Sarnia Sting 2023-2024 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[stingwagoner]

Really love bodin pick we have alot of D but few can be moved we need top 4 D makes us better right away.

I'd bet some trades coming now we have surplus of D and need more size upfront and maybe a goalie.

 

[stinger94]

Love this 1st rd pick. Decent size and solid numbers in a league (MHL) that it isn’t uncommon to see guys drafted straight to the NHL from. Really excited to see what he has to offer for us come fall and we may even get several years out of him!

 

[frontsfan67]

why would a team do this ???

I agree lol if I was a gm I’d drop a player in a second to get someone 5th overall. Could’ve got guys like hemming/cherynyshov with that pick

 

[StingUpdates]

Karimov is graded an 'A' prospect by Mckeens (a respected NHL scouting service.) Stinger brought up a good point that he produced well in the MHL where u see quite a few Russians drafted straight to the NHL from.

Hopefully it's for 3 years. He could be an absolute monster by his 19 yr old season (26-27) which would just make that season even more promising.

Bodin was ranked by a few spots as a late round prospect. Clearly isn't as promising as Ruslan, but I'm excited to see him too even though before the draft I wanted no part of a Dman haha.

6'3, right handed & super physical + must be a solid character guy to captain Sweden at the U17s. With the western Conference seeming to be going a bit bigger & nasty we needed someone like that on D.

Overall absolutely thrilled with their picks & both seem very happy to be joining. I can't remember ever being this excited for a stretch of seasons like I am the next 3. Should be a 5-7 seed this year, compete for 3-5 next yr then really have a team to go for it in 2026-2027.

 

[HockeyPops]

he said he loved watching Dustin Byufglien.

I mean who didn't?

 

[StingUpdates]

I mean who didn't?

Opposing teams

 

[StingUpdates]

I'd say right now these are the lines I'd run:

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Love the idea of Browns skills, creativity combined with Wainwright's elite speed & 2way play to go with Karimov' size, strength bulldog mentality & scoring ability.


Kostuch-Filak-Doherty
The winger speed on this line would be ridiculous. They'd have opposing D backing up a ton. Kostuch really showed a nice scoring touch & Doherty finished really strong so I'd like to give him solid linemates. Filak as always will do the dirty work & be net front.

Moses-Di Iorio-Doucette
Wanted to give ADI a solid vet linemate to play W/in Doucette. Di Iorio is so skilled so to have Doucette' elite speed & shot would be a nice duo + Moses brings some size & bite to the line.

Luecke-Gaughan-XXX
Obviously gonna be a total wildcard line. Think Luecke is a real sleeper on this team, but he's gotta show that before being elevated.

Sim/Lominac/Hall/Denney
Battle for the final spot. My guess would be Hall.

On D

Fischer-Hurt
LF should take a big step. Has added good muscle already & is coming off playing ridiculous minute + now an NHL camp. So excited to see what type of step hurt takes after a great Yr 1.

Young-Bodin
This feels like your typical offensive minded, aggressive D in MY to go with the stay at home, physical D in Bodin.

Barr-Bridgewater
I hate having Barr 3rd pair. Hate it. But they are so strong on D now either him or Hurt likely get pushed down to it & my guess would be him. Bridgewater u all know I'm very high on lol.

Omeri/Andersen/Kapageridis.
My guess they trade Omeri. Kapageridis probably doesn't sign due to lack of opportunity. Andersen would be a solid 7th D.

Surzycia if back as OA.
Chartier hopefully has a big summer & can make it so we don't need to use an OA spot on Surzycia.
Maillet total wildcard as is Gillis.

I already thought we were gonna be a sneaky decent team, but today makes me really believe in it. I think our defense is gonna be damn good. Especially as the yr goes on & Barr Hurt Bridgewater continue to gain experience, maturity + Bodin learns the league & team. It'll have size, skating ability, puck movers, physicality.

Up front it'll lack star power (ie a Cowan, Barkey, Barlow etc) but I think their top 9 should be consistently solid. You'd hope Brown & Kostuch can take that next step & that alone makes our top 6 solid. Wainwright i think will be above point per game (75-85) & Filak, Doucette coming off 25+ G years as OAs hopefully can push for 30. If Karimov is a legit draft prospect certainly hope he produces well & Di Iorio as a rookie should put up decent numbers.

Easily the biggest ? Is in net. Doesn't matter if it's Surzycia or Chartier if they get just solid goaltending I think this team could be really solid & compete for home ice. If their goaltending struggles then that alone can sink u down a few spots.

 

[robp1219]

I'd say right now these are the lines I'd run:

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Love the idea of Browns skills, creativity combined with Wainwright's elite speed & 2way play to go with Karimov' size, strength bulldog mentality & scoring ability.


Kostuch-Filak-Doherty
The winger speed on this line would be ridiculous. They'd have opposing D backing up a ton. Kostuch really showed a nice scoring touch & Doherty finished really strong so I'd like to give him solid linemates. Filak as always will do the dirty work & be net front.

Moses-Di Iorio-Doucette
Wanted to give ADI a solid vet linemate to play W/in Doucette. Di Iorio is so skilled so to have Doucette' elite speed & shot would be a nice duo + Moses brings some size & bite to the line.

Luecke-Gaughan-XXX
Obviously gonna be a total wildcard line. Think Luecke is a real sleeper on this team, but he's gotta show that before being elevated.

Sim/Lominac/Hall/Denney
Battle for the final spot. My guess would be Hall.

On D

Fischer-Hurt
LF should take a big step. Has added good muscle already & is coming off playing ridiculous minute + now an NHL camp. So excited to see what type of step hurt takes after a great Yr 1.

Young-Bodin
This feels like your typical offensive minded, aggressive D in MY to go with the stay at home, physical D in Bodin.

Barr-Bridgewater
I hate having Barr 3rd pair. Hate it. But they are so strong on D now either him or Hurt likely get pushed down to it & my guess would be him. Bridgewater u all know I'm very high on lol.

Omeri/Andersen/Kapageridis.
My guess they trade Omeri. Kapageridis probably doesn't sign due to lack of opportunity. Andersen would be a solid 7th D.

Surzycia if back as OA.
Chartier hopefully has a big summer & can make it so we don't need to use an OA spot on Surzycia.
Maillet total wildcard as is Gillis.

Could also put young with Barr and bodin with Bridgewater. Seca said he’s going to need time to adapt to the league and they are not going to rush him or put extra pressure on him. Maybe they ease him into it on the third pair. I’d imagine all three pairs get alot of ice. Special teams is where certain players get more ice time on D.

 

[OHL4Life]

I'd say right now these are the lines I'd run:

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Love the idea of Browns skills, creativity combined with Wainwright's elite speed & 2way play to go with Karimov' size, strength bulldog mentality & scoring ability.


Kostuch-Filak-Doherty
The winger speed on this line would be ridiculous. They'd have opposing D backing up a ton. Kostuch really showed a nice scoring touch & Doherty finished really strong so I'd like to give him solid linemates. Filak as always will do the dirty work & be net front.

Moses-Di Iorio-Doucette
Wanted to give ADI a solid vet linemate to play W/in Doucette. Di Iorio is so skilled so to have Doucette' elite speed & shot would be a nice duo + Moses brings some size & bite to the line.

Luecke-Gaughan-XXX
Obviously gonna be a total wildcard line. Think Luecke is a real sleeper on this team, but he's gotta show that before being elevated.

Sim/Lominac/Hall/Denney
Battle for the final spot. My guess would be Hall.

On D

Fischer-Hurt
LF should take a big step. Has added good muscle already & is coming off playing ridiculous minute + now an NHL camp. So excited to see what type of step hurt takes after a great Yr 1.

Young-Bodin
This feels like your typical offensive minded, aggressive D in MY to go with the stay at home, physical D in Bodin.

Barr-Bridgewater
I hate having Barr 3rd pair. Hate it. But they are so strong on D now either him or Hurt likely get pushed down to it & my guess would be him. Bridgewater u all know I'm very high on lol.

Omeri/Andersen/Kapageridis.
My guess they trade Omeri. Kapageridis probably doesn't sign due to lack of opportunity. Andersen would be a solid 7th D.

Surzycia if back as OA.
Chartier hopefully has a big summer & can make it so we don't need to use an OA spot on Surzycia.
Maillet total wildcard as is Gillis.

what about Nate Gillis makes him a wildcard out of curiosity

 

[StingUpdates]

what about Nate Gillis makes him a wildcard out of curiosity

U heard much about him?

He showed decent at rookie camp last yr. Then had a strong yr where he played. Just called him a wildcard as I have no clue what to expect. I'm not having any real expectations on him other than see what he looks like & go from there.

 

[OHL4Life]

U heard much about him?

I mentioned he's a wildcard like Evan Maillet. He had a terrific yr but so did Chartier at 16 & he had his ups & downs as a rookie so I don't wanna pencil him in for sure.

he was in his third year of midget, I’d hope he had a great year? Most goalies are into jr b or jr a by then.

Sarnia doesn’t have his rights anymore. was he at a camp or something this summer?

 

[StingUpdates]

he was in his third year of midget, I’d hope he had a great year? Most goalies are into jr b or jr a by then.

Sarnia doesn’t have his rights anymore. was he at a camp or something this summer?

Ahh. Then scratch him off the list then haha. He wasn't. He just always likes my tweets so I figured if he was keeping tabs he'd maybe still be pushing for a spot lmao.

 

[OHL4Life]

Ahh. Then scratch him off the list then haha. He wasn't. He just always likes my tweets so I figured if he was keeping tabs he'd maybe still be pushing for a spot lmao.

He added 4/5ths the OHL on his LinkedIn account. A bit of a self promoter it seems.

 

[StingUpdates]

Could also put young with Barr and bodin with Bridgewater. Seca said he’s going to need time to adapt to the league and they are not going to rush him or put extra pressure on him. Maybe they ease him into it on the third pair. I’d imagine all three pairs get alot of ice. Special teams is where certain players get more ice time on D.

For sure. They'll have so many options. Letang has shown he'll throw the D pairings into a blender quite often. Last yr he had Kyrou with EDM one period, Ritchie the next then mast the next.

Maybe we see something like that again. Thing that's so exciting to me is all 7 (including Andersen) will be back the following season too. All home grown too. When's the last time we've been able to do that.

 

[davewheeler]

I'd say right now these are the lines I'd run:

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Love the idea of Browns skills, creativity combined with Wainwright's elite speed & 2way play to go with Karimov' size, strength bulldog mentality & scoring ability.


Kostuch-Filak-Doherty
The winger speed on this line would be ridiculous. They'd have opposing D backing up a ton. Kostuch really showed a nice scoring touch & Doherty finished really strong so I'd like to give him solid linemates. Filak as always will do the dirty work & be net front.

Moses-Di Iorio-Doucette
Wanted to give ADI a solid vet linemate to play W/in Doucette. Di Iorio is so skilled so to have Doucette' elite speed & shot would be a nice duo + Moses brings some size & bite to the line.

Luecke-Gaughan-XXX
Obviously gonna be a total wildcard line. Think Luecke is a real sleeper on this team, but he's gotta show that before being elevated.

Sim/Lominac/Hall/Denney
Battle for the final spot. My guess would be Hall.

On D

Fischer-Hurt
LF should take a big step. Has added good muscle already & is coming off playing ridiculous minute + now an NHL camp. So excited to see what type of step hurt takes after a great Yr 1.

Young-Bodin
This feels like your typical offensive minded, aggressive D in MY to go with the stay at home, physical D in Bodin.

Barr-Bridgewater
I hate having Barr 3rd pair. Hate it. But they are so strong on D now either him or Hurt likely get pushed down to it & my guess would be him. Bridgewater u all know I'm very high on lol.

Omeri/Andersen/Kapageridis.
My guess they trade Omeri. Kapageridis probably doesn't sign due to lack of opportunity. Andersen would be a solid 7th D.

Surzycia if back as OA.
Chartier hopefully has a big summer & can make it so we don't need to use an OA spot on Surzycia.
Maillet total wildcard as is Gillis.

I already thought we were gonna be a sneaky decent team, but today makes me really believe in it. I think our defense is gonna be damn good. Especially as the yr goes on & Barr Hurt Bridgewater continue to gain experience, maturity + Bodin learns the league & team. It'll have size, skating ability, puck movers, physicality.

Up front it'll lack star power (ie a Cowan, Barkey, Barlow etc) but I think their top 9 should be consistently solid. You'd hope Brown & Kostuch can take that next step & that alone makes our top 6 solid. Wainwright i think will be above point per game (75-85) & Filak, Doucette coming off 25+ G years as OAs hopefully can push for 30. If Karimov is a legit draft prospect certainly hope he produces well & Di Iorio as a rookie should put up decent numbers.

Easily the biggest ? Is in net. Doesn't matter if it's Surzycia or Chartier if they get just solid goaltending I think this team could be really solid & compete for home ice. If their goaltending struggles then that alone can sink u down a few spots.

That first line has a lot of talent and would produce a ton of offensive creativity imo.... but thats something Letang doesn't seem to like ... I personally don't like Filak that much I'd much rather see DiLorio on line 2 but again Letang doesn't like doing that for some reason.... I can't wait to see what Doherty does this year... I am expecting a big jump from him as he showed flashes last year. Can't wait.

 

[StingUpdates]

Been watching some more Karimov. He's (#19 in white) had a few of these shifts in every game. This one on the PK.

Absolutely relentless giving the other team 0 space or time to collect themselves. Such a powerful skater & uses his size/strength well in board battles.

Letang is gonna love that about him because as we know he loves himself some grit haha. And Sting fans will love it cause it's hard work/work ethic.

He has some things to work on (not being as reckless & using his teammates more) but he only recently turned 17. Shows real traits of being a dominant power forward.

 

[StingUpdates]

That first line has a lot of talent and would produce a ton of offensive creativity imo.... but thats something Letang doesn't seem to like ... I personally don't like Filak that much I'd much rather see DiLorio on line 2 but again Letang doesn't like doing that for some reason.... I can't wait to see what Doherty does this year... I am expecting a big jump from him as he showed flashes last year. Can't wait.

Good thing is he really can't push skill down the lineup or play guys with no skill (Way) in prominent roles with our F group.

No matter what the top 9 is gonna have Wainwright Brown Kostuch Doherty Di Iorio Karimov Doucette in it. All guys with great speed or great skill.

While I wouldn't mind Di Iorio line 2 I'm okay spacing it out at the start because that would make our T6 be made up of three 17 yr olds, one 16 yr old & Doherty who's 18 but only in year 2. Such inexperience & I'd rather Filak play some of those tougher minutes vs other top lines than Di Iorio. To start anyways.

I think Letang is gonna like this group a lot. He loves fast pace aggressive hockey. Wants a heavy forecheck & to be smothering. This team should have elite speed. They have more than a few legitimately great skaters. He has his issues offensively, but his strength is team D/structure & I think he's gonna love using all that speed & now some extra size to be super annoying to play against.

I think we'll enjoy watching this team play once they get their system down (famous last words )

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Loved both the import picks yesterday. I wanted them to take a big 17 year old forward and they did exactly that getting Kamirov. In the clips that I saw from @StingUpdates he shows a good work ethic, solid strength, good hands, and a great mind for the game. He's great at catching goalies out of position. He scored on a couple of quick wraparounds and potted another by banking one off a goalie from below the goal line. Having him, Brown, and Kostuch leading the charge for the forward corps for the next three years should be awesome.

Bodin is a very interesting pick. He's a big physical defenceman that should help the team win in the playoffs. I was very interested to see Seca say he thought there was untapped potential there and that they think Bodin and Fischer could make up one of the top d pairings in the league in 25-26. That's high praise. I was saying to somebody yesterday that he kind of sounds like the Swedish version of Nolan Dillingham. A high character guy who's a physical defensive d-man and could be a good PK option.

Speaking of the PK I'm glad they got a few guys to help in that area because that was a huge struggle last year. Hopefully Bodin can use big body to take up space and block lots of shots. Kamirov's work ethic should really help him on the PK especially in those battles for loose pucks.

It should be a really intersting battle at camp with the d-men. They've got lots of good options with Fischer, Young, Hurt, Barr, Bodin, Omeri, Andersen, and Bridgewater. The team's been burned by injuries in the past so I'm not mad about having a surplus at the position.

Overall very happy with the draft and excited to see the team continue to grow next season

 

[stingwagoner]

Loved both the import picks yesterday. I wanted them to take a big 17 year old forward and they did exactly that getting Kamirov. In the clips that I saw from @StingUpdates he shows a good work ethic, solid strength, good hands, and a great mind for the game. He's great at catching goalies out of position. He scored on a couple of quick wraparounds and potted another by banking one off a goalie from below the goal line. Having him, Brown, and Kostuch leading the charge for the forward corps for the next three years should be awesome.

Bodin is a very interesting pick. He's a big physical defenceman that should help the team win in the playoffs. I was very interested to see Seca say he thought there was untapped potential there and that they think Bodin and Fischer could make up one of the top d pairings in the league in 25-26. That's high praise. I was saying to somebody yesterday that he kind of sounds like the Swedish version of Nolan Dillingham. A high character guy who's a physical defensive d-man and could be a good PK option.

Speaking of the PK I'm glad they got a few guys to help in that area because that was a huge struggle last year. Hopefully Bodin can use big body to take up space and block lots of shots. Kamirov's work ethic should really help him on the PK especially in those battles for loose pucks.

It should be a really intersting battle at camp with the d-men. They've got lots of good options with Fischer, Young, Hurt, Barr, Bodin, Omeri, Andersen, and Bridgewater. The team's been burned by injuries in the past so I'm not mad about having a surplus at the position.

Overall very happy with the draft and excited to see the team continue to grow next season

hopefully guys won't be traded til after camp see what we have but have a suspicion DS has more moves to make.
Team already way better than last years heading into 5/6 potential or higher.

 

[StingUpdates]

Loved both the import picks yesterday. I wanted them to take a big 17 year old forward and they did exactly that getting Kamirov. In the clips that I saw from @StingUpdates he shows a good work ethic, solid strength, good hands, and a great mind for the game. He's great at catching goalies out of position. He scored on a couple of quick wraparounds and potted another by banking one off a goalie from below the goal line. Having him, Brown, and Kostuch leading the charge for the forward corps for the next three years should be awesome.

Bodin is a very interesting pick. He's a big physical defenceman that should help the team win in the playoffs. I was very interested to see Seca say he thought there was untapped potential there and that they think Bodin and Fischer could make up one of the top d pairings in the league in 25-26. That's high praise. I was saying to somebody yesterday that he kind of sounds like the Swedish version of Nolan Dillingham. A high character guy who's a physical defensive d-man and could be a good PK option.

Speaking of the PK I'm glad they got a few guys to help in that area because that was a huge struggle last year. Hopefully Bodin can use big body to take up space and block lots of shots. Kamirov's work ethic should really help him on the PK especially in those battles for loose pucks.

It should be a really intersting battle at camp with the d-men. They've got lots of good options with Fischer, Young, Hurt, Barr, Bodin, Omeri, Andersen, and Bridgewater. The team's been burned by injuries in the past so I'm not mad about having a surplus at the position.

Overall very happy with the draft and excited to see the team continue to grow next season

Kostuch, Brown, Karimov, Di Iorio should be such a fun, exciting group to watch grow the next 3 years up front. Fingers crossed 1 or 2 of Doherty, Sim, Luecke, Gaughan can become good players because that would be huge.

Yah bodin will be interesting to see. Clearly must have some deficiencies to not be drafted & get to our 2nd pick, but 6'4, right handed & is a solid skater who's physical/mean. That's a lot to work with & Letang has shown he knows how to work with Dmen. As you mentioned he'll definitely be someone they'll put on the PK, probably with Fischer which will be quite a difference for defending net front than we just had with so many rookies being forced to do it.

They are gonna have so many options on D the next few seasons. Should be a great luxury.

hopefully guys won't be traded til after camp see what we have but have a suspicion DS has more moves to make.
Team already way better than last years heading into 5/6 potential or higher.

Yah wouldn't be surprised either way he goes. They have so many D he might wanna get ahead of it, or he'll wanna see them all first before making a decision of who to trade.

 

[SarniaStingFan]

Sting defence prospect Kieran McNally signed with the Lasalle Vipers (GOJHL) today. McNally is a big kid at 6'6"/205 lbs who was an 11th round pick in 2023

 

[StingUpdates]

Sting defence prospect Kieran McNally signed with the Lasalle Vipers (GOJHL) today. McNally is a big kid at 6'6"/205 lbs who was an 11th round pick in 2023

He's somebody I know the team had some hope for. Unfortunately for him like a few others we have so many D now there just isn't room if he's even ready/close.

Been watching quite a few of Karimov's games from this past season since we drafted him. I think he's gonna be a big fan favorite once he settles in.

Kid has an endless motor. Constantly going 100mph both directions. Willing to dive in front of shots, throws hits a lot, forechecking machine & to go with it he has great speed & skill.

Can see why some view him as a round 1 prospect next draft. If he develops well he'll be one of the better true power forwards we've had in a while.

Can't wait to get to camp & see him, Di Iorio, Bodin + what type of steps the '07 class took.

 

[stingwagoner]

Interesting what DS will do prior to season like the leblancs last year!
Still think He has another move or 2!

 

[davewheeler]

Interesting what DS will do prior to season like the leblancs last year!
Still think He has another move or 2!

Yeah this season will be very interesting.... Do they try and add and be somewhat competitive or do they trade a guy like Fischer who would get a boat load in return.... Me, personally.... I'd like the second option.... Trade Fischer for possibly another 1st round pick player and some picks.... then be really stacked for the next few years. Patience is key.

 

[robp1219]

UV

Yeah this season will be very interesting.... Do they try and add and be somewhat competitive or do they trade a guy like Fischer who would get a boat load in return.... Me, personally.... I'd like the second option.... Trade Fischer for possibly another 1st round pick player and some picks.... then be really stacked for the next few years. Patience is key.

Could always keep him this year and trade him next offseason or during that season.