Saginaw Spirit 2020 Offseason Thread

[Saggy]

Saw this one on Sarnia's board.....interesting thoughts. Agree? Disagree?
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After the OHL announced their return to play yesterday I wanted to know in your opinion who are going to be the top teams in the league next year?​

There's a lot of extra uncertainty with the state of the world and how it will impact signings and guys making the jump to pro.

I think you see the following teams take a few steps forward - SSM, Windsor and Sarnia - SSM will take a big leap if they host mem cup via trades.

Teams that will stay neutral to their 2019/2020 seasons- Saginaw, Erie, Guelph

Teams that will take a small step back but still be playoff teams - London, Kitchener

Teams that take a large step back and struggle to make the playoffs - Flint and Owen Sound

I can't really speak to the Eastern conference but I'd assume Ottawa falls back a decent amount. NB and Kingston SHOULD be on the rise. Oshawa should be sitting pretty at the top all year.

 

[HockeyPops]

Didn't see this posted here - Owen Baker

 

[bcspragu]

Didn't see this posted here - Owen Baker

Yeah Baker is an interesting one. At the draft Drinkill said that he had been to a few games and was excited for camp and trying to make the team. My guess (and its just a guess) is that with the influx of forwards/uncertainty due to covid this year and his size, both Baker and Drinkill knew he wasnt going to make the team and the commitment to MSU is a placeholder to see how camp goes for next season.

 

[Saggy]

Hard to really tell from those Honeybaked kids as they all seemed to have over 100 points each last season but he looks like a pretty solid offensive player. Forgetting the numbers, he seems a little like Codd coming in from the Little Caesars' program. I like Codd a lot so I'd probably like Baker too but with the addition of the Grewe (01), Beck (02), Fleming (01) and the rookie Klein (04) I think his minutes would be very very limited. Best of luck to the kid....maybe he changes his mind for 2020/2021 season.

 

[the dog]

2020 2nd rd draft pick Matthew Jovanovic D commits to univ of Notre Dame

 

[Saggy]

Too bad....I was looking forward to seeing him in Saginaw colors. Then again, with 6 solid D in front of him and the lack of clarity to the season (if we even have one), I guess it makes sense.

 

[bcspragu]

Too bad....I was looking forward to seeing him in Saginaw colors. Then again, with 6 solid D in front of him and the lack of clarity to the season (if we even have one), I guess it makes sense.

Yeah, Im surprised so much stuff is going on right now with all the uncertainty in the air. Very likely there isnt a NCAA hockey season this year as well, could push a few NCAA kids into the CHL making it even harder for a 16 year old to compete for a roster spot. Not to mention any changes to AHL or ECHL will potentially make more overagers available (I seen one article from the Q suggest 4 OA's this year in the CHL). One quick note though, this isnt the first time Drinkill had his first and second pick not report the first year. His first draft drafting Jenkins and Wilde was the same thing, and we see how that turned out. No one has flipped more NCAA commits than him over the last couple of years when he wants his guy.

Here's my roster mock up. I'm sure extras will be filled in with some signings after whatever limited camp in allowed P.S Lines are just kind of made up by me, but I think they would be pretty interesting. Anything outside of the first line is pretty much interchangeable

Perfetti-Suzuki-Grewe
Bloom-Beck-Duhart
Katic (OA)-Antropov (OA)-Codd
Fleming-Baber-Klein

Millman-King (OA)
Smith- Schlueting
Mancini-Mintyukov

Lennox
Oke
Andrekos

My thoughts are that we need to add a touch more secondary scoring. I think Bloom will put up some big numbers this year (30 goals isnt out of the question imo especially if he gets that 5th top PP spot with his shot) and I think Beck will be a good offensive addition. Codd or Duhart could be that 3rd guy on a offensive 2nd line for sure. Just gotta see how it plays out.

 

[HockeyPops]

Your second line is potentially Bloom - Beck - Codd? That's asking a lot for three players still at the early stages in their OHL development.

Do you think this team is a legit contender this year?

 

[Saggy]

I think the team is a legitimate contender but would have been special if the top two drafted players showed up. Having said that I think we did quite well in the Import Draft with two solid players.

I agree that we would be asking a lot from those players but we really haven't seen what they can do as their ice time was so limited on a very senior Saginaw Team. I would guess 6 to 7 minutes of TOI for most of the rookies.

BUT if given the opportunity I'm sure they will step up

 

[Saggy]

Question....who will be our 7th D now that Jovanovic is going to Notre Dame??

 

[Kingpin794]

Your second line is potentially Bloom - Beck - Codd? That's asking a lot for three players still at the early stages in their OHL development.

Do you think this team is a legit contender this year?

Both Bloom and Codd are supremely talented. You just have to give them a center and time. They'll get plenty of playing time but the question mark is whether or not Beck or whoever can be that center. You're totally correct in wondering if these kids are going to be ready to really take over. I think in most normal years, we would probably be in a weird spot. Enough talent to win a lot of games but just not enough to close the gap come playoff time. A 4/5 seed that MIGHT push for a conference final appearance. Do you try and add to that? Do you sell and give up a last chance before you really have to reset? This season though, at least on paper, there isn't going to be a group of juggernauts to get through. The Soo will likely be the team to beat but after that, there's a handful of really good teams but I wouldn't say any of them are that much better than us. We're contenders by default. But that can't lead to complacency. We're still going to need guys to step up and to beef up the line up and for that Drinkell will have to get creative.

 

[Kingpin794]

Question....who will be our 7th D now that Jovanovic is going to Notre Dame??

I still think Drinkell is going to pull one more big commit before the season. Push hard for Powell or Hipkin.

 

[Saggy]

Either one of those guys would be great pickups.

To add to the contender conversation, I think we have a healthy Lennox starting the year. I expect a huge year from him in his draft year

 

[bcspragu]

Either one of those guys would be great pickups.

To add to the contender conversation, I think we have a healthy Lennox starting the year. I expect a huge year from him in his draft year

Yeah Lennox is going to be a big time goalie. Kid has all sorts of swagger in net. As long as he stays healthy watch out.

I think Codd and Bloom are both going to be stars in this league (for different reasons) and I honestly think this year you see both take off.

Codd is alot like Lennox, the more swagger he plays with, the better he plays. When he was feeling it last year you could tell. His offensive game is just scratching the surface, and from all accounts is a heck of a competitor

Bloom has the size, speed, and shot combo that will allow him to score alot of goals in this league. You could see some major glimpses into his talent last year. I only expect him to be stronger and faster this year. Plus I know its summer hockey, but I think he has like 14 goals in 6 games in the Carnevale league. Clearly one of his bigger strengths.

Does that make SAG a contender? Who knows, this season is going to be wild by all accounts. I dont think they will be worse than 3rd in the division and depending how the schedule plays out, we may get a heavy dose of Flint/Erie I think they can put some wins up on.

They will make some additions for sure, could see some surprise OA's back but with what they have now, could be alot worse.

 

[Saggy]

Good topic.....OAs

My original thought was King (lock), Antropov and Katic. Now based on all the other leagues and craziness do you think we could see Giroux or Jenkins sent back for their OA years? Love to see those guys stick with their teams but if I'm being greedy it would be nice to see King, Giroux and Antropov as our 3

 

[Kingpin794]

Saginaw is doing their yearly game worn jersey auction online this year. They also have some signed replicas up for auction too. Check it out if you like.

2019-2020 Spirit Game Worn Jersey Auction Begins Today at Noon! - Saginaw Spirit

 

[Saggy]

Outside of Perfetti and maybe Suzuki it will be interesting to see who sells for the most. Fans vote with their dollars so lets see who hits $300 or $400 in a few weeks when it ends. Any bets?

 

[bcspragu]

Outside of Perfetti and maybe Suzuki it will be interesting to see who sells for the most. Fans vote with their dollars so lets see who hits $300 or $400 in a few weeks when it ends. Any bets?

Goalies always tend to go high because the size fits alot of bigger guys.

Would think Wilde and Giroux would be the next two highest because they likely wont be back.

 

[Finster8]

Goalies always tend to go high because the size fits alot of bigger guys.

Would think Wilde and Giroux would be the next two highest because they likely wont be back.

Jenkins, Millman and local Mitchell Smith should be top 10. Forgot Coskey and Busdeker.

 

[bcspragu]

Jenkins, Millman and local Mitchell Smith should be top 10. Forgot Coskey and Busdeker.

I hadnt included Coskey and Busdeker, because last I checked they still had thier 18-19 white jerseys for sale on the website and they hadnt been purchased.

Spirit fandom here locally is weird. Lots of players you wouldnt expect have big followings. Solovyov and Codd are 2 I can see going high as well

 

[HockeyPops]

 

[bcspragu]

Glad to see Jake found a place to play for next season. Outside of Frappier, he was the least likely OA candidate to return imo

 

[Saggy]

With all the craziness of this year....who knows what will happen in the AHL too....we may see some unexpected OAs on this team. Having said that, if we take a Jenkins back we potentially have a frustrated group of second/third year players that may not get the ice they expected and look for trades (especially draft eligible players). Just used Jenkins as an example.....could easily have been Giroux as well.

So if you are Drinkall....what would you do? Ride the same horses that you are comfortable with or open the gates for the newbies?

 

[Saggy]

Anyone hear when they are doing training camps? I guess they might have to have 2 if they want to see both the prospects in Canada and the USA. Pretty hard when you can't get them all on the ice together. Good luck to Drinkall

 

[bcspragu]

Anyone hear when they are doing training camps? I guess they might have to have 2 if they want to see both the prospects in Canada and the USA. Pretty hard when you can't get them all on the ice together. Good luck to Drinkall

I think NOV 15th was the date listed on the ohl return to play for camps