With the Windsor Spitfires’ 2023-24 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) season underway, there is plenty of optimism around the arena. However, there are questions that need to be asked throughout the first half.
The club comes into this season with significant roster turnover, a new coach, and a drive to redeem themselves after an ugly playoff exit in April. While there is excitement, nothing is going to be easy, nor should it be. There will be plenty to talk about leading up to the Christmas break and a few questions that will need to be answered.
3 Questions Facing the Spitfires
1. Is it Time for Bowler to Rebuild?
The Spitfires saw impressive success over the last two seasons, winning back-to-back Western Conference regular season titles. However, those came at a large cost – a nearly empty draft cupboard. General manager Bill Bowler now has some decisions to make.
During a “State of the Spitfires” prior to last season, Bowler said that the goal was to be competitive every season even though that’s tough in the cyclical nature of junior hockey. However, when he went for a run last season, he gave up several high picks leading to a draft cupboard that included no second-round picks until 2027 and no third-round picks until 2026. It makes contending this season very difficult.
Related: Windsor Spitfires’ Weekly: 5 Takes from the 2023 OHL Trade Deadline
Just before this season’s opener, Bowler sent 19-year-old defenceman Nick DeAngelis, along with defensive prospect Trevor O’Dell, to the Sudbury Wolves. In return, he received 17-year-old defenceman Conor Walton plus five picks. One of those is a prized second-round pick in 2024. Does this mark the start of the rebuild? In this season’s “State of the Spitfires”, Bowler said it was more of a reshuffling.
“We have to restock our cupboard, too, so we can keep drafting players and keep having competitive teams,” he said. “It’s a give-and-take; kind of reshuffle and rearrange the draft and your team a bit.”
Bowler added that it was a tough deal to do, but it was necessary for the future. Given DeAngelis could have been a part of the leadership group this season and next, it’s hard to imagine this is a stand-alone move. There is still work to do for the Spitfires to get back to contention status and, despite wanting to be competitive every season, a rebuild might be the smartest move for the long term.
2. Can the Defence Find Its Way?
Coming into the season, the Spitfires’ biggest question mark was on defence. They finished 14th in the league in goals against last season and losing veterans Michael Renwick (Queen’s University), Jacob Holmes (Kingston Frontenacs), and Daniil Sobolev (Niagara IceDogs) hasn’t helped matters. Add in the DeAngelis trade and the defensive core is looking very green.
While they still have two multi-season veterans in the lineup – James Jodoin, 20, and Rodwin Dionicio, 19 – the remaining five are all under 18 years old with just a combined 71 games of OHL experience coming into the season. That’s including 17-year-old Anthony Cristoforo’s 63 games last season. It’s a green blue line no matter how you slice it. Unfortunately, that comes with some rough patches.
In the preseason, they allowed a league-worst 26 goals against through five games. Only the Oshawa Generals (25 in four games) and Saginaw Spirit (24 in four games) had a worse goals-against average (GAA). Now, through the first week of the season, they’re near the bottom of the league in goals against and showing little sign of climbing the ranks. From missed coverage to odd-man rushes and poor decision-making, it’s been a frustrating defensive start. How does it get fixed?
Growing pains are inevitable with a younger group. The coaches – head coach Jerrod Smith plus assistants Casey Torres and Andy Delmore – have spent many hours implementing systems and tweaking things to get the most out of their roster. However, when inexperience plays such a big role, it’s easier said than done. Can they solve this issue sooner rather than later? It’s going to take time, patience, and buying into the systems, but it’s possible. This is going to be one story to watch as the first half pushes on.
3. Which Overagers Are Kept?
This is one of the burning questions for the team as the first half moves along. Coming into the summer, the club had six players who could have returned for a final overage (20-year-old) season. After trading Sobolev and Holmes, the club still has four remaining.
Forwards Alex Christopoulos, Oliver Peer, and Jacob Maillet, along with Jodoin, all arrived at camp ready to earn a spot. The issue is that OHL teams can only dress three overagers per game. They’ve all been with the club for multiple seasons so – who stays and who goes?
Christopoulos remains out until late October following surgery but is coming off a 49-goal season. Both Peer and Maillet had breakout campaigns with 67 points in 63 games and 76 points in 67 games, respectively. It might sound like Jodoin is the odd man out on defence but he’s well-liked in the room, plays a bit of a police role, and the defence is even greener without him.
It’s tough to predict what will happen with these four but Bowler has shown that he’s willing to do what’s best for the club. All four bring a necessary element to the team and, with Christopoulos set to return later this month, hopefully we’ll get our answers soon.
With the 2023-24 OHL season in full stride, there are questions that will need to be answered before Santa arrives. We’ll see how the Spitfires play their cards.
Sign up for our NHL Prospects & Draft Substack newsletter
