Yahoo Sports OHL Preseason Roster Breakdown: Sudbury Wolves
We are days away from the OHL season-opening game, and that means we are speeding towards the end our preseason roster breakdown series. A few teams still remain to be looked at, and we will start with the Sudbury Wolves.
Sudbury bought at the deadline last season acquiring Noah Van Vliet and Donovan McCoy. They finished the season fifth in the Eastern Conference with 83 points and 38 wins.
They started the 2024 playoffs strong, defeating the Brampton Steelheads in six games. However, North Bay rolled in and swept the Wolves in the second round, ending their season.
The biggest question for Sudbury will be who is going to step into scoring positions. David Goyette and Landon MacCallum are both moving on with their hockey careers. Both were top-five scorers on the team last season.
Compounding this issue is the possibility that Dalibor Dvorsky could make the St. Louis Blues out of training camp. If that happens Sudbury will have lost three of their top five scorers from last season.
Overage Players
Kocha Delic, Donovan McCoy and Nick DeAngelis are the three overage players on Sudbury's preseason roster.
Delic is an Ottawa native who is entering his fourth season in Sudbury. He has spent his entire OHL career playing for the Wolves and racked up a total of 162 points in 168 games. As a point-per-game player the last two seasons, Delic will be a big part of Sudbury's offense this year.
For the first time in his career, Donovan McCoy will start the season with someone other than Peterborough. The veteran defender joined the Wolves at the deadline following his Championship winning season with Peterborough. The blue liner can be expected to log heavy minutes for Sudbury.
DeAnglis had a career year with Sudbury last year scoring three goals and adding 52 assists for a total of 55 points in 66 games. He led all Wolves defensemen in points and was sixth overall in team scoring. If McCoy can be thought of as the veteran defensive defenseman, then DeAngelis is the other side of the coin. His offensive talents will give Sudbury an extra scoring touch from the back end.
Import Players
There are currently no import players in Sudbury's preseason roster. Dvorsky will take up one of the import spots if he is sent down from St. Louis to Sudbury, however, it is always possible that he lands in the AHL.
At the 2024 CHL Import Draft, Sudbury took Slovakian forward Jan Chovan with the 36th pick. In the second round, they took Adam Nemec, another Slovakian forward, with the 96th pick in the draft.
Chovan is currently playing for Tappara U-20 in Finland, while Nemec is playing for HK Nitra in Slovakia.
Goaltenders
The three goalies on the preseason roster are Nathan Krawchuk, Finn Marshall and Andrew Gaulton.
Krawchuk acted as the Wolves' backup goaltender for the last two seasons. In that time, he has played in 41 games. The Wolves selected Krawchuk third overall in the 2022 OHL U-18 Priority Selection. At the OHL level, he averages 3.23 goals against with a .797 save percentage. This may be the year that Krawchuk takes over the starting position and shows what he can do.
Gaulton played for the Espanola Kings last year in the NOJHL. He averaged 3.28 goals against with a .916 save percentage in 28 games played with Espanola. He also played in one game for Sudbury last season. He allowed seven goals on 25 shots in that game which ended in a loss for Sudbury.
The Wolves drafted Marshall in the thirteenth round of the 2022 OHL Priority Selection. He played for the Georgetown Raiders in the OJHL last season. He averaged 2.85 goals against while maintaining a .915 save percentage. His regular-season success did not translate to the playoffs. In three games, he averaged 4.36 goals against while maintaining a .893 save percentage. Marshall signed with Sudbury at the end of August.
2024 Draft Class
Three 2008-born players remain on the preseason roster. They are first-round pick Luca Blonda, second-round pick Ethan Dean and third-round pick Henry Doucet.
Blonda went to the Wolves with the 12th pick in the draft. The 5-foot-10 defenseman from Sault St. Marie played in Pittsburgh last season for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite squad. In 60 games, he scored 18 goals and added 33 assists. He led all defensemen on the team in scoring and ended the year with the sixth most points on the team.
Dean played for the London Jr. Knights U-16 AAA last season. In 30 games last year, he scored 16 goals and added 15 assists. The 5-foot-11 center also played three games for the London Nationals in the GOJHL. He had two assists in those games.
Doucet scored 20 goals and added 11 assists while playing for Ottawa Myers Automotive U-16 AAA last year. At six feet tall, Doucet is the largest of the three 2008s still with the team. The left winger will have to use his size to his advantage early in the season.
Sudbury will have a solid squad next season. They have a good balance of new and returning players that should make their team at the very least middle of the pack. If the team comes together quickly we could see great things from them before the end of the year.
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