Peterborough Petes have new foundation, but what about their ceiling? OHL Burning Questions

The Ontario Hockey League regular season begins in fewer than 10 days. They play one of these every winter? Man, that summer was short. With the days getting shorter and the season getting nearer, BTN is taking an early look at each team in reverse order of last season's standings.

Peterborough Petes

In 2012-13 — 26-35-3-4, 59 points, 194 GF/250 GA. Ninth, Eastern Conference, out of playoffs.

Final Dynamic Dozen ranking — 16th OHL, 47th CHL.

On the junior/pro bubble — RW Derek Mathers is due to join the Philadelphia Flyers' top farm team, although his transition to the pros got off to a rocky start.

Drafted — C Michael Clarke (Colorado Avalanche, fifth round), D Clark Seymour (Pittsburgh Penguins, fifth), LW Matej Paulovic (Dallas Stars, fifth, from Farjestad Jrs.).

2014 NHL draft watch — LW Nick Ritchie is an early candidate to be a top-10 pick after averaging nearly a point per game an injury-disrupted sophomore season; C Eric Cornel bears watching, while fellow 17-year-old attacker Steven Lorentz has shone during preseason. Eighteen-year-old C Greg Betzold attended a St. Louis Blues development camp ahead of his second crack at being selected.

1. How could the Petes be rewarded for not going scorched earth after last fall's shakeup?

Instragram had yet to launch when the Petes last participated in the post-season, which means it might have been hard to tell the team's public, hey, we're rebuilding again. Imagine the groaning when your parents said you were moving, then triple it, and you get the idea.

Mike Oke, first as interim GM, divested veteran assets such as captain Tampa Bay Lightning first-rounder Slater Koekkoek (now in Windsor) and No. 1 centre Alan Quine (now with Belleville). The Petes tried to improve on the fly by getting a stay-at-home 18-year-old defenceman in Brandon Devlin and adding hometown defenceman Nelson Armstrong from the NCAA's St. Lawrence University during the Christmas break. In a few small steps, the Petes became strong enough defensively that they were able to live on the margins and get into a playoff race. Armstrong, Devlin and the now 19-year-old Connor Boland each finished as plus players for a team which didn't score much. Finishing strong might be semi-chimeric, but it paints the Petes in a more positive light than they would be in if they were at the start of a rebuild. Three, if not four Eastern Conference teams — Mississauga, Niagara, Ottawa, kinda-maybe Oshawa — are starting a new growth cycle, so the Petes should get back to the playoffs, no problem.

2. Why shouldn't offence be an issue for this iteration of the Petes?

Coach Jody Hull's club is fairly brimming with forwards who should make the great leap. Ritchie, a point-a-game scorer in the second half last season, is an excellent finisher. Cornel was a bit player while Hull played veterans to try to eke out that elusive playoff berth, but the No. 3 overall pick in 2012 has had a summer to develop physically. Peterborough should get more out of its imports. Jonatan Tanus (33 points in 67 games) is now a seasoned sophomore and 19-year-old Dallas Stars prospect Matej Paulovic, who potted a couple goals at last week's Traverse City prospects event, is an upgrade over former D-man Peter Ceresnak, who was healthy-scratched several times down the stretch last season. Clarke, Betzold, Stephen Nosad and Stephen Pierog and possibly Lorentz, the training camp revelation, are also good complements.

The one missing ingredient might be a bona fide offensive leader. Looking at you, Ritchie. No pressure.

3. How critical will a strong power play be?

What are power-play stats but a symptom of a robust attack? That's in reference not just to a team's efficiency, but how often it puts opponents on the penalty kill and then makes them pay. The Petes' 224 power-play attempts and 36 PPG were each the fewest in the OHL in at least 15 seasons, which helped make their second-half drive seem all the more underdog-ish and improbable.

Peterborough has the pieces, particularly overage goalie Andrew D'Agostini, to grind through a lot of one-goal games. It went 13-8-3-4 in such contests, but a lack of power-play opportunities and conversions surely prevented getting back into some games. None of the returning defencemen profiles as a power-play quarterback, but with a deeper brigade of forwards, those numbers should improve.

That and the lack of proven scoring are reasonable reasons to temper expectations. But Peterborough ought to be in the meaty part of the curve in the East; goodness knows it's overdue.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.