Kitchener Rangers 2020 Offseason Thread (Part 2)

[jmkrangers]

that little leap after he scores, I’ll never forget that as long as I live. Wish they could have taken that one, i personally think we matched up well against Hamilton

Ya I think with Givani Smith in the line up they could've beaten Hamilton and would've made it to the Memorial Cup final. Would've been a great game between this Rangers team and the Noah Dobson led Acadie-Bathurst Titan

 

[SYWTom]

Ya I think with Givani Smith in the line up they could've beaten Hamilton and would've made it to the Memorial Cup final. Would've been a great game between this Rangers team and the Noah Dobson led Acadie-Bathurst Titan

I think about Smith missing game 7 and Hall being out all playoff and it makes me sad

 

[EvenSteven]

I can’t remember now, but did the Soo have any players of any impact missing for that series? Or for game seven?

I preached leading up to the playoffs and during the playoffs that we could beat the powerhouse Soo in a seven game series. Of course I was laughed off these boards by fans of both teams.

The way I see it, with Hall and Smith in the lineup, we win that game seven. But as I asked above, if the Soo had any major players missing from that game, it might’ve been a saw off.

I also think we would’ve given Hamilton a better run than the Soo did. Sure we’d have just come off a physical seven game series going into the final, but the Soo were further roughed up having to play a very tough Owen Sound team before running into the Rangers. After those two very tough series, the Greyhounds were softened up pretty good for Hamilton.

 

[robertmac43]

I preached leading up to the playoffs and during the playoffs that we could beat the powerhouse Soo in a seven game series. Of course I was laughed off these boards by fans of both teams.

I was in the same boat, we could have definitely won that series.... Some people around these parts thought we would go down against Sarnia... There seems to be a theme of underselling this team's skill when we are good.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Cant use any injuries/suspensions as an excuse....especially a suspension of the type that Smith got which was a totally controllable by the player but wasn't.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Does anyone else think that not playing this season throws a wrench in the Rangers plans of being a contender in 21-22? The core of the team next season will be Pinelli, Petizian (OA), McDonnell, Valade, Sebrango, Xhekaj (OA). The players I listed were all supposed to establish themselves as the leaders of this group in 20-21 but are presumably not going to get that opportunity. Now you go into next season with 2 of your top 4 forwards having not played a game since March 2020. All of the players that should have been going into their 2nd seasons (LeBlanc, LeBlanc, Sop, Martin, Swick, Cajan, Parsons among others) will all be rookies. On top of this, they won't be recouping any assets they lost in adding Noel, Hawel, Ingham and Wale in 19-20.

It almost makes me feel like the best bet would be to move out McDonnell, Sebrango, Petizian next season for a boatload of picks and a player or 2 that could help in 22-23. That team would be built around Pinelli, Valade (OA), Sop, Fishman, LeBlanc, LeBlanc, Motew and Parsons in net.

 

[robertmac43]

Does anyone else think that not playing this season throws a wrench in the Rangers plans of being a contender in 21-22? The core of the team next season will be Pinelli, Petizian (OA), McDonnell, Valade, Sebrango, Xhekaj (OA).

I have gone back and forth on this. We definitely missed an important developmental year for our players, however, so did every other team. It's almost like we are coming back next year with a clean slate across the entire league.

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

I have gone back and forth on this. We definitely missed an important developmental year for our players, however, so did every other team. It's almost like we are coming back next year with a clean slate across the entire league.

That point has crossed my mind as well. But I look around at teams like Barrie who I would expect to be competitive in 21-22, and the players that would be at the forefront for them. They have Tyson Foerster, Ethan Cardwell, Evan Vierling and Brandt Clarke who I would argue were ahead in their development than the returning Rangers players at the end of the 19-20 season. All of those guys besides Vierling played significant amounts of games either in the AHL or in Europe. They also have an experienced goalie in Jet Greaves which could go a very long way.

However, this is very unprecedented and maybe all this extra time for some players to get stronger and develop their skills might prove to be very effective. Hopefully we are able to find out come September/October.

 

[LolaT200]

Ya I think with Givani Smith in the line up they could've beaten Hamilton and would've made it to the Memorial Cup final. Would've been a great game between this Rangers team and the Noah Dobson led Acadie-Bathurst Titan

Strange that Givani Smith and Donovan Sebrango are now team mates in Grand Rapids.

 

[GeoBlue]

Strange that Givani Smith and Donovan Sebrango are now team mates in Grand Rapids.

Why would that be strange?

 

[LolaT200]

OK. Both being former and/or current Kitchener Rangers who now play for the same professional team is statistically a relatively remote probability and something that Rangers fans might find interesting. So, let's change "strange" to "relatively improbable", "somewhat unlikely", "a curious co-occurance", "a serendipitous encounter". Take your choice.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

OK. Both being former and/or current Kitchener Rangers who now play for the same professional team is statistically a relatively remote probability and something that Rangers fans might find interesting. So, let's change "strange" to "relatively improbable", "somewhat unlikely", "a curious co-occurance", "a serendipitous encounter". Take your choice.

damiani and mascherin too

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

damiani and mascherin too

Skinner and Rieder.

 

[nelli27]

Landeskog and Kadri

 

[EvenSteven]

Happens relatively often actually.

 

[GeoBlue]

damiani and mascherin too

We can include Radek Faksa here as well.

 

[GeoBlue]

Skinner and Rieder.

Skinner and Rieder.

We can include Justin Bailey here though he wasn't a Ranger that long.

 

[rangersblues]

Landeskog and Kadri

Never teammates in Kitchener.

 

[nelli27]

Never teammates in Kitchener.

Thank you. Overlooked the teammates thing!

 

[GeoBlue]

Thank you. Overlooked the teammates thing!

Actually, Smith and Sebrango were never team mates either. I believe Sebrango came in the year after Smith?

 

[GeoBlue]

Never teammates in Kitchener.

Neither were Smith and Sebrango.

 

[Ward Cornell]

Not unexpected but the Athletic is reporting the OHL will be officially announcing the season will be cancelled.
"
The Ontario Hockey League is expected to formally cancel its 2020-21 season, a source confirmed to The Athletic on Tuesday.
The league has yet to play a game this season. In a statement last week, the OHL said its return to play plan was recently granted conditional approval, but a recent increase in COVID-19 cases across the province and a reinstated stay-at-home order put "increased pressure" on those plans.
The news comes a week after the Canadian Hockey League canceled the 2021 "

 

[Rangers True Blue]

Not unexpected but the Athletic is reporting the OHL will be officially announcing the season will be cancelled.
"
The Ontario Hockey League is expected to formally cancel its 2020-21 season, a source confirmed to The Athletic on Tuesday.
The league has yet to play a game this season. In a statement last week, the OHL said its return to play plan was recently granted conditional approval, but a recent increase in COVID-19 cases across the province and a reinstated stay-at-home order put "increased pressure" on those plans.
The news comes a week after the Canadian Hockey League canceled the 2021 "

The writing's been on the wall for some time now. Much better to get the teams focused on the new season. Might see longer camp situations later in the summer. OHL draft is going to interesting to say the least. June I believe?

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Unfortunate, but time to get into the offseason (not that we ever left).

The Rangers still have 12 forwards, 5 defence and 2 goalies signed going into next season. The OAs currently would be Dickerson, Petizian, Xhekaj. I would think they would try to upgrade on Dickerson if they want to make a push. Someone I would keep an eye on is Keean Washkurak in Mississauga. Local kid, currently unsigned by the St. Louis Blues who plays with a ton of grit and puts up points.

As for the rest of the forwards, there are Pinelli, McDonnell, Valade, Fishman who should all be looking to take big strides. Langdon, Serpa, Sop, Martin, LeBlanc and Swick are the others. We have only seen 2 play for an extended period of time so it's tough to know what to expect, but we know Langdon and Serpa can fill bottom 6/top 9 roles.

On defence there is Sebrango, Xhekaj, Motew and Ottavainen in the top 4 which is intriguing. Jacob LeBlanc will be coming in and now that the 04s can all be signed, my guess is that George Fegaras will be in there as well. My preference would be that MM and co. use their 1st round pick on a left handed D-man as there are currently only 2 in this lineup.

My prediction for day 1 lineup, whenever that may be (per the draft pick database, Kitchener has no 2nd round pick):

Sop-Pinelli-McDonnell
Valade-Petizian-Fishman
Martin-Langdon-Serpa
Swick-LeBlanc-(3rd round pick)

Sebrango-Ottavainen
Xhekaj-Motew
(1st round pick)-LeBlanc
Fegaras

Cajan
Parsons

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

The writing's been on the wall for some time now. Much better to get the teams focused on the new season. Might see longer camp situations later in the summer. OHL draft is going to interesting to say the least. June I believe?

OHL Insiders tweeted today it will be either June 5th or 19th.