*OFFICIAL* Erie Otters 2013 Off-Season Thread
 

Thought I would start a thread for next season as others have done. Where do people see them finishing next season, still a huge goaltending hole that needs to be filled but we will see what happens with the import draft in about 7 weeks.

At the Otters award ceremony Pelech took home the most accolades winning the player of the year and d-man of the year. He also won the Sertz family scholastic award for being the top student athlete.

Connor Brown won a pair of trophies after an excellent first season in the OHL with 53 points, second best among league rookies. Brown won the Most Sportsmanlike Player, He also shared the rookie if the year award with Harper.

Pelech, Brown and Harper, forwards Dane Fox and Luke Cairns all won the team MVP.

Cairns wins Most Improved Player
Ramis Sadikov Locastro-Bonini Three Star Award
Connor Crisp Bassin Award for Dedication
Travis Wood and Jake Evans co-winners of the Vince Scott Award for Determination
Mac McDonnell Steve Nimigon Humanitarian Award

Does Erie still have their import pick ?

Yes they have two for the upcoming draft. Their first pick is third overall so they will add another high end player. I am not sure if they will use their 2nd round pick because that will depend on the player they took last year he is a russian but the name slips my mind begins with a T though and if Olden will be returning.

Will they be a playoff team ?

Yes this team should be a playoff team next season. They need to get a starting goalie and if the right guy is found no reason this team misses the playoffs. This team has a very strong core and now add McDavid to the team. I see them finishing about 6th or 7th in the conference next season.

Vladimir Tkachev was their second import pick last season, he was taken 37th overall but there was no room for him on the team with Olden and Sadikov. I am not sure how likely it is he would report this year or not but it is something to consider.

I know he was denied a visa that allowed him to come over and play as well. Apparently he was coerced into signing a contract to stay in Russia. Does anyone know if that means he will never come over? I know the laws in Russia can get a little confusing on this.

Because the otters had 2 imports he had to be released
A team cannot own 3 and play 2,the rule is 2 imports is the maximum a team can have the rights to

Playoffs, really? With all due respect I think McDavid is going to be a great OHL player but isn't that expecting alot of a 150 lb. 16 year old? I mean, this team didn't finish last this season for a reason. Lots of holes and in spite of a draft where you got the first overall pick that is going to be VERY good I think playoffs is asking a hell of alot.

Ya I know I stated that earlier in the thread, I was wondering if he is under contract to stay in Russia last year can we just assume he wont be here this year either?

Yes they do have some holes to fill goaltending being the biggest one. I they fill that with a solid veteran there is no reason this team should not make the playoffs. I know they were bad last year but they have a strong young core. Brown had nearly 60 points as a rookie and Harper scored 24 goals as a 16 year old. Cairns picked his play up and they have Fox as well. Pelech is one of the best d-men in the league and I thought Mcdowell was good as well. I am not expecting a season like Barrie but I just dont think playoffs are out of the question.

This team's problem last year was age, leadership, lack of experience on defense, and a bit of talent was lacked
You had about 80% of this team who were 16 or 17 year olds and with the trading of Thompson and McKegg as well as Holden, Marchese and Cazzola, they lost leaders and talent

Next year I expect the defence to improve and the talent level will rise with Mcdavid and Harper/Evans/Brown going in to their second year
Leaders will emerage with Fox and Pelech and potentially Harper

This team will need to get a solid #1 or above average #2 to go along with Williams in net and will need to add a 19 or 20 year old top 2 line player
If they can accomplish that in the off-season I expect at least a 8th seed and maybe a 7th or 6th seed in next years playoffs

That is exactly what they need to do. If they take a top player in the import draft whether it be a goalie or forward they still are filling a hole. They have a two 2nd 3rd and 4th round picks if im not mistaken, maybe use a 3rd and 4th or 2nd and 3rd to get a good quality player to fill the other hole. I have a few OA's in mind that I would like to get since there will be at least 2 open spots for OA's i think. If Olden comes back then he will fill an OA slot and add some depth to the roster. No reason they do not make the playoffs at least.

As of now this is what I see their lineup looking like for next year.

Line1 Cairns-Brown-Fox
Line2 Harper-McDavid-Olden/import/trade
Line 3 Crisp-Evans-Betz
Line 4 is a battle for the remaining players Cortellesa, McGuire, Pettit, Hodgson, McDonnell and maybe Wood or Raddysh

I think the D looks like
Line 1 McDowell- Pelech
Line 2 Donnay- Maskaant
Line 3 Murphy- then a battle between Grant, Raddysh, Wood, Felker, and Glass.

Goaltending I think will be
Import/ trade
Williams.

What do other fans think? Maybe add another D-man through trade if Olden returns?

I agree with lines 1 and 2 although i think Olden will be gone. After that its hard to predict because you have 2 lines open for alot of players such as:
Crisp-Cortellesa-McGuire-Betz-Evans-McDonnell-Wood then potentially rookies such as:
Hodgson-Pettit and other guys from previous drafts

I think Mcdonnell is probably not hear next year cause he is a overage who hasnt put up good numbers let alone average numbers
McGuire I think stays because of physical play
Crisp is a potential trade option
And Wood and Cortellesa are toss ups

A lot of players with little roster space open means the Otters have a good problem
Only will lose Sadikov and maybe Olden so its basically everyone from last year plus new draft picks and picks from previous years and traded players

It all depends on what they do about a #1 goalie. I think they will take a gaolie with the 3rd overall pick in the import draft,and that will be the starter with Williams as the back-up.
It also depends on how they approach the over age situation. I'm pretty sure the only over age player will be McDonell. As someone else posted i think he will not make this team or will be traded. So that leaves them the chance to get three over age players. Im not sure if they would look to get three this season or not,but my guess is they will trade for one or two which would help quite a bit.

I think if they get a decent starting goalie and keep the same line up with adding a few rookies and maybe other draft picks from other seasons they will still have a great shot at makeing the play-offs this year as a 8th seed.
But next year and the following year i think they will be a great team with good chance of going a long long way.

Interesting I never thought of Crisp as trade bait. I personally like him a lot and teams may stay away because he is injury prone. He played well at the rookie camp and I thought he played well in the game he did play this season. I agree that I do not see McDonell on the team next year either unless he improves greatly by training camp.

I think there is a greater chance than most think about Olden coming back. I might be wrong but I think he only had 21 points all season and many of those came in the first month. I know the team was bad and he never had a steady line and I do not think he will be back either but it would not surprise me if he was.

I agree i think Olden will be back with the Otters. I think if they had any feeling that he wouldnt be back this season he would have been traded.
If he does come back this season the top two lines should be very very good
Fox-Cairins-Brown
Olden-McDavid-Harper

I agree because that second line will be deadly. I saw the playmaking ability of mcdavid and i can't describe how good it was. Mcdavid and Olden both have tremendous speed and olden gets many opportunities but had trouble putting them away last year. Pair them with a natural goal scorer like Harper and if they all click together I can easily see all three of them getting more than 65 points next season.

I would agree. Harper has the finishing touch and McDavid can really find the open man so logically that would work well.

Ya I can not wait to see those two in particular to play next season. They had them playing on the same line in the rookie camp last week and they seemed to do well considering it was the first time they played together. Harper put in 24 goals last season as a 16 year old, put him with one of the best play makers I have seen in McDavid he could hit 40 next season.

The Tulio will now be the Erie Insurance Arena when the renovations are done.

http://ottershockey.com/article/tull...nsurance-arena

I can not wait for this to be complete, sounds like it will be one of the best arena's in the league.

Petes fan here.... Petes are rumoured to be swapping the 9th import pick to Sudbury for their first import pick + players.... I was wondering if you guys think it would be fair value to do something like.....
To Erie: Sudburys Import Pick, 3rd in 2014, 3rd in 2015
To Ptbo: Sondre Olden

It doesn't sound outrageous but which pick do the wolves have? I don't think Erie will be willing to trade a top 2 line player this year unless they get a skilled player in return that would contribute in the 13-14 season.

Pelech had the biggest gain in moving up in the draft this past month. He is now ranked 29th, I have been saying it all year that this kid has a lot of talent and is one to watch out for. Great he is finally getting some recognition.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=396087