Sudbury
Miners - 2020-21 CCHL Season Preview
CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):
The Sudbury Miners appear to
have turned a corner. Based on their past
couple of seasons, they have continued to make progress and have even enjoyed
some small successes. Their young core
got another taste of the playoffs in 2019-20, and if last year’s first round
win versus Springfield was any indication, they are ready to contend.
Kehler Cup
odds: 15-1
Key Additions:
Brayden Point - C; Artemi Panarin - LW; Seth Jones - D; Roman Josi -D.
Key Departures:
Sean Monahan - C; Dylan Larkin - C; Mikhail Sergachev - D; Kyle Palmieri - RW.
The Sudbury Miners ended their 2019-20
season with a 41-30-11 record, good for 6th in the Canosa Conference
and were able to clinch a playoff berth on the second last game of the season. They were able to avenge the previous
seasons’ playoff loss to the Springfield Isotopes, before bowing out to the
eventual champion Siberia Ice Cats in 6 games.
But, now pressure begins for the
Miners. Management feels that the time
has come for the Miners to truly contend, and made a number of off-season moves
to support this. They are deeper and
more talented than last year’s team but with that, expectations are much
higher. This rabid fan-base, is starting
to grow impatient when it comes to a lack of playoff success and is looking for
a long playoff run this season. Anything short of a Conference Final berth
would be deemed a disappointment.
UP AND COMING
PLAYER TO WATCH
Highly touted winger, Travis Konecny is
looking to continue his upward trend as one of the top producing wingers in
CCHL. He has the offensive skills and
grit to become one of the Miners most productive players. He is slated to start on a newly formed
second line with Brayden Point and Zach Hyman.
The hope is that with Point’s playmaking abilities, Konecny can fill the
net and add to what appears to be a dangerous Miners attack. It is not unreasonable to expect 25-30 goals
from Konecny this season.
WHAT A
SUCCESSFUL 2020-21 SEASON WOULD LOOK LIKE
After
a couple of years of progress with their young core, it seems that simply making
the playoffs again this year will not be enough. This fan-base is hungry for a winner. A first round bye and winning a playoff
round, (or maybe even two) would have to make one think that the season would
be a success. Whispers around the Nickel
City is that management has expectations of a Conference Final berth with this
team. One thing is for certain - remaining
at status quo is not an option this year.
BIGGEST REMAINING QUESTION
Ideally, all of
the off-season changes work out perfectly and the Miners do contend as
expected. But, the CCHL season is long and
there are always events that happen to change things during the season. The real question is that with these
heightened expectations, how will this team respond when they are expected to
win?
TOP 10 PROSPECTS
1. Spencer Knight, G – Boston University (NCAA)
2. Grigori Denisenko, LW – Yaroslavl (KHL)
3. Victor Soderstrom, D – Brynas (Swe.)
4. Cole Perfetti, LW – Saginaw (OHL)
5. Peyton Krebs, C/W – Winnipeg (WHL)
6. Philip Broberg, D – Skelleftea (Swe.)
7. Nick Robertson, LW – Peterborough (OHL)
8. Lassi Thomson, D – Ilves (Fin.)
9. Dylan Holloway, C – Wisconsin (NCAA)
10. Connor Timmins, D – Colorado (AHL)
PREDICTION: 2nd in Canosa Conference.
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