OHL 2018 - 2019 season prediction thread

[Voice from the North]

East

Niagara
Oshawa
Ottawa
Barrie
Sudbury
North Bay
Peterborough
Hamilton
Mississauga
Kingston

West

London
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
Soo
Windsor
Kitchener
Sarnia
Flint
Erie

 

[Mcnotloilersfan]

Best bet is that we will have the 3rd London v Niagara finals in a 9 year period. Here's hoping the good guys finally win

 

[NA Hockey]

If London gets Bouchard and Formenton back they should win the west and beat Niagara once again in the final.

 

[Generalsupdates]

Best bet is that we will have the 3rd London v Niagara finals in a 9 year period. Here's hoping the good guys finally win

I'd have a few "best bets" before that finals matchup...

 

[OMG67]

DiPietro and Rossi are the wildcards for Ottawa that could dramatically change the fortunes of the team. We know the top 6 will score with Chmelevski, Keating, Clark, Clarke, Felhaber and Hoelscher leading the way. If Rossi can make the North American adjustment and carry over what he has done so far in the preseason to the regular season with Quinn and Bitten as his linemates, it stretches the Poles to 3 lines deep. Add in the high pick, Tolnai centring the 4th line and you have solid minutes coming from the depths of the chart.

On the back end, there are a lot of stellar skaters with solid pedigree. Bahl is a wall. Hoefenmayer is a seasoned veteran. Highly drafted Import and under 18 Team Russia Captain, Nikita Okhotyuk really came on strong the second half of his rookie season last year. Rippon and Robertson are both bonafide top 4 guys on many OHL rosters. Peric is still the odd man out because he is the young 17 year old but even he is pushing Robertson for a roster spot in the top 6.

Cédric Andree has done well in net in the preseason but I still expect to see a DiPietro trade in the cards when he is returned from Vancouver. If you add the clear #1 goalie in the OHL to that lineup, it may be scary deep. Even with loads of picks going to Windsor for DiPietro, the Poles still have a ridiculous treasure trove of picks. Heck, they have four 2nds in next year’s draft alone and something like ten 2nds and six 3rds over the next four drafts. That only puts them into the 2022 draft. Teams are dealing picks from 2024! So there are loads of remaining assets for them if they choose to throw the sink at it.

As of right now with their current roster, I say they are behind Niagara and Oshawa. IF their goaltending doesn’t improve, they may only battle for home ice. If Rossi does make the transition (Look for Mitch Marner skills as a 17 year old) and DiPietro joins the fold, it may be lights out for the East as well as the League.

 

[Generalsupdates]

DiPietro and Rossi are the wildcards for Ottawa that could dramatically change the fortunes of the team. We know the top 6 will score with Chmelevski, Keating, Clark, Clarke, Felhaber and Hoelscher leading the way. If Rossi can make the North American adjustment and carry over what he has done so far in the preseason to the regular season with Quinn and Bitten as his linemates, it stretches the Poles to 3 lines deep. Add in the high pick, Tolnai centring the 4th line and you have solid minutes coming from the depths of the chart.

On the back end, there are a lot of stellar skaters with solid pedigree. Bahl is a wall. Hoefenmayer is a seasoned veteran. Highly drafted Import and under 18 Team Russia Captain, Nikita Okhotyuk really came on strong the second half of his rookie season last year. Rippon and Robertson are both bonafide top 4 guys on many OHL rosters. Peric is still the odd man out because he is the young 17 year old but even he is pushing Robertson for a roster spot in the top 6.

Cédric Andree has done well in net in the preseason but I still expect to see a DiPietro trade in the cards when he is returned from Vancouver. If you add the clear #1 goalie in the OHL to that lineup, it may be scary deep. Even with loads of picks going to Windsor for DiPietro, the Poles still have a ridiculous treasure trove of picks. Heck, they have four 2nds in next year’s draft alone and something like ten 2nds and six 3rds over the next four drafts. That only puts them into the 2022 draft. Teams are dealing picks from 2024! So there are loads of remaining assets for them if they choose to throw the sink at it.

As of right now with their current roster, I say they are behind Niagara and Oshawa. IF their goaltending doesn’t improve, they may only battle for home ice. If Rossi does make the transition (Look for Mitch Marner skills as a 17 year old) and DiPietro joins the fold, it may be lights out for the East as well as the League.

You think Ottawa can get DiPietro without giving up Clarke or Tolnai?

 

[OMG67]

You think Ottawa can get DiPietro without giving up Clarke or Tolnai?

Tolnai isn’t available until Jan 1st. Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume that is the window. Tolnai is not an important piece of a championship team this year. So, even though it would hurt, he is expendable if looking at this season in a vacuum. That said, Ottawa needs to resolve the goaltending issue before the end of the WJHC. Ottawa won’t wait for that. If he isn’t available for the start of the season, they will do something else.

Graham Clarke isn’t going anywhere. HE is an Ottawa boy with an automatic no trade clause as a high school player, not to mention his 1st round status.

I think with the Cuylle trade and the three 2nds and three 3rds handed over for that deal, if Windsor gets that package back plus a player like Robertson or the extra 2nd and 3rd for just a picks deal, that would be in the right ballpark. It may be slightly off but not much.

Personally, I think the deal is already done. I think the Import draft is evidence of that with Windsor going goaltender and the 67’s going centre. Neither of those picks make any sense.

If Graham Clarke does waive his no trade, the picks going the other way are considerably lessened. I think the Spits need those picks to help replenish the cupboard.

 

[Generalsupdates]

Tolnai isn’t available until Jan 1st. Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume that is the window. Tolnai is not an important piece of a championship team this year. So, even though it would hurt, he is expendable if looking at this season in a vacuum. That said, Ottawa needs to resolve the goaltending issue before the end of the WJHC. Ottawa won’t wait for that. If he isn’t available for the start of the season, they will do something else.

Graham Clarke isn’t going anywhere. HE is an Ottawa boy with an automatic no trade clause as a high school player, not to mention his 1st round status.

I think with the Cuylle trade and the three 2nds and three 3rds handed over for that deal, if Windsor gets that package back plus a player like Robertson or the extra 2nd and 3rd for just a picks deal, that would be in the right ballpark. It may be slightly off but not much.

Personally, I think the deal is already done. I think the Import draft is evidence of that with Windsor going goaltender and the 67’s going centre. Neither of those picks make any sense.

If Graham Clarke does waive his no trade, the picks going the other way are considerably lessened. I think the Spits need those picks to help replenish the cupboard.

I can't see Windsor trading DiPietro for less than a '02 first rounder or an elite '01

 

[OHLFan90]

I can't see Windsor trading DiPietro for less than a '02 first rounder or an elite '01

I'd like to think DiPietro gets you back a 02 1st rounder, another player, plus picks. Although when was the last time a real game changing goaltender was dealt?

Steve Mason was traded for Phil Varone (17, 25 points 30 games) Steve Tarasuk (18D future star and Knights Asst Captain) (Nazem Kadri was part 2 of the trade)

Jack Campbell was traded for Mackenzie Braid and Patrick Sieloff along with six draft choices: Kingston’s 3rd in 2012, Windsor’s 2nd in 2013, Erie’s 3rd in 2013, Owen Sound’s 2nd in 2014, Saginaw’s 2nd in 2014, Sault Ste. Marie’s 2nd in 2015 and Sault Ste. Marie’s 15th in 2016 (conditional).

 

[OMG67]

I'd like to think DiPietro gets you back a 02 1st rounder, another player, plus picks. Although when was the last time a real game changing goaltender was dealt?

Steve Mason was traded for Phil Varone (17, 25 points 30 games) Steve Tarasuk (18D future star and Knights Asst Captain) (Nazem Kadri was part 2 of the trade)

Jack Campbell was traded for Mackenzie Braid and Patrick Sieloff along with six draft choices: Kingston’s 3rd in 2012, Windsor’s 2nd in 2013, Erie’s 3rd in 2013, Owen Sound’s 2nd in 2014, Saginaw’s 2nd in 2014, Sault Ste. Marie’s 2nd in 2015 and Sault Ste. Marie’s 15th in 2016 (conditional).

The Spits don’t have much by way of draft picks left. As much as getting the young skaters is good it also hurts when you consider they all are the same age and all come up at the same time. That creates a significant imbalance in the roster. With the addition of Cuylle, the Spits are pretty much set on the high ceiling youth. To me it makes more sense to bank those picks and use them as trade commodity when or if the timing is right for this team a couple years from now.

I know Spits fans want the high profile forward but they just had Cuylle dropped in their lap. Replenishing those picks and adding a couple other decent pieces is just like trading DiPietro in January after the WJHC and getting a top 5 OHL pick rookie and other assets. The difference being that the picks they traded are well into the future. The 67’s could give four 2nds and two 3rds in next years draft alone! Or they could give two in each of the next three drafts etc.... That is how deep the picks are in the 67’s cupboard. Windsor is in a position to take advantage of that. If they hold out for specific players, they may end up in a Josh Donaldson situation....

 

[OHLFan90]

Here is my Western Conference Predictions.

http://theohlcollective.com/sebastians-western-conference-preview/

 

[OHLTG]

Regarding the DiPietro stuff - I don't see Windsor asking for an '02 because they don't need that with Foudy/Cuylle. While I would like Clarke, plus picks, is that too much for Ottawa? I like Quinn Yule's size, too.

 

[member 71782]

West

London - lots of talent, lots of picks, very few holes to fill
Saginaw - lots of young talent, lots of picks, I think they are ready to go all in this year
Owen Sound - enough left over to challenge London but do they have enough assets to really add for a push?
Guelph - talent is there but are they capable of reaching their potential?
Windsor - good young talent but still changes to be made. If they move DiPietro they can still be close, if they don't and Rychel can find a couple of free/cheap additions they can possibly push Saginaw for tops in the division.
Kitchener - kind of in between rebuilding, hanging on. Enough talent to keep things interesting but not enough to take a clear run at the top of their conference.
Sault Ste. Marie - they likely sell a few pieces, regroup a bit before they turn things back around.
Flint - starting to turn things around after the organizational mess a couple of years ago. Moving up but not quite ready for a big step this year.
Erie - young with a bright future but one more year before they are back in the playoff conversation.
Sarnia - Losing too much and needing assets. Full on rebuild coming this year IMO.

East

Niagara - been building for this for a couple of years now.
Ottawa - nice mix of talent and assets. A top tier goaltender a few minor tweaks and they will challenge Niagara for the conference.
Oshawa - like Niagara, been building towards getting back to the top. A few moves and like Ottawa they can be challenging Ottawa and Niagara as well.
Barrie - they have enough talent to keep them in the mix. Probably a bit of mixing things around to try to improve but probably don't have enough between assets/talent to get beyond the top 3.
North Bay - slow and steady to get here
Sudbury - finally starting to see things going in the right direction. Should have some momentum to carry them through the year but just not quite ready to make a big splash yet.
Hamilton - enough left to keep them above the rest.
Peterborough - not sure if they can hold this last playoff spot.
Mississauga - isn't their draft cupboard getting bare? I think they finally break down and move out a few key pieces to refill the cupboards and bring in some youth.
Kingston - like Sarnia in the West, full rebuild coming.

 

[TcNorth]

East

Niagara
Oshawa
Ottawa
Barrie
Sudbury
North Bay
Peterborough
Hamilton
Mississauga
Kingston

West

London
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
Soo
Windsor
Kitchener
Sarnia
Flint
Erie

You have Flint about right, but have your Wolves a couple spots too high.

 

[OMG67]

Regarding the DiPietro stuff - I don't see Windsor asking for an '02 because they don't need that with Foudy/Cuylle. While I would like Clarke, plus picks, is that too much for Ottawa? I like Quinn Yule's size, too.

The reality is the fit isn’t there if significant players need to be involved. It sets up as a solid picks deal with maybe a kid like Robertson on the back end going there. I could potentially see Hoelscher as well but both of those guys are 18.

Ottawa has picks, picks, and more picks. Windsor needs picks. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be?

 

[Generalsupdates]

The reality is the fit isn’t there if significant players need to be involved. It sets up as a solid picks deal with maybe a kid like Robertson on the back end going there. I could potentially see Hoelscher as well but both of those guys are 18.

Ottawa has picks, picks, and more picks. Windsor needs picks. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be?

Windsor has Foudy/Cuylle/McDonald as '02s and Staois/Henault/Ladd/Frasca/Morgan/D'Amico as '01s.


That's a loaded 2 year age group, which is how you win (look at Soo '98 age group). So why wouldn't they add to that with more 01/02 player(s) and become even more dominant in what will already be their strength? Because even if they get the '01/'02, they'll still get some picks back too. Also could still flip Boka and/or Purboo for picks as well

 

[OHLTG]

The reality is the fit isn’t there if significant players need to be involved. It sets up as a solid picks deal with maybe a kid like Robertson on the back end going there. I could potentially see Hoelscher as well but both of those guys are 18.

Ottawa has picks, picks, and more picks. Windsor needs picks. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be?

The only issue with Robertson is Windsor is pretty set on D right now. The team really seems to like how they look. My guess - DiPietro for a ton of picks + either a 2000-born F or a depth goaltender to help Piiroinen. (though, if they got Bahl, I wouldn't be upset LOL)

(ps. sorry for hijacking the thread. I seriously thought I was in the Ottawa thread when I first posted)

 

[ohloutsider]

So to add some interest to this thread I've decided to sweeten the pot a bit. There will be 3 winners - east prediction winner. West prediction winner. Overall prediction winner. Prizes will be a small gift card donated by myself or a donation to the charity of choice of the winners. ( We will work that out through PM). Don't expect any fancy spread sheets like SFC created but I will put out a tally list at the end. Scoring will be as follows - 10 points for picking the 1st place winner in the east conference, 10 points for picking the 1st place winner in the west conference. 9 points for picking the 2nd place winner ( each conference) . 8 points for picking the 3rd place winner ( each conference). Continues down until 1 point is awarded for picking the last place in each conference. You could actually not pick the top teams right and still win this.

Rules - you must have your predictions in before the season opener - Soo plays Saggy Wednesday night Sept 19th so picks must be on this thread before 7pm that night. If you wish you can only predict 1 conference and you would be eligible to win that conference only. If 2 or more entries are tied then a random draw will be used to pick the winner.
Remember predictions are for fun only - keep it that way.

 

[Kingpin794]

West
London
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
The Soo
Windsor
Sarnia
Flint
Kitchener
Erie

East
Niagara
Ottawa
Barrie
Oshawa
Petes
North Bay
Sudbury
Missy
Hamilton
Kingston

 

[Hammer9001]

When you start every game two goals behind because of the shooter tutor in net nightly, you realize how hard it is to compete in the wins column. Ask the Bulldogs how difficult of a series the Ottawa series was and you will find that I am correct.

No disrespect to Niagara but lining up the 18 skaters against each other top to bottom, Ottawa has a decided advantage. The only area where Niagara has an advantage is potentially on the first line with the higher profile names. Scrub the names off the back of the jersey's and roll the two teams out there, I think you would be surprised.

As a fan, I will say the Niagara series was a far deeper test then Ottawa. I honestly don't know how you can compare the two. Apart from the one game being an anomaly (and it was very clear the Bulldogs came out with no step) the Bulldogs walked all over the 67s. It wasn't surprising though, it was top seed vs bottom seed, and a much older team vs a much younger team. I mean look at the scores here, every game but one, the Bulldogs won by 3 or more, that's not just a bad tender, that's a failure to score and keep things close. There was never any doubt that the Bulldogs were getting past Ottawa.

1. Thu Mar 22 | OTT (3) @ HAM (6) -Final
2. Sun Mar 25 | OTT (5) @ HAM (4) -Final
3. Tue Mar 27 | HAM (8) @ OTT (1) -Final
4. Wed Mar 28 | HAM (5) @ OTT (2) -Final
5. Fri Mar 30 | OTT (1) @ HAM (4) -Final

Niagara on the other hand, had the Bulldogs number the entire season (I believe the Bulldogs only won 1 game out of 6 or 8, can't remember). It was very clear, the Bulldogs would need to substantially up their game if they were going to get past Niagara, which they did. There was a reason Niagara finished 4th in the standings, and 11 points ahead of the 67s. Additionally, the first and third games I recall went to overtime on objectionable calls by the exceptionally poor reffing during that series on both sides of the puck, and could have easily gone to either team.

1. Thu Apr 05 | NIAG (4) @ HAM (5) -Final OT
2. Sat Apr 07 | NIAG (2) @ HAM (3) -Final OT
3. Mon Apr 09 | HAM (3) @ NIAG (4) -Final OT
4. Wed Apr 11 | HAM (4) @ NIAG (2) -Final
5. Thu Apr 12 | NIAG (2) @ HAM (4) -Final

Now while I don't doubt Ottawa will be competitive this season, Niagara still has Dhillion who now with Helvig out of the picture, in my eyes, is the best tender in the conference, if not the league (I think Villalta is very underrated) and he's going to only improve

I think looking past North Bay because one of their top players is gone, is a mistake and I think Oshawa had a competitive team last year, and still has a wealth of picks available to them as well. The season has almost begun. If Ottawa still hasn't netted that top tender they apparently need, that to me says it will be a second half of the season acquisition and playing catch up, and they will not catch up to Oshawa who will also likely load up.

 

[Savard18]

Niagara looked flat out scary when I saw them late last season and once you guys got past them I knew the Bulldogs were for real. As far as the goalies, excluding the new Imports at this point, I think I'd probably go with Keyser in the East and DiPietro overall. If Ottawa lands him, it's on in the East.

 

[Marj44]

Based on the teams before the season starts, here’s my crack at the predicted standings;
(3-4 tough calls in the east and two in the west )

East:
Ottawa
Niagara
Barrie
Oshawa
North Bay
Hamilton
Sudbury
Peterborough
Mississauga
Kingston

West:
Windsor
London
Sault Ste Marie
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
Sarnia
Flint
Erie
Kitchener

 

[Chico Maki]

Based on the teams before the season starts, here’s my crack at the predicted standings;
(3-4 tough calls in the east and two in the west )

East:
Ottawa
Niagara
Barrie
Oshawa
North Bay
Hamilton
Sudbury
Peterborough
Mississauga
Kingston

West:
Windsor
London
Sault Ste Marie
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
Flint
Erie
Kitchener

You forgot to place Sarnia.

 

[Naz]

Based on the teams before the season starts, here’s my crack at the predicted standings;
(3-4 tough calls in the east and two in the west )

East:
Ottawa
Niagara
Barrie
Oshawa
North Bay
Hamilton
Sudbury
Peterborough
Mississauga
Kingston

West:
Windsor
London
Sault Ste Marie
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
Flint
Erie
Kitchener

I know it's just your prediction of the standings but and I'm not a Kitchener fan but I don't think they will finish last.

 

[Naz]

Based on the teams before the season starts, here’s my crack at the predicted standings;
(3-4 tough calls in the east and two in the west )

East:
Ottawa
Niagara
Barrie
Oshawa
North Bay
Hamilton
Sudbury
Peterborough
Mississauga
Kingston

West:
Windsor
London
Sault Ste Marie
Saginaw
Guelph
Owen Sound
Flint
Erie
Kitchener

I know it's just your prediction of the standings but and I'm not a Kitchener fan but I don't think they will finish last.