SSM Greyhounds 2022-23 Off-Season Thread (Part 2)

[DeletedAccountt]

Brady Martin is going to be a force. You already see him anticipating where the play is going. He has a very high hockey iq and it's almost like time slows down for him when he has the puck. Lack of mentions here does not mean he is not good.

100% agree. He's going to be wild.

I didn't think I needed to post about Martin because it's pretty easy to see what you've mentioned.

He was trying to drive the play, strong on the puck, battling along the boards. In comparisons to Sudburys 16 year old, which you never saw on the ice, he looked like a vet. Confidence is going to grow each game. I see what you see @HockeyPops

 

[Houndzfan20]

100% agree. He's going to be wild.

I didn't think I needed to post about Martin because it's pretty easy to see what you've mentioned.

He was trying to drive the play, strong on the puck, battling along the boards. In comparisons to Sudburys 16 year old, which you never saw on the ice, he looked like a vet. Confidence is going to grow each game. I see what you see @HockeyPops

Agreed,

his first step was a little behind the vets but that will come with time. he was tenacious, and made some really good plays that you thought he had no chance at making, and played pretty physical for a 16 year old. I came away impressed for sure. I didn't get to see Hayes play much, i missed almost all the white teams games and wasn't there for the red/white game so i'm anxious to see what he brings.

while i don't think this is our year, i'm really excited for the future. if these kids develop, we may see a core like the frost/katchouk/timmins days. fingers crossed

 

[Riverfront]

top 4 D are pretty well set with :
kudryavtsev, gibson, virgilio, karki (4)
carlisle (5) most likely
battle for #6 ( evans, van de ven, mcConnel barker, toms )
Forwards :
should be interesting to see the 4 lines that head coach goes with to start the season

 

[HockeyPops]

We really missed Allard last season. With Bryce out of the lineup on Sunday, who else was not surprised whatsoever that all our offense went through Allard?

 

[Houndzfan20]

top 4 D are pretty well set with :
kudryavtsev, gibson, virgilio, karki (4)
carlisle (5) most likely
battle for #6 ( evans, van de ven, mcConnel barker, toms )
Forwards :
should be interesting to see the 4 lines that head coach goes with to start the season

If we go with Toms or Van de Ven over Evans and BMB i will be disappointed. they showed really good over the tryouts and to not give them everyday playing time over a 19 year old that isn't better than them it will be tough to swallow.

I'd like to see;

Kirill - Virgilio
Karki - Gibson
Carlisle - Evans - BMB

and next year you remove Kirill and Karki and add Solomon and Gillen. strong defence for the next couple of years

 

[DeletedAccountt]

If we go with Toms or Van de Ven over Evans and BMB i will be disappointed. they showed really good over the tryouts and to not give them everyday playing time over a 19 year old that isn't better than them it will be tough to swallow.

I'd like to see;

Kirill - Virgilio
Karki - Gibson
Carlisle - Evans - BMB

and next year you remove Kirill and Karki and add Solomon and Gillen. strong defence for the next couple of years

I just don't see Toms being around much longer. I'm also not the biggest Van De Ven fan.

Should be BMB, Van De Ven, Toms in that order.... lol I think you use Van De Ven and Toms for trade bait.

 

[DWI Dale]

trade bait for sure although i'm not sure the return will be great for either. Van de Ven anything you can get for him is awesome given that he was a late pick. Toms however was a 3rd round pick I'm not sure you'll even get that much in return and you have to wonder why he was selected so high.

 

[OHL4Life]

trade bait for sure although i'm not sure the return will be great for either. Van de Ven anything you can get for him is awesome given that he was a late pick. Toms however was a 3rd round pick I'm not sure you'll even get that much in return and you have to wonder why he was selected so high.

hes from the soo isnt he?

 

[HockeyPops]

Yes and his dad won the memorial cup here.

 

[DWI Dale]

i still find it odd that we selected Toms so high but chose not to select Matier (another mem cup alumnus' kid), opting instead for Jacob Holmes.

anybody not asking some tough questions about some of our draft choices in recent years is on crack. that said, i concur with most of our posters that we seem to have had a good draft this year. time will tell!

 

[HockeyPops]

Last year's draft also seems to be pretty good. Possibly the best two drafts of Raftis' tenure back to back (not including 2014 which I believe was still a Dubas draft).

 

[Houndzfan20]

Last year's draft also seems to be pretty good. Possibly the best two drafts of Raftis' tenure back to back (not including 2014 which I believe was still a Dubas draft).

i agree. some of the kids we sent home at last cuts looked really good as 16 year olds. and the 17 year olds still with the team look much improved from last year as well. bright future

 

[DeletedAccountt]

trade bait for sure although i'm not sure the return will be great for either. Van de Ven anything you can get for him is awesome given that he was a late pick. Toms however was a 3rd round pick I'm not sure you'll even get that much in return and you have to wonder why he was selected so high.

No one has to wonder, we all know why..... lol

 

[DeletedAccountt]

i still find it odd that we selected Toms so high but chose not to select Matier (another mem cup alumnus' kid), opting instead for Jacob Holmes.

anybody not asking some tough questions about some of our draft choices in recent years is on crack. that said, i concur with most of our posters that we seem to have had a good draft this year. time will tell!

You can look at ANY team in the OHL and find players that you would question why they picked though. This isn't a Soo Greyhound isolated issue.

We had a good draft last year and this year. It's crazy what a good team and a few years of actual scouting ( because COVID affected everything) can do.

I was hard on Christopher Brown, but I did like what I saw at camp and during the games. I am not sure about his future here but either way, I think he ends up panning out to be a solid player. He reminds me of Antonio Stranges still.

 

[HockeyPops]

I will add though that even though Raftis might have just pulled off his best two drafts in a row (after 9 attempts), his best draft is still not as good as Dubas' worst draft.

 

[DWI Dale]

You can look at ANY team in the OHL and find players that you would question why they picked though. This isn't a Soo Greyhound isolated issue.

We had a good draft last year and this year. It's crazy what a good team and a few years of actual scouting ( because COVID affected everything) can do.

i realize we aren't the only team that made poor choices, at least you're admitting they were poor choices so that's a start. lol.

i still don't understand why you keep blaming covid though because all 20 teams went through the same thing. and there's zero excuse for dropping the ball on local kids imo. how much easier can it get than scouting a kid that is playing in the same town?

No one has to wonder, we all know why..... lol

i truly don't know why... if it's because his dad is an alumni then why was jack matier passed over for a flat tire like holmes?

 

[Riverfront]

the disagreements with drafting local players has been discussed in the past, and
will continue to get discussed into the future.
the problem i find with Raftis is he doesn't know when to move on from overage
players or 19 year olds when there is no doubt the team is not good enough to
make a deep run in the playoffs. Take for example last season :
there is no way that Mark Duarte, Kelvin Watson or Ryan Thompson should have
been on the team after the trade deadline. Move those players for assets. Don't know
how much you would have gotten in return for Thompson however Duarte & Watson
should have been dealt.
Look at Mississauga , they managed to trade for Porter Martone from Sarnia, knowing
full well Sarnia was making a run. That is insight into building for the following year.
Don't know if Raftis had enough to trade for Martone last season but he certainly would
look good in a Hounds jersey this season.

 

[Houndzfan20]

the disagreements with drafting local players has been discussed in the past, and
will continue to get discussed into the future.
the problem i find with Raftis is he doesn't know when to move on from overage
players or 19 year olds when there is no doubt the team is not good enough to
make a deep run in the playoffs. Take for example last season :
there is no way that Mark Duarte, Kelvin Watson or Ryan Thompson should have
been on the team after the trade deadline. Move those players for assets. Don't know
how much you would have gotten in return for Thompson however Duarte & Watson
should have been dealt.
Look at Mississauga , they managed to trade for Porter Martone from Sarnia, knowing
full well Sarnia was making a run. That is insight into building for the following year.
Don't know if Raftis had enough to trade for Martone last season but he certainly would
look good in a Hounds jersey this season.

I get what you are saying but other than BMB we didn't have anyone that would net us porter martone.

I agree with the point on brown too. He looked dominant in camp. Much different. Granted camp is nothing compared to regular season, but his development looked to jump considerably over the summer.

 

[SSMHoundsFan]

the disagreements with drafting local players has been discussed in the past, and
will continue to get discussed into the future.
the problem i find with Raftis is he doesn't know when to move on from overage
players or 19 year olds when there is no doubt the team is not good enough to
make a deep run in the playoffs. Take for example last season :
there is no way that Mark Duarte, Kelvin Watson or Ryan Thompson should have
been on the team after the trade deadline. Move those players for assets. Don't know
how much you would have gotten in return for Thompson however Duarte & Watson
should have been dealt.
Look at Mississauga , they managed to trade for Porter Martone from Sarnia, knowing
full well Sarnia was making a run. That is insight into building for the following year.
Don't know if Raftis had enough to trade for Martone last season but he certainly would
look good in a Hounds jersey this season.

Can only trade players if they want to be dealt, whose to say our OAs last year didn't otherwise take a hard stance at playing out their OHL career here? Duarte and Thompson were added for peanuts and I think Thompson was a freebie, Watson probably would have netted us a few 3rds

 

[OHL4Life]

I will add though that even though Raftis might have just pulled off his best two drafts in a row (after 9 attempts), his best draft is still not as good as Dubas' worst draft.

i would catioun any fan base on saying it was a good draft until a few years after. every fan says every draft is outstanding in the moment. no offense meant.

Yes and his dad won the memorial cup here.

do you think they took him too high based on him being from the area and legacy? it happens often. i was scouting back then and was surprised he was taken that high.

i still find it odd that we selected Toms so high but chose not to select Matier (another mem cup alumnus' kid), opting instead for Jacob Holmes.

anybody not asking some tough questions about some of our draft choices in recent years is on crack. that said, i concur with most of our posters that we seem to have had a good draft this year. time will tell!

sweeney is from omha territory, i saw him following around yse in the second half. central scouting had homles as a top 40 guy, we had him more early third. he was probably better then that, but i dont know that he ends up being a top 20 player in the age group.

 

[DeletedAccountt]

Congratulations and good luck to those attending NHL training camp

 

[HockeyPops]

Man, could you imagine the haul if we packaged BMB & Kudryavtsev at the deadline?

 

[OHL4Life]

Man, could you imagine the haul if we packaged BMB & Kudryavtsev at the deadline?

no question. kudryavtev is an import but still would bring value if moved. doesnt sound like there is an appetite for that thou.

 

[Houndzfan20]

no question. kudryavtev is an import but still would bring value if moved. doesnt sound like there is an appetite for that thou.

He's going to be a force this year. I bet he'd get a good haul.

 

[HockeyPops]

Most contenders already have 2 imports, so it would depend how much of an upgrade he would be.