Kingston Frontenacs 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 3)

[frontsfan67]

I agree with a lot of what you said in the first 5 paragraphs but towards the bottom of your post is where is see things much differently. #91 most likely isn't happy with his season, minimal minutes and his point production was most likely nowhere where he wanted things to be. Overall he wasn't ready for this league as a 16 year old. He needs to have a huge off-season in the gym to put on 15-20 pounds of muscle, 160 pounds won't get you into the areas needed to be successful in this league.

Fronts losing 3 OA players which were all big, strong and all 3 tip the scales over 200lbs. Who is filling those spots next year? Like you said, imports and drafted players aren't going to fill that void.

Last years team won 27 games after moving Francesco Arcuri, Braden Hache, Jackson Stewart and Shane Wright. It came down to the final regular season game and the Fronts missed out on playoffs by 1 point as the 9th seed and experienced a ton of injuries. All these trades were necessary for the future re-build right?

This years team won 33 games and acquired Roman Schmidt, Jax Dubois, Luke McNamara & Jakub Chromiak and decided to keep captain Paul Ludwinski. Was this the rebuild year, or next year?

That's 6 more wins with a new coach and a way better roster to work with. The ownership group, the GM and your Head Coach would never admit this but the 2023-2024 Fronts underperformed huge.
The bench was mismanaged and player utilization was favored ineffectively. Every player but 2 regular roster players were a negatve in the +/- category, that's just brutal.

Nobody wants to talk about the experienced goalie Kyle Downey Kory Cooper traded for?
Here's my take... When traded to the Fronts, he made a decision not to move to Kingston because as a 20 year old vet, he wasn't going to be a back-up to a 19 year old. Wanna know which Fronts goalie earned a shutout this season? Downey did but he only dressed in 3 games.

Speaking of goalies, once the Belleville Sens hired the Fronts Goalie Coach Tyson Teichmann
on Feb 2nd, was the GM the only person working with the Fronts goaltenders?

I'll try and stay optimistic for next year

I agree with everything but about Hopkins. He looked very happy when he was getting his minutes and performing. I think Mann did an amazing job working him into ohl play.

Hopkins didnt put up a billion points obviously but he showed a TON of potential and was robbed several times from several goalies while playing 4th line minutes the majority of the year. I think he’s going to have a breakout year like battaglia and marek vanacker on brantford. Not saying he’s going to put up as many points but we have to remember he’s also a 2 way player.

Like I’ve said before- ludwinski clone but I think he has more offensive potential than ludwinski. Kid is going to be very good and towards the top of the league in scoring in 2 seasons mark my words.

Cherry picked stat but he has 9 pts in his last 12 games once they started giving him a chance. If he works on his shot/finishing, puts on 10-15 lbs of muscle he’s going to take the fronts by storm and will be the 2C behind frasca.

Also I think frasca may have not been 100% because I noticed when he came back he was a lot quicker, he was engaged and his shot was way better. Again I don’t know for sure like I’m not really an inside source but he didn’t seem to play as well- just wondering if he got re injured at some point but played through it similar to callum Ritchie last year on Oshawa because it’s his draft year

 

[frontsfan67]

Ethan Weir has 17pts (10 goals, 7 assists in 11 games) in the GOJHL playoffs which is first for all rookies. What a great pick he was by the fronts.


He’s gonna jump in and be an impact player next year probably second or third line but as a scoring winger. Also remember it is his, velliaris, and Hopkins draft year. And Williamson will probably be too if not this year assuming he continues his steady development.

 

[Section5Petes]

We need a representative from the kingston thread to make the frontenacs pick in the hfboards ohl mock draft thread. Kingston is on the clock!

 

[ScoutLife4]

I would if i could find the thread lol

 

[leafs4life94]

I would if i could find the thread lol

hfboards OHL mock draft

Relax captain serious. I'll gladly see my way out of this mess. That's a shame! You got your way too. I’m not convinced based on your posts that you’re not a little bit Captain Serious yourself.

forums.hfboards.com

I ended up going with Di Iorio - I feel like there's no way he lasts that long on Friday but a guy can hope.

 

[ScoutLife4]

Good thing you didn't take Nyman!

 

[leafs4life94]

Good thing you didn't take Nyman!

As much as they need a dynamic D if he's gonna end up in the OHL somehow, I don't think Kingston of all teams is gonna be the one he breaks a commitment for.

------

I was looking at prospects and potential lineups for next year - this is a very rough guess but I'm bored at work so I figured why not.

Battaglia	Frasca	Soto
OA/Import	Hopkins	Miedema
OA/Import	McNamara	Weir
2nd rounder	Cavallin	1st rounder
OA/Import	Burns
McGowan	OA/Import
Velliaris	Uens
	Williamson

I have Thibodeau and Chromiak both out, and I considered Uens out but Mann seems to like him.

As for potential prospect grads - there's really not a ton that don't have NCAA commitments. The one I keep coming back to is Andre Mondoux - played 54 games as a 16 y/o D in the OJHL, had 14 points and has OHL size at 6'3" 210lbs. If he's interested in the OHL and has the footspeed (always a concern with big young players) I could easily see him ending up in their top 7.

They have Andoni Fimis (5th in '22 - 6'2" RD that put up 43pts in the OJHL), Matthew Manza ('23 7th, 49pts in 49 GP in the OJHL) and Kieren Dervin ('23 5th, 47pts in 49GP with St. Andrews College) that have all committed to the NCAA that would be big additions if they came to the OHL.

Williamson's spot in the line-up kinda reminds me of Duncan Schneider at the beginning of this past year - depending on other moves could be on the outside looking in, but I do think that Williamson is a better player than Schneider.

I didn't include goalies because I really don't know what to expect. As unfortunate as it is I can't see Vaccari being the starter if they want to make a run, I don't think Salajko has it in him to pass Vaccari - so if they do bring in an Import/OA goalie, Vaccari is likely on his way out (to where - I have no clue.

 

[ScoutLife4]

Word is Colin Fitzgerald and Adam Valentini are going to the USHL instead of the OHL as well now.

 

[frontsfan67]

Word is Colin Fitzgerald and Adam Valentini are going to the USHL instead of the OHL as well now.

Saw that. Just brutal for where kingston is picking.

I wonder if they take a guy like Tyler challenger- if not then I’d like them to pick up Valentini/Nyman and trade them to wherever is asking for his rights, put the pick as defective- get a decent pick next year in a less screwed up draft(hopefully) along with a bunch of conditionals if and when one of those 2 come to the OHL.

Not the ideal thing to do but they could get 2 first round picks next year in a year that they may be going for it sorta like Kitchener for this year while taking a chance on a kid that would go top 3 if he were to report

Remember Fantilli and when Saginaw picked him and it was defective? Then they traded him to north bay for some picks and a comp pick then used the comp pick to pick parekh? Worked out for them- I’d like the fronts to try it.

 

[leafs4life94]

Saw that. Just brutal for where kingston is picking.

I wonder if they take a guy like Tyler challenger- if not then I’d like them to pick up Valentini/Nyman and trade them to wherever is asking for his rights, put the pick as defective- get a decent pick next year in a less screwed up draft(hopefully) along with a bunch of conditionals if and when one of those 2 come to the OHL.

Not the ideal thing to do but they could get 2 first round picks next year in a year that they may be going for it sorta like Kitchener for this year while taking a chance on a kid that would go top 3 if he were to report

Remember Fantilli and when Saginaw picked him and it was defective? Then they traded him to north bay for some picks and a comp pick then used the comp pick to pick parekh? Worked out for them- I’d like the fronts to try it.

It's a risky game - exponentially moreso if they're taking a flyer that's threatening to go to the states because the picks they'd get would be almost for sure be conditional on him ever playing in the OHL save for maybe a low rounder.

If it's someone looking to avoid Kingston (or pick their spot) - then looking at past defections they'd be probably looking at a couple 2s, and a couple 3/4s, while also getting 9th OA next year, on top of their first - which I really don't know where that pick could be because Kingston is losing a lot of talent, and though they have some assets, there's quite a few teams that they're behind in terms of assets (Brantford, Flint, Mississauga, Niagara, Windsor) in terms of buying power, plus there's a couple with similar draft cupboards that are probably are more desirable destination (Oshawa/London).

The other risk about pushing it a year ahead is what if this is just the beginning of a larger trend - if next year instead of 5 of the top 20 go outside the OHL, maybe 7-8 go outside the OHL next year - although hopefully whatever this new NCAA agreement is is in place by then.

 

[frontsfan67]

It's a risky game - exponentially moreso if they're taking a flyer that's threatening to go to the states because the picks they'd get would be almost for sure be conditional on him ever playing in the OHL save for maybe a low rounder.

If it's someone looking to avoid Kingston (or pick their spot) - then looking at past defections they'd be probably looking at a couple 2s, and a couple 3/4s, while also getting 9th OA next year, on top of their first - which I really don't know where that pick could be because Kingston is losing a lot of talent, and though they have some assets, there's quite a few teams that they're behind in terms of assets (Brantford, Flint, Mississauga, Niagara, Windsor) in terms of buying power, plus there's a couple with similar draft cupboards that are probably are more desirable destination (Oshawa/London).

The other risk about pushing it a year ahead is what if this is just the beginning of a larger trend - if next year instead of 5 of the top 20 go outside the OHL, maybe 7-8 go outside the OHL next year - although hopefully whatever this new NCAA agreement is is in place by then.

The picks are the really intriguing factor. You’ll get tons of them for a guy like Valentini and it can help them make a bigger push this year. And if all goes to shit then they have 2 first round picks next year and they have a lot of options with those 2 guys.


But it’s gonna be very interesting for the 2025-2026 season as we have a billion 05’s and it’s pretty obvious they’re going to have to make some trades. I think they should trade 1 or 2 guys this season to get more value out of them while setting yourself up better long term

 

[frontsfan67]

Rumour is fronts may end up taking Fitzgerald even though he’s tendered to Green Bay in the ushl. Apparently he could change his mind if we draft him oddly enough lol.

really want fitzgerald. If some team picks him before us- they should take a swing on valentini, malholtra or Nyman to get the comp pick and trade the rights for a few seconds and thirds.

 

[zaluty]

I know they are high on Amidovski but will he be around at #8? Fitzgerald would be a nice pick also. What people should do is try to make it out to some U16 games and watch some of the talent coming into the league. Kingston usually does not do well at that level but other teams like Quinte and Peterborough come into town a few times. Kingston U15 from 2 years ago was stacked but they lost players to Quinte, Barrie and the States otherwise they would have been a top team this year at the U16 level. It is good hockey to watch

 

[leafs4life94]

I know they are high on Amidovski but will he be around at #8? Fitzgerald would be a nice pick also. What people should do is try to make it out to some U16 games and watch some of the talent coming into the league. Kingston usually does not do well at that level but other teams like Quinte and Peterborough come into town a few times. Kingston U15 from 2 years ago was stacked but they lost players to Quinte, Barrie and the States otherwise they would have been a top team this year at the U16 level. It is good hockey to watch

Why is there such an exodus after the U15 year? I had no idea some of these guys like Dubé/Dagenais/Lemieux that I've seen listed as potential top 2 round players played in Kingston. Even Quinton Burns and another Kingston kid Reed Gee both went to Quinte for the U16 year.

 

[HockeyPops]

I think kids mistakenly think the scouts only watch on Sundays of big tournaments. They all want to jump ship to the stacked team that is going to make every tournament semi-finals.

 

[zaluty]

Why is there such an exodus after the U15 year? I had no idea some of these guys like Dubé/Dagenais/Lemieux that I've seen listed as potential top 2 round players played in Kingston. Even Quinton Burns and another Kingston kid Reed Gee both went to Quinte for the U16 year.

I am not sure why. Maybe a better track record of producing kids at the next level? Better program on and off ice? You would have to ask the players or association. I watched a few of their games and was looking forward to this year then started hearing about the exodus.

I lived in Belleville for a few years and there was always more scouts at their games than when I watch a Kingston game. Exposure would be a major consideration also.

 

[ScoutLife4]

I am not sure why. Maybe a better track record of producing kids at the next level? Better program on and off ice? You would have to ask the players or association. I watched a few of their games and was looking forward to this year then started hearing about the exodus.

I lived in Belleville for a few years and there was always more scouts at their games than when I watch a Kingston game. Exposure would be a major consideration also.

QRD is a better program then Kingston's and always has been held in high regard.
They have a long history of taking players from other districts.
Last year QRD had a coaching change for that age group. (Ty Green left) and Kris Newbury came in.

Kris Newbury coached the 2008's last year in Kingston, He moved over to QRD for U16 and brought half of his team (the top players like Lemieux and Dagenais with him.

In return a bunch of 2008 QRD players were spread through Kingston and other districts.
This U16 QRD team this year was supposed to be a super team but had a disappointing playoff.
It should also be said Kris Newbury left them half way through the season to take a job as the Spitfires Assistant coach and then was suspended almost immediately by hockey canada.
He was also assistant coaching JR A Trenton Golden Hawkes and was found guilty of a incident involving bullying of a player in Trenton.

Funny story... Maddox Dagenais Parents adopted JC Lemieux so he could play hockey in Quinte. Now Maddox is is returning to Quebec for the Q draft and Lemieux has decided to go OHL.

 

[zaluty]

I think Dube also declared for the Q

 

[ScoutLife4]

I think Dube also declared for the Q

Correct. - really good QRD kid to watch out for is Matthew Airhart. Kid can be an absolute menace on the ice. Reminds of Braden McCallum a little bit from the Petes.

 

[leafs4life94]

Correct. - really good QRD kid to watch out for is Matthew Airhart. Kid can be an absolute menace on the ice. Reminds of Braden McCallum a little bit from the Petes.

I assume his dad played played in the Q? I know that's how Dagenais is eligible for the Q, but Dubé played in New York for his draft year so should he not be OHL territory?

 

[ScoutLife4]

I assume his dad played played in the Q? I know that's how Dagenais is eligible for the Q, but Dubé played in New York for his draft year so should he not be OHL territory?

I think Dube being a resident of Quebec makes him eligible.
There's so many loop holes i can't keep track of them all.

 

[HockeyPops]

Funny story... Maddox Dagenais Parents adopted JC Lemieux so he could play hockey in Quinte. Now Maddox is is returning to Quebec for the Q draft and Lemieux has decided to go OHL.

This happens all the time when players send their kids to play in the GTHL. Except they aren't adopted, the parent gives up guardianship for the year. Your version seems very extreme.

 

[frontsfan67]

Very confused about picking malholtra. Hopefully he commits. What type of player is this guy? Have heard he’s go Guelph all this week

 

[ScoutLife4]

Very confused about picking malholtra. Hopefully he commits. What type of player is this guy? Have heard he’s go Guelph all this week

Kingston has a thing for familiar names.
Sure hope he commits.

 

[leafs4life94]

Last time they took an NHLers son with the 8th overall pick he didn't report - if he does want to force his way to Guelph hopefully the compensation is enough.