There is no denying this one, the Ontario Hockey League got it right when they named North Bay Battalion General Manager Adam Dennis as the winner of the Jim Gregory Award for General Manager of the year on May 21. You could argue that he was deserving the previous two seasons with the Battalion getting to the OHL’s Eastern Conference finals both years.
But being recognized here for his work in the 2023-2024 season is very fitting.
With the team at 15-12-4-1 going into the Christmas break, the decision was made to see if the core could go for one more, leading to the additions of Sandis Vilmanis and Andrew LeBlanc upfront, Jacob LeBlanc and Bronson Ride on the back end and handing the backup goaltending role to Mike McIvor. Every single one of those moves became pivotal over the course of the final four months of the season, which paved the way for this recognition for Dennis and his staff.
No other Battalion GM has ever won this award.
No other Battalion team has won three straight division titles.
And yes, the Battalion would’ve loved nothing more than to get over the hump and get into the OHL finals, the fact remains the East is a different beast when it comes to contending year in and year out and the Troops are the first team to reach three straight conference finals since the Belleville Bulls, from 2007-09.
Now it’s time for the next layers of the foundation to be laid.
There will be some turnover going into 2024-25 and with his Jim Gregory award in hand, this might be the biggest challenge Dennis has undertaken since becoming GM of the Troops in 2019.
He'll have to make difficult decisions with as many as 13 players from the 2023-2024 team moving off the roster.
First, he must work with the coaching staff to name a new captain with Liam Arnsby graduating. He’ll also have to replace the production of Dallas Stars prospect Justin Ertel up front and find a reliable and steady defenseman with Paul Christopoulos also having played his final season.
The good news is Dennis can fill those roles with players who will be in their overage season this year, the difficult part is he has ten players in their 2004 birth year on the roster, and he’ll have to cut that down to three OAs at the beginning of next season (technically they can have four on the roster until Christmas but only dress three per game).
That group includes; defenceman Tnias Mathurin, right winger Sandis Vilmanis, goaltender Dom DiVincentiis, centre Dalyn Wakely, centre Brice Cooke, defenceman Ty Nelson, defenceman Jacob LeBlanc, left winger Andrew LeBlanc, defenseman Trevor McDowell, and left winger Owen Van Steensel.
The decision on which three 20-year-old's end up playing for the Battalion could come down to a few NHL clubs and their plans for certain players.
Mathurin is the property of the Detroit Red Wings. Vilmanis belongs to the Florida Panthers. DiVincentiis is a prospect with the Winnipeg Jets and Nelson was drafted by the Seattle Kraken.
If the Panthers were watching the last half of the OHL season and the entire postseason, (and I can confirm they had scouts in the building) then it seems like a no-brainer that Vilmanis (fifth round, 157th overall in the 2022 NHL entry draft) will be given every opportunity to make the big-league team out of camp.
The 6’2" 192lbs Latvian forward played at another level in a Battalion uniform. His 28 goals and 39 points in 30 games in the regular season propelled the Troops to the top of the Central Division and he added 10 goals and 27 points in 16 post-season games.
Nelson should also be given every opportunity to crack the Kraken’s opening-day roster next fall.
This past season he dealt with some injuries and went through a roller coaster of emotions as he was cut from Team Canada’s World Junior roster before being added to the team at the last minute due to another player’s injury. The first overall draft pick in the 2020 OHL draft, Nelson came into the league and proved over three years that he is one of the best puck-moving defensemen in Major Junior and his slap shot from the point already has big league calibre written all over it.
See related: What's next for Dom DiVincentiis?
DiVincentiis had a similar season to Nelson’s with injuries interrupting his season a few times and cutting his post-season short. But following the new year DiVincentiis put together a classic Dom run. In 25 games he went 19-2-2-1 with a 2.56 goals against average, and from February 1 through March 14, he played in 11 games and in eight of those games he allowed two goals or less. But it will be intriguing to watch what the Jets do over the summer and how it affects DiVincentiis’ future. They have some goalie depth with players like Thomas Milic, Logan Neaton and Collin Delia already in their semi-pro ranks and of course, they’ve recently reinvested in their number one netminder at the NHL level, signing Connor Hellebuyck to a seven-year $59.5 million contract.
But for all intents and purposes, it is likely that these three players have played their last game in a Troops uniform.
Mathurin’s future isn’t as clear-cut. The Red Wings fifth-round draft choice in 2022 certainly has the talent to make some noise at big league training camp, and reports from the last few years have come out that he has really impressed the brass down in Motor City. At 6’3 and 195lbs Mathurin is a big-bodied, stay-at-home defenseman who showed flashes of offensive potential with 17 points. But he missed significant development time since being drafted, getting into only one OHL regular season game in 2022-2023 and the Red Wings have until June 1st to sign him to an entry level contract or they will relinquish his rights. The Battalion certainly would love to have Mathurin for another year on the blue line.
I’m breaking down the remaining six players who currently aren’t NHL prospects into the following three categories: the twins, the depth guys, and the top line.
The twins: Andrew and Jacob LeBlanc came over to the team at the trade deadline and played their roles perfectly. Andrew filled a much-needed two-way role between the second and third lines and gave the team 25 points in 28 games. Jacob was dynamite on the backend, with 13 points in 31 games and showed great defensive awareness, and the ability to move the puck end to end. But in four years in the OHL, they have played together in four different cities and sources say they would prefer to stick together for their OA season as well.
The depth guys: Brice Cooke and Trevor McDowell played with the goal of proving they could be reliable Major Junior players game in and game out. Cook had a respectable 25-point season in 63 games playing mostly bottom-line minutes while trying to provide leadership to the team's younger players he was often paired with.
McDowell, originally a fourth-round draft choice by the Windsor Spitfires in 2020, joined the Battalion in November when their blue line was in flux. It was his first taste of OHL action and in 45 games he posted five points, with a +5 rating.
These two are the most likely to find playing time elsewhere next season. Last summer we saw Dennis move potential were on the edges of the roster in Nikita Tarasevich (to Oshawa) and Brayden Hislop (to Guelph) and transferred Luc Brzutwoski to the Milton Menace of the OJHL.
The top line: Dalyn Wakely scored 104 points, the third most in the league. He netted 39 goals and 65 assists. He played on a line with the leagues top goal scorer Anthony Romani and fellow 19-year-old Owen Van Steensel. Van Steensel added 86 points, with 41 goals. In an ideal world and best-case scenario – these are the two OAs the Battalion would likely want to bring back to not only keep that competitive window open but to begin the season with the top-scoring line in the league would make them contending favourites.
These two would also no doubt command a decent return on the trade market and rumours are sure to be swirling over the next few months as they did last season with Arnsby, Ertel, Christopoulos, DiVincentiis and Nelson.
One thing we know for sure is the front office already has its plans A, B, C, D, and E lined up and if plan A means keep the competitive window open and bring back the best roster on paper, that would mean the most likely overage (OA) returners would be Wakely, Van Steensel and Mathurin.
Why not bring back your top line that combined for 138 goals and a defenceman who the opposition will find increasingly difficult to play against with another year of Major Junior under his belt?
That leaves the Battalion having to fill their scoring depth roles and rounding out their defence.
Internal candidates include Jacob Therrien who will look to build on a 20-goal, 38-point season in his third year and former first-round pick Ethan Procyszyn is coming off a 15-goal, 36-point campaign.
Ihnat Pazii, Lirim Amidovski, Stef Forgione, Nolan Laird, and Dylan Richter will also be among the returnees looking to improve on their campaigns from a year ago and fighting amongst each other for bigger roles on the Troops forward corps.
They’ll be joined by 2024 first-round draft pick Ryder Carey in that battle, as well as 2023 fifth-round pick Reyth Smith who scored 53 points in 55 games with the Powassan Voodoos this past season. His teammate Caleb Dawson, who was taken in the 2023 U18 draft, put up 23 points in his first season in the NOJHL and at 6’2” Dawson stood out at orientation camp and should get plenty of looks to play a depth role with the Battalion this year.
On the blue line, if Mathurin is already accounted for, he’ll be joined by two 19-year-olds looking to lead the charge with 6’6” Bronson Ride and 6’4” Wyatt Kennedy as the veterans on the back end.
Brayden Turley, a 2022 third-round draft pick appeared in 41 games this past season and next season will be his third in the league.
If that is the top four on paper that leaves at least two spots and some backup roles open for a few guys to claim, such as 2023 third-round pick Zach Wilson who appeared in six games with North Bay this year. 2024 second-round pick Kent Greer turned heads at orientation camp, with his smooth skating and powerful shot and his skill set should make him a prime candidate to start the year with the Troops. The Battalion also signed 6’0 195lbs left shot Aaron Enright just before orientation camp and the fourth-round draft pick from 2023 could play a big role on the blue line this upcoming season as well.
The Troops also appear set in net with Mike McIvor, who should enter camp with the idea of being the team's number one netminder, and deservedly so after his stellar postseason performance.
Although don’t be surprised if Charlie Larocque pushes for some extended playing time coming out of camp as he put up terrific numbers last season with the Carleton Place Jr. Canadians – with a 2.27 GAA and .929 save percentage in 23 games.
While the Battalion should be content with what they currently have on the roster and the prospects coming in, there is work to do, especially with all the moving parts regarding the overage players and those are the major decisions that could really define the course of the upcoming season.
