Plymouth Whalers ready to gain after last season's short-term pain: OHL Burning Questions

Working down from the top of last season's standings, it is time for OHL Burning Questions. For your consideration, the Plymouth Whalers.

Last season went like — On the ice, goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made roughly a bajillion saves to help a team with 15 newcomers extend the franchise's streak of playoff appearances to 23 seasons. Off the ice, coach-GM Mike Vellucci moved up to the NHL with the Carolina Hurricanes. One week after the Memorial Cup owner Peter Karmanos issued a call to action, stating attendance will have to increase in order for the OHL's charter U.S. franchise to remain in Plymouth.

2013-14, by the numbers — 28-33-0-7, .463 point pct., 180 GF/231 GA. Eighth, Western Conference. Lost 4-1 to Guelph in first round.

Drafted — LW Sonny Milano (Columbus Blue Jackets, first round), G Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina Hurricanes, second), RW Connor Chatham (New Jersey Devils, third), D Alex Peters (Dallas Stars, third), D Josh Wesley (Carolina, fourth), C Victor Crus Rydberg (New York Islanders, fifth), LW Matthew Mistele (Los Angeles Kings, sixth).

2015 NHL Draft watch — LW Liam Dunda and C Cullen Mercer are each on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary list.

1. Whom beside a certain Columbus first-rounder will be fixing to do something about that paltry sum in the goals-for column?

Plymouth, now guided by head coach Don Eiland and GM Mark Craig, is now at a position where it will have a good mix of seasoned attackers and promising youngsters. Mistele stacks up as an intriguing bounce-back candidate; the late pick of L.A. had 34 goals as a sophomore on that veteran '12-13 team, but then dipped to 18 last season when the Whalers needed him to pick up the slack in many other areas. Two of the overages, centre Mathew Campagna (who had an invitation to the Nashville Predators main camp) and defenceman Gianluca Curcuruto (a former Columbus choice who attended Montreal Canadiens rookie camp) are each in a contract season. Both of the one-time OHL first-rounders have demonstrated some playmaking savvy over their time in the league.

Chatham and Crus Rydberg have also had a year to adapt to the OHL's pace. That should translate into more converted opportunities. Meantime, Milano, who possesses some Patrick Kane qualities, should turn up at some point in October. The 18-year-old is still with Columbus. .

2. How much will the strain on Nedeljkovic be reduced?

Forty, forty-five, 50 shots a night; nothing seems to faze Hurricane Neddy. Officially, the he saw 38.5 shots per night during the regular season. As if that wasn't enough, Nedeljkovic also completed a seeemingly impossible dual feat: goalie of the year in the OHL and member of a gold medal-winning U.S. team at the world under-18 championship.

Peters and Wesley,18-year-olds who were drafted on spec as potential shutdown defenders, will be expected to make further strides. Ultimately, with a more experienced team, Plymouth should have the flexibility to do more in its defensive zone than try to force foes to fire away from the perimeter. It could pay off in keeping the 18-year-old Nedeljkovic, who's had a busy summer with USA Hockey and NHL camps, mentally fresh.

3. How will Will Bitten, the franchise's highest top priority selection pick of the 2000s, be worked into the mix?

Being a consistent playoff team has meant the Whalers have usually mined value from the later rounds of the OHL priority selection, finding that later-blooming player or talking a calculated dice-roll on someone with a viable NCAA option. This April, they had a top 10 selection for the first time since landing Tyler Seguin (at No. 9 in 2008) and used that No. 7 choice on Bitten, who set scoring records with the Ottawa 67's in the eastern Ontario midget AAA league.

That's probably whetted appetites to see Bitten take the OHL by storm, but it shouldn't be overlooked that the Gloucester, Ont., speedster is still young and inexperienced. In '08-09, Plymouth was patient with the 16-year-old Seguin, making him earn his spurs as a penalty killer. The current Dallas Stars standout had 24 points when he went home for Christmas and posted 43 after the new year to finish with 67. That's not to say Bitten, who turned 16 in August, will be on the same track, but it's worth mentioning as a means of keeping the expectations realistic.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.