ERIE:
Probable Grads:
- Drew Hunter (too old)
- Jacob Golden (too old)
- Kyen Sopa (pro in Europe)
- Hayden Fowler (traded)
- Daniel Murphy (traded)
- 2 of Chad Yetman/Maxim Golod/Jack Duff/Kurtis Henry/Mathew MacDougall (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Golod(OA)-Yetman(OA)-D’Amato
Swankler-Lockhart-Hoffmann
Sellan-Saganiuk-Sproule
Sedore/Ross-Cohen-Bressette/Lowe
D:
Drysdale-Duff or Henry(OA)
Sova-Kulakov
Morton/Morton-Kischnick/Kyrou
G:
Kolosov
Campbell/Lalonde
Analysis:
An interesting team because this will almost surely be their last year with Jamie Drysdale, Chad Yetman and Maxim Golod, easily their 3 best players. So based on that you’d think they will go out and add to try to add to challenge this year. I think the rest of their roster is far from being a championship team though so I wonder if they consider building around the Lockhart/Saganiuk group instead. If that is the case, Drysdale could/should be on the block.
FLINT:
Probable Grads:
- Jack Phibbs (too old)
- Jake Durham (too old)
- Anthony Popovich (too old)
- Ty Dellandrea (signed-AHL)
- Tyler Tucker (signed-AHL)
- Riley McCourt (signed-AHL)
- Vladislav Kolyachonok (pro in Europe)
- Jack Wismer (traded)
- 2 of Dennis Busby/Connor Roberts/Owen Lalonde/Quinn Yule/Evan Morrison (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Oksentyuk-Morgan-Othmann
Keppen-Kressler-Piercey
Roberts(OA)-Giroux-Panwar
Lombardi/Petrou-Hayes-Pierce
D:
Busby(OA)-Lalonde(OA)
Kuzmin-Terry
Gretz/Harper-Deline/D’Amato
G:
Cavallin
Grainer/Nixon
Analysis:
Flint really got screwed by not having a playoffs last year as they looked primed to have a really good run with a very strong D core, a championship goalie and some big F’s who could contribute. Going into next year their D core takes a massive hit losing Kolyachonok, McCourt, Tucker and now looks pretty thin outside of the Busby/Lalonde pairing. The forward top 9 is actually still pretty good despite losing Dellandrea, Wismer, Durham and Phibbs, especially if Panwar can become the player that he was projected to be coming out of minor midget. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Flint trade off older guys like Keppen/Morgan though and build around the Othmann/Kressler group for their next big run.
GUELPH:
Probable Grads:
- Cedric Ralph (too old)
- Fedor Gordeev (too old)
- Josh Wainman (too old)
- Nico Daws (pro in Europe)
- Pavel Gogolev (pro in Europe)
- Cam Hillis (signed-AHL)
- Zack Terry (traded)
Depth Chart:
F:
Uba(OA)-Zhilkin-Stevenson(OA)
Roach(OA)-Poitras-Bakanov
Papais-Walker-McFarlane
Karabela-Sikic/Maillet-McGuire/Bowman
D:
Chayka-Has
Bianconi-Profaca
Hiebert-Campbell/Buchinger
G:
Bennett
?
Analysis:
Guelph will go from a team who would’ve been really dangerous in the 2019 playoffs to a team who will contend for the #1 overall pick next year after losing Daws, Hillis, Gogolev, Gordeev, Ralph and Wainman. The top 6 should be able to score and Chayka-Has have the potential to be a pretty good pairing, but there is not much depth in Guelph heading into next season and I have a feeling they’ll have a hard time keeping the puck out of their own net.
KITCHENER:
Probable Grads:
- Greg Meireles (too old)
- Liam Hawel (too old)
- Jonathan Yantsis (too old)
- Riley Damiani (signed-AHL)
- Serron Noel (signed-AHL)
- Jacob Ingham (signed-AHL)
- Axel Bergkvist (pro in Europe)
- 1 of Jack Wismer/Justin MacPherson/Holden Wale/Lucas Pfeil (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Valade-Pinelli-Dickerson
Petizian-Langdon-Wismer(OA)
A.LeBlanc-Serpa-McDonnell
Swick-Fishman-Sop
D:
Vukojevic-Ottavainen
Xhekaj-Sebrango
MacPherson(OA)-Wale(OA)/J.LeBlanc
G:
Cajan
Parsons
Analysis:
Another team that’s at the top of the list for who got hit hardest by covid. They lose 7 elite OHL players from their roster and will become a much younger team next year. The D core is actually still pretty good, even if they move Vukojevic (which there have been rumours about) but I don’t think they’ll have the firepower to be fighting for the top of the conference anymore. The biggest question mark will be having 2 rookie goalies in net.
LONDON:
Probable Grads:
- Jason Willms (too old)
- Markus Phillips (too old)
- Dylan Myskiw (too old)
- Alec Regula (signed-AHL)
- Ryan Merkley (signed-AHL)
- Liam Foudy (signed-AHL)
- Jonathan Gruden (signed-AHL)
- Matvey Guskov (traded)
- Sahil Panwar (traded)
Depth Chart:
F:
Stranges-McMichael-Evangelista
Moskal(OA)-Dunkley(OA)-Rolofs
McCue-Bujold-Smith
Sim-Crane-McGurn
D:
Skinner-Mailloux
Steklov-Roger
Montgomery-Edward/George
G:
Brochu
?
Analysis:
If you’re a London hater, this may finally be the year for you. The still have the top end talent but their depth is extremely young and extremely questionable going into the year. Their 3rd and 4th lines are both almost exclusively rookies, they don’t have a backup goalie and their defence doesn’t look very strong outside of the top pair. But they’re the London Knights so they could very well sign 5 pro level guys a week before the season and be really good again. There’s also a chance that McMichael makes the Capitals, in which case it would be really hard to see London being any good next season.
OWEN SOUND:
Probable Grads:
- Matthew Philip (too old)
- Matthew Struthers (too old)
- Brady Lyle (too old)
- Aidan Dudas (signed-AHL)
- 2 of Carter Robertson/Adam McMaster/Sergey Popov/Kaleb Pearson/Barret Kirwin (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Popov(OA)-McMaster(OA)-Burroughs
Lawrence-Goure-Pearson(OA)
Wilson-Samanski-Guindon
LeSage-Bryant-Machacek
D:
Perrott-Woolley
Chibrikov-Seed
Sedley-?
G:
Guzda
Chenard
Analysis:
I really like Mack Guzda but there isn’t much going for Owen Sound next year. They have an average D-core and a slightly below average forward group, so in a normal year they’d probably slot into the 7/8 spot and make the playoffs, but with only 4 teams from each conference getting in, I don’t see how Owen Sound would ever be one of those teams.
SAGINAW:
Probable Grads:
- Reilly Webb (too old)
- DJ Busdeker (too old)
- Cole Coskey (too old)
- Damien Giroux (signed-AHL)
- Bode Wilde (signed-AHL)
- Blade Jenkins (signed-AHL)
- Ilya Solovyov (pro in Europe)
- 2 of Goldowski/Katic/Antropov/Frappier/King (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Perfetti-Suzuki-Grewe
Duhart-Antropov(OA)-Codd
Beck-Baber-Katic or Goldowski(OA)
Bulovs-Klein-Bloom
D:
Millman-Mintyukov
King(OA)-Smith
Mancini-?
G:
Lennox
Tahk/Oke
Analysis:
Will have one of the top lines in the OHL next season, but there’s a steep drop off after that. It’s harder to get the top talent than it is to trade for middle 6 guys so Saginaw could easily make themselves a top contender with some trades, but it will all come down to Tristan Lennox. He NEEDS to be a lot better than he was last year for them to be a real threat to win a championship.
SARNIA:
Probable Grads:
- Ryan McGregor (too old)
- Sean Josling (too old)
- Kelton Hatcher (too old)
- 2 of Stratis/Bitten/Roth/Mack/Jakovljevic (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Roth(OA)-Rees-Guy
Voit-Geci-Perreault
Bitten(OA)-Namestnikov-Dann/Filak
Hill/DeGurse-Saye/Burke-O’Donnell/McIntyre
D:
Reesor(OA)-Nolet
Stratis(OA)-Hjorth
Mast/Dillingham-Supryka
G:
Gaudreau
Langevin
Analysis:
An interesting group for the Sting because its the last year of Rees, Roth, Hjorth, Stratis and Bitten so that suggests they should be going for it, but I think they could be better next year when Namestikov is a real contributor, Perreault is a top 10 player in the league and Gaudreau is a top 3 goalie in the league. Sarnia could be a top 4/5 team in the conference this season, but with only 4 tams making it, that might have them on the outside looking in. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they looked to move Jamieson Rees for a big return so they can use those picks and players that they get for him in their run the next year. Of course its hard to trade away your Team Canada player though so who knows, but that’s what I would probably do. Also would assume Sarnia will be looking to move Langevin to a team who needs a starting goalie (Peterborough) as Gaudreau is going to play 80+% of the games
SAULT STE. MARIE:
Probable Grads:
- Jaden Peca (too old)
- Bailey Brkin (too old)
Depth Chart:
F:
Carroll-Pytlik-MacKay
Trott-Kerins-Dickinson
Kartye-Johnston-McLean
Boudreau-McConnell-Barker-Watson/Mufarreh
D:
O’Rourke-Constantinou
LeGuerrier(OA)-Calisti
Halushak/Wawrow-Holmes
G:
Malik
Taylor
Analysis:
Soo are an interesting team because if they win the Mem Cup bid then obviously they’ll be going all in but if they don’t, will they still? The top 3 in their division are all pretty good (SAG/WSR/SSM) so they very well could finish anywhere in that 1-3 and despite returning almost their entire roster, those players weren’t enough to make the playoffs last year in a league where 80% of the teams make it. The biggest question mark for me is Nick Malik as he was extremely inconsistent in his time in North America last season, and they showed Ethan Taylor they had no faith in him so I wouldn’t be surprised if he is not back. This Soo forward group has a lot of good players but I don’t see any superstar players, which the teams who win it all usually have. The Soo have an average amount of draft picks so if they’re willing to trade their 5th overall pick (McConnell-Barker) then they could go get that superstar type player, but it’s very rare a top 5 pick gets drafted in his rookie season, so we’ll see if they’re willing to do that or not.
WINDSOR:
Probable Grads:
- Luke Boka (too old)
- Cole Purboo (too old)
- Thomas Stevenson (too old)
- Kari Piiroinen (pro in Europe)
- 3 of Curtis Douglas/Connor Corcoran/Tyler Angle/Joe Rupoli/Chris Playfair (too many OAs)
Depth Chart:
F:
Cuylle-Foudy-Afanasyev
Douglas(OA)-Angle(OA)-Maggio
D’Amico-Johnston-McDonald
?-Abraham-Zito
D:
Corcoran(OA)-Henault
Ladd-Robinson
Sobolev-De Angelis
G:
Medina
Downey
Analysis:
I included Afanasyev in this but there is a very real chance that he does not come back, which would be a huge blow to the Spits. They could combat this by trading for an import like Liam Kirk, but he’s not on the level of Afanasyev. But if he’s back, this looks like one of the top teams in the West. The D-core could use another top 4 defender but the offensive group is very deep and has the top end talent, although they do need to count on big years from both Cuylle and Foudy. Xavier Medina is going to be the huge X factor on this team because its just a rookie goalie behind him so they need him to have a big year so they can use their picks to upgrade the skaters where need be. If Medina does not look ready to be a #1 on a championship team then I could see Windsor going after someone like Mack Guzda.
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