical health. mental health and overall capabilities.

It was just a week ago that people here were giving DC shit for not playing Gardiner. Turns out he's playing with a badly injured shoulder. (I'm hearing it needs to be surgically repaired)

It goes a lot deeper than that. We were jsut beaten by a team with a young 16 year old 3rd line centre with 6 regular season points while they loaded up their top two lines. DC spread his top 6 over 4 lines and couldn’t generate scoring. I think there is some room there to question the strategy when you get beaten by a team that gives their 4th line 2-5 shifts per game and load sup their top two lines and you don’t counter that by matching or even giving yourself a chance by trying to match.

I would suggest that a 3rd line of Barlas and Horner centred by Dever would have matched up well against the Generals 3rd line of Griffin, Torrence, and Buckley….at least enough to simply play defence against them and be EVEN at 5 on 5. That then allows Ottawa to load up their top two lines and at least give them a fighting chance.

 

[OMG67]

I like Cameron and have defended almost all of his decisions but Gardiner shouldn't have played at all. He was terrible and visibly injured. Kelly was terrible and probably injured as well. Yet still Cameron kept on playing them. Chase Yanni is young but I thought he was fine in pretty much every single game this season. That 4th line, with him on it, was a force in the Brantford series, playing with lots of energy. It was a puck chasing liability in the Oshawa series when Yanni got scratched. I applaud Cameron for playing Körbler but he should have played Yanni (and Whitehead) as well. Not necessarily in big roles but it doesn't make sense to play clearly injured players over healthy ones who proved they can add value in previous games.

I can easily get on your page of having a 4th line of Whitehead, Yanni and Hilton. BUT, that should have been the 4th line all year! Maybe Kelly instead of Hilton with Hilton being the #13 forward. The issue was they had too many returning bodies that should have been thinned out last year at the deadline instead of using picks in those trades. I feel like Boyd doesn’t manage assets very well. You know you are going to add three 16 year olds every year. Two will likely play as starters.

Going back to last year, we saw way too many d-Men still on the roster. We knew it was going to be an issue to start the year. Dietsch should have made this team as the #7. If we’d have thinned out the defence at the deadline last year and used a couple bodies in deals, we’d have more picks and less useless bodies and no one blocking the youth. I put that blame on Boyd. He needs to project his roster better and plan a couple steps ahead more efficiently.

IMO, Whitehead, Dietsch, and Yanni should have been on this roster all year and should have played regularly, especially in the first half. That way if you have injuries heading into the playoffs, you can spot them in the roster as needed. Hilton probably should have been as well but I can see not adding him if he wasn’t’ going to play much.

Now, we go into next year with a double cohort of rookies. Too many 17 year olds with little to no experience. How some feel this team can stick with contenders next year is almost crazy talk. Lack of development of rookies combined with lack of development fromt he 17 and 18 year olds this year doesn’t bode well for next year.

 

[Hinterland]

I can easily get on your page of having a 4th line of Whitehead, Yanni and Hilton. BUT, that should have been the 4th line all year! Maybe Kelly instead of Hilton with Hilton being the #13 forward. The issue was they had too many returning bodies that should have been thinned out last year at the deadline instead of using picks in those trades. I feel like Boyd doesn’t manage assets very well. You know you are going to add three 16 year olds every year. Two will likely play as starters.

Going back to last year, we saw way too many d-Men still on the roster. We knew it was going to be an issue to start the year. Dietsch should have made this team as the #7. If we’d have thinned out the defence at the deadline last year and used a couple bodies in deals, we’d have more picks and less useless bodies and no one blocking the youth. I put that blame on Boyd. He needs to project his roster better and plan a couple steps ahead more efficiently.

IMO, Whitehead, Dietsch, and Yanni should have been on this roster all year and should have played regularly, especially in the first half. That way if you have injuries heading into the playoffs, you can spot them in the roster as needed. Hilton probably should have been as well but I can see not adding him if he wasn’t’ going to play much.

Now, we go into next year with a double cohort of rookies. Too many 17 year olds with little to no experience. How some feel this team can stick with contenders next year is almost crazy talk. Lack of development of rookies combined with lack of development fromt he 17 and 18 year olds this year doesn’t bode well for next year.

Yeah that might have been smart but even though Yanni only appeared in few games previously, the 4th line was significantly better he was on compared to later when he was scratched. He didn't score any points during playoffs but that 4th line had some impressive shifts with him in the lineup. In the Oshawa series I don't recall them having a single good shift. Not once did I see them establish possession in the offensive zone or create scoring chances. I don't think Barlas was the problem in the Oshawa series. He played very well with Yanni. Whitehead only played a few shifts vs Brantford but I thought he was good as well. I'm just not a fan of playing injured players when they're obviously not healthy enough to play. If you don't have any options then I guess that's fine but I feel like Cameron did have options. Also, playoff experience is valuable for kids. It would have been smart to play the rookies, even if it's just for a few shifts.

 

[OMG67]

Just to add a little more perspective, I have pegged 12 key positions a team needs in order to be successful. I define success in the OHL as a team that finishes above 75 points.

1> Centres x3 (Gardiner)
2> Scoring Wingers x2 (Pinelli and Foster)
3> Role Player wingers x2 (Gerrior)
4> Top 4 D-Men (Mews and Marrelli)
5> Starting goalie (MacK)

Wild players that may fit in:
Uronen (Scoring Winger)
Dever or Whitehead (top 3 centre)
Mayich - if he returns (top 4 D)

I see us missing a bonafide top 6 centre, a role play winger and at least one top 4 D-Man. Some of that “may” come from within but I don’t see all of that filling in. That means will will need to elevate multiple players into roles that likely aren’t suited for. OR, we will need to trad for those players. We won’t have open OA spots so trading for those players likely won’t happen, at least not cheaply.

We have some solid components but we also have a lot of blocker players that will end up also shifting down on the depth chart to 4th line roles that their age doesn’t suit. Again, it blocks rookies.

To me, they will need to thin out some of the older players to make room for the younger players. If we sell off a player like Pinelli, we can make some room in that regard.

Like this year, I see the centre position as the big glaring weakness. Unless all of Gardiner, Dever, Whitehead and Amidovski can take a jump forward, somewhat unexpectedly, it will be tough to gain that stability.

 

[OMG67]

Yeah that might have been smart but even though Yanni only appeared in few games previously, the 4th line was significantly better he was on compared to later when he was scratched. He didn't score any points during playoffs but that 4th line had some impressive shifts with him in the lineup. In the Oshawa series I don't recall them having a single good shift. Not once did I see them establish possession in the offensive zone or create scoring chances. Whitehead only played a few shifts but I thought he was good as well. I'm just not a fan of playing injured players when they're obviously not healthy enough to play. If you don't have any options then I guess that's fine but I feel like Cameron did have options.

The problem withthe 4th line for Ottawa was Oshawa wasn’t playing their 4th line much. So, our 4th line would match up against a stronger 3rd line and sometimes mismatched agaisnt their top two lines. When a team chooses to not play their 4th line, you sometimes have to follow suit or risk mismatches. Buckley and Torrance are pretty decent players, even if Griffin is young. So, that 3rd line when match against our 4th is pretty formidable.

 

[Hinterland]

The problem withthe 4th line for Ottawa was Oshawa wasn’t playing their 4th line much. So, our 4th line would match up against a stronger 3rd line and sometimes mismatched agaisnt their top two lines. When a team chooses to not play their 4th line, you sometimes have to follow suit or risk mismatches. Buckley and Torrance are pretty decent players, even if Griffin is young. So, that 3rd line when match against our 4th is pretty formidable.

That is true but I don't think the Brantford series was any different. I feel like they shortened their bench even more than Oshawa. Still, the 67's 4th line did very well with Yanni in the lineup. Could be a coincidence as he didn't have any points or even shots on goal but I don't think it was. The 4th line was just significantly better with Yanni these playoffs. Him and Barlas were really good together I thought. Played with lots of energy, had quite a bit of possession as well.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

That is true but I don't think the Brantford series was any different. I feel like they shortened their bench even more than Oshawa. Still, the 67's 4th line did very well with Yanni in the lineup. Could be a coincidence as he didn't have any points or even shots on goal but I don't think it was. The 4th line was just significantly better with Yanni these playoffs. Him and Barlas were really good together I thought. Played with lots of energy, had quite a bit of possession as well.

The time to play Yanni and/or Whitehead would have been at home vs. Brantford or Oshawa. Playing an inexperienced 4th line on the road in the playoffs can lead to some poor outcomes if they're caught out against the opponents' top line or forced into a d-zone faceoff situation if they ice the puck.

Yanni only dressed for games 3, 4 and 5 of the Brantford series. Those were the games that Gardiner (games 3 and 4) and Kelly (game 5) missed due to injury. Games 3 and 4 would have been at home.

Hilton only dressed for the game last night.

Whitehead did not dress for any of the playoff games.

Dietsch and Brady dressed for a few games over the course of both series, either as #7D or to backfill during the Mayich suspension. Both played sparingly when they dressed.

Its unlikely that Kelly was fully healthy and, even if fully healthy, offers no clear separation from Yanni in terms of performance. I didn't see Yanni as impactful as you seem to have, but that's not to say I don't think he should have dressed. If the choice is a healthy Yanni vs. an injured Kelly, I would opt for Yanni - especially considering we're talking about a few shifts/period.

Gardiner was playing through a shoulder injury that sounds relatively severe. Up to Cameron to determine whether Whitehead or Yanni would have been better choices. I'll give Cameron the benefit of the doubt on that one. If we were looking for a #4C, the options would have been to move Barlas over, or dress Whitehead - who hadn't played in several weeks. He was a healthy scratch down the stretch. That's a difficult position to put an undersized rookie in. Yes, that's on Cameron for not providing Whitehead with the necessary ice time and experience to get himself acclimated to the rigours of playoff hockey.

But what the above does do is expose some logjams in the lineup that needed to have been resolved at or before the deadline. There is no reason why our top draft picks from last year (Whitehead and Dietsch) didn't dress for any games down the stretch. They may have gotten one or two games against weak competition. In hindsight there were players on the roster who should have been moved to clear space for the youngsters.

 

[Petes1987]

I think there is the missing component that we needed centres and PP-QB D-Man as the three priorities. We could have gotten some of those players you identified but without the centres, it wouldn’t hav made much difference.

Regarding Punnett, I agree wholeheartedly but I have a sense that maybe Barrie held on to him a little too long and Oshawa swooped in at the end of the deadline and got him cheaper than he was originally available for. Teams not in as much “need” can luck into that now and then.

Regarding the Lockhart trade value, that is what can happen when a GM acknowledges he has a spot available and is willing to fill it early as opposed to waiting for the perfect fit at the deadline. Ottawa needs to do more of that. I think some may end up surprised how weak the OA trade market will be at the start of the season.

All of this is why I feel the 67’s need to enter next year with a plan of selling. Keep four OA’s as long as possible to maximize the trade value. One luxury of having a goalie OA is you can sit him when he doesn’t start and play one of the other guys.

The overall value Boyd paid was in line with other deals when you REFUSE to trade a body in a trade package. If I am going to be super critical of Boyd, it is looking at the returning lineup and all those LW, the misuse of Barlas and wonder if trading him as an 18 year old and opening a spot for someone else would have been a better plan. No we have a log jam entering next season and seemingly misuse of talent by the coach. The two combined seems a glaring error.



I honestly feel the same way. I am not aware of how deep that injury was. That is the only thing holding me back from assuming there will be a trade demand there.

The Connor Lockhart situation was a unique one. I think originally the idea was to keep him, Sam Mayer and either Jax Dubois or Cam Gauvreau. The situation changed when Jax Dubois got off to a strong start and the Petes realized they needed to dress both overage defencemen to be successful. Lockhart became the odd man out. Complicating the situation was there was a chance that Tucker Robertson would return to Peterborough to play his overage season. The deadline to get down to four overages was approaching so to retain Tucker Robertson’s rights they had to trade one of their four overages so they had to move Connor for a lower return than they could have if they had waited. They also wanted to do right by him by trading so he could play on a regular basis.

 

[NoQuit67s]

Overall, I'm actually more optimistic about next season than others. I see a pretty well balanced roster and some players poised for huge growth. This roster ended up being less than the sum of its parts, but I think next year's will have better balance and chemistry. I could see us at least staying close to the Steelheads (or whatever they might call themselves going forward) for the top of the division...

I agree that there should be optimism about next year.
I value all the different opinions and the different perspectives as well.

I always thought next year was the year the team could push to be a real contender.
We will have some overagers we will need to move and have too many returning players, so some deals can be made.

I feel that the moves made this year were made in an opportunistic way to give this team a chance in a year with no heavy favorites.

The fact that we again gave up no players to acquire Maillet, Mayer and Kressler support that there was no real push to go for it completely. I believe the GM wanted to keep some core players in place for next year.

I am also starting to believe that the investment in Korbler's icetime during these playoffs was to prepare him for bigger things next year. And they will be able to have another import contribute significantly next season (Uronen if he returns or another Euro draft). I also believe they will not want to "waste" Hank and Frank's remaining OHL time in a rebuild season.

We shall see... But if the 67s are strong through the first 10 games again... I don't think it will be a rebuild season.

 

[Donnie740]

It goes a lot deeper than that. We were jsut beaten by a team with a young 16 year old 3rd line centre with 6 regular season points while they loaded up their top two lines. DC spread his top 6 over 4 lines and couldn’t generate scoring. I think there is some room there to question the strategy when you get beaten by a team that gives their 4th line 2-5 shifts per game and load sup their top two lines and you don’t counter that by matching or even giving yourself a chance by trying to match.

I would suggest that a 3rd line of Barlas and Horner centred by Dever would have matched up well against the Generals 3rd line of Griffin, Torrence, and Buckley….at least enough to simply play defence against them and be EVEN at 5 on 5. That then allows Ottawa to load up their top two lines and at least give them a fighting chance.

The Owen Griffin you watched in this series is not the same Owen Griffin you saw earlier in the season.

The Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan version of Owen Griffin was hopelessly overmatched to the point of being almost unplayable. Force-feeding him minutes on the top two lines and the power play only made the situation worse. Once they finally moved him down to the 4th line, it was a much better fit.

I was very critical of his play but over the past six weeks or so, Griffin has taken a monumental step forward. I’ve been super impressed with his play and he’s now at the point of being a dependable 3rd line centre.

Yes, he still gets bodied off the puck too easily and needs to put on at least 10lbs over the summer, but it’s a night and day difference in his play now compared to earlier in the year.

And FYI, Griffin turned 17 on April 8.

 

[sirius67fan]

I agree that there should be optimism about next year.
I value all the different opinions and the different perspectives as well.

I always thought next year was the year the team could push to be a real contender.
We will have some overagers we will need to move and have too many returning players, so some deals can be made.

I feel that the moves made this year were made in an opportunistic way to give this team a chance in a year with no heavy favorites.

The fact that we again gave up no players to acquire Maillet, Mayer and Kressler support that there was no real push to go for it completely. I believe the GM wanted to keep some core players in place for next year.

I am also starting to believe that the investment in Korbler's icetime during these playoffs was to prepare him for bigger things next year. And they will be able to have another import contribute significantly next season (Uronen if he returns or another Euro draft). I also believe they will not want to "waste" Hank and Frank's remaining OHL time in a rebuild season.

We shall see... But if the 67s are strong through the first 10 games again... I don't think it will be a rebuild season.

The problem being they tend to be strong in the first the games.....but not the last ten!

 

[ecraigs]

Has he been a successful coach, though? 56% winning through his coaching career. Hasn't won a championship. Came close with St. Mikes, but other than that pretty much one and done in the playoffs.

DC won a World Junior title as an assistant and then blew another one as head coach with questionable decisions vs the Russians. Maybe that's how he should coach the team: as if he has the best players in the country and the season is a series of 9 game tournaments. That's not really that bad a strategy.

 

[beastintheeast]

There are going to be a lot of questions asked this off-season.

I can see Yanni, Korbler, Whitehead and Barlas asking for trades if they will not get at least 3rd line ice time with competent linemates.

The first three probably made promises, and in the case of Whitehead, they were not kept. Also, they are coming into their draft year and need to show what they can do for scouts. They were rookies and now, in this offseason, need to be ready. If they are not going to get a chance, then they need to move.

Barlas has shown tht he is a competitive defence player who can also play center. Again putting him to 4th line is an insult.

This is a team that has major issues in the front office and behind the bench.

Boyd and the brain trust must make a decision quickly as to what they are doing and what they see this team as looking like in 2 years.

This willy-nilly way of drafting makes no sense. The league has always been about size and speed. Ottawa seems to think it is all about speed and midgets.

I am not sure how the defenceman we drafted plays, but to me, a small guy on defence is a waste of time in the corners and in front of the net.

Uens was an offensive powerhouse in U16. Ask the Fronts how they think he is doing.

In the second game of the Oshawa series, Gardner and Kelly should have been in the stands.

Yanni and Whitehead should have been dressed, and when it was known that the 67s were overmatched, they should have gotten most of the ice time with the third line and third defence pair.

I have been saying all year that this team was overmatched and did not have the ability to compete at the top level, so I am not surprised that Oshawa handled us so easily.

Instead of trading for 2 OA centers and Mayer, we should have kept the picks or traded Stonehouse. Instead, we went into a draft down in draft picks and wasted draft picks and players to only end up where we would have been if we had stayed the course.

Anyone who says we should be a competitive team next year needs medical help. This is a team that is quickly moving in the same direction as the Fronts, and that is not a good thing.

Changes need to be made.

If we are building a DC team, then we need to get rid of all small 5'10 and under players and build size and p;layers that want to play his style which is not run and gun and not offence first.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

DC won a World Junior title as an assistant and then blew another one as head coach with questionable decisions vs the Russians. Maybe that's how he should coach the team: as if he has the best players in the country and the season is a series of 9 game tournaments. That's not really that bad a strategy.

He was head coach when Canad won gold in the 2022 summer tournament too if I remember correctly.

 

[beastintheeast]

Just to add a little more perspective, I have pegged 12 key positions a team needs in order to be successful. I define success in the OHL as a team that finishes above 75 points.

1> Centres x3 (Gardiner)
2> Scoring Wingers x2 (Pinelli and Foster)
3> Role Player wingers x2 (Gerrior)
4> Top 4 D-Men (Mews and Marrelli)
5> Starting goalie (MacK)

Wild players that may fit in:
Uronen (Scoring Winger)
Dever or Whitehead (top 3 centre)
Mayich - if he returns (top 4 D)

I see us missing a bonafide top 6 centre, a role play winger and at least one top 4 D-Man. Some of that “may” come from within but I don’t see all of that filling in. That means will will need to elevate multiple players into roles that likely aren’t suited for. OR, we will need to trad for those players. We won’t have open OA spots so trading for those players likely won’t happen, at least not cheaply.

We have some solid components but we also have a lot of blocker players that will end up also shifting down on the depth chart to 4th line roles that their age doesn’t suit. Again, it blocks rookies.

To me, they will need to thin out some of the older players to make room for the younger players. If we sell off a player like Pinelli, we can make some room in that regard.

Like this year, I see the centre position as the big glaring weakness. Unless all of Gardiner, Dever, Whitehead and Amidovski can take a jump forward, somewhat unexpectedly, it will be tough to gain that stability.

First, if you are Uronen's agent and no contract is offered at camp, why would you want to come to a disorganized team and play in Ottawa?

I would tell him to stay in Finland with HIFK and Liga. They are of higher quality than the CHL and definitely more organized.

If you are talking about rebuilding and trading Mayich at the start I would also look at trading Pinelli. Possibly get a young center for him or Mayich.

I would trade the rights to Stonehouse on a TBD basis.

Whitehead has to be, at worst, your number 3 center and stay there, or Boyd has to go. Take a look at his lack of success in the first round of Drafts

Tolnai
Matier
Moldenhauer
Barlas
Marelli
Bruz

 

[OMG67]

The Dave Cameron issue is more about tailoring the lineup to his style. That is no different than any other coach. I think there were too many Tourigny types that are clogging the lineup and they conflict with DC’s style. DC doesn’t necessarily need a lot of skill and talent up and down the roster. He needs hustle guys. The centres need to be 200’ guys and the wingers need to patrol the boards and get to the centre of the ice. The defence needs to be bigger and mobile.

If we are committing to DC, they need to acquire the team around his style.

 

[OMG67]

First, if you are Uronen's agent and no contract is offered at camp, why would you want to come to a disorganized team and play in Ottawa?

I would tell him to stay in Finland with HIFK and Liga. They are of higher quality than the CHL and definitely more organized.

If you are talking about rebuilding and trading Mayich at the start I would also look at trading Pinelli. Possibly get a young center for him or Mayich.

I would trade the rights to Stonehouse on a TBD basis.

Whitehead has to be, at worst, your number 3 center and stay there, or Boyd has to go. Take a look at his lack of success in the first round of Drafts

Tolnai
Matier
Moldenhauer
Barlas
Marelli
Bruz

It sounds like Uronen is with the team right now. If he weren’t interested in returning, why would he be here now? It seems more likely he is here (at least to start the season). CLEARLY Korbler is a DC player so those two likely nail down 1&2RW next season.

Pinelli is a deadline deal for a ‘08 1st. Doesn’t matter what position that player is. Get the best one you can.

I cannot see a scenario where Stonehouse turns pro. He needs another year in Junior but that doesn’t mean it will be with Ottawa. In fact, I would think it unlikely. The good thing is a player like him will move quickly for a decent package to a contender type team just because he is a pain in the ass to play against. Not many players like him and even in a bad season he scores 20 goals.

As for the 1st round picks, there are two quality defected players so I wouldn’t judge poorly for that. Barlas was a Covid year pick with no 15 year old season prior to the draft (and we got Pinelli in the 2nd round of that draft) so I don’t count that one. Some funky picks that year in the first. Matier was a great pick late. Marrelli also a great pick late. Tolnai wasn’t a great pick but he ended up playing five years and 2-3 of them were pretty solid overall so not a complete waste. We’ve also had quite a few decent role players later in the drafts so overall I think the drafting has been satisfactory.

We do need to draft bigger. Unfortunately, this year was very weak for bigger guys. Most of the top players were smaller to average size. We managed to get Amidovski so that’s good. He has some decent size. There weren’t any reasonable bigger players there at #21. They’d have had to go almost out of the 2nd round to pick a decent sized player at #21 which wouldn’t have been advisable. I will reserve judgement ont hat pick until we see the kid play. By all accounts the kid is very slick. Pair him with a bigger kid like Dietsch and he will be ok as he develops.

My issue is what @NordiquesForeva highlighted and that is the logjam of 3rd/4th line type players. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you are 18 years old and playing on the 4th line, time to get gone. Open that spot up for a 16 or 17 year old. I agree about Barlas. If he’s truly a 4th line player at 18 (which I disagree with), then get him gone. No sense in keeping those guys at all when they are blocking a younger player.

 

[beastintheeast]

It sounds like Uronen is with the team right now. If he weren’t interested in returning, why would he be here now? It seems more likely he is here (at least to start the season). CLEARLY Korbler is a DC player so those two likely nail down 1&2RW next season.

Pinelli is a deadline deal for a ‘08 1st. Doesn’t matter what position that player is. Get the best one you can.

I cannot see a scenario where Stonehouse turns pro. He needs another year in Junior but that doesn’t mean it will be with Ottawa. In fact, I would think it unlikely. The good thing is a player like him will move quickly for a decent package to a contender type team just because he is a pain in the ass to play against. Not many players like him and even in a bad season he scores 20 goals.

As for the 1st round picks, there are two quality defected players so I wouldn’t judge poorly for that. Barlas was a Covid year pick with no 15 year old season prior to the draft (and we got Pinelli in the 2nd round of that draft) so I don’t count that one. Some funky picks that year in the first. Matier was a great pick late. Marrelli also a great pick late. Tolnai wasn’t a great pick but he ended up playing five years and 2-3 of them were pretty solid overall so not a complete waste. We’ve also had quite a few decent role players later in the drafts so overall I think the drafting has been satisfactory.

We do need to draft bigger. Unfortunately, this year was very weak for bigger guys. Most of the top players were smaller to average size. We managed to get Amidovski so that’s good. He has some decent size. There weren’t any reasonable bigger players there at #21. They’d have had to go almost out of the 2nd round to pick a decent sized player at #21 which wouldn’t have been advisable. I will reserve judgement ont hat pick until we see the kid play. By all accounts the kid is very slick. Pair him with a bigger kid like Dietsch and he will be ok as he develops.

My issue is what @NordiquesForeva highlighted and that is the logjam of 3rd/4th line type players. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you are 18 years old and playing on the 4th line, time to get gone. Open that spot up for a 16 or 17 year old. I agree about Barlas. If he’s truly a 4th line player at 18 (which I disagree with), then get him gone. No sense in keeping those guys at all when they are blocking a younger player.

Moldenhauer I will accept because his move was covid driven.

Boyd should have done the due dilligence to ensure that the player he drafted was going to report and he didn't that is on Boyd just like Malhorta is on Cooper in Kingston.

GM's arre getting lazy.

After the year Stonehouse had I am not sure that his stock has gone anywhere it depends on who needs that skillset and how badly.

Pinelli I think you are right that we can get a good package for him. BUT using your own thought plan if we can get a good package to start the sseason for Mayich why can we not get a good package to strt the season for Pinelli?

Also you have to wonder if Pinelli fits into DC's over all plan for a hard hitting team. Yes he scores but is he fully bought in to the new system and is he holding a space for a player like Hilton or Yanni.

To me and again I agree we need to cull the herd. Uronen, Stonehouse, Dever, Barlas/Pinelli need to go.

Idealy we should be trading pinelli for a second year center amd some right wings.

Erawdusky (sp) is going to have to show me something He may be fast but again lok at Uens when he came into the league and look at him now.

Uronen is going to look at the money and what Vegas says. Right now the money is talking in Finland.

 

[OMG67]

Moldenhauer I will accept because his move was covid driven.

Boyd should have done the due dilligence to ensure that the player he drafted was going to report and he didn't that is on Boyd just like Malhorta is on Cooper in Kingston.

GM's arre getting lazy.

After the year Stonehouse had I am not sure that his stock has gone anywhere it depends on who needs that skillset and how badly.

Pinelli I think you are right that we can get a good package for him. BUT using your own thought plan if we can get a good package to start the sseason for Mayich why can we not get a good package to strt the season for Pinelli?

Also you have to wonder if Pinelli fits into DC's over all plan for a hard hitting team. Yes he scores but is he fully bought in to the new system and is he holding a space for a player like Hilton or Yanni.

To me and again I agree we need to cull the herd. Uronen, Stonehouse, Dever, Barlas/Pinelli need to go.

Idealy we should be trading pinelli for a second year center amd some right wings.

Erawdusky (sp) is going to have to show me something He may be fast but again lok at Uens when he came into the league and look at him now.

Uronen is going to look at the money and what Vegas says. Right now the money is talking in Finland.

A few issues trading Pinelli to start the season:
1> You miss out on the 20 goals he gets in the first half that help you make the playoffs.
2> You cannot trade for an ‘08 until January 1
3> Contending teams typically don’t trade high end 17 year olds that make a difference because they rely on those players to help compete. So, unlikely we get a ‘07 1st in that deal unless the player is a bust. Imagine Ottawa trading Mews or Marrelli this year in a deal with more draft picks for Pinelli? Makes no sense.
4> All this results in a picks based trade which would be a complete wasted opportunity.
**Wait until the deadline and snag an ‘08. We’d have three 1st round ‘08s. That would be ideal.

DC doesn’t need a hard hitting team. HE needs hustle and drive with defensive responsibility. He isn’t a hammerhead coach. Size isn’t necessary up and down the lineup. Some size ont he back end with guys that can work the boards on the wings.

I have an opinion on Korbler that I feel is accurate. He was inconsequential in the playoffs and most of the regular season with the exception of games agaisnt the basement dwellers. I think passing on an Import pick in the early 30’s is a wasted opportunity. We’d also be able to draft a player to fill more of a positional need (Centre or Defence). I’d keep Uronen since he is bigger, more skilled, and older. If we do sell at the deadline, he is a more moveable asset at a higher return.