Sudbury Wolves 2019 Offseason Thread

[djscooter]

Training camp starting to actually be within sight, thought it might be to look at what we can expect as far as position battles in camp.

Forwards
Locks: Carson, Robinson, Bulitka, Hutcheson, Byfield, Levin, Murray, McCallum, Stillman
Fighting for 4'ish spots: McConville, Gilhula, DeGrazia, Larmand, Tiveron, Labelle, Vachon, Biondi

Defense
Locks: Phillips, Thompson, Stratis, Serensits, Ross
Unknown: Loponen
Fighting for 2ish spots: Anania, Ribau, Beattie


Goaltending
Locks:
Unknown: Dichow
Fighting for 1-2 spots: Weeks, Lemaire



Obviously still a lot could happen, in terms of trades, and players coming out of no where.


Robinson - Byfield - Hutcheson
Levin - Bulitka - Murray
Stillman - Carson - McCallum
DeGrazia - Larmand - McConville
Labelle/Tiveron

Philips - Ross
Thompson - Stratis
Serensits - Ribau
Anania

Dichow/Acquisition
Weeks


Once again, still early, and the wolves could clearly go out and acquire more veteran depth, but I do expect we'll see a decent amount of new faces on the ice this year. In addition any NCAA commits like Savage or Aucoin being sold on Sudbury would obviously help a lot.

 

[Wisdom]

Byfield having a great game so far today in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup against the Czechoslovakia

 

[hockeynorth]

Byfield will dominate this season, we need to get him a stud winger IMO

 

[Wisdom]

Byfield wins Canadian player of the game.

 

[Wisdom]

https://www.tsn.ca/must-see/video/m...tween-the-legs-to-put-canada-up-three~1747658

 

[hockeynorth]

So we're getting towards that season and so I put together a depth chart with all our players in the system (going back to 2017 draft) that I could find. I may have missed some or have some in there no longer in the system and I apologize if so. The positions are based off the OHL draft site for players not playing OHL hockey last year and Elite Prospects for those that are. The guys rankings at each position would be my own personal bias, however certain centres and left wingers for example I would certainly put at right wing as of today to balance if I was picking a team. This is strictly a depth chart made with my opinion. The bolded played last season. Italics are imports. Underlined are from this past draft class and u18 draft class.

LW - C - RW
Levin-Byfield-Biondi
Hutcheson-Murray-McConville
Carson-Bulitka-McDougall
Robinson-Stillman-Gillespie
Savage-McCallum-Bowie
Labelle-Larmand-Siau
DeGrazia-Butler-Hollingsworth
McAllister-Tiveron-Bedard
Lewis-Gilhula-Watson
Strickland-Burke-Dal Ben
N/A-Smith-Savard
N/A-Kosurko-Soehner
N/A-Vachon-N/A
N/A-Manikis-N/A
N/A-Mazur-N/A

LD - RD
Ross-Loponen
Phillips-Thompson
Aucoin-Stratis
Ribau-Serentis
Stewart-Beattie
Anania-Robinson
Lavallee-Pineau
Mitchell-Simpson
Zekelman-Mergelas
N/A-Pulford Thorpe

G
Dichow
Weeks
Lemaire
Bowen
Heinzle
Carvalho
Ross
Vendette

From this I'd have a lineup (assuming no trades for players and imports committing) of:

Hutcheson-Byfield-Robinson
Levin-Murray-Stillman
Carson-Bulitka-Biondi
Larmand-McCallum-Butler (if we get him to come otherwise Labelle)
DeGrazia/McConville

Ross-Loponen
Phillips-Thompson
Ribau-Stratis
Beattie/Serentis

Dichow
Weeks
Lemaire

 

[I Loveallsports]

I've always said, if you can get your rookie to do the same things your returning vet is doing on the forth line- he's expendable

More upside

 

[WaW]

Did someone hurt you in the past? Why so negative, lol? There are so many other players in the World that are better suited for teams than Byfield. With the amount of quality centers in the league right now, teams are looking for Defence and Wingers. And I'm sure if the Wolves had of drafted Perfetti instead of Q, you would likely be happy with where he was ranked.

As for Storini, do some research on him as far as coaching goes, before spitting hot garbage.

I've pretty consistently bashed Craig Button on this board...the guy is literally always wrong about everything. If you are a big fan of his then sorry if I've hit a nerve and offended you.

I liked Stortini alot when I was a kid and he was the captain...in fact he is my favourite team captain in my lifetime. The guy was a very hard worker as another poster pointed out, and as I stated alot of those "tough guys" become great coaches. I just know the attitudes of alot of people at the rink who enjoy old school bruiser hockey that started to get phased out in the late 00s and which we sorta subscribed to as recently as the Matsos era, and which Stortini subscribed to as a player. Just saying that style doesn't work anymore.

Again. I like to try and keep things civil. So if my opinions have offended you, that was not the intention whatsoever. If you feel as if I am negative, I can't do much about that but encourage you to go back and look at most of my posts over this past season. I am far from negative about this team, and was one of the happiest campers around here about how the club fared last season. Good day sir.

 

[Generalsupdates]

I don't go on HFBoards nearly as much during the summer so I apologize if these have already been covered but got a text this morning from a Sudbury friend of mine who is extremely "in the know" and he said its not looking good on Dichow or Levin going into next year. Apparently Levin upset with how his injuries were handled last year. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

 

[hockeynorth]

I don't go on HFBoards nearly as much during the summer so I apologize if these have already been covered but got a text this morning from a Sudbury friend of mine who I would consider "in the know" and he said its not looking good on Dichow or Levin going into next year. Apparently Levin upset with how his injuries were handled last year. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

Haven’t heard this myself but did here they would like to move Levin back at orientation camp from a legitimate source. Dichow I’ve heard absolutely nothing on which I don’t love at all. If DeMeo hadn’t retired I’d put more clout into the Levin talk but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a change of plans now. Really he doesn’t have too many other options to begin with.

 

[howlman]

Unfortunately Levin gets injured almost every season. If he could stay healthy and play 60 games this season as an OA, he could easily get 80 points if not 90 plus points. When he's on his game he's a difference maker.

Wolves better hope at least one of their Imports show up. Striking out on both is unacceptable. No excuses needed about the Import draft being a crap shoot. Hopefully both Dichow and Loponen get signed for this season.

 

[Voice from the North]

I don't go on HFBoards nearly as much during the summer so I apologize if these have already been covered but got a text this morning from a Sudbury friend of mine who is extremely "in the know" and he said its not looking good on Dichow or Levin going into next year. Apparently Levin upset with how his injuries were handled last year. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

Dichow they are trying to negotiate to get him here as is under contract but 50/50 at best. Levin definitely upset at injury situation last year but haven’t heard any trade requests this off season but there have been requests made in prior seasons.

 

[jrwhopper]

I don't go on HFBoards nearly as much during the summer so I apologize if these have already been covered but got a text this morning from a Sudbury friend of mine who is extremely "in the know" and he said its not looking good on Dichow or Levin going into next year. Apparently Levin upset with how his injuries were handled last year. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

Source claimed he just spoke to an OHL scout and was told that Diachow, Looponen and Maliks arent reporting to the OHL this season. Take it with a grain of salt, hope im wrong.

 

[Wisdom]

"Levin isn't happy about how is injury was handled" What the heck does that mean?

 

[djscooter]

"Levin isn't happy about how is injury was handled" What the heck does that mean?

People are bored and need something to talk about.

 

[HockeyHell]

I have also heard Levin rumours prior to every camp over the last few seasons. I am assuming nothing better is being offered or he would be taking it. Not having announced the signing of a Euro is a little worrisome. You want to steal games early in the season not lose games because of goaltending. I have zero confidence in the above mentioned Plan B.

 

[billoink]

Diachow attending Habs camp decisions would probably be made then just like Ukko as to where organization would like him to play I would think.

 

[HockeyHell]

I thought Ukko signed Aug 2nd last year? Prior to camps starting?

 

[WaW]

I thought Ukko signed Aug 2nd last year? Prior to camps starting?

He did. If I recall, I think Paps went to Finland to actively recruit him and ultimately succeeded in signing him before NHL camps. Buffalo probably had a major say in that.

 

[Saggy]

Insight on your draft......Stillman is awesome and very creative, will add offence immediately, Larmand is pure effort and would be a great penalty killer with a touch of scoring ability too, McCallum was a major gaff.....insane that you took him in First Round. Kid is infamous for not getting along with other teammates and having generally a bad attitude. Head Coach is great in sorting that out but the kid will need a lot of work.

As for your D, Robinson is a nice solid, stay at home dman and Anania plays with chip on shoulder which would be nice addition. Both are better than you think and could make team and contribute.

 

[djscooter]

It's going to be a long year listening to idiots who have never seen Byfield play give their two cents on him isn't it?

In the last week between HF and Twitter I've heard the following things on Byfield.

1. He has no creativity

2. He has bad hands at high speeds

3. He's lazy

4. He's only good because he's bigger than others.

It's going to be a long season...

 

[dirty12]

It's going to be a long year listening to idiots who have never seen Byfield play give their two cents on him isn't it?

In the last week between HF and Twitter I've heard the following things on Byfield.

1. He has no creativity

2. He has bad hands at high speeds

3. He's lazy

4. He's only good because he's bigger than others.

It's going to be a long season...

There is a lot of hype on Byfield. There are a lot watching, expecting dominance and/or looking for flaws. That happens to those at the top. So he is being criticized for not being the most outstanding at one tournament with some of the world’s best his age. There’s ten months for him to prove he’s consistently one of, if not the best

The constant air horn blasts from the few non scout spectators made it difficult for me to stay tuned

 

[djscooter]

There is a lot of hype on Byfield. There are a lot watching, expecting dominance and/or looking for flaws. That happens to those at the top. So he is being criticized for not being the most outstanding at one tournament with some of the world’s best his age. There’s ten months for him to prove he’s consistently one of, if not the best

The constant air horn blasts from the few non scout spectators made it difficult for me to stay tuned

There definitely is things to criticize against him game. None of the things I listed are accurate though.

 

[billoink]

I think the most outstanding negative about his game is the number of times he falls down during a game. As he gets stronger and grows into his body his balance will adjust accordingly. He is a stud and makes players around him better. Where Byfield stands out from the rest of the pack is he puts people in the seats what ever rink he plays in.

 

[member 236327]

Dichow has updated his Twitter account with Sudbury Wolves in his description (along with Malmo Redhawks). Take it with a grain of salt, but can't be a bad thing..