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

[DarkRed Knight]

Seca in the Observer today. Says the Sting will start the season with are 3 OAs. Doesn't make much sense to me to keep Surzycia especially when we need to know what we have in Chartier and Mallliet, who hasn't even played a game yet.

 

[StingUpdates]

Seca in the Observer today. Says the Sting will start the season with are 3 OAs. Doesn't make much sense to me to keep Surzycia especially when we need to know what we have in Chartier and Mallliet, who hasn't even played a game yet.

Gotta know what we have before cutting ties with Surzycia. He's at least an OHL level goalie who showed flashes of being a solid starter last yr.

Wouldn't wanna cut him now then get to camp, Chartier not developed at all & Maillet just not be good enough..that would be disastrous. Just covering their asses with that.

 

[StingUpdates]

Seca also says Brown has gotten bigger & stronger in the summer. He said he thinks he'll probably be around 6'1". That's massive. I said at rookie camp he looked noticeably bigger & that seems to have continued. Sounds like they are thrilled with the summer he's had. Love to hear that. Before his back injury it's easy to forget he was playing like one of the best rookies in the league.

They're very excited about Karimov too as you'd expect. Called him a real powerful player in every way which I love. We haven't had enough PWFs recently.

Says a bit more here: Sarnia Sting's import picks help to restock talent cupboard

 

[davewheeler]

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Kostuch-Filak-Doucette
Edwards-Di Iorio-Doherty
Luecke-Gaughan-Moses

Certainly wouldn't hate ADI or Edwards on line 2, but apparently they played together at youth Olympics & had good chemistry so be fun to see if they could build on that + with Doherty that could be such a fun trio. Starting them L3 to start also allows them to ease in at the beginning.

Really does reinforce though how young this unit is. 7Fs will be 16 or 17. Filak will be the only F with more than 2 seasons of experience. So while it's such a fun, promising group we will have to remember to be patient haha. They will have their slumps/bumps.

Also really puts Sim/Lominac/Hall in an awfully tough spot. If they can't take a rather substantial step not sure they stay around. If one can might make Moses expendable, though I absolutely love his effort, grit, physical play & that is nice to have with our youth.
[/QUOTE]
So many options now... dynamic skill all over the place... imagine trying to stop the speed of wainwright and Doherty on a line. I'd love to see Doherty on L1.. The power play will be absolutely filthy. I don't think I've been more hyped for the future since like Stamkos and back then I didn't really follow the team that much.

 

[StingUpdates]

Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Kostuch-Filak-Doucette
Edwards-Di Iorio-Doherty
Luecke-Gaughan-Moses

Certainly wouldn't hate ADI or Edwards on line 2, but apparently they played together at youth Olympics & had good chemistry so be fun to see if they could build on that + with Doherty that could be such a fun trio. Starting them L3 to start also allows them to ease in at the beginning.

Really does reinforce though how young this unit is. 7Fs will be 16 or 17. Filak will be the only F with more than 2 seasons of experience. So while it's such a fun, promising group we will have to remember to be patient haha. They will have their slumps/bumps.

Also really puts Sim/Lominac/Hall in an awfully tough spot. If they can't take a rather substantial step not sure they stay around. If one can might make Moses expendable, though I absolutely love his effort, grit, physical play & that is nice to have with our youth.

So many options now... dynamic skill all over the place... imagine trying to stop the speed of wainwright and Doherty on a line. I'd love to see Doherty on L1.. The power play will be absolutely filthy. I don't think I've been more hyped for the future since like Stamkos and back then I didn't really follow the team that much.
[/QUOTE]
Yah that's one thing I'm especially stoked for. This team is gonna be fastttt up front. Kostuch, Doucette, Doherty, Wainwright (especially him lol), Karimov all have great top end speed. Brown, Di Iorio, Edwards, Moses, Luecke are solid/good skaters. Filak & Gaughan are probably the only two that aren't the best skaters.

Letang will love it considering he preaches wanting a heavy forecheck & being relentless all over the ice. They should be such an annoying team to play once they figure out the system & the young guys feel comfortable.

Still gonna be a young PP group, but once they start clicking it should be fun & what should be huge is they'll get to build together for 3 seasons. That'll create insane chemistry & cohesion.

I'm trying to temper my own expectations haha. Just so exciting to see all this good young talent. They've set themselves up so well. Gonna be such a fun group this season. Also, don't know why the quote messages are being all weird haha.

 

[StingUpdates]

I know ppl probably over me mentioning it, lol, but I seriously wonder if they will put a bid in for the 2027 memorial cup.

Brown, Kostuch, Barr, Hurt, Bridgewater, Andersen, Luecke all gonna be 19.

Di Iorio, Edwards, Gaughan all 18 (& whoever else from the class)

That could be such a great crop of vets & I'm sure they'd add more by then if it were there intention to host.

Even if they don't they are setup to be a damn good team in 2026-2027. But really starting to believe in them also being damn good in 2025-2026.

 

[dirty12]

I know ppl probably over me mentioning it, lol, but I seriously wonder if they will put a bid in for the 2027 memorial cup.

Brown, Kostuch, Barr, Hurt, Bridgewater, Andersen, Luecke all gonna be 19.

Di Iorio, Edwards, Gaughan all 18 (& whoever else from the class)

That could be such a great crop of vets & I'm sure they'd add more by then if it were there intention to host.

Even if they don't they are setup to be a damn good team in 2026-2027. But really starting to believe in them also being damn good in 2025-2026.

Kitchener and Niagara should bid too.

 

[frontsfan67]

Kitchener and Niagara should bid too.

Kitchener already announced their intention I think in 2022 or 2023 they’re definitely way ahead of the game

Niagara will be great and missed out on this last M cup after submitting a bid- gotta think they go again here when they have a good team then.

IMO Kitchener front runner for sure but all 3 will be good. Wondering if a 4th team emerges in that time like how Saginaw did at the last minute(and won the bid)

 

[stingwagoner]

I know ppl probably over me mentioning it, lol, but I seriously wonder if they will put a bid in for the 2027 memorial cup.

Brown, Kostuch, Barr, Hurt, Bridgewater, Andersen, Luecke all gonna be 19.

Di Iorio, Edwards, Gaughan all 18 (& whoever else from the class)

That could be such a great crop of vets & I'm sure they'd add more by then if it were there intention to host.

Even if they don't they are setup to be a damn good team in 2026-2027. But really starting to believe in them also being damn good in 2025-2026.

Looking forward to camp going to be the most competitive camp we've seen in long time. There will be some players who if haven't improved their games, will be left outside looking in.
That's how I feel with OAs if not the step above think DS makes move to bring in more 05s with depth for next years RUN.
We have most surplus prospects I have ever actually seen at this off season.

Plus think DS finds some F.As to make camp even more of a dog eat dog thing, just can't wait month away hope boys come back in shape and hungry to improve and leadership group steps in right away to guide and keep the hunger all season.

 

[StingUpdates]

Camp is gonna be a really fun to watch. So many young players to watch is always exciting. Then it's always fun to see what type of step guys have taken.

I'm still really intrigued to see if Wainwright has another step after taking a big one last year. Young I feel has real breakout potential. See if Chartier improved on his weaknesses.

We've had guys take good OA jumps over the years so hopefully Filak or Doucette can do that, or Surzycia.

Gonna be a lot of battles. So many D & there's maybe only 1 spot available. Will probably have 4or5 Fs battling for 1or2 spots & goalie is for the taking even if your a free agent goalie at camp. Should be fun!

 

[StingUpdates]

Spent the last few days trying to find Edwards highlights, or little Caesars games... Couldn't find much of anything which honestly surprised (& frustrated) me. Usually have decent success at finding such things. So apologies for that.

At the very least i found some highlights from the 2022-2023 season (outside the one highlight where he dangled the Dman which is from 23-24.)

So don't get as good of a feel as to where he's at right now, but still u see all the tools he has. Size, skating, shot, hands. A lot to be excited about.

 

[Ferda11]

Holy things appear to be on track for a quick turnaround in Sarnia all off a sudden. Very tidy work by Seca and crew. It's a weird feeling being on the positive end of getting a highly touted US commit to come play in Sarnia instead. No doubt as mentioned by many that Legwands connection with the LC program had much to do with Edwards coming. A nice luxury to have connections across the border.

Kinda crazy to think we essentially got two top 10-15 picks from this past draft in Di Iorio and Edwards. Add two other top 20 picks from the year prior in Brown and Kostuch and all of a sudden you've accelerated rebuild by 1-2 years. You caught my interest that's for sure lol.

As many are saying, camp will be the most competitive we've seen in a long time. You would think there will be moves to come before the season starts. There will be guys who should be dressed most games that won't be because of the recent signings and competitiveness for roster spots. I believe Letang needs his vets around but I'd be a bit worried if I were someone like Doherty and Lominac and maybe even Moses. I expect Filak, Docuette and Wainwright to be here for the year. I like the idea of keeping Surzycia. Be a bit risky going with Chartier off the go as starter at this point imo. Market prices for OA goalies the last few years have been trash, so if we are winning games while finding a way to get Chartier decent back up minutes to develop further then that's great. Chartier will be this teams starter 25/26, 26/27. Sting love their OA goalies.

Brown - Filak - Doucette
Kostuch - Wainwright - Karimov
Di Iorio - Edwards - Moses
Luecke - Gaughan - Doherty

Is what I imagine the forward group to look like potentially. Sim/Hall/Lominac will be chomping on the heels of guys like Moses and Doherty who will likely have a shorter leash when it comes to making their impact on the game and maintaining a regular roster spot.

Fischer - Bodin
Young - Barr
Hurt - Bridgewater

Omeri/Anderson on the outside looking in. You would think we try to move at least one guy on D....think they really want Kapageridis here but he will need some minutes too. Not a horrible problem to have I guess lol.

Surzcyia
Chariter

See what this team can do off the start and I'm sure Seca will make the required adjustments within the first few months of the season. Exciting news no doubt but certainly a team full of players with lots to learn and to prove still. Ya'll certainly have the right to be excited though! Couple fun years ahead it looks like!

 

[StingUpdates]

Holy things appear to be on track for a quick turnaround in Sarnia all off a sudden. Very tidy work by Seca and crew. It's a weird feeling being on the positive end of getting a highly touted US commit to come play in Sarnia instead. No doubt as mentioned by many that Legwands connection with the LC program had much to do with Edwards coming. A nice luxury to have connections across the border.

Kinda crazy to think we essentially got two top 10-15 picks from this past draft in Di Iorio and Edwards. Add two other top 20 picks from the year prior in Brown and Kostuch and all of a sudden you've accelerated rebuild by 1-2 years. You caught my interest that's for sure lol.

As many are saying, camp will be the most competitive we've seen in a long time. You would think there will be moves to come before the season starts. There will be guys who should be dressed most games that won't be because of the recent signings and competitiveness for roster spots. I believe Letang needs his vets around but I'd be a bit worried if I were someone like Doherty and Lominac and maybe even Moses. I expect Filak, Docuette and Wainwright to be here for the year. I like the idea of keeping Surzycia. Be a bit risky going with Chartier off the go as starter at this point imo. Market prices for OA goalies the last few years have been trash, so if we are winning games while finding a way to get Chartier decent back up minutes to develop further then that's great. Chartier will be this teams starter 25/26, 26/27. Sting love their OA goalies.

Brown - Filak - Doucette
Kostuch - Wainwright - Karimov
Di Iorio - Edwards - Moses
Luecke - Gaughan - Doherty

Is what I imagine the forward group to look like potentially. Sim/Hall/Lominac will be chomping on the heels of guys like Moses and Doherty who will likely have a shorter leash when it comes to making their impact on the game and maintaining a regular roster spot.

Fischer - Bodin
Young - Barr
Hurt - Bridgewater

Omeri/Anderson on the outside looking in. You would think we try to move at least one guy on D....think they really want Kapageridis here but he will need some minutes too. Not a horrible problem to have I guess lol.

Surzcyia
Chariter

See what this team can do off the start and I'm sure Seca will make the required adjustments within the first few months of the season. Exciting news no doubt but certainly a team full of players with lots to learn and to prove still. Ya'll certainly have the right to be excited though! Couple fun years ahead it looks like!

A wild Ferda appears! Lmao. Doherty easily flashed the most out of Sim/Lominac/Hall/Moses/Doherty so hoping he builds off how he ended the season. With Omeri being a yr older than Andersen I'd say unless he takes a sizeable step he's likely the one gone. Andersen is a better "7th" D too with his chippy style. Unfortunately idk how Kapageridis fits into this.

Nice to see u back on here though. Totally right at the end. Very exciting team but not one that won't have its bumps in the road this year. Still significant youth everywhere in the lineup.

 

[Ferda11]

A wild Ferda appears! Lmao. Doherty easily flashed the most out of Sim/Lominac/Hall/Moses/Doherty so hoping he builds off how he ended the season. With Omeri being a yr older than Andersen I'd say unless he takes a sizeable step he's likely the one gone. Andersen is a better "7th" D too with his chippy style. Unfortunately idk how Kapageridis fits into this.

Nice to see u back on here though. Totally right at the end. Very exciting team but not one that won't have its bumps in the road this year. Still significant youth everywhere in the lineup.

not gonna lie it’s tough keeping tabs living out of the city and not attending as many games as I use to. The love for the team is there but the motivation is hard to find sometimes. Hope to be more present this season. Having a good team to watch always helps hahaha.

 

[StingUpdates]

not gonna lie it’s tough keeping tabs living out of the city and not attending as many games as I use to. The love for the team is there but the motivation is hard to find sometimes. Hope to be more present this season. Having a good team to watch always helps hahaha.

Yah I imagine it is. Last year's team, as much as I really like the U17 talent was painfully boring. Painfully. Fingers crossed we are in for 3 seasons here of fun, exciting hockey & maybe, just maybe two decent cracks at a miracle.

 

[StingUpdates]

Fischer scored today in USAs world junior showcase game vs Sweden. Played 3rd pair.

 

[davewheeler]

Fischer scored today in USAs world junior showcase game vs Sweden. Played 3rd pair.

I wonder if he will get overlooked for the world jr team since being in the O ... we'll see.

 

[StingUpdates]

I wonder if he will get overlooked for the world jr team since being in the O ... we'll see.

If he can have a good first half might get himself an invite. Still gonna be hard at 18 to make the team, but the USA defence doesn't look to great this year past 2-3 guys.

Be a great experience for him & would be nice for our younger guys to get that extra bit of ice time in his absence if he made it.

Edit: Grabs a nice assist on a 2on1 today vs Finland giving him 1G/1A in the 2 games.

 

[StingUpdates]

Looks like Saginaw is getting their 1st RD import pick who was SJS 33rd pick. Really good player that played in the KHL. Huge get.

Heard from somebody that they wanna go for it again, not sell off. Have very little to offer pick wise but they do boast a really solid top-9 & Oke returns in net who I don't love but did win a mem cup. Will have to get really creative to fix a really weak Dcore. But what they have already should make them a top 5 seed.

Probably add them to teams (LDN, ER, FLT) I'd feel comfortable putting ahead of us this season.

 

[frontsfan67]

Looks like Saginaw is getting their 1st RD import pick who was SJS 33rd pick. Really good player that played in the KHL. Huge get.

Heard from somebody that they wanna go for it again, not sell off. Have very little to offer pick wise but they do boast a really solid top-9 & Oke returns in net who I don't love but did win a mem cup. Will have to get really creative to fix a really weak Dcore. But what they have already should make them a top 5 seed.

Probably add them to teams (LDN, ER, FLT) I'd feel comfortable putting ahead of us this season.

Makes sense with them going for it- Parekh, Misa, oke all will all make leaps probably and then they still have a bunch of other great players like Willis, Mangone and the import guy just to name a few

Also makes sense to keep misa and Parekh in particular because they’re the ones that are going to fill the seats.

Also Misa probably will be coming back for his dy+1 so they can sell him off and the rest of the team in 2025/2026

 

[StingUpdates]

11th rounder Nicholas Bogas commits to Michigan State. Was surprised he attended rookie camp with all indications he was NCAA. If he had any interest the crazy logjam on D would've probably hurt our chances at signing him.

 

[robp1219]

11th rounder Nicholas Bogas commits to Michigan State. Was surprised he attended rookie camp with all indications he was NCAA. If he had any interest the crazy logjam on D would've probably hurt our chances at signing him.

I think they would have guaranteed him playing time over most of our defenceman since he is a top prospect. His dad played for michigan state so I think that’s why he is going there

 

[DarkRed Knight]

I wonder if we will see any trades starting tomorrow. With training camp just over 3 weeks away. I'm Starting to get really amped.

 

[yacky]

I wonder if we will see any trades starting tomorrow. With training camp just over 3 weeks away. I'm Starting to get really amped.

hope so

 

[StingUpdates]

Wouldn't be surprised either way. Can get ahead of the logjam or just let it play out. End of the day Omeri currently probably has little value, but if he has a good camp + pre season maybe then u can squeeze a 6th or 7th out of a team like we did for Campbell.

Not really sure if we see any F trades. Wouldn't be surprised if Lominac is just cut/not back then they let Hall/Sim/Denney & whatever FA invites battle it out to round out the Fs.