SSM Greyhounds 2019 Offseason Thread

[Stewie Griffin]

What is everyone's expectations for the team this year?

 

[HockeyPops]

I expect it to be a good season. It's still a pretty young team, but now the core group of young players all have a year of experience under their belts. Coaching staff too. Here is the current demographic of the team barring new acquisitions:
2 x 20 y/o
5 x 19 y/o
8 x 18 y/o
7 x 17 y/o
2 x 16 y/o

I also get the sense that the weak crop of '01s throughout the OHL in general (as witnessed at the recent NHL draft) might weaken most teams rosters. I think this becomes a competitive advantage for the Greyhounds this season and next, as I believe our group of '01s is probably one of the better groups in the league.

In conclusion, I expect us to compete for the Division champs again, even with the West Division getting significantly stronger with a competitive Flint and Windsor team thrown into the mix.

 

[Fischhaber]

What is everyone's expectations for the team this year?

We should expect to win the West Division in my opinion. We've certainly got the best forward crop and I really like our goaltending situation now. An aquisition on the blueline and Malik reporting would really cement it.

Windsor looks like the biggest contender but we have more depth and I think a little more talent. Saginaw should take a substantial step back with so many players leaving. Sarnia and Flint are improving, but only to a .500ish team in my opinion.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I really wanted to get season tickets this year (but I go to school out of town) so I can only catch the odd game when I'm home. Is Hayton 100% coming back? He'll definitely be one of the better players in the OHL if so.

 

[DeletedAccountt]

Im assuming Hayton is gone
Pytlik - - Johnston - - Roth
Carroll - - Kartye - - McKay
Trott- - McLean - - Peca
Watson - - Dickinson - - Kerins
Extras :Boudreau, Muffareh

Top 6: O’Rourke Leguerrier, Wawrow, Wale, Holmes.

Propp
Taylor


We need a OA Dman right handed

 

[Houndzfan]

Im assuming Hayton is gone
Pytlik - - Johnston - - Roth
Carroll - - Kartye - - McKay
Trott- - McLean - - Peca
Watson - - Dickinson - - Kerins
Extras :Boudreau, Muffareh

Top 6: O’Rourke Leguerrier, Wawrow, Wale, Holmes.

Propp
Taylor


We need a OA Dman right handed

Did you forget about Malik or are you going with what we have currently?
IMO Hayton has a slim chance of making the NHL this season...he'll get a long look though.

 

[DeletedAccountt]

Did you forget about Malik or are you going with what we have currently?
IMO Hayton has a slim chance of making the NHL this season...he'll get a long look though.

If Hayton returns it will be close to deadline and he will be moved in my honest opinion. IF he does.

Take what you will from the goalie situation. Just by talking to some people I gathered my own opinion that Malik may decide to wait a year. If he comes goaltending duo is Propp/Malik

 

[johnnydrum]

Hello...Johnny from the UK.
I have been reading stellar reviews about the import Jaromir Pytlik
Can anyone fill in the blanks for me....I presume by his low games played, he was either injured or arrived late?

 

[dirty12]

We should expect to win the West Division in my opinion. We've certainly got the best forward crop and I really like our goaltending situation now. An aquisition on the blueline and Malik reporting would really cement it.

Windsor looks like the biggest contender but we have more depth and I think a little more talent. Saginaw should take a substantial step back with so many players leaving. Sarnia and Flint are improving, but only to a .500ish team in my opinion.

The hound’s F group is not nearly the best without Hayton for the entire season. I would expect Hayton to get at least a few games with Arizona, and possibly stick considering Tocchet’s comments on Hayton’s versatility. If returned, I would expect that the hounds could not resist the offers for him at the trade deadline.
I think the west division will be pretty tight this season ending with Saginaw or Flint on top.

 

[HockeyPops]

The hound’s F group is not nearly the best without Hayton for the entire season. I would expect Hayton to get at least a few games with Arizona, and possibly stick considering Tocchet’s comments on Hayton’s versatility. If returned, I would expect that the hounds could not resist the offers for him at the trade deadline.
I think the west division will be pretty tight this season ending with Saginaw or Flint on top.

No doubt that Hayton is our best forward, and we are weaker without him in the lineup. But our forward group is very, very good this year. Last year we rode our top 6 hard all year. This year we will legit be rolling 4 lines. I cant wait.

 

[HockeyPops]

Hello...Johnny from the UK.
I have been reading stellar reviews about the import Jaromir Pytlik
Can anyone fill in the blanks for me....I presume by his low games played, he was either injured or arrived late?

Pytlik arrived very late. I think he played every game once he arrived. He was good last year, but we are expecting him to take a huge step this year.

 

[saska sault]

Hayton isn't being traded if he returns, we have been through this the last few years. Hounds don't sell at the deadline, usually tweak and look to improve.

 

[dirty12]

No doubt that Hayton is our best forward, and we are weaker without him in the lineup. But our forward group is very, very good this year. Last year we rode our top 6 hard all year. This year we will legit be rolling 4 lines. I cant wait.

The hounds forwards are certainly good; but imo, they are equaled or bettered by most of Kitchener, London, Flint, Saginaw, Peterborough, Sudbury, Oshawa, Ottawa ... it’s really early to definitely state who’s is best. Kitchener for example, appears to be returning the league’s. best PP intact

 

[Fischhaber]

The hound’s F group is not nearly the best without Hayton for the entire season. I would expect Hayton to get at least a few games with Arizona, and possibly stick considering Tocchet’s comments on Hayton’s versatility. If returned, I would expect that the hounds could not resist the offers for him at the trade deadline.
I think the west division will be pretty tight this season ending with Saginaw or Flint on top.

Care to explain? The Hounds forward group is extremely talented and deep but there are questions on the back end.

Keep in mind that this was the second youngest team in the OHL last season so we should expect some huge jumps and a similar team to last year even after some notable losses. Age is king in the OHL.

Which teams do you think are so much better and why?

 

[Saggy]

We should expect to win the West Division in my opinion. We've certainly got the best forward crop and I really like our goaltending situation now. An aquisition on the blueline and Malik reporting would really cement it.

Windsor looks like the biggest contender but we have more depth and I think a little more talent. Saginaw should take a substantial step back with so many players leaving. Sarnia and Flint are improving, but only to a .500ish team in my opinion.

Not so sure about “substantial” step back. Remember that McLeod and Tippet were there for only half the year and Team was solid before their arrival.

Prov/Lennox combo will be best in the league by a far margin so they should be in most games.

Porco and Giroux ready to blast off this year too

 

[Fischhaber]

Not so sure about “substantial” step back. Remember that McLeod and Tippet were there for only half the year and Team was solid before their arrival.

Prov/Lennox combo will be best in the league by a far margin so they should be in most games.

Porco and Giroux ready to blast off this year too

Perhaps not so substantial but I think that Justin Murray is a pretty big loss as well, especially after the trade of Davis.

The defense after Wilde and Millman looks extremely thin and I think that it will cost them wins if moves are not made.

Up front the team is still solid but I recall that they were well behind the Greyhounds until those key additions were made. Tippett is a heck of a player that added a lot of wins.

Time will tell what happens. We can only hope for a nail biting battle like we saw last year in the West Division. It sure was exciting.

 

[Saggy]

Love SSM and hope they make it to finals but Frost points will be hard to replicate and if Hayton leaves basically impossible.

Fingers crossed on Saginaw D Corp. Wilde will make a big difference if back. If not then gets a little sketchy quick

 

[dirty12]

Care to explain? The Hounds forward group is extremely talented and deep but there are questions on the back end.

Keep in mind that this was the second youngest team in the OHL last season so we should expect some huge jumps and a similar team to last year even after some notable losses. Age is king in the OHL.

Which teams do you think are so much better and why?

In the post previous to yours, I stated it’s early to be stating which teams will have the best forward group before listing 8 teams that I think are as good or better than the hounds at this point.
Some of the reasons for this are as you say, ‘age is king in the OHL’; and, ‘we can expect some huge jumps’. The hounds have 6-2000 born. That’s a pretty good number assuming Hayton plays a full season for them. The Petes have 12-2000 born players. Flint has 8-2000 born including 2-1sts, 3-2nds, 2-3rds; and 9-2001 born of which there are 2(1sts, 2nds, imports); plus the last 2-2nd over all picks. I expect the biggest jump will be by Flint. Yet another reason is that the hounds have less than a full cupboard of picks even before paying the final price for Propp.

 

[HockeyPops]

Love SSM and hope they make it to finals but Frost points will be hard to replicate and if Hayton leaves basically impossible.

Last year Frost, Howdeshell, Hollowell, Sambrook scored 312 pts. Add in Hayton and it's 378 pts out of a total of 816 (46%). Basically impossible to replace? Maybe. But maybe not.

Remember, between those 5 guys they probably got close to 1/3 of the total team minutes. Dean rode those guys like crazy because the rest of the roster was very young and inexperienced. Next season it won't be like that. Next season it will be our young players, now a year older, taking over and scoring by committee. We have a lot of talent and skill in that lineup; expect 4 scoring lines.

How do you replace that scoring? Well, when your fourth line forwards are still getting 30+ points it goes a long way.

 

[EvenSteven]

Kitchener for example, appears to be returning the league’s. best PP intact

Off thar Ranger PP, Hugg has graduated. It's uncertain if we get all of Meireles, Yantsis, Garreffa back for their OA seasons. Meireles is a maybe but the other two more likely return. Damiani should return for his 19 year old season.

 

[Fischhaber]

In the post previous to yours, I stated it’s early to be stating which teams will have the best forward group before listing 8 teams that I think are as good or better than the hounds at this point.
Some of the reasons for this are as you say, ‘age is king in the OHL’; and, ‘we can expect some huge jumps’. The hounds have 6-2000 born. That’s a pretty good number assuming Hayton plays a full season for them. The Petes have 12-2000 born players. Flint has 8-2000 born including 2-1sts, 3-2nds, 2-3rds; and 9-2001 born of which there are 2(1sts, 2nds, imports); plus the last 2-2nd over all picks. I expect the biggest jump will be by Flint. Yet another reason is that the hounds have less than a full cupboard of picks even before paying the final price for Propp.

I was discussing only the West Division and not the entire league. I expect there to be other teams in the league with an older and/or better forward group, as the Hounds always stay fairly young to avoid the winning/losing cycles of the other 19 teams.

You make a fair argument for Flint but I'm still in wait and see mode with them. It's nice to have all of those 2000 born players, but none outside of Dellandrea have really proven themselves as a great player. You would hope that Connor Roberts is healthy and that Hunter Holmes learns to play in his own end, but there are a lot of question marks.

I expect Flint to crack the .500 mark amd make the playoffs. That would be a great success in my opinion. Anything is possible in the OHL, but predicting more than that is unrealistic in my opinion.

 

[dirty12]

I was discussing only the West Division and not the entire league. I expect there to be other teams in the league with an older and/or better forward group, as the Hounds always stay fairly young to avoid the winning/losing cycles of the other 19 teams.

You make a fair argument for Flint but I'm still in wait and see mode with them. It's nice to have all of those 2000 born players, but none outside of Dellandrea have really proven themselves as a great player. You would hope that Connor Roberts is healthy and that Hunter Holmes learns to play in his own end, but there are a lot of question marks.

I expect Flint to crack the .500 mark amd make the playoffs. That would be a great success in my opinion. Anything is possible in the OHL, but predicting more than that is unrealistic in my opinion.

Yeah, we’ll see. I expect a big jump into the top 5 in the west. But I am counting on better luck with health and the OA & import spots filled by the deadline

 

[DeletedAccountt]

Where does Hayton even play into things...

 

[HockeyPops]

It would depend on if Arizona thought Hayton was an upgrade over one of the other fourth liners. Even though he is slide eligible, they are looking to improve their scoring and would likely keep him with the big club if they thought he could help them there.

Their coach is on record praising his game, the strides he's taken over the last year, and particularly his versatility being able to play either center or wing. I expect him to get his 9 games with them before they decide.

 

[Houndzfan]

Where does Hayton even play into things...

Hounds top line
I can't see him squeezing into that line up full time. He'll get a long look but I can't see AZ keeping him this year. I also can't see Hounds keeping him past deadline. He's too valuable to not trade...with that being said, the way Raftis did not trade Frost, makes me think that we may have Hayton for the year. Maybe that was Frost saying "no" to a possible trade, who knows...but I would have liked to see him moved for picks/player last year. It'll be an interesting year. We won't be playing for the cup so trade Hayton for picks and player to stock up for next year...IMO...