Saginaw Spirit eager to 'start a rebuild': OHL Burning Questions

Working down from op of last season's standings, it is time for OHL Burning Questions. For your consideration, the Saginaw Spirit.

Last season went like — Saginaw's season was rendered trivial by the tragic loss of centre Terry Trafford, who committed suicide in March of 2014 after parting ways with the team. It has sparked changes to how the OHL views mental health and it will be "something that's always there" for the Spirit franchise. To their credit, Saginaw's grieving coaches, players and staff pulled themselves together to have a good playoff showing, avoiding elimination on home ice with an emotional victory and making the Erie Otters earn their five-game win.

2013-14, by the numbers — 33-30-4-1, .522 point pct., 250 GF/247 GA. Sixth, Western Conference. Lost 4-1 to Erie in first round.

Drafted — C Jimmy Lodge (Winnipeg Jets, third round), LW Dylan Sadowy (San Jose Sharks, third), C Nick Moutrey (Columbus Blue Jackets, fourth).

2015 NHL Draft watch — C Mitchell Stephens had a dozen points in the preseason; a fellow 17-year-old, RW Artem Artemov, is embarking on his first season Stateside.

1. How far can the younger cohort carry them?

Coach Greg Gilbert says Saginaw will "start a rebuild and build for a championship in two or three years" after an exodus that included franchise goalie Jake Paterson, four of their five 20-goal scorers and top two point-producing defencemen. It might not necessarily be a total teardown and the playoffs remain a reasonable goal in a watered-down Western Conference.

Stephens, Artemov and No. 10 overall choice Tye Felhaber represent a solid foundation. The 19-year-old Lodge and 18-year-old left wing Blake Clarke, who battled injurie last winter, might yet prove capable of showing their 2012-13 showings (67 poitns for Lodge, 51 for Clarke as a 16-year-old with Brampton) were legit.

At the same time, it is axiomatic that counting on all of the young forwards to make a great leap forward is like thinking your Twitter account is really worth thousands of dollars. There is a lot of potential down inside the Dow Events Center.

2. How will Nikita Serebryakov adapt to a busier workload?

The new starter had the unique experience of backing up a two-time Team Canada member, meaning there were stretches around the new year where the now 19-year-old Muscovite was The Guy. Anecdotally, Serebryakov fared well when asked to make consecutive starts — like a 38-save winning effort vs. Windsor last Dec. 15 or a 31-save win over Owen Sound on Jan. 5, bouncing back after being shelled in London the previous night. This is a case of preparation meeting opportunity.

Seventeen-year-old backup Daniel Ovsjannikov, a Czech by way of Rochester, Mich., is one of two OHL rookie goalies whose early move to North America allowed him to skirt the ban of European goalies.

3. With Jesse Graham off to the pros, how deep and skilled is their defence?

The Spirit boast a trio, overages Sean Callaghan and Jacob Ringuette and 18-year-old Brandon Prophet, that possess good size and sharp decision-making capabilities. All three fit the defensive defenceman profile. Seventeen-year-old Ryan Orban, listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, also provides a big body and was able to come directly from minor midget to play 42 games. The role of offensive defenceman would appear to be very up for grabs, and here's where people should pay attention to see how 18-year-old Daniel De Sousa, a former second-rounder in the OHL priority selection, adapts this season after being passed over in the NHL draft.

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