SSM Greyhounds 2023-2024 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[HockeyPops]

And no contract extension for Raftis

He is still under contract for the next two seasons.

 

[DWI Dale]

I don’t speak for raftis but maybe he wanted to claim croskery before another team like London or Kitchener got him first- and if croskery ever does change his mind and doesn’t want to go to soo- they have a trade waiting to happen.

0 chance he de commits from BC though. Also weird to do it in the second round. Would’ve made more sense taking a pick like that after round 6 or 7 when the talent probably drops a little bit.

wow! Raftis sure showed them by potentially bombing the 18 year old group in our next contending window lol. this won't be a popular idea but if we have no players coming from the first 3 rounds of this draft, Raftis should be packing his bags. that's the kind of nonsense you'd expect from a first year GM and is entirely unacceptable imo.

i've been highly critical of the way he's managed his draft picks for years but this should be the straw that breaks the camels back if Cali doesn't sign.

 

[OHL4Life]

wow! Raftis sure showed them by potentially bombing the 18 year old group in our next contending window lol. this won't be a popular idea but if we have no players coming from the first 3 rounds of this draft, Raftis should be packing his bags. that's the kind of nonsense you'd expect from a first year GM and is entirely unacceptable imo.

i've been highly critical of the way he's managed his draft picks for years but this should be the straw that breaks the camels back if Cali doesn't sign.

to be fair cali hasn't committed to an ncaa school but he also have signed a BCHL or USHL card either. it’s very late in the game, maybe he has a handshake deal with a tier 2 team and just waiting to announce it

 

[JoeSchmo]

Ryder Cali has committed to Harvard.

 

[dirty12]

Ryder Cali has committed to Harvard.

no question committed to schooling then, good for him.

 

[JoeSchmo]

Someone need to be held responsible.. it’s simple

 

[Corso]

Someone need to be held responsible.. it’s simple

Is this GM know for taking flyer picks? How much preparation does he put into the draft? Does he listen to his scouting team?

Easily the worst draft class of 2024

 

[OHL4Life]

I’ve been trying to say for a while and was shouted down by a few, but the staff is not nearly as good as it was pre-raftis. rafts hired his best friend as a head scout after maybe 2 years of scouting experience

 

[JoeSchmo]

Is this GM know for taking flyer picks? How much preparation does he put into the draft? Does he listen to his scouting team?

Easily the worst draft class of 2024

It’s the worst for the Soo in last 10 years, I believe.

I’ve been trying to say for a while and was shouted down by a few, but the staff is not nearly as good as it was pre-raftis. rafts hired his best friend as a head scout after maybe 2 years of scouting experience

They didnt do the work. Part time GM flies in and out as he pleases. Glorified scout.

He’s cost the team so much, so many mismanaged assets it’s unreal. Longest tenured GM with nothing to show.

 

[dirty12]

Is this GM know for taking flyer picks? How much preparation does he put into the draft? Does he listen to his scouting team?

Easily the worst draft class of 2024

It’s the worst for the Soo in last 10 years, I believe.



They didnt do the work. Part time GM flies in and out as he pleases. Glorified scout.

He’s cost the team so much, so many mismanaged assets it’s unreal. Longest tenured GM with nothing to show.

got Martin and Hayes in '23, may have just pushed his luck in'24

 

[JoeSchmo]

got Martin and Hayes in '23, may have just pushed his luck in'24

You didn’t have to do ANY work to draft Brady Martin haha

 

[DWI Dale]

can anybody think of another team EVER that walked away from the first 3 rounds with NOTHING?

all the raftis stans can choke on this one. your boy blew it. anybody seen fischy?

It’s the worst for the Soo in last 10 years, I believe.



They didnt do the work. Part time GM flies in and out as he pleases. Glorified scout.

He’s cost the team so much, so many mismanaged assets it’s unreal. Longest tenured GM with nothing to show.

welcome to the darkside.

 

[Kingpin794]

can anybody think of another team EVER that walked away from the first 3 rounds with NOTHING?

all the raftis stans can choke on this one. your boy blew it. anybody seen fischy?



welcome to the darkside.

2020 Saginaw selected Adam Fantilli. Round 2 was Matthew Jovanovic. Injuries kept him from ever playing a game for us. First pick to suit up was 4th rounder Ethan Klein and even he didn’t last long. Did get Oke out of that draft. So it’s not a death blow but you have to knock it out of the park on the next draft.

 

[JoeSchmo]

 

[DWI Dale]

2020 Saginaw selected Adam Fantilli. Round 2 was Matthew Jovanovic. Injuries kept him from ever playing a game for us. First pick to suit up was 4th rounder Ethan Klein and even he didn’t last long. Did get Oke out of that draft. So it’s not a death blow but you have to knock it out of the park on the next draft.

the difference is saginaw was wise enough to rebuild and accumulate a war chest of assets. the hound organizations arrogance may have cost us our next competitive window.

thr next draft doesnt really help us build around our '07s. this year should be a firesale of every player 2006 and older. and our parachute GM needs to go. he's finally run out of coattails to ride.

 

[DWI Dale]

what's the over/under on fischy lashing out at the kid for choosing what he felt was best for him vs. criticizing the organization? lol

 

[frontsfan67]

You didn’t have to do ANY work to draft Brady Martin haha

Or hayes either really lol. 2 brothers already in the league that were stars

 

[DWI Dale]

Or hayes either really lol. 2 brothers already in the league that were stars

fair, although that pick raised some eyebrows as you'd be hard pressed to find a draft ranking with hayes that high. i give raftis credit for that one.

problem lies in the fact that he hasn't set that draft class up for success and it smells like an early exit already.

Raftis is the laughing stock of the CHL right now.

 

[dirty12]

fair, although that pick raised some eyebrows as you'd be hard pressed to find a draft ranking with hayes that high. i give raftis credit for that one.

problem lies in the fact that he hasn't set that draft class up for success and it smells like an early exit already.

Raftis is the laughing stock of the CHL right now.

Flint definitely would have drafted Hayes. Good kid for not saying that he would only go to Flint and a select few others

 

[StingUpdates]

the difference is saginaw was wise enough to rebuild and accumulate a war chest of assets. the hound organizations arrogance may have cost us our next competitive window.

thr next draft doesnt really help us build around our '07s. this year should be a firesale of every player 2006 and older. and our parachute GM needs to go. he's finally run out of coattails to ride.

Speaking from experience (2016 draft Sarnia 1st went NCAA, no 2nd, 4th didn't report, 5th never became OHL player) it has a trickle down effect.

Sarnia ended up being a contender, funny enough some team from the Soo upset them (still upset about it!) with Chychrun, Kyrou, Konecny, Zacha but it hampered their ability to add more or improve their depth had their picks been good/boosted the teams depth.

Then the following years u lose those good players & u don't get that internal push from ur previous draft because u swung & missed so badly. Sets u back in pretty much every way. Gotta hope he at least found some gems in the other rounds which Sarnia didn't.

 

[HockeyPops]

Time for some new blood in the head office.

 

[OHL4Life]

I’ll say again, cali was a school kid early in the year though Feb, his mom played ncaa and he wanted to follow in her footsteps. around the OHL cup t he e word was he would think about going to the OHL but you had to sell him. I never talked to the kid. the Soo took him
About where I thought he should go, he’s like barker but maybe not the same skill.

I’d be surprised if they drafted him without knowing but at the same time everyone knew school was a strong possibility as well.

 

[JoeSchmo]

Time for some new blood in the head office.

There is no question. If Ownership wants to save SOME face here they have to hold someone responsible.

This can’t be the direction ownership wants to go in.

This is the cherry on top of the failure cake. Constant mismanagement of assets has cost this team and it's almost predictable at this point. With his mismanagement of assets, his decisions to not sell off, and his decisions to make some of the trades he has made, if you look at it Kyle Raftis does double the work cause he's constantly fixing his own mistakes. His decisions, alongside whatever yesmen are next to him, have cost this team championships, has cost this city a hosting right for the Memorial Cup, and on its current trajectory (and if you follow trends this is fact) he is about to cost us the next 2 to 3 years and quite possibly ruin the chance to build a team around arguably the most dominate player we've watched in a Soo Greyhound jersey (if he continues his trend upwards).

Longest-tenured GM with nothing at all to show for it.

Time for a change 100%

 

[mag1600]

Totally agree with above post from JoeSchmo! Let's see what Mr. Lukenda's next move is. How can you as a seasoned GM come away from a draft without your first 2 picks willing to report? Very ill-prepared on the part of the GM and his staff.

 

[JoeSchmo]

Totally agree with above post from JoeSchmo! Let's see what Mr. Lukenda's next move is. How can you as a seasoned GM come away from a draft without your first 2 picks willing to report? Very ill-prepared on the part of the GM and his staff.

and with no 3rd round pick, that has to be added into the mix..that's more pressure to nail the first two picks out of the park.. its because their philosophy doesn't match ours(the fans). We are passionate, we want to win. They laugh at their passionate fans and call them "superfans" while they cash their bonus cheques from a round or two every year, then staff gets the summer off and does even less.