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

[OMG67]

The top four in conference standings, prior to last night’s games at least, were from the central, that cannot hold up.
To my surprise, Oshawa could lead the east if the Petes & ‘67s sell. Though it should be noted that Kingston is missing three important pieces, and could have an import show after the Christmas break.

Ottawa could sell and still win the East. Their defence is that good. Plus they have an OA spot (or two if they trade Donoso) open. If they can find another “value” OA while shipping Stonehouse out at the deadline, it may not substantially hurt them at all.

Peterborough will sell and it will be significantly impactful. Their laundry list of sell off is much longer than Ottawa’s. I can’t see a scenario where the Petes challenge for the division.

Kingston should be the team that is the most honest challenger For the division.

No matter what Ottawa does (within reason), they should be stingy on goals against. That will allow them an opportunity to win many games in a weak conference. That said, their offence will also likely be spotty which will hurt.

I don’t think Ottawa’s goal should be to win the division. It should simply be to further their ability to win next year while not hampering their development. If they can find an 18 year old centre and acquire that player now, then perfect.It will help this year and next. Barring that, their goal seems to be to extract the most possible future assets without impacting current development.

 

[frontsfan67]

Smyth and Sirman not have anyone who wants them

Kingston may be interested in one of them. We have no depth and one of them would be good on the second pairing for d. Smyth is a big boy I could see them going after him.

 

[Petes1987]

The top four in conference standings, prior to last night’s games at least, were from the central, that cannot hold up.
To my surprise, Oshawa could lead the east if the Petes & ‘67s sell. Though it should be noted that Kingston is missing three important pieces, and could have an import show after the Christmas break.

The Petes will do a retool not a rebuild if they are in first or second place at Christmas. They will likely trade Owen Beck for a second year 17 year old forward, two, 2nds and two, 3rds and maybe move Konnor Smith for a 17 or 18 year old defenceman, a 2nd, a 3rd and maybe a 4th. They would likely keep their overages unless they get an offer that allows them to add a younger player for each overager plus a high draft pick in each deal. Similar to the Michael Simpson trade. The Beck and Smith deals would allow them to almost rebuild their draft pick cupboard and add a young player at forward and on defence. It also would allow to remain competitive in the East Division. Brantford looks like they are taking a step back this year in their rebuild and Kingston has not looked great so the Petes even with a retool could finish anywhere from 5th to 8th in the Conference and anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the East Division.

 

[dirty12]

The Petes will do a retool not a rebuild if they are in first or second place at Christmas. They will likely trade Owen Beck for a second year 17 year old forward, two, 2nds and two, 3rds and maybe move Konnor Smith for a 17 or 18 year old defenceman, a 2nd, a 3rd and maybe a 4th. They would likely keep their overages unless they get an offer that allows them to add a younger player for each overager plus a high draft pick in each deal. Similar to the Michael Simpson trade. The Beck and Smith deals would allow them to almost rebuild their draft pick cupboard and add a young player at forward and on defence. It also would allow to remain competitive in the East Division. Brantford looks like they are taking a step back this year in their rebuild and Kingston has not looked great so the Petes even with a retool could finish anywhere from 5th to 8th in the Conference and anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the East Division.

Accumulating picks 2-4 years from now is easy, the Petes should have little trouble in that aspect. The difference between a re-tool and rebuild can be determined by which players have to go to have at least a full compliment of 2024 draft picks and then listing 17-18 potential 2005-07 born that the 24 player roster will consist of next season.

 

[beastintheeast]

Ottawa could sell and still win the East. Their defence is that good. Plus they have an OA spot (or two if they trade Donoso) open. If they can find another “value” OA while shipping Stonehouse out at the deadline, it may not substantially hurt them at all.

Peterborough will sell and it will be significantly impactful. Their laundry list of sell off is much longer than Ottawa’s. I can’t see a scenario where the Petes challenge for the division.

Kingston should be the team that is the most honest challenger For the division.

No matter what Ottawa does (within reason), they should be stingy on goals against. That will allow them an opportunity to win many games in a weak conference. That said, their offence will also likely be spotty which will hurt.

I don’t think Ottawa’s goal should be to win the division. It should simply be to further their ability to win next year while not hampering their development. If they can find an 18 year old centre and acquire that player now, then perfect.It will help this year and next. Barring that, their goal seems to be to extract the most possible future assets without impacting current development.

This is strictly a cupboard deal in Ottawa.
The spot I think Boyd will be happy with is 4th place as it gives the home games.
The Central is going to be the power this year, but that is mainly because the East has to step back and refill.

What Ottawa is going to do at the deadline is dependent on 2 things

What are they being offered for players?
What does the rest of the conference look like?

If the 67's can get a deal with picks for our players that is good. I do not see any of the contenders that would be buying or offering us what we would want in a center.

I think we may, depending on how Whitehead develops, see him move up to the 3rd line and possibly one of the kids that we drafted brought in the finish out of the season with us as a 4th line center to get ready for next year.

I think we will see the same with Nelson coming up from Navan as the backup for MacK.

Does anyone know what happened to Zack Houben I though he was promising and has signed but has done nothing in the GOJHL is he injured?

 

[OMG67]

This is strictly a cupboard deal in Ottawa.
The spot I think Boyd will be happy with is 4th place as it gives the home games.
The Central is going to be the power this year, but that is mainly because the East has to step back and refill.

What Ottawa is going to do at the deadline is dependent on 2 things

What are they being offered for players?
What does the rest of the conference look like?

If the 67's can get a deal with picks for our players that is good. I do not see any of the contenders that would be buying or offering us what we would want in a center.

I think we may, depending on how Whitehead develops, see him move up to the 3rd line and possibly one of the kids that we drafted brought in the finish out of the season with us as a 4th line center to get ready for next year.

I think we will see the same with Nelson coming up from Navan as the backup for MacK.

Does anyone know what happened to Zack Houben I though he was promising and has signed but has done nothing in the GOJHL is he injured?

I get what you are saying but I’m not sure the 67’s will let others dictate what they do. What I mean by that is I don’t think if they are decided on selling Stonehouse because their strategy is to make a run next year using the assets they get for him, I don’t think their strategy would change under either of the two parameters you stated. If Stonehouse isn’t worth what they want for him at fair market value, they will take less. If they are leading the division but still don’t feel they can win in the playoffs, they will still sell.

The only parameter that changes anything is if they are leading the conference with a crazy record. Something similar to last year. They need to prove they are contenders before they decide to make contender moves. Anything less than contender status means they will sell off high value players to push assets forward. That doesn’t mean sell the kitchen sink. We are really only talking about Stonehouse and maybe Donoso and Smyth. I can’t see them cutting any deeper than that.

Ono so is the one player I think they may decide to keep if the return isn’t great and he doesn’t request a trade. If MacK Takes the reigns as the starter, I think Donoso requests a trade to somewhere he can play.

I know you and I are mainly on the same page but I really don’t think outside influences will deter Ottawa from their chosen path. The market bears what the market bears. You pay what you pay and receive what you receive. Last year Ottawa paid huge. This year they hope to receive huge. They did well for Beck. Let’s hope they do well for Stonehouse. With any luck, Donoso will get them a 3rd and 5th. One of those 3rds will replenish a vacate draft pick hole which would be great.

I don’t see a scenario where they decide on status quo. If they are leading their division and on pace for a .575win%, I don’t think they remain status quo and play it out. Even at a .600win%, they will sell. There may be some sort of hybrid scenario where the market for Stonehouse is crazy flat combined with them performing at the division lead but I can’t see that playing out. We’d be focusing on the very small percentages.

If they keep Stonehouse, they do so assuming there is at least a 50-50 chance of him returning for an OA season.

 

[beastintheeast]

I get what you are saying but I’m not sure the 67’s will let others dictate what they do. What I mean by that is I don’t think if they are decided on selling Stonehouse because their strategy is to make a run next year using the assets they get for him, I don’t think their strategy would change under either of the two parameters you stated. If Stonehouse isn’t worth what they want for him at fair market value, they will take less. If they are leading the division but still don’t feel they can win in the playoffs, they will still sell.

The only parameter that changes anything is if they are leading the conference with a crazy record. Something similar to last year. They need to prove they are contenders before they decide to make contender moves. Anything less than contender status means they will sell off high value players to push assets forward. That doesn’t mean sell the kitchen sink. We are really only talking about Stonehouse and maybe Donoso and Smyth. I can’t see them cutting any deeper than that.

Ono so is the one player I think they may decide to keep if the return isn’t great and he doesn’t request a trade. If MacK Takes the reigns as the starter, I think Donoso requests a trade to somewhere he can play.

I know you and I are mainly on the same page but I really don’t think outside influences will deter Ottawa from their chosen path. The market bears what the market bears. You pay what you pay and receive what you receive. Last year Ottawa paid huge. This year they hope to receive huge. They did well for Beck. Let’s hope they do well for Stonehouse. With any luck, Donoso will get them a 3rd and 5th. One of those 3rds will replenish a vacate draft pick hole which would be great.

I don’t see a scenario where they decide on status quo. If they are leading their division and on pace for a .575win%, I don’t think they remain status quo and play it out. Even at a .600win%, they will sell. There may be some sort of hybrid scenario where the market for Stonehouse is crazy flat combined with them performing at the division lead but I can’t see that playing out. We’d be focusing on the very small percentages.

If they keep Stonehouse, they do so assuming there is at least a 50-50 chance of him returning for an OA season.

Yeah, we agree. As to what the market offers compared to what the benefits are of keeping, I was thinking more of Mack or Mayich.
Last year, players get what they can and what the market says.

looking at this team, I really do not see a way to the finals for this team.

I think Boyd will be happy with a top 4 to get the home ice. Even moving down to 6 or 7 would not be a bad thing as it means better pickings in the draft.

I am not sure we will see Uronen back next year. He was drafted out of the Fin system so is eligible to play AHL or to go back and play Pro in LIga.

I also think that unless Korbler sees ice time he may decide to go home and finish the year at home. Hard to say but I think the team may have made a mistake drafting a winger. with the players, we had returning.

Stonehouse is gone next year unless he falls flat there is no way the Oilers would have signed him if there was not a plan.

 

[mianjo]

67's win 4-0, go 3 for 3 on their northern roadtrip

GOAL
#17 Brady Stonehouse (1) scores. Assists: #13 Tuomas Uronen, #27 Kaleb Lawrence GAME WINNING
1st 2:12
+/-

GOAL
#20 Luca Pinelli (5) scores .POWER PLAY
2nd 2:11
+/-

GOAL
#25 Brad Gardiner (1) scores. Assists: #29 Cooper Foster, #18 Jack Dever
2nd 17:49
+/-

GOAL
#29 Cooper Foster (1) scores. Assists: #26 Gavin Ewles SHORT HANDED EMPTY NET

STARS OF THE GAME​

FIRST
#2 Derek Smyth D
G 0A 0+/- +1Ottawa

SECOND
#35 Max Donoso G
SH 29SV 29GA 0Ottawa

 

[OMG67]

Big win today. Donoso drops a bomb on the Wolves. If any team was watching Donoso today, they would have come away impressed.

Pretty successful weekend to say the least. Not often they come away with a three win Northern trip.

The defence and goaltending is standing tall, as expected. They are scoring goals but they don’t seem to be quite impressive offensively. More opportunistic.

They have a Western trip coming up in two weeks. That will be the test in my mind. If they can have success on that trip, we should have a better sense of where they stand.

 

[gadder]

Solid game today.

Impressed with D Smythe. He played within himself, blocked shots, was physical, stood up for teammates.

C Lawrence was exactly what we need. He got in the way i.e. checked well, hustled (as much as he can), and was an overall positive 2nd line centre.

Ewles may turn out to be better than I thought.

 

[OMG67]

Solid game today.

Impressed with D Smythe. He played within himself, blocked shots, was physical, stood up for teammates.

C Lawrence was exactly what we need. He got in the way i.e. checked well, hustled (as much as he can), and was an overall positive 2nd line centre.

Ewles may turn out to be better than I thought.

I agree about Smyth. This may have been his most impactful game as a 67. If he can maintain this style of play and be consistent, he will anchor a third pairing that won’t have any issues for an entire season.

I didn’t see the Mayich infraction for shooting the puck out but if it went into the stands, I think it is an automatic 5 game suspension.

 

[beastintheeast]

I think we have served notice that this is a team that is going to wear you down and are no longer interested in run and gun.

That to me is a good thing.

 

[Section5Petes]

I think we have served notice that this is a team that is going to wear you down and are no longer interested in run and gun.

That to me is a good thing.

Learned from the Petes lol

 

[beastintheeast]

Learned from the Petes lol

Yes you are one of the teams that perfected it against Ottawa and Kingston.
This is the first year in a long time that Ottawa has not had offensive weapons. They are still ere but learning how to fit in at different positions.

 

[OMG67]

Yes you are one of the teams that perfected it against Ottawa and Kingston.
This is the first year in a long time that Ottawa has not had offensive weapons. They are still ere but learning how to fit in at different positions.

Well, I hate to be “that” guy but two years ago they only scored 199 goals which was good for LAST PLACE in the league. That was the reason why last year’s team was a surprise to most of the league. They didn't add anything to that roster through the deadline and managed to be close to a league leader in goals for in the first half with the same players from the year previous.

The flip side of that is the 67‘s got a lofty pre-season power ranking because of last year’s performance even though we lost a ton of fire power, six of our top eight in scoring.

 

[hardclimate]

Well, whatever else may be going on with the 67s, that was one excellent northern road trip.

 

[beastintheeast]

Well, I hate to be “that” guy but two years ago they only scored 199 goals which was good for LAST PLACE in the league. That was the reason why last year’s team was a surprise to most of the league. They didn't add anything to that roster through the deadline and managed to be close to a league leader in goals for in the first half with the same players from the year previous.

The flip side of that is the 67‘s got a lofty pre-season power ranking because of last year’s performance even though we lost a ton of fire power, six of our top eight in scoring.

7 of the forwards were rookies and are on this team well we have 5 of the defence from that team and both of the goalies

I don't think we would be that bad but then again with the draft picks we would have it would not be the end of the world.

 

[OMG67]

7 of the forwards were rookies and are on this team well we have 5 of the defence from that team and both of the goalies

I don't think we would be that bad but then again with the draft picks we would have it would not be the end of the world.

I was just pointing out that you had said it had been a long time since Ottawa didn’t have offensive weapons. We had a good run over a few years but that run was interrupted by a year where we didn’t have offensive weapons. We scored very few goals BUT we did prevent goals at a decent level which meant we still made the playoffs etc.

I am not suggesting your premise is wrong on your main underlying point. You are correct. The team does need to find a way with less weapons and new responsibilities. While they do find their way on the offensive side, the advantage we have is we already know and have demonstrated our ability to take care of the defensive side. That will serve us well while we find consistency up front. This team learned a lot during their last poor season and as you mentioned, they matured. We have less rookies this year so we shouldn’t fall back too heavily.

 

[beastintheeast]

I was just pointing out that you had said it had been a long time since Ottawa didn’t have offensive weapons. We had a good run over a few years but that run was interrupted by a year where we didn’t have offensive weapons. We scored very few goals BUT we did prevent goals at a decent level which meant we still made the playoffs etc.

I am not suggesting your premise is wrong on your main underlying point. You are correct. The team does need to find a way with less weapons and new responsibilities. While they do find their way on the offensive side, the advantage we have is we already know and have demonstrated our ability to take care of the defensive side. That will serve us well while we find consistency up front. This team learned a lot during their last poor season and as you mentioned, they matured. We have less rookies this year so we shouldn’t fall back too heavily.

Last year we also had a team that started the year with few offensive weapons. We both had the feeling that this team was dependent on 2 maybe 3 players for offence and 2 of them got hurt and really last year were not around.

Guys like Pinelli Uronen, and Foster showed what they could do as offensive weapons. Now this year they need to show the NHL what they can do as a defensive 2 way weapon.

Also, the guys that are looking to this year's draft need to show the HL what they can do defensively.

Myich needs to prove that the plus-22 last year was not just because of Matier.

remember when Ottawa centers were things to be desired not for their goalscoring but for their 2-way play, leadership and face-off skills?

Peca
MacAuley
Couture
Monahan
Konecny
Rossi

Who is gong to be the next?

 

[beastintheeast]

Just read that Stonehouse has been playing with an upper-body injury but will be out of the line up until at least the 24th

Oilers latest injury news, including update on Brady Stonehouse

While the Edmonton Oilers are in a much better position now health-wise, there are still some injury concerns within the organization.

oilonwhyte.com

here is one about his value

Lowetide: Brady Stonehouse signing an important indicator for Oilers' future

Stonehouse, a goal-scoring winger who forechecks extremely well, played for the Ottawa 67's last season.

theathletic.com

 

[beastintheeast]

Noel is setting his name in with the Oilers. First game as a condor
1 assist
2 shots
plus 1
fighting major
instigator
misconduct
and HE STILL WAS THE FIRST STAR.

Now that is setting your mark and making a noise.

Oh yeah that was against Coachella with Shane and Logan

 

[gadder]

If Mayich is suspended for 5 games (?), Brady out with concussion (?), that leaves:

Hank and Frank
Smythe Ewles
Horner Dietsch(?)

Seems kinda thin.
Development opportunities are good but this seems like likely losses with little chance to learn.

Perhaps this is a good time for Boyd to snag that steady (or any) OA d-man...

 

[BarberPole9]

If Mayich is suspended for 5 games (?), Brady out with concussion (?), that leaves:

Hank and Frank
Smythe Ewles
Horner Dietsch(?)

Seems kinda thin.
Development opportunities are good but this seems like likely losses with little chance to learn.

Perhaps this is a good time for Boyd to snag that steady (or any) OA d-man...

What’s the news on Mayich? I must have missed it.

An OA like Mayer in Peterborough or even a 19 year old Jorian Donovan from Brantford would be a great fit to the team. I scanned the rebuilding teams’ rosters and there are very few high end OA D available. Christopolos in NB or Jodoin in Windsor would be likely available but neither bring a ton of offence.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

What’s the news on Mayich? I must have missed it.

An OA like Mayer in Peterborough or even a 19 year old Jorian Donovan from Brantford would be a great fit to the team. I scanned the rebuilding teams’ rosters and there are very few high end OA D available. Christopolos in NB or Jodoin in Windsor would be likely available but neither bring a ton of offence.

I'd like the construct of this team for the remainder of the season if Boyd were to go out and get an OA defenseman. The Lawrence pick-up seems to be working well so far. A big-bodied, veteran centre was a need many of us identified heading into the season. The other is a veteran D-man that can play in the top-4 to take some pressure off of Mayich and the Hank & Frank pairing. The team (assuming said veteran D-man is acquired) would not be a world-beater, mind you, but should be good enough to finish somewhere in the top 4/5 in the east without depleting the draft cupboards and that's a reasonable objective imo.

 

[OMG67]

What’s the news on Mayich? I must have missed it.

An OA like Mayer in Peterborough or even a 19 year old Jorian Donovan from Brantford would be a great fit to the team. I scanned the rebuilding teams’ rosters and there are very few high end OA D available. Christopolos in NB or Jodoin in Windsor would be likely available but neither bring a ton of offence.

Mayich receive a Game Misconduct for Shooting the Puck out. If that is upheld, I believe it comes with an automatic 5-game suspension.