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

[StingUpdates]

Just got mentioned to me Bridgewater left the game late 2nd and never returned. Injuries are are adding up already. Annoying cause these 2 games were his best & tonight was his best game I thought.

Makes it Hall, Franceschetti, Bodin, Kostuch & now Bridgewater all banged up in some way. Super frustrating. Hopefully they are all just minor & nothing longterm.

 

[stingwagoner]

Think I called for a line mix up and man was best lines yet of preseason. 1 think OP coach needs to re evaluate Doucette on point ... ugly

Well they let their foot off the gas a bit to much in the 3rd period (like LDN did yesterday) & nearly blew it, but overall a much cleaner & better showing.

Absolutely loved Barr tonight. 2A, +3 & was making fantastic decisions all game. Kid is gonna be a damn good Dman. 6A in 5 games. Bridgewater with his best defensive game too going +3.

Very nice debut for Karimov. 1G/1A. Kid just flys up and down the ice lol. Little out of control & chaotic at times, but super fun to watch. Also showed he likes the rough stuff. Was throwing hits & chirping a fair bit.

Di Iorio dinishes off a very strong pre season with 1G/1A. 3G/2A in 5 games for him. Doucette was a lot better tn but god damn get him off the half wall on the PP. Idk what's up but he can't control the puck to save his life on it. Solid game from Surzycia.

Hopefully JJ is alright. Never wanna see fights end like that. Looked like his leg was more of an issue so hopefully nothing major. Love his heart. Luecke another scrap too.

Week now to iron some things out and hopefully add bodin Fischer and Kostuch!

Where does kostuch fit in?

 

[StingUpdates]

Think I called for a line mix up and man was best lines yet of preseason. 1 think OP coach needs to re evaluate Doucette on point ... ugly


Where does kostuch fit in?

I'd have him with Wainwright. If they stick with Karimov w/23/17 I'd run

Kostuch-Wainwright-Doucette
Brown-Wainwright-Karimov
Franceschetti-Edwards-Filak
Luecke-Chamberlain-Moses

Hurt-Fischer
Bodin-Young
Barr-Bridgewater

 

[StingUpdates]

Well it should be an incredibly fun group to watch grow & develop together this season. They haven't had this much homegrown young & talented players in awhile. Gonna be many rough nights where they lose because of young mistakes (bad TOs, brainfarts, discipline etc) but I am so excited to see them grow.

Brown/Di Iorio/Edwards/Kostuch/Karimov/Barr/Hurt is an awesome group of U17s. Talking about an incredibly high ceiling for the group if they can keep developing.

Bridgewater, Chamberlain, Andersen are guys who have the talent to be good OHLers. I think Wainwright is primed for a big season. Fischer should be a beast. Young has real breakout potential. Hopefully Doucette & Filak can build off 20+G campaigns & can finish their Sting careers strong. Bodin has been very impressive throughout camp & in his few games.

As we talked about all summer the biggest thing will be goaltending. Surzycia is at least an OK goalie. But can he move up from that? Be a guy who can keep them in games, get them points they don't deserve? Can Chartier or Maillet take a step & push for starts? If none of that happens it'll hurt this team badly because mixing an extremely young team with mediocre goaltending can lead to a disaster.

This season tho is all about patience & growth. Gotta be moving in the right direction which is building the foundation of a team that can compete for it all maybe next year, but definitely the year after.

I'm guessing they battle for 6th/7th in what should be a competitive conference filled with quite a few ok, but not bad teams. Can't wait for it all to get started Friday

 

[stingwagoner]

Well it should be an incredibly fun group to watch grow & develop together this season. They haven't had this much homegrown young & talented players in awhile. Gonna be many rough nights where they lose because of young mistakes (bad TOs, brainfarts, discipline etc) but I am so excited to see them grow.

Brown/Di Iorio/Edwards/Kostuch/Karimov/Barr/Hurt is an awesome group of U17s. Talking about an incredibly high ceiling for the group if they can keep developing.

Bridgewater, Chamberlain, Andersen are guys who have the talent to be good OHLers. I think Wainwright is primed for a big season. Fischer should be a beast. Young has real breakout potential. Hopefully Doucette & Filak can build off 20+G campaigns & can finish their Sting careers strong. Bodin has been very impressive throughout camp & in his few games.

As we talked about all summer the biggest thing will be goaltending. Surzycia is at least an OK goalie. But can he move up from that? Be a guy who can keep them in games, get them points they don't deserve? Can Chartier or Maillet take a step & push for starts? If none of that happens it'll hurt this team badly because mixing an extremely young team with mediocre goaltending can lead to a disaster.

This season tho is all about patience & growth. Gotta be moving in the right direction which is building the foundation of a team that can compete for it all maybe next year, but definitely the year after.

I'm guessing they battle for 6th/7th in what should be a competitive conference filled with quite a few ok, but not bad teams. Can't wait for it all to get started Friday

I wouldn't put in stone line combos as filak always tends to get top line minutes last year. Hope he becomes this years cooper way anchoring 3rd line helping Edward's grow...will only help his stock as well playing gritty style with Edward's and kostuch.. really liked franchesschetti up with wainwright and doucette seemed to create more ice and contribute to plays at same time.
We shall see top 5 D and going to be as good as any top 5 D in league.
Barr drops to 5th but could challenge by end of year for top 4

Surzycia's clear top tender and playing like a starter giving chance to compete.
Mailett is clear 2nd.

Love leukes game going to zip up that 4th line with moses and chamberlain.

 

[OHL4Life]

chartier is on waivers

 

[stingwagoner]

chartier is on waivers

On trade block?

 

[OHL4Life]

On trade block?

no, theyve been trying and they cant trade him, he is being waived

 

[stingwagoner]

no, theyve been trying and they cant trade him, he is being waived

Decision made the by DS
Surzycia #1.
Mailett #2

Think they would package someone with Chartier get more interest hard to peice no interest as he is a Solid Goalie great size and still an 06.

 

[OHL4Life]

Decision made the by DS
Surzycia #1.
Mailett #2

Think they would package someone with Chartier get more interest hard to peice no interest as he is a Solid Goalie great size and still an 06.

well, hes on waivers, so anyone can have him for free in theory. so maybe hes not as good as you think?

 

[Kingpin794]

well, hes on waivers, so anyone can have him for free in theory. so maybe hes not as good as you think?

Hello Q.

 

[OHL4Life]

m

Hello Q.

could be

 

[MidwestStorm]

Just saw K Johnston (London) on your 24-25 roster, however while looking for trade announcement he was gone when I went back to the roster.
Is there a trade in the works?
Pretty sure I was not seeing things

 

[StingUpdates]

I'm pretty surprised they'd cut him this quickly after saying not even a week ago they'd go into the season with 3.

It's unfortunate regardless. Showed great development from 16 to 17. Had some real flashes last yr especially in the first half

Wish him the best. Heard he's an awesome kid & teammate.

 

[OHL4Life]

I'm pretty surprised they'd cut him this quickly after saying not even a week ago they'd go into the season with 3.

It's unfortunate regardless. Showed great development from 16 to 17. Had some real flashes last yr especially in the first half

Wish him the best. Heard he's an awesome kid & teammate.

hes on waivers, its not an automatic cut, its just to open options.

once he clears, he can play 3 games before he has to go back on waivers.

Just saw K Johnston (London) on your 24-25 roster, however while looking for trade announcement he was gone when I went back to the roster.
Is there a trade in the works?
Pretty sure I was not seeing things

funny enough they did pick him up

 

[StingUpdates]

hes on waivers, its not an automatic cut, its just to open options.

once he clears, he can play 3 games before he has to go back on waivers.



funny enough they did pick him up

Interesting didn't know that's how it worked.

Yah for a mid/high pick. He looked pretty good in pre season getting 8 points in 4 games. Did especially well against us lol.

Probably a bad sign for Halls injury.

 

[OHL4Life]

Interesting didn't know that's how it worked.

Yah for a mid/high pick. He looked pretty good in pre season getting 8 points in 4 games. Did especially well against us lol.

Probably a bad sign for Halls injury.

i think its a 4th round pick

 

[StingUpdates]

i think its a 4th round pick

Yah 2027 I believe.

Not awful. Probably a round or two higher than I would've loved, but he looks ready to take a jump on last year's production & should bring some good experience/leadership hopefully.

 

[ReLyT]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1838284745970733225

 

[OHL4Life]

Yah 2027 I believe.

Not awful. Probably a round or two higher than I would've loved, but he looks ready to take a jump on last year's production & should bring some good experience/leadership hopefully.

its more then i would pay but i hear you.

i dont think you should expect much, he is an 05 who generally was not good enough to play in London this year.

 

[StingUpdates]

There it is. Johnston is a 2005 born, 6'1" F. Had 10 points in 40 games last yr in a lesser role with London. Sounds like he came to camp this yr looking improved & had a great pre season with 8 points in 4 games.

A 4th is probable a round or two higher than I would've loved but they've accumulated quite a few mid round picks so losing one isn't awful.

They've also done an awesome job the last few years on these trades where they take on a guy who can do a lot better in a bigger role. Hopefully it works out like that again.

Probably a bad sign that Hall or Franceschetti suffered a lengthy injury.

 

[JAMER]

There it is. Johnston is a 2005 born, 6'1" F. Had 10 points in 40 games last yr in a lesser role with London. Sounds like he came to camp this yr looking improved & had a great pre season with 8 points in 4 games.

A 4th is probable a round or two higher than I would've loved but they've accumulated quite a few mid round picks so losing one isn't awful.

They've also done an awesome job the last few years on these trades where they take on a guy who can do a lot better in a bigger role. Hopefully it works out like that again.

Probably a bad sign that Hall or Franceschetti suffered a lengthy injury.

I think this could turn out to be a sneaky good trade for us.

 

[tjziel]

its more then i would pay but i hear you.

i dont think you should expect much, he is an 05 who generally was not good enough to play in London this year.

I don’t think it’s that he was not good enough to play in London. Most team would have a hard time outplaying Barkey, Julien, Nurmi, O’Rielly, potentially Halttunen and Cowan.

Johnston was in that weird spot where he was not as skilled as London top 6 but too old but skilled to be in the bottom 6 (cuz the Knights use the bottom 6 as development spots for their next wave of talent) so he needs top 6 spot to really develop.

He will do well and look at the Matheiu Paris comparable.

 

[OHL4Life]

I don’t think it’s that he was not good enough to play in London. Most team would have a hard time outplaying Barkey, Julien, Nurmi, O’Rielly, potentially Halttunen and Cowan.

Johnston was in that weird spot where he was not as skilled as London top 6 but too old but skilled to be in the bottom 6 (cuz the Knights use the bottom 6 as development spots for their next wave of talent) so he needs top 6 spot to really develop.

He will do well and look at the Matheiu Paris comparable.

i dont think he will. paris only did well in niagara becauise they had no players, they often played 2 players short, had callups that were poor u18 players.

sarnia is way deeper then that.

sarnia even doesnt think he will be much of an impact player, they are bringing him in because of inquires and need a body, otherwise they wouldnt have done it.

 

[StingUpdates]

I'd like to see
Kostuch-Wainwright-Doucette
Brown-Di Iorio-Karimov
Filak-Edwards-Johnston
Franceschetti-Chamberlain-Moses

Luecke as 13th. Sim as 14th. Assuming Hall is out long term.

Johnston should bring a little extra to that 3rd line more so than Luecke can. good size, speed & more offensive ability. Bring some experience as well. Could even flip Doucette & Johnston to give kaeden a legitimate shot & give Edwards two OAs to play with, but I love the elite speed L1 has as is.