The beauty of training camp is the unknown. Sure you can draw up what you expect your roster to look like on opening day, but there are always battles that take place, expectations that are surpassed or injuries that factor into who will actually lace up their skates for opening night. With training camp beginning for the North Bay Battalion this week, it gives us a chance to look at what a Battalion opening night lineup could look like, simply based on returning players and those we expect to have every chance to make the team due to their draft positions this past April.
Up front, the top six looks set barring any extended NHL camp invites to players like Matthew Struthers or Brad Chenier or Mason Primeau. This is a group that is only losing two players from last years team that played top-six minutes, but the pair of Justin Brazeau (61-52-113) and Luke Burghardt (9-21-30 in 39 games played) did a lot of the heavy lifting on both a production side and from a leadership point of view. The holdovers include Struthers, Chenier, Primeau, Brandon Coe, Mitchell Russell and Luke Moncada although Moncada played more minutes in a third and fourth-line role. This core of seven players combined for 112 goals and 257 points, but 146 of those points (a staggering 56%) was scored by Struthers and Chenier, meaning the Troops will be looking for more of the production to be spread out among that group and the players looking to fight their way into the conversation of being someone who deserves top-six minutes.
We’ve talked previously about the newcomers in Liam Arnsby and Alex Christopoulos who were both drafted out of the Don Mills Flyers program this past April, but there are a couple of very interesting options that wore the Battalion pickle green uniform that could have big productive second years in North Bay.
Harrison Caines is one of those. He got 56 games under his belt in his first year in the Ontario Hockey League and scored nine goals and 21 points and finished with a +/- rating of +4. Caines never had a solidified spot last year and that’s not a knock against him in any way.
It showed off his versatility in the sense that the coaching staff trusted a first-year guy on any line they needed him to be on.
Battalion Assistant Coach and Assistant General Manager Adam Dennis says they loved that about Caines last season, “he was the swiss army knife.”
“He kind of did everything for us and he’s one of those kids whose work ethic is through the roof," Dennis added about Caines.
"I expect him to have another good camp like he did last year. Last summer he really killed it in the gym and doing that again this year will really do wonders for his game. The reports that we’ve been hearing over the summer about his skates, is that it has been really good. I know he’s been on the ice with a couple of his teammates and I’ve spoken to him a few times and it looks like everything is on task and he will be a guy who we expect to have a big year.”
Sticking with the forward group, Kyle Jackson should turn some heads this year, if his call ups last year didn’t already. Jackson got into 12 games with the Troops and scored a goal and three assists last season, while at the same time setting the Central Canadian Hockey League ablaze with the Ottawa Jr. Senators by taking home the CCHL’s Rookie of the Year Award with his 54 points in 51 games played.
Drafted by the Troops in the third round of the 2018 OHL Priority Selection, Dennis says the most impressive thing about Jackson is his hockey IQ.
“He’s such a smart player, he’s able to jump in and play well," said Dennis about Jackson.
"And what a lot of people didn’t see was that when we called him up he seldom had a chance to even practice with his teammates in advanced, so most of the time he was getting out of a bus, or out of a car and then jumping into the OHL which is a much higher level than what he was playing at.”
“I think last year was the perfect situation for him development-wise,” continues Dennis. “He had a great year in the CCHL, got lots of ice time, played first-line minutes, power-play minutes, he ends up winning rookie of the year and he also gets his first taste of the OHL. So that means there’s going to be no surprises for him this year and we expect him to come in and hit the ground running.”
I wrote earlier this summer about Pacey Schlueting and his expectations to become one of the main go-to guys for the Troops on the blue line this year. Combine that with a returning Nick King, Braden Henderson, Simon Rose and the recently drafted Paul Christopoulos (who I also just wrote about) the battle for blueline minutes should be fast and furious and players will have to show the coaching staff exactly why they deserve that ice time.
See related: Schlueting shooting for a call in June
That’s what makes the recent signing of James Mayotte an intriguing move as he comes from the highly regarded Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school program in Minnesota. He was selected two rounds after Jackson was by North Bay, and managed 20 points in 55 games last season with the Sabres midgets squad.
“If he’s playing somewhere in Ontario, he probably goes higher in the draft," said Dennis.
"Going through the Shattuck program he’s got a lot of options, so this is a big get for us. He easily could’ve gone the NCAA route, but he chose our program and we are really excited to have him here and we’re looking for him to do big things this year and into the future.”
