Ottawa 67's 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 1)

[beastintheeast]

My only comment on Korbler was that I thought he was fine last night. That's not an endorsement of Cameron's usage of him, which I've disagreed with all along. Korbler is closer to a 4th line player than a 1st line player. Ideally Cameron would stack the first two lines, as OMG laid out above, with someone like Stonehouse on Kressler's wing or reuniting Pinelli with Kressler. Kressler was clearly on his game last night and should have been given more to work with - and Cameron should have recognized it.

Sitting an injured Gardiner and replacing him with Yanni or Whitehead is something that Cameron should do for game 4 - I agree on that. That is essentially the only dress/scratch decision Cameron can make for game 4. If he thinks Kelly is underperforming and Yanni or Whitehead deserve a look instead, that would be fine as well but won't make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things as the 4th line doesn't play much anyway. My only point is that Whitehead has played barely any hockey in a number of weeks, so suddenly throwing him out there at this stage against a physical team in an elimination game may not be necessarily fair to him or be putting him in a position to succeed.

I have been on the bandwagon for a fourth line of Yanni Whitehead and Korbler. Next year, they could be a definite good third line.

Here is my dream for next year

Pinelli Gardiner Dever
Foster Barlas Kelly
Hilton whitehead Korbler
Houben Amidovski Euro

Mayich Mews
Marelli horner
Dietsch Brady
Bonoma Eshkawkogan

If Hilton and Houben can learn to use their size and get the coordination, It would be interesting to see the difference it would make with 2 big guys on the forward lines.

horner is goingto have to be like Sirman was so that we can have 4 RD

 

[NordiquesForeva]

I have been on the bandwagon for a fourth line of Yanni Whitehead and Korbler. Next year, they could be a definite good third line.

Here is my dream for next year

Pinelli Gardiner Dever
Foster Barlas Kelly
Hilton whitehead Korbler
Houben Amidovski Euro

Mayich Mews
Marelli horner
Dietsch Brady
Bonoma Eshkawkogan

If Hilton and Houben can learn to use their size and get the coordination, It would be interesting to see the difference it would make with 2 big guys on the forward lines.

horner is goingto have to be like Sirman was so that we can have 4 RD

You're omitting Stonehouse and/or Gerrior. Are you assuming both will be traded (or Stonehouse makes the AHL)?

There is Uronen as well. Not guaranteed, but I have heard he is returning.

If next year is seen as a rebuilding/reset type year, I would suggest the 67s retain Sirman and trade away Mayich....Mayich would almost certainly command a better package in return.

I could see Smyth traded away in the offseason as well.

 

[OMG67]

Next seasons strategy has a lot to do with this years performance so I will hold back on next season strategy for now but we all know we have a lot of returning OAs. How we deal with that is a question that requires input from this seasons results.

EDIT:
I should qualify this statement. Fro example, if we lose to Oshawa four straight here in round two and Oshawa is built more for next year (which they are), then it is reasonable to assume with our graduating players, we wouldn’t compete with Oshawa. Additionally, if Brantford and Brampton next season through the first two months are with or ahead of Oshawa in the standings, it would be pretty clear Ottawa is not, nor could they be a contender.

Under that circumstance, it would be prudent to approach next season with the mind set of rebuilding. Boyd doesn’t need to offload everything right away but it would impact the particular OA players he chooses to commit to and which ones would be moved. We could have as many as six viable OHL OA’s coming out of training camp (MacK, Mayich, Sirman, Smyth, Gerrior and Stonehouse). We can reasonably keep four through November. Pair it down to three and then at the deadline move whatever that is left that doesn’t make sense to keep. So, there will be some housecleaning to do. Decisions on 19 year olds can wait until closer to the deadline.

But, all this to say the results of this year sets the table for the offseason. A four game sweep to Oshawa now means it is unlikely Ottawa would be positioned well for a top 4 finish next year, especially after a 6th place finish this year.

 

[Hinterland]

You're omitting Stonehouse and/or Gerrior. Are you assuming both will be traded (or Stonehouse makes the AHL)?

There is Uronen as well. Not guaranteed, but I have heard he is returning.

If next year is seen as a rebuilding/reset type year, I would suggest the 67s retain Sirman and trade away Mayich....Mayich would almost certainly command a better package in return.

I could see Smyth traded away in the offseason as well.

Keeping Sirman would be a mistake in any case. These playoffs demonstrated that against heavy forecheck, he's the weak link on defense. He's a turnovermachine when asked to operate with little time and space. Even if he doesn't turn the puck over he mostly doesn't manage to exit the zone cleanly. Whenever he's pressured he tends to panic and just throw the puck away any direction. I'd sit him in game 4. He can't be trusted. Smyth doesn't seem popular on this board but he's proven to be more reliable, especially during playoffs. Mayich is very important for this team anyway. We've seen that last night.

 

[OMG67]

Keeping Sirman would be a mistake in any case. These playoffs demonstrated that against heavy forecheck, he's the weak link on defense. He's a turnovermachine when asked to operate with little time and space. Even if he doesn't turn the puck over he mostly doesn't manage to exit the zone cleanly. Whenever he's pressured he tends to panic and just throw the puck away any direction. I'd sit him in game 4. He can't be trusted. Smyth doesn't seem popular on this board but he's proven to be more reliable, especially during playoffs. Mayich is very important for this team anyway. We've seen that last night.

I disagree. If next year is a rebuild year, we are looking to push assets forward. If Mayich were to garner a 2nd and 3rd as a trade assets then you need to consider that as a viable return and keep Sirman.

The focus would be on the majority of regular season games not playoffs since playoffs would be a one round and done scenario. Sirman would be fine for a regular season in the #4 slot.

 

[Donnie740]

The challenge is that we only have one scoring line, and you have to think they are banged up and tired. I think the only chance they have is if Stonehouse and Foster learn how to score.

Oshawa has more depth, and I think even if we combine Kressler and Pinelli together line against line, Oshawa still has more power.
We are a small team, and therefore, we get banged up more and do not have the heavy hitters.

I would have liked to have seen a line of Hilton Horner and Barlas. in the first game would have made a difference. A line that is going to hit and use the body. On the PP put our Hilton or Smyth and put him in front of the net

That’s a good assessment and pretty much sums up the series.

Oshawa has more depth of talent and they’re also the bigger and more physical team. It’s the old adage of bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Condensing your best forwards into one line only works if you also have a very good second line. Oshawa has that, although that really depends on the status of Kumpalainen.

 

[Hinterland]

I disagree. If next year is a rebuild year, we are looking to push assets forward. If Mayich were to garner a 2nd and 3rd as a trade assets then you need to consider that as a viable return and keep Sirman.

The focus would be on the majority of regular season games not playoffs since playoffs would be a one round and done scenario. Sirman would be fine for a regular season in the #4 slot.

Even in that scenario I'd still rather keep Smyth. He's just more solid. Less turnovers, more controlled zone exits.

 

[NoQuit67s]

We have been pretty hard on Mews and some of his defensive weaknesses he may have, but we also have to acknowledge some of the pretty impressive offensive talent, a lot of it on display yesterday during a big game.

On the 1st Kressler goal, he took a very smart low shot from up close that generated the rebound to Kressler who shot into an open net. Very intentional and smart.

On his own goal, he made a great move to cut through the middle, then hesitated, freezing Oster, and waiting to shoot a very precise shot from an open lane. Great patience and poise of a natural goal scorer.

Minutes later on a rush, he split the Oshawa defense, spun on his knees while keeping the puck and created a great scoring chance for himself. Had he scored, this would have been highlight reel stuff.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Even in that scenario I'd still rather keep Smyth. He's just more solid. Less turnovers, more controlled zone exits.

While I've long thought that Sirman was the better d-man between the two, he's had a pretty rough playoffs so I get your point. If Mayich is traded as part of a rebuild/reset, a decision between Smyth and Sirman may come down to what the players themselves prefer and if the organization is able to do right by them. One or both of them may wish to play out their OA year closer to home and the 67s may accommodate. Who knows. It'll be an interesting offseason. What's clear is that room will need to be made for Dietsch and Brady will be in our top-6 in order to further their development.

Next seasons strategy has a lot to do with this years performance so I will hold back on next season strategy for now but we all know we have a lot of returning OAs. How we deal with that is a question that requires input from this seasons results.

EDIT:
I should qualify this statement. Fro example, if we lose to Oshawa four straight here in round two and Oshawa is built more for next year (which they are), then it is reasonable to assume with our graduating players, we wouldn’t compete with Oshawa. Additionally, if Brantford and Brampton next season through the first two months are with or ahead of Oshawa in the standings, it would be pretty clear Ottawa is not, nor could they be a contender.

Under that circumstance, it would be prudent to approach next season with the mind set of rebuilding. Boyd doesn’t need to offload everything right away but it would impact the particular OA players he chooses to commit to and which ones would be moved. We could have as many as six viable OHL OA’s coming out of training camp (MacK, Mayich, Sirman, Smyth, Gerrior and Stonehouse). We can reasonably keep four through November. Pair it down to three and then at the deadline move whatever that is left that doesn’t make sense to keep. So, there will be some housecleaning to do. Decisions on 19 year olds can wait until closer to the deadline.

But, all this to say the results of this year sets the table for the offseason. A four game sweep to Oshawa now means it is unlikely Ottawa would be positioned well for a top 4 finish next year, especially after a 6th place finish this year.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Boyd and Cameron debrief this season. What some of us have long thought was the team's achilles heel turned out to be correct - namely, a lack of scoring ability in the top-6 and lack of quality depth at defense. And the pervasive issue of lack of size, though I'm not convinced that was what really held the 67s back in this Oshawa series (personally I think the first two issues were much more important).

Kressler was a great deadline acquisition by Boyd as a top-line centre (Maillet less so, but he was still a positive contributor), but regardless of one's take on Korbler it is nowhere near ideal to have a 17-year old rookie play regularly on his right side. Big miss by Boyd on not making a further deal to enhance the top-6 and provide Kressler with the necessary support on his wings. Cameron could have and should have shuffled the lines somewhat (imho) to provide more scoring punch to the top line, but it would be robbing peter to pay paul in that case as it would only serve to weaken another line.

Secondly, the depth at defense was inadequate for a deep playoff run. At some point, one of our top-4 was going to miss some time (it turned out be a Mayich suspension), and the remaining quality at the #5 and #6 spots wasn't good enough to fill the gap. We saw last night the impact of having Mayich back in a solid top-4; while not infallible, it is a good group but the depth got us into trouble frequently in this series. The LHS/RHS imbalance was also an issue that needed resolution at the deadline. Another miss.

 

[Hinterland]

While I've long thought that Sirman was the better d-man between the two, he's had a pretty rough playoffs so I get your point. If Mayich is traded as part of a rebuild/reset, a decision between Smyth and Sirman may come down to what the players themselves prefer and if the organization is able to do right by them. One or both of them may wish to play out their OA year closer to home and the 67s may accommodate. Who knows. It'll be an interesting offseason. What's clear is that room will need to be made for Dietsch and Brady will be in our top-6 in order to further their development.



I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Boyd and Cameron debrief this season. What some of us have long thought was the team's achilles heel turned out to be correct - namely, a lack of scoring ability in the top-6 and lack of quality depth at defense. And the pervasive issue of lack of size, though I'm not convinced that was what really held the 67s back in this Oshawa series (personally I think the first two issues were much more important).

Kressler was a great deadline acquisition by Boyd as a top-line centre (Maillet less so, but he was still a positive contributor), but regardless of one's take on Korbler it is nowhere near ideal to have a 17-year old rookie play regularly on his right side. Big miss by Boyd on not making a further deal to enhance the top-6 and provide Kressler with the necessary support on his wings. Cameron could have and should have shuffled the lines somewhat (imho) to provide more scoring punch to the top line, but it would be robbing peter to pay paul in that case as it would only serve to weaken another line.

Secondly, the depth at defense was inadequate for a deep playoff run. At some point, one of our top-4 was going to miss some time (it turned out be a Mayich suspension), and the remaining quality at the #5 and #6 spots wasn't good enough to fill the gap. We saw last night the impact of having Mayich back in a solid top-4; while not infallible, it is a good group but the depth got us into trouble frequently in this series. The LHS/RHS imbalance was also an issue that needed resolution at the deadline. Another miss.

I agree with most of your post but I don't know if line shuffling would have changed anything. As you said, if you're adding to one line you're weakening another. Cameron's line do make sense. They're balanced and he does have a clear plan. A plan that worked against Brantford. It didn't against Oshawa but they're also a better opponent with more depth. Despite the results vs Oshawa, Cameron's lines, at least the top9, are working...just too many individual mistakes, really. Game 3 was better but they took too many penalties. Ideally you'd have more scoring in the top9 so the injuries to Gardiner and Kelly are kinda unfortunate. Körbler was injured as well during the Brantford series. Thankfully he seems to be fine now and has looked sharp after returning to the lineup. Can't say the same about Gardiner and Kelly. I strongly suspect they're playing hurt and I don't think they should be playing at all. So with those two injured I think the only option Cameron had to add scoring to his top9 would have been Chase Yanni. Cameron doesn't seem to trust him though, even scratched him for an injured player despite playing well. So I think the top9 is fine given the circumstances. It's the 4th line Cameron should have taken care of. I don't think he ever should have sat Yanni. If anything he should have promoted him.

Defense seems fine to me. Mayich (when available) and Smyth have been incredibly solid. Mayer and the draft eligibles have had up's and down's but they generated quite a lot of offense when on their game. I think Mews and Marrelli have gotten better as the playoffs went on as well. I feel like they've been more shaky in the Brantford series compared to the Oshawa series now. The only disappointment on defense has been Sirman who sadly does seem to crack under pressure.

 

[Samee987]

Battalion whistled for 6 straight penalties. Thought that was totally unfair.....till I read your boxscore!!! 7 penalties in a row??? Come on. It can't be that one-sided....can it??? Are you playing the "saints"?

 

[Donnie740]

Defense seems fine to me. Mayich (when available) and Smyth have been incredibly solid. Mayer and the draft eligibles have had up's and down's but they generated quite a lot of offense when on their game. I think Mews and Marrelli have gotten better as the playoffs went on as well. I feel like they've been more shaky in the Brantford series compared to the Oshawa series now. The only disappointment on defense has been Sirman who sadly does seem to crack under pressure.

No idea what you’ve been watching - - or what you think you’ve been watching - - because Ottawa’s defense has been God-awful in this series.

Mayich getting caught up ice in overtime leading to the game winning 2-on-1 goal last night.

Marelli getting crossed up and basically bumping into his own teammate for the Buckley goal to make it 3-1 in Game 2. Followed by Sirman getting turned inside out and being too slow footed to stop Roobroeck’s blow by goal to make it 5-1.

Mews coughing up the puck multiple times in his own zone during Game 1.

Coming into the series, I knew Ottawa’s defense was soft and undersized, but k never expected them to be this poor defensively.

 

[OMG67]

I agree with most of your post but I don't know if line shuffling would have changed anything. As you said, if you're adding to one line you're weakening another. Cameron's line do make sense. They're balanced and he does have a clear plan. A plan that worked against Brantford. It didn't against Oshawa but they're also a better opponent with more depth. Despite the results vs Oshawa, Cameron's lines, at least the top9, are working...just too many individual mistakes, really. Game 3 was better but they took too many penalties. Ideally you'd have more scoring in the top9 so the injuries to Gardiner and Kelly are kinda unfortunate. Körbler was injured as well during the Brantford series. Thankfully he seems to be fine now and has looked sharp after returning to the lineup. Can't say the same about Gardiner and Kelly. I strongly suspect they're playing hurt and I don't think they should be playing at all. So with those two injured I think the only option Cameron had to add scoring to his top9 would have been Chase Yanni. Cameron doesn't seem to trust him though, even scratched him for an injured player despite playing well. So I think the top9 is fine given the circumstances. It's the 4th line Cameron should have taken care of. I don't think he ever should have sat Yanni. If anything he should have promoted him.

Defense seems fine to me. Mayich (when available) and Smyth have been incredibly solid. Mayer and the draft eligibles have had up's and down's but they generated quite a lot of offense when on their game. I think Mews and Marrelli have gotten better as the playoffs went on as well. I feel like they've been more shaky in the Brantford series compared to the Oshawa series now. The only disappointment on defense has been Sirman who sadly does seem to crack under pressure.

Oshawa “line shuffled” and made a top heavy first line with Ritchie, Sennecke, and Roobroek. That made a huge difference for them. Concentrating scoring on one or two lines makes the defence spread out to contain three forwards instead of two. When you have a dead duck on one wing, the defence can cheat and focus on the two guns and allow the risk to come from the weaker side. They cannot do that with a concentrated scoring line. Does Oshawa then separate of their remaining scoring threats over tow remaining lines? No. They load up their second line as well to create two scoring lines. Their 3rd line is centred by a 16 year old rookie with one playoff point and 6 regular season points.

When a team doesn’t have three offensive lines at the OHL level, they typically will try to make a defensive line that will focus solely on shutting down one of the oppositions top lines and play at EVEN =/-. This is very common. The “balanced’ 67’s third line has a combined one assist in the three games of this series. There is zero sense balancing lines when the balancing results in ineffective offensive production across all three lines. NONE of the three lines are scoring. Dever’s line has no goals. Maillet’s line has one goal. Kressler’s line has two even strength goals.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We can continue to run in circles on this but the reality is it hasn’t worked. Simply saying, “it wouldn’t make a difference” does nothing to prove it wouldn’t make a difference, especially when Oshawa did it and they ran us out of their building doing it in Game 2. The Petes did it last year as well. They had seven true offensive weapons. They could have used three on one line and two each on the other two lines but they went 3-3-1 and they won a championship doing so.

I mean, I don’t know how many examples or stats I can use to justify my assertions. The strategy is flawed. And if the person applying those strategies is too stubborn to shift from those strategies and try something new then we should question their judgement. If he were to shift the strategy and it still doesn’t work then nothing is lost. The original strategy wasn’t working anyway.

 

[Hinterland]

No idea what you’ve been watching - - or what you think you’ve been watching - - because Ottawa’s defense has been God-awful in this series.

Mayich getting caught up ice in overtime leading to the game winning 2-on-1 goal last night.

Marelli getting crossed up and basically bumping into his own teammate for the Buckley goal to make it 3-1 in Game 2. Followed by Sirman getting turned inside out and being too slow footed to stop Roobroeck’s blow by goal to make it 5-1.

Mews coughing up the puck multiple times in his own zone during Game 1.

Coming into the series, I knew Ottawa’s defense was soft and undersized, but k never expected them to be this poor defensively.

Mayich made the one mistake and unfortunately it got punished but he's been very good overall. Both Mews and Marrelli have made mistakes but overall they've been good. Marrelli was lucky last night though...I remember the situation when he lost a handle on the puck as the last man with forecheckers on his toes. Thankfully he recovered but that was a scare. Otherwise I think he was good. Mews played a very good game I thought.

Anyway, I don't think Ottawa's defense has ever been a problem. It's not the most solid defense corps but one that can generate a lot of offense and one that, minus Sirman, has the ability to exit the zone cleanly even if forechecked aggressively. It's not the biggest or toughest but a very skilled defense.

 

[OMG67]

No idea what you’ve been watching - - or what you think you’ve been watching - - because Ottawa’s defense has been God-awful in this series.

Mayich getting caught up ice in overtime leading to the game winning 2-on-1 goal last night.

Marelli getting crossed up and basically bumping into his own teammate for the Buckley goal to make it 3-1 in Game 2. Followed by Sirman getting turned inside out and being too slow footed to stop Roobroeck’s blow by goal to make it 5-1.

Mews coughing up the puck multiple times in his own zone during Game 1.

Coming into the series, I knew Ottawa’s defense was soft and undersized, but k never expected them to be this poor defensively.

Just to add a little perspective… approaching the deadline, the core 67’s fans addressed five key positions that required upgrade. Three 100% needs to maintain a presence within the pack of seven teams and two to potentially allow us to separate from the pack.

Boyd did a relatively good job getting the three main pieces (two centres and a PP-QB D-Man). He utilized the three OA spots to do it. If rumours are accurate, the other two pieces (scoring winger and depth RHD) were in the bag but Sale wouldn’t report to any team other than Kitchener. The other player would likely have been Olivier Savard who went in the deal to Kitchener. I think Boyd simply ran out of time chasing that deal. Had Boyd managed to pull that deal off and got Sale to report, it would be a different situation here. I also think Boyd made a push for Misiak but Erie refused to move him. Same with Kumpalainen with your Generals.

So, the 67’s ended up maintaining play within the pack of what ended up to be six teams but just couldn’t separate themselves because they missed out on those two other players. I firmly believe adding those two players would have stretched out the roster in a manner required to be more consistently competitive in the playoffs.

You are rightly able to criticize the team but the team had flaws that were recognized and made the appropriate attempts to fix those flaws but came up short at the deadline.

I knew Punnet was available. Personally, I would have leaned towards Mayer, Punnet, and Kressler as the OA acquisitions. Then I would have tried to find the 18 or 19 year old centre that could play #2, preferably an Import at a cheaper price. When I saw what Punnet ended up getting traded for, I puked in my mouth.

 

[badnova]

Just to add a little perspective… approaching the deadline, the core 67’s fans addressed five key positions that required upgrade. Three 100% needs to maintain a presence within the pack of seven teams and two to potentially allow us to separate from the pack.

Boyd did a relatively good job getting the three main pieces (two centres and a PP-QB D-Man). He utilized the three OA spots to do it. If rumours are accurate, the other two pieces (scoring winger and depth RHD) were in the bag but Sale wouldn’t report to any team other than Kitchener. The other player would likely have been Olivier Savard who went in the deal to Kitchener. I think Boyd simply ran out of time chasing that deal. Had Boyd managed to pull that deal off and got Sale to report, it would be a different situation here. I also think Boyd made a push for Misiak but Erie refused to move him. Same with Kumpalainen with your Generals.

So, the 67’s ended up maintaining play within the pack of what ended up to be six teams but just couldn’t separate themselves because they missed out on those two other players. I firmly believe adding those two players would have stretched out the roster in a manner required to be more consistently competitive in the playoffs.

You are rightly able to criticize the team but the team had flaws that were recognized and made the appropriate attempts to fix those flaws but came up short at the deadline.

I knew Punnet was available. Personally, I would have leaned towards Mayer, Punnet, and Kressler as the OA acquisitions. Then I would have tried to find the 18 or 19 year old centre that could play #2, preferably an Import at a cheaper price. When I saw what Punnet ended up getting traded for, I puked in my mouth.

We see in this series that Mayer has much more impact on a team than Punnett, we haven't seen Punnett much in this series

 

[Donnie740]

Just to add a little perspective… approaching the deadline, the core 67’s fans addressed five key positions that required upgrade. Three 100% needs to maintain a presence within the pack of seven teams and two to potentially allow us to separate from the pack.

Boyd did a relatively good job getting the three main pieces (two centres and a PP-QB D-Man). He utilized the three OA spots to do it. If rumours are accurate, the other two pieces (scoring winger and depth RHD) were in the bag but Sale wouldn’t report to any team other than Kitchener. The other player would likely have been Olivier Savard who went in the deal to Kitchener. I think Boyd simply ran out of time chasing that deal. Had Boyd managed to pull that deal off and got Sale to report, it would be a different situation here. I also think Boyd made a push for Misiak but Erie refused to move him. Same with Kumpalainen with your Generals.

So, the 67’s ended up maintaining play within the pack of what ended up to be six teams but just couldn’t separate themselves because they missed out on those two other players. I firmly believe adding those two players would have stretched out the roster in a manner required to be more consistently competitive in the playoffs.

You are rightly able to criticize the team but the team had flaws that were recognized and made the appropriate attempts to fix those flaws but came up short at the deadline.

I knew Punnet was available. Personally, I would have leaned towards Mayer, Punnet, and Kressler as the OA acquisitions. Then I would have tried to find the 18 or 19 year old centre that could play #2, preferably an Import at a cheaper price. When I saw what Punnet ended up getting traded for, I puked in my mouth.

When a team has that many areas of need, it doesn’t make any sense to “go for it” and give away so much future draft capital.

Kingston made the same nonsensical mistake and pissed away everything they got from the Shane Wright trade for Jax Dubois and Rome Schmidt. I knew those moves weren’t going to change the fact that Kingston was nothing more than first round cannon fodder, even though Frontenac fans refused to recognize the reality of how mediocre their team was.

Ottawa gave away a ridiculous amount of draft capital for Mayer, Kressler and Jake Maillet - - a net divestiture of three 2nds, five 3rds and two 5th. Was it worth the cost? It got them into the second round, so they’ll make some money from two extra home games but it was never going to change their fundamental flaw of being a soft and undersized team.

In contrast, Oshawa was much more conservative despite being far better positioned for a playoff run than Ottawa or Kingston.

Oshawa’s biggest weak spot was on defence and getting Punnett for a 3rd and Tommy Steward for Punnett was fantastic value. He’s not as offensively talented as Mayer, but he’s much tougher and physical. More importantly, he didn’t cost nearly as much as Mayer.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Zach Sandhu, but he’s been a decent 3rd pairing with Bedkowski. Cost a bit more than I would have liked - - a 3rd and a 5th - - but he still has one more year of eligibility which helps his value.

The earlier deal of getting Connor Lockhart for what amounted to a 3rd round pick was an absolute STEAL. Compare that to what Ottawa gave up for Maillet - - a 2nd, two 3rds and a 5th - - and it looks even more lopsided.

Full disclosure - - I was advocating for Oshawa to trade Luke Torrance at the deadline since he won’t have a spot as an OA next year. Even with the east being wide open this year, I know Oshawa will be massive underdogs in a seven game series against London. So it never made sense to give up what Ottawa and Kingston did. But Oshawa is going to make some great money from this playoff run, so the deals were definitely worth it.

 

[RCN83]

Battalion whistled for 6 straight penalties. Thought that was totally unfair.....till I read your boxscore!!! 7 penalties in a row??? Come on. It can't be that one-sided....can it??? Are you playing the "saints"?

Six were legit penalties at any level

 

[OMG67]

When a team has that many areas of need, it doesn’t make any sense to “go for it” and give away so much future draft capital.

Kingston made the same nonsensical mistake and pissed away everything they got from the Shane Wright trade for Jax Dubois and Rome Schmidt. I knew those moves weren’t going to change the fact that Kingston was nothing more than first round cannon fodder, even though Frontenac fans refused to recognize the reality of how mediocre their team was.

Ottawa gave away a ridiculous amount of draft capital for Mayer, Kressler and Jake Maillet - - a net divestiture of three 2nds, five 3rds and two 5th. Was it worth the cost? It got them into the second round, so they’ll make some money from two extra home games but it was never going to change their fundamental flaw of being a soft and undersized team.

In contrast, Oshawa was much more conservative despite being far better positioned for a playoff run than Ottawa or Kingston.

Oshawa’s biggest weak spot was on defence and getting Punnett for a 3rd and Tommy Steward for Punnett was fantastic value. He’s not as offensively talented as Mayer, but he’s much tougher and physical. More importantly, he didn’t cost nearly as much as Mayer.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Zach Sandhu, but he’s been a decent 3rd pairing with Bedkowski. Cost a bit more than I would have liked - - a 3rd and a 5th - - but he still has one more year of eligibility which helps his value.

The earlier deal of getting Connor Lockhart for what amounted to a 3rd round pick was an absolute STEAL. Compare that to what Ottawa gave up for Maillet - - a 2nd, two 3rds and a 5th - - and it looks even more lopsided.

Full disclosure - - I was advocating for Oshawa to trade Luke Torrance at the deadline since he won’t have a spot as an OA next year. Even with the east being wide open this year, I know Oshawa will be massive underdogs in a seven game series against London. So it never made sense to give up what Ottawa and Kingston did. But Oshawa is going to make some great money from this playoff run, so the deals were definitely worth it.

It does when you consider the assets used. First, three OA’s are relatively cheap. We had to trade Jack Beck because he requested out at the start of the season. Same with HB as a defection. So, those picks were always planned to cycle back into the club to replace them. Plus when Uronen went down for the season with injury, we had a cheaper Import spot to replace as well.

I would agree if we were talking about stud 19 year olds that go for 1st round picks. But we are talking about relatively inexpensive OA’s and Imports. If you factor in the value of Jack Beck, Brzustewicz, and Ewles who were traded away this season, the net cost was three 3rds and two 5ths for the three players and a 4th we acquired. That is a relatively low cost.

 

[Race Dawg]

2900 is a relatively good turnout for a weeknight playoff game, considering that the team is down 2-0 and not really in the series.

It is not that the NCR has given up. It is because people have more to do. also, a lot of people have to work the next day, and getting home late is a pain as well as a school night.

The challenge Ottawa has is that they can not control the Gens top line. Take a look at the 3 stars, and you will see one name every night, Roobeck.

We really have only one scoring line, and that is Pinelli and Kressler. As much as everyone wants to see players like Mayer, Mews, Kresler, and Pinelli get 25 minutes a game and play almost every shift, that is a fallacy. These guys are not able to do that. There has to be a second line that can play almost the same minutes and a third line that can play a little less.

Also, if you put all your scorers all 3 of them on the same line, then that makes it that much easier for the other team.

Playing Mayer for 25 minutes is okay, except that the other team will again key on him and tire him out.


This is a team that finished in 6th place going up against the top team in the east.
For whatever reason DC wants to play with a short bench and only 2.5 lines.

You cannot expect a team that dresses a center who has had 3 shots in 7 games and only taken 16 face-offs to win. Consider that Stonehouse has taken more face-offs than Gardiner.

I still think he needs to send out a fresh set of legs play Yanni and Whitehead no offence but there is no way we are going to win 4 in a row.

Let's let some of next yers players get a taste if nothing else they will play better than Gardiner and Kelly

Naw man you are being too nice by sugar coating things. The team's iconic days have long since passed. You have your base core of 2,500 and the rest are casual observers or irregular "interests". I would expect a crowd of that size in Pembroke for a tier 2 game.

Junior hockey is best suited for smaller cities and towns IMO. Too many newbies in Ottawa that aren't born and bread there. They would have no prior knowledge of the tremendous history surrounding the club and that's including the great rivalries throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's. I was more pissed that the Ottawa West Golden Knights lost again to Casselman than I am with the 67's.

Ottawa is an NHL town now with a majority Senators faction and decent amount of both Habs and Laff fans. Junior hockey is best suited for smaller cities and towns.

 

[AGranderson]

I believe there is a chance our F group can be ok next year

24/25
Pinelli-/Gardiner-/Gerrior (OA)
Foster-/Dever-/Uronen
Stonehouse (OA)-/Whitehead-/Horner
Barlas-/Amidovski-/Yanni

Perrier/Hilton

Euro-/ Mews
Marelli-/Brady
Dietsch-Eshkawkogan

Bonomo

Mackenzie(OA)
Nelson

Trade
Kelly (Get 5th)
Sirman (Get 7th)
Smyth (Get 7th)
Mayich (Get 3rd+4th)
Körbler (Stays home)


Sent back to jr
Michelone
Houben

 

[beastintheeast]

You're omitting Stonehouse and/or Gerrior. Are you assuming both will be traded (or Stonehouse makes the AHL)?

There is Uronen as well. Not guaranteed, but I have heard he is returning.

If next year is seen as a rebuilding/reset type year, I would suggest the 67s retain Sirman and trade away Mayich....Mayich would almost certainly command a better package in return.

I could see Smyth traded away in the offseason as well.

Gerrior was a slip up.

Stonehouse, I do not see coming back because then it is either keep Gerrior or Stonehouse can only keep 1.

Uronen I do not see coming back to a rebuilding team it makes no sense when they can judge him better against adults in the Euro league.

Also if you rebuilding why would you bring him back better to find a young gun that can perform for a couple of years during the rebuld

Mayich, I think, with the number of rookies we will have, is a steadying influence and can be paired with them to cover for them and assist them.

If he has value now he will have more value at the deadline when the rookies are ready to play and Mews Marelli shoudl be ready to take ledership of the D,

Given a choice of keeping 1 OA on defence it is a choice of May8ich Sirman or Smyth. I understand OMG and trading Mayich and I understand making Sirman the OA but really do we want to keep Smyth?

 

[beastintheeast]

I believe there is a chance our F group can be ok next year

24/25
Pinelli-/Gardiner-/Gerrior (OA)
Foster-/Dever-/Uronen
Stonehouse (OA)-/Whitehead-/Horner
Barlas-/Amidovski-/Yanni

Perrier/Hilton

Euro-/ Mews
Marelli-/Brady
Dietsch-Eshkawkogan

Bonomo

Mackenzie(OA)
Nelson

Trade
Kelly (Get 5th)
Sirman (Get 7th)
Smyth (Get 7th)
Mayich (Get 3rd+4th)
Körbler (Stays home)


Sent back to jr
Michelone
Houben

you have 2 right shots on one line . Stonehouse is an RW, and really, to bring him back and then put him on the LW 3ed line on a rebuilding team makes absolutely no sense.

You have left the defence with very little and no leadership with 4 rookies again not sure it makes sense

Barlas has shown that he can play the third line and, based on his progression, will probably be a second-line player next year. Why are you penalizing him for a good year by moving him back to the fourth line, which is usually a development line for rookies?

Also, why do you have 2 LW playing on the line with Amidovski?

If you are rebuilding then you have to look at losing Uronen, Stonehouse or Gerrior.

A rebuilding team needs to develop young talent, not go with the same sad sack under performing players that we have this year.


Also, please do not insult my intelligence and say that we can go for it next year with this team.

 

[beastintheeast]

Naw man you are being too nice by sugar coating things. The team's iconic days have long since passed. You have your base core of 2,500 and the rest are casual observers or irregular "interests". I would expect a crowd of that size in Pembroke for a tier 2 game.

Junior hockey is best suited for smaller cities and towns IMO. Too many newbies in Ottawa that aren't born and bread there. They would have no prior knowledge of the tremendous history surrounding the club and that's including the great rivalries throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's. I was more pissed that the Ottawa West Golden Knights lost again to Casselman than I am with the 67's.

Ottawa is an NHL town now with a majority Senators faction and decent amount of both Habs and Laff fans. Junior hockey is best suited for smaller cities and towns.

I think you are partly right, but I also add that Ottawa has a lot to see and do. If you want to see good hockey, most people have it in their area with the CCHL, which is cheaper and easier to get to.

Most Canadien fans are across the river, and they do not and never will spend the money to attend an Ottawa game.

People do not live in the city anymore; they live in the Suburbs. Therefore, for a family to go to a game, Dad has to go home, get the family to drive back into town, and then drive home.

One of the things that is interesting is that you do not from what I have read see the new Sens owner jumping up and down to move to the flats. He is quite happy where he is. The corporate world that supports pro teams is allmost all in the west end.

 

[OMG67]

I believe there is a chance our F group can be ok next year

24/25
Pinelli-/Gardiner-/Gerrior (OA)
Foster-/Dever-/Uronen
Stonehouse (OA)-/Whitehead-/Horner
Barlas-/Amidovski-/Yanni

Perrier/Hilton

Euro-/ Mews
Marelli-/Brady
Dietsch-Eshkawkogan

Bonomo

Mackenzie(OA)
Nelson

Trade
Kelly (Get 5th)
Sirman (Get 7th)
Smyth (Get 7th)
Mayich (Get 3rd+4th)
Körbler (Stays home)


Sent back to jr
Michelone
Houben

There are possibilities but, as I mentioned on an earlier post, if we get burnt 4 straight by Oshawa and Oshawa returns the core of their roster, we aren’t competing for anything next year. Steelheads will be very solid as well as the Bulldogs. Both have ample draft picks to add at will. Kingston is set up nicely. I really don’t think it is our year next year. If we can’t get it done with this roster, what chance do we have next year graduating some seriously solid players?

In light of that, I feel our focus should not be on icing the best lineup. Our focus should be on pushing assets into he future by being a seller. I see no reason to keep two OA forwards unless one is acquired to play centre.