Harley really impressed me last year as the season went on. He could handle the puck and was smooth from the start, but he became much better defensively, a steady improvement all year. He was also taking some lead on offence as the season went on, skating out of his end, or walking in a shot along the blue line. He is going to be a worth while watch this year for us Trout fans.
Mississauga Steelheads 2019 Offseason Thread
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With 6 OAs, should be some wheeling and dealing coming soon.
Not counting the OAs, I see the potential of 6 returning D, 9 forwards from their roster last year:
Forwards: Whittaker, Washkurak, Schwindt, Christner, Varga, Prueter, Hardie, Portakalis, Whitson.
Defense: Canade, Walker, Cella, Harley, Penman, Callaghan
Not listing the draft picks, or OAs. have I forgotten anyone?
I think picking US kids is too high a risk. So few end up in the OHL, it's usually a waste of a pick, even for the US based teams. I scrolled through the last few drafts and it's shocking how few of them come up here. My son played against a lot of these picks the last few years. Del Mastro is the real deal. Excellent player. Del Bel Belluz is an excellent pick as well. Driscoll and Mateer are better than you think. Kogawa, talented yes, but won't grow much, we've know him since he came to Canada. Bolton's dad is a steelhead scout, it was a favour, but ya never know he is a good sized kid who only just started playing AAA this year.
I don't think Wells Walker or Cella will be on the team!
Walker never did return from his injury last year. No idea what ailed him. No room for him this year? Wells and Cella I could see not making the grade this year.
Should be able to get something back for one of the extra OAs I would think but looks like a buyers market on that front.
Curious to see how the Goalie tandem works out. Ingham really improved last season but I could see flipping him for some extra picks as they did. Ranger needs to see more rubber even as a back up then he did last year and should be ready for more of a workload. Edmonds (sp?) I am not sure about as I can't say I know much about him. Stats don't tell everything especially at this level.
Hate watching summer end, at my age it flies by too damn quick, but I am on the other hand just waiting for the puck to drop.
SeaOfBlue
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The OA's are likely going to be RD Davis, LD Ham and LW/RW Isaacson. McHugh may be able to get a mid-round pick or two in return. Clarke and Wells are longer shots but you never know if there is a team needing a cheap OA to fill a role. That should be a situation that solves itself quite fast.
Walker, Christner and Cella are probably released. Walker may just decide to retire if his injury really hampered him. He won't be making many OHL lineups anyways, so his best bet would have been going to the QMJHL this year. I didn't see him in any QMJHL training camps.
LW Hardie - C Schwindt - RW ???
LW Canade - C Prueter - RW Isaacson
LW Whittaker- C Washkurak - RW Varga
LW Portokalis - C Del Bel Belluz - RW Whitson
EX: C Stubbs/LW Dodig
LD Harley - RD Ham
LD Penman - RD Davis
LD Del Mastro - RD Sharpe
EX: LD Holm/RD Spence/LD Callaghan
G Edmonds - G Ranger
G Dunsmoor
Not including prospects, but most of the good ones are already in the lineup or will not have a spot.
So I would imagine they are going to rotate Stubbs/Del Bel Belluz, Whitson/Dodig (Whittaker can play all forward positions so he can move over to the RW if Dodig can't), Holm/Del Mastro and Sharpe/Spence a decent amount. The defense is set quality wise, especially since there is still Rosenthal and Jeffers out there as prospects. Dunsmoor may be kept as a 3rd goalie if a team doesn't give up a pick for him to be a backup or something. DiLauro could then be the 3rd goalie in case of emergency.
I originally had Varga and Whittaker getting dealt as well. They may decide to keep one or both, but depending on how prospects look in camp and what they get in return, I can see one or both getting moved out. They may also just decide to trade them out and acquire someone else with more skill as well if the market dictates it. At the very least it looks like they need a top 6 RW, and I think Charlie Callaghan gets moved to a team which can give him some more ice time. He's a top 6 quality guy who is only an 02', so he should be able to get a decent return (at least more than the 8th round pick used to select him).
Ohl insiders has tweeted that McHugh is on the market. Makes sense, he is 4th on most lists for their OA situation and would garner some more interest then a few guys also out there. Seems like a huge pool this year with many teams having numbers of OA, but not many really stand out. McHugh has value in that regard but the market is not that great now. See what comes back this way, if or when it happens.
Kid had a tough year last season with the jaw injury. Really liked his hustle and he seemed to have some good hockey sense, but mumbers are numbers.
Kid had a tough year last season with the jaw injury. Really liked his hustle and he seemed to have some good hockey sense, but mumbers are numbers.
Steel Fishbowl
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- Jan 22, 2018
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Pre-Season Roster is now out on the Steelheads website
Looks like Clarke, Wells and Walker have already been released. I'm not too surprised they are holding onto Cella for now as they do not have much depth at RD behind Davis. We'll see what kind of return they get for McHugh but no rush from them to get a deal done
Looks like Clarke, Wells and Walker have already been released. I'm not too surprised they are holding onto Cella for now as they do not have much depth at RD behind Davis. We'll see what kind of return they get for McHugh but no rush from them to get a deal done
Clarke was released about a month ago, think he's gunna try his hand at some ECHL, if not - he'll go to school.
Wells - Was told he won't be back, but thought they'd keep him around for a bit as there were some rumours that Ham was going to play this year with Brock. Ham will go to Brock next year and play his OA year, so Wells could be let go.
Walker - Injured & Done playing hockey.
Another interesting note, which might tell you guys something but Steelheads offered Whittaker to Windsor for Frasca.
What was the nature of Walkers injury? Had no idea how serious it was.
Not surprised they could be shopping Whittaker. Has some elements of his game I really liked, but hard to see him in the top 6 forwards. May have some value to another team going into this season.
Not surprised they could be shopping Whittaker. Has some elements of his game I really liked, but hard to see him in the top 6 forwards. May have some value to another team going into this season.
SeaOfBlue
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Concussion.
Doesn't shock me that Whittaker is on the block. He had some value as a 3rd liner to strengthen some depth, but he also blocked Portokalis from getting more opportunities with one of the top 9 centers (Schwindt, Washkurak and Prueter). If he plays up to his abilities and is given the opportunity, he could turn into an NHL draft pick type of prospect like those three did.
I can see Whittaker going for a 3rd or 4th rounder to a team needing some cheap depth. They could also acquire his brother from London considering he probably does not have a spot with them, but is good enough to play on a bottom pairing next year.
SeaOfBlue
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Considering Whittaker is more valuable than a 6th rounder, Windsor probably just had too much depth while Mississauga probably just saw an opportunity to get a player who could do about as well as Whittaker next year but is younger. Frasca would have just taken Whittaker's spot as a 3LW. Oh well, Mississauga could just trade Whittaker for a pick themselves and give Portokalis a chance as a 3LW next year. He has the potential to explode with the right opportunity.
SeaOfBlue
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Hate hearing it was a concussion. He was gone for the last half of the season. It is one thing to have a bad knee to wheel around with but head injuries are another thing all together. Wishing him the best moving on.
SeaOfBlue
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Looks like a top 6 RW will have to be brought in at some point. There will likely be some available at some point. Surprised Christner and Cella were not released. Christner could make some sense as a 4th line rotation option with Dodig if Whittaker is dealt and Portokalis moves up to the 3rd line though, so perhaps Whittaker will get dealt. They could also look to trade Whittaker and immediately acquire a replacement if they just want to get younger. The other two I think on the way out are McHugh and Callaghan. No room for either anymore and both should garner some interest.
I like Portakalis getting more ice. The kid has some talent, but also needs to round out his game. Can't do that sitting on the bench.
I do not know about Christner. When the Steelheads were getting run at by a couple teams, he was one guy that provides some push back. While that role has largely been eliminated, especially in Junior with the fight quota, still is handy to have someone like that around. You do not want someone like Washkurak stepping up for a teammate as he did last year when he threw an upper cut that filled his opponents visor with blood. I think they will try to keep Christner for now.
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