OHL 20 in 20: Windsor Spitfires
By Rob Benneian @robbenneian
The Windsor Spitfires saw their hopes of a deep playoff run a year ago dashed by a slew of injuries to key players.
With key pieces on the shelf including former Peterborough Petes captain and Tampa Bay Lightning first rounder Slater Koekkoek, and Spits alternate captain and Calgary Flames prospect Patrick Sieloff, Windsor ended the season 10 points behind the Saginaw Spirit for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
This time around, General Manager Warren Rychel is taking steps to ensure if the injury bug bites again, they’ll have the depth to overcome it.
“We’ve got eight guys up front with 20-goal possibility,” Rychel said. “We’ll be strong by committee up front.”
The Spits GM listed back-to-back 40-goal scorer and Columbus Blue Jackets first round pick Kerby Rychel, along with 2012 Priority Selection first rounder Josh Ho-Sang, New Jersey Devils draft pick Ben Johnson, and Montreal Canadiens prospect Brady Vail among the players he expects to be regularly lighting the lamp for his squd.
The club also expects a lot out of their two overage forwards, both of whom were previously members of the Ottawa 67’s.
“(Steven) Janes is a very big guy, a very experienced guy who knows the league,” Rychel said of the 6’4” winger he acquired this summer in a deal with Ottawa. “He’s a kid who’s coming in and has a lot to prove in his overage season. He’s going to be playing hard for a contract.”
Remy Giftopoulos, who has played with Janes in Ottawa since the 2009-10 season and prior to that in minor hockey since their bantam year, came to Windsor at the 2012 trade deadline for a pair of draft picks.
Contributing in all situations for the Spitfires, including as a power play net front presence, Giftopoulos played some of the most productive hockey of his OHL career tallying 21 points in 29 games for the Spits. He will continue to be relied upon for his veteran leadership, offensive abilities and defensive awareness.
The biggest loss for the Spitfires is the departure of their two 1993-born imports, Russian centre Alexander Khokhlachev and Czech goaltender Jaroslav Pavelka. The slick Khokhlachev was a second round pick of the Boston Bruins in 2011 and joined the Bruins American Hockey League affiliate in Providence after the Spitfires 2012-13 season ended.
Pavelka started 88 games over two seasons with the Spitfires after coming over in a deal with the Niagara IceDogs, including helping lead the Spitfires to a playoff berth in 2011-12.
“Pavelka was a big loss in net, but it’s up to (Jordan) DeKort to be the number one guy. He’s going to be the lead horse and it’s his net to lose,” Rychel said. “For goalies it takes a little longer. (DeKort’s) maturity level is up now. We spent a high pick on him, so we expect him to come in and be the guy. Confidence will come with more starts.”
The Spits will look to a pair of 2013 draft picks to replace some of the offence lost with the departure of Khokhlachev, as well as the graduation of 1992-born Alex Aleardi, who had 42 points in 28 games after a deadline deal with the Plymouth Whalers.
“Ryan Moore is a real fast playmaker, a real good, exciting player,” Rychel said of the team’s first pick in the 2013 OHL Priority Selection. “He’s going to be a real good player in this league.”
The club also added Russian forward Nikita Yazkov via the CHL Import Draft, who Rychel described as “very skilled.”
“He’s a right shot, which we’re missing up front dearly on the wing,” Rychel said, as the Spits have just two other right-handed forwards: Ho-Sang and Ty Bilcke. “It’s going to take him time to get used to the league, but it’s a lot of skill for the coaches to work with in his (NHL) draft year and it’s going to take some time, but he’s going to have a big impact. He’s a passer and a finisher just as well. He’s got slick hands, he’s got good size too, he’s big.”
The Spits added a pair of blue liners in the early rounds of the draft who could make a case for significant playing time as early as this season.
“We got two real good defencemen, (Andrew) Burns and (Liam) Murray who could possibly challenge for a spot,” Rychel said. “They’re going to play games but they’re fighting for a spot on an already tough defence.”
Burns, a member of the OHL Cup and OMHA champion Oakville Rangers squad, has impressed since being assigned to the Junior B LaSalle Vipers and will be on the short list for call-ups should disaster strike the Windsor back-end once more. Murray appears to have secured a spot on the Spitfires roster and all indications are he is not there simply as an observer: the Spits want him playing games.
The added depth of having Murray available, Burns, and overage candidate Zack Percy, waiting in the wings in LaSalle, plus a healthy Koekkoek and Sieloff is a measurable improvement over a Windsor blue line that was decimated a year ago.
“Last year, we really suffered when Sieloff and Koekkoek got hurt,” Rychel said. “That was our demise in the end, but we think we’re going to challenge. We’ve got a good team and we’re going to see how it goes.”
As for a prediction from the Spits GM?
“There’s one team everyone is chasing and we match up pretty good against all the other teams,” Rychel said. “We’ll see how she goes, but I think we match up pretty good.”
Click here to watch the Spitfires’ 2013 OHL Priority Selection picks.
ontariohockeyleague.com has featured one team each day in advance of the 2013-14 season.
Read other OHL 20 in 20 season previews:
Central Division: Barrie Colts, Mississauga Steelheads, Niagara IceDogs, North Bay Battalion, Sudbury Wolves
Midwest Division: Erie Otters, Guelph Storm, Kitchener Rangers, London Knights, Owen Sound Attack
East Division: Belleville Bulls, Kingston Frontenacs, Oshawa Generals, Ottawa 67’s, Peterborough Petes
West Division: Plymouth Whalers, Saginaw Spirit, Sarnia Sting, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Windsor Spitfires
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