Ottawa 67s 2024-25 Season Thread, Part I

[OMG67]

Sitting Mac two in a row?? Is something brewing?

I think they just prioritized the Brampton game.

 

[Hinterland]

Sitting Mac two in a row?? Is something brewing?

If they play Mac then, with two skaters unavailable, they simply can't ice a full lineup. They need Sirman to be able to dress 18 skaters.

 

[OMG67]

If they play Mac then, with two skaters unavailable, they simply can't ice a full lineup. They need Sirman to be able to dress 18 skaters.

That is assuming the scratches were injuries. With Dietsch back in the lineup, they have 7 D-Men unless they sit one. If they are intent on playing Sirman when MacK doesn’t start then they would dress 11+7. Or they sit someone like Brady?

 

[Hinterland]

That is assuming the scratches were injuries. With Dietsch back in the lineup, they have 7 D-Men unless they sit one. If they are intent on playing Sirman when MacK doesn’t start then they would dress 11+7. Or they sit someone like Brady?

Kelly and Körbler have been logging relatively big minutes when in the lineup. They're not gonna get scratched for no reason if healthy. Also, it was reported earlier in this thread that they're dealing with concussions.

 

[beastintheeast]

With the situation of lack of forwards and defence players I can almost see him as the odd oa out. They need sirman and mayich on defence with mews mia.

Looking at the league and I really do not see a spot for MacK unless Kitchenre is trying to do something

 

[AGranderson]

team has limited players that can actually play in the league, Yanni, Whitehead, Houben, Amidovski are all struggling largely, Amidovski needs to sit in the balcony and watch this league & how to play in it because he looks absolutely lost,apparently he’s very confused at practice as well. Yanni needs to grow he’s simply just way too small, Houben can’t skate or move quick enough he should end up back to Jr in the next few weeks. Whitehead man oh man I hate to pick on a kid but this is the type of player that you trade now because there isn’t one flash of good in him. I can literally sit here & talk about 6-12 plays last night that were caused by him. He doesn’t move his feet, he has no skill, he has no aggressiveness watch him closely tonight it’s painful because I think the skill set is there he just can’t put it all together.

Pinelli, Foster, Dever, Gerrior, Ekberg, Barlas, Horner

We have 7 forwards that can’t actually play, trade Mack, trade sirman, use Stonehouse as an OA

 

[Hinterland]

If Kelly and Körbler are out long term, and concussions tend to be longer term, then I wonder if they're gonna play Mews at RW. With the current roster I'm not sure dressing 11/7 is something Cameron would be comfortable with for more than a handful of games. Only alternatives would be acquiring somebody or rushing back Stonehouse. Either way, for as long as the 67's are down two skaters (without adding someone) I don't think Mac is gonna get too many starts.

 

[sirius67fan]

Among the other stories in this loss is the continued theme of selfish penalties putting us down. Our PK is still brutal and we are giving up chances by taking penalties that could easily be avoided. Mews in particular was a penalty machine tonight, and it looked like he was benched towards the end of the third and in overtime. I’d be interested to know if there was any injury at play or if DC just got sick of Mews taking stick penalties nonstop…

Funny thing though. I thought Mews played his best game of the year...aside from the penalties. At least he was more engaged.

 

[Hinterland]

Pinelli, Ekberg, Mews
Foster, Dever, Gerrior
Yanni, Whitehead, Horner
Barlas, Amidovski, Houben

Mayich, Eshkawkogan
Marrelli, Brady
Dietsch, Sirman

Full yolo mode but would be interesting to watch.

 

[sirius67fan]

Pinelli, Ekberg, Mews
Foster, Dever, Gerrior
Yanni, Whitehead, Horner
Barlas, Amidovski, Houben

Mayich, Eshkawkogan
Marrelli, Brady
Dietsch, Sirman

Full yolo mode but would be interesting to watch.

Been wondering for a while if Mews should switch back to forward where he played until 15y.o. However he was drafted as a D, I think he wants to play Dand this lineup leaves Mac out of the equation. As fun as it might be I don't think it's realistic.

 

[OMG67]

Pinelli, Ekberg, Mews
Foster, Dever, Gerrior
Yanni, Whitehead, Horner
Barlas, Amidovski, Houben

Mayich, Eshkawkogan
Marrelli, Brady
Dietsch, Sirman

Full yolo mode but would be interesting to watch.

Mews is a forward masquerading as a D-Man. I don’t know why they keep shoving that square peg in that round hole. A 6’1” 180 D-Man that scores at a point per game as a 17 year old in his draft year doesn’t “slip” to the 3rd round unless there are serious defensive issues that NHL teams feel he cannot fix. The writing is on the wall with that kid. Stop messing around with him and convert him to RW. Or, just move him out for whatever you can get for him ASAP. Marrelli is almost useless having to play beside him.

I agree with Granderson that we have a handful of players that aren’t ready for OHL hockey. Amidovski has not fit in yet but that is one of the struggles when you draft size over skill. It takes a bit longer to capitalize on the reward. They could have drafted Crete at 5’9” but many of us (including me) would have been upset. Yet, Crete has 5 goals in 7 games to start his OHL career in Niagara. I thought they were 100% going to draft him with their 2nd pick but they picked Eshkawkogan. I am glad they picked Eshkawkogan. Great pick. Kid has Gator blood in him.

I disagree with Granderson about Whitehead. I see him trying to make elevated plays. I agree that he has not been effective but only because he is trying to overplay the puck and trying to do too much. His size and skill aren’t quite where it needs to be to actually pull off the plays he is attempting. It is possible that he never learns where his capabilities are (which is where Granderson sits now), but I do feel that players of that nature usually find their stride and settle into their capabilities. The kid has good hands and finds open areas. He can make good passes. I think we have, at minimum, a player that can develop into a solid 3rd line centre that (with some weight added) can be a solid energy centre at minimum. If he find a way to pick his spots better and handle the puck a little less in the tight spots, dish it a little quicker, and continue to draw players to him while doing it, I think he can be an effective passing centre offensively.

Nelson is not ready to be a solo starter. He floats in his net way too much. He finds himself outside the posts flopping back a lot. He has no economy of movement on his east-west. His rebound control needs a lot of work. He isn’t able to find the puck on rebounds very well either. He does square to the shooter well. He does cover the net well when he is more stationary. You will notice the biggest difference between MacK and Nelson is the economy of movement. Mack doesn’t float around the crease the way Nelson does. Nelson finds himself flopping around too much. I understand those that want to see the extra forward (Stonehouse) added with MacK sent out but I don’t think it would be good for Nelson’s development to be in a situation where he is overplayed. Don’t get me wrong, I think Nelson is a good goalie but he lacks the polish.

We have too many rookies that we are trying to inject into the lineup. It is really showing right now.

 

[OMG67]

How should Ottawa move forward from here?

Many would suggest that selling off players that are graduating is the way to go. But, for what purpose? Yes, we can gain assets that extend existing expiring assets into the future. Great point. But, we also need to focus on developing existing inexperienced players. It is the balance between those two goals that make it more difficult to determine wha t needs to be done.

Clearly we need to get down to Three OA’s. We have FIVE including Stonehouse. Who should we keep. Some point to our shallow offence and suggest we need to keep both Gerrior and Stonehouse. Fine. Understandable, but does that help us develop our inexperienced players?

From my perspective, the two players we have that are key to mentoring and developing our younger players are Mayich and MacKenzie. From my perspective, those two we need to keep. Both provide stability to our back end which is important and can help us win games. Mayich has a direct line to Eshkawkogan’s development since they are defence partners. Same with MAcKenzie and Nelson. I could make an argument that our two most important rookies are Eshkawkogan and Nelson. Those two will potentially have th biggest positive impact on this roster in future years. If we keep those two, then we need to decide between Stonehouse and Gerrior. IMO, let the market decide which of those two we trade. Trade the one that provides the best asset return. Neither of those two players help develop other forwards in a meaningful way. Wingers may be able to provide some stability and there may be some intangibles that can rub off on young players but IMO both wingers have strong intangibles surrounding work ethic etc.

Then, what do we do with graduating players? If you thin out your graduation players too heavily, how does that affect your youth? Clearly they get more ice time but is it effective development ice time? Probably not when you move too many graduating players.

IMO, the only player we should look at moving is Pinelli. The return we would get for Pinelli far exceeds his value as a player that helps develop younger players. We need to keep enough experienced players in the lineup to ensure the young players are getting responsible ice. The 67’s can eat the roster slot of a single winger like Pinelli. Trading Pinelli will make it hard for the 67’s to win games, no doubt. But, if he were injured, it would be the same effect.

I think he 67’s can eat the deficit created by moving Pinelli, especially if we get a decent young player back in return. If we were to also move Foster, how would that affect things? It would effectively eliminate any chance of Ottawa creating a first line. Since we aren’t worried about winning games, that wouldn’t really matter. Where it would matter most is depth chart. If the younger players slot up too high on the depth chart, they face being overmatched too much which means they won’t’ get as many puck touches. Puck touches are important. If you are chasing the puck, it needs to be with the intent of gaining the puck, not jsut trying to keep it out of your net. If they are overmatched, it is a problem.

So, from my perspective, Sirman, Stonehouse, and Pinelli should be moved and that is it. Boyd should try to acquire some cheaper 17 & 18 year olds to help strengthen the depth where possible.

 

[Hinterland]

Mews is a forward masquerading as a D-Man. I don’t know why they keep shoving that square peg in that round hole. A 6’1” 180 D-Man that scores at a point per game as a 17 year old in his draft year doesn’t “slip” to the 3rd round unless there are serious defensive issues that NHL teams feel he cannot fix. The writing is on the wall with that kid. Stop messing around with him and convert him to RW. Or, just move him out for whatever you can get for him ASAP. Marrelli is almost useless having to play beside him.

I agree with Granderson that we have a handful of players that aren’t ready for OHL hockey. Amidovski has not fit in yet but that is one of the struggles when you draft size over skill. It takes a bit longer to capitalize on the reward. They could have drafted Crete at 5’9” but many of us (including me) would have been upset. Yet, Crete has 5 goals in 7 games to start his OHL career in Niagara. I thought they were 100% going to draft him with their 2nd pick but they picked Eshkawkogan. I am glad they picked Eshkawkogan. Great pick. Kid has Gator blood in him.

I disagree with Granderson about Whitehead. I see him trying to make elevated plays. I agree that he has not been effective but only because he is trying to overplay the puck and trying to do too much. His size and skill aren’t quite where it needs to be to actually pull off the plays he is attempting. It is possible that he never learns where his capabilities are (which is where Granderson sits now), but I do feel that players of that nature usually find their stride and settle into their capabilities. The kid has good hands and finds open areas. He can make good passes. I think we have, at minimum, a player that can develop into a solid 3rd line centre that (with some weight added) can be a solid energy centre at minimum. If he find a way to pick his spots better and handle the puck a little less in the tight spots, dish it a little quicker, and continue to draw players to him while doing it, I think he can be an effective passing centre offensively.

Nelson is not ready to be a solo starter. He floats in his net way too much. He finds himself outside the posts flopping back a lot. He has no economy of movement on his east-west. His rebound control needs a lot of work. He isn’t able to find the puck on rebounds very well either. He does square to the shooter well. He does cover the net well when he is more stationary. You will notice the biggest difference between MacK and Nelson is the economy of movement. Mack doesn’t float around the crease the way Nelson does. Nelson finds himself flopping around too much. I understand those that want to see the extra forward (Stonehouse) added with MacK sent out but I don’t think it would be good for Nelson’s development to be in a situation where he is overplayed. Don’t get me wrong, I think Nelson is a good goalie but he lacks the polish.

We have too many rookies that we are trying to inject into the lineup. It is really showing right now.

I think you're being too harsh with the rookies. This team doesn't sit at 0.5 because of the rookies. I agree Nelson isn't ready to be a starter and he's gonna need time. Still, I'd be prepared to move Mac and give Conway looks instead. There's pretty much no market for overagers this season so since the 67s have too many of them I think it would be stupid not to listen if they get any offers. I think it would take a lot for the 67's to move Mayich for reasons I already explained but I'm pretty sure the other ones are available.

Moving on to the rookie skaters I think the only one who probably isn't OHL ready is Houben. I agree Yanni has been somewhat disappointing. I thought he was excellent during last season's playoffs and I never really understood why he got scratched for injured vets but so far this season he hasn't really been able to play on a similar level. I probably expected a bit more from Whitehead as well but it's still early in the season and he hasn't necessarily done too much wrong. Amidovski I think has been excellent. Much like Ekberg he's high energy and very dynamic with the puck. Both of them have been producing offense and driving play if given opportunities as well. Yes, they did make mistakes as well but they did make the top lines more dangerous when given shifts with them. I think both of them should be playing Center where they can be more influental. They'll continue to make mistakes but they're just more dynamic, have much better vision than the rest of the 67's forward group. If the 67's wanna win next season then they have to give the kids a chance.

On defense I think Eshkawkogan has been fantastic. Somehow hasn't scored enough points but he's just so crafty. His toolbox is fantastic. He's also very solid and calm, playing like a seasoned vet. Brady I think is nothing special but as I stated above I think he's been decent. He's a serviceable defenseman in the OHL already...in a limited role at least.

So again...overall I don't think the rookies are the problem. I'm not even sure there is a problem. I think the 67's had a good start into the season. They dominated all games early on. That kinda changed now that they're running out of vets or even players to dress but that shouldn't come as a surprise. You need a certain amount of experienced players to be competitive and starting games a man down or with a 11/7 split isn't ideal either... but that's no knock on the rookies.

I think if there's a problem it's that certain vets haven't really performed up to their capabilities or even the level they played during last season's playoffs. Körbler hasn't been playing the way he played earlier in 2024 and the same goes for Mews and Gerrior. Horner hasn't been a factor offensively either and seems to be far off his playoff form. Barlas continues to be a complete offensive black hole and plays continue to die on his stick. Those are the guys the 67's need more from, not the rookies.

I mentioned it already but if Kelly and Körbler are week to week and not just day to day then that could force Boyd to change his wait and see approach...one way or the other. Without those guys the 67's aren't just down two vets, they also can't ice a full lineup if they wanna dress Mac. Which is a major problem. Also, if they wanna try Mews upfront then now is the time to do it.

 

[Mild Italian]

team has limited players that can actually play in the league, Yanni, Whitehead, Houben, Amidovski are all struggling largely, Amidovski needs to sit in the balcony and watch this league & how to play in it because he looks absolutely lost,apparently he’s very confused at practice as well. Yanni needs to grow he’s simply just way too small, Houben can’t skate or move quick enough he should end up back to Jr in the next few weeks. Whitehead man oh man I hate to pick on a kid but this is the type of player that you trade now because there isn’t one flash of good in him. I can literally sit here & talk about 6-12 plays last night that were caused by him. He doesn’t move his feet, he has no skill, he has no aggressiveness watch him closely tonight it’s painful because I think the skill set is there he just can’t put it all together.

Pinelli, Foster, Dever, Gerrior, Ekberg, Barlas, Horner

We have 7 forwards that can’t actually play, trade Mack, trade sirman, use Stonehouse as an OA

Is this some higher level of beast mode?

 

[OMG67]

I think you're being too harsh with the rookies. This team doesn't sit at 0.5 because of the rookies. I agree Nelson isn't ready to be a starter and he's gonna need time. Still, I'd be prepared to move Mac and give Conway looks instead. There's pretty much no market for overagers this season so since the 67s have too many of them I think it would be stupid not to listen if they get any offers. I think it would take a lot for the 67's to move Mayich for reasons I already explained but I'm pretty sure the other ones are available.

Moving on to the rookie skaters I think the only one who probably isn't OHL ready is Houben. I agree Yanni has been somewhat disappointing. I thought he was excellent during last season's playoffs and I never really understood why he got scratched for injured vets but so far this season he hasn't really been able to play on a similar level. I probably expected a bit more from Whitehead as well but it's still early in the season and he hasn't necessarily done too much wrong. Amidovski I think has been excellent. Much like Ekberg he's high energy and very dynamic with the puck. Both of them have been producing offense and driving play if given opportunities as well. Yes, they did make mistakes as well but they did make the top lines more dangerous when given shifts with them. I think both of them should be playing Center where they can be more influental. They'll continue to make mistakes but they're just more dynamic, have much better vision than the rest of the 67's forward group. If the 67's wanna win next season then they have to give the kids a chance.

On defense I think Eshkawkogan has been fantastic. Somehow hasn't scored enough points but he's just so crafty. His toolbox is fantastic. He's also very solid and calm, playing like a seasoned vet. Brady I think is nothing special but as I stated above I think he's been decent. He's a serviceable defenseman in the OHL already...in a limited role at least.

So again...overall I don't think the rookies are the problem. I'm not even sure there is a problem. I think the 67's had a good start into the season. They dominated all games early on. That kinda changed now that they're running out of vets or even players to dress but that shouldn't come as a surprise. You need a certain amount of experienced players to be competitive and starting games a man down or with a 11/7 split isn't ideal either... but that's no knock on the rookies.

I think if there's a problem it's that certain vets haven't really performed up to their capabilities or even the level they played during last season's playoffs. Körbler hasn't been playing the way he played earlier in 2024 and the same goes for Mews and Gerrior. Horner hasn't been a factor offensively either and seems to be far off his playoff form. Barlas continues to be a complete offensive black hole and plays continue to die on his stick. Those are the guys the 67's need more from, not the rookies.

I mentioned it already but if Kelly and Körbler are week to week and not just day to day then that could force Boyd to change his wait and see approach...one way or the other. Without those guys the 67's aren't just down two vets, they also can't ice a full lineup if they wanna dress Mac. Which is a major problem. Also, if they wanna try Mews upfront then now is the time to do it.

I think you misunderstood my post entirely.

The point was when you try to inject too many rookies, you cannot expect them to develop all at the same pace because they aren’t all benefiting from playing with veterans. Eahkawkogan will develop more quickly playing with Mayich. We don’t have three Mayich’s to play the other two rookie D-Men with.

Nelson is not ready to be a “successful” starter. He would significantly benefit from working with MacK for an entire season. That, to me, is more valuable than an extra 10 starts. It would be better for his development and put him in a more advantageous position of preparedness next season.

The other rookies are mostly fine but they are rookies so the focus needs to be on development, not more ice time. A lot of people equate elevated ice time with development. That’s not the case. Development comes from playing players in roles that allow them to be challenge to a level they can improve out of.

For example, if you were a mixed martial artist and you were developing your skills and were a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu, would you develop better by doubling your matches but only facing 3rd degree black belts or would you benefit by half the number of matches but having them against other blue belts and brown belts? Getting tapped out in 1 minute 100 times is worse than being pushed slightly beyond your limits 50 times.

The challenge for DC is how he manages juggling all the rookies.

Mews is a waste of space at this point. He is a forward masquerading as a D-Man. He isn’t willing to take direction and wants a trade. His personal wants/needs are negatively affecting the club. He needs to go somewhere where the coach will let him be the 4th forward. It won’t ever be in Ottawa.