After making one of the biggest splashes at last season's OHL trade deadline, the Sarnia Sting will likely be going with a different approach this time around.
It was a fruitful deadline as the team added leading scorer Travis Konecny, future captain Sam Studnicka and starting goalie Charlie Graham in January, a month after acquiring over age forward and Memorial Cup winner Matt Mistele.
The Sting could have very well be buyers again this year, but with Konecny, Jakob Chyhcrun and Pavel Zacha all sticking with their respectful NHL clubs, Sarnia has struggled to keep up with the top teams in a tough Western Conference.
General Manager Nick Sinclair says it's tough losing guys of that caliber.
"We're not talking about guys who just graduated and went on to school, we're talking about two top forwards and a top dman in this league," says Sinclair. "You lose guys like that it's never going to be easy, those guys aren't replaceable."
Sarnia leveled out a bit following a strong start and an early season appearance on the CHL top ten rankings, winning just three of 11 games during the month of November.
The Sting stumbled into the Christmas break, with just one win in their final five games. Sinclair says the team's up and down play has made it tough to properly evaluate what they have and what they need.
"There has been a lot of change over from last year's team, we have 11 guys who are in their first season in the OHL, that's a substantial number from one year to the next," says Sinclair. "You don't want to get too excited in the good times, just like you don't want to get too down in the bad times."
Hired as general manager in June 2014, this will be Sinclair's third trade deadline in the role. He was the team's head scout prior to the promotion.
Sarnia has scored 123 goals in 34 games, the fifth highest total in the OHL. However, they have struggled in their own end, allowing 125 goals against, the second most in the conference.
"We've proven we can score goals and we have the guys to do that, but we'd like to get the goals against down there's no question about it," says Sinclair. "If there are things we can do going forward that are going to help defensively, then it's something we'd definitely be looking at pretty seriously."
As far as who could be on the move, overage defencemen Kevin Spinozzi and Jeff King could both be appealing to contending clubs, as could Jaden Lindo and Nikita Korostelev.
This doesn't mean they are necessarily on the trading block, these are just the players who could draw some interest from around the league. Spinozzi, King and Lindo are in their final OHL season, while Korostelev will have the option of playing his overage season or turning pro.
Jordan Kyrou and Anthony Salinitiri aren't as likely to be moved, as both are eligible to return to the Sting next season as 19-year-olds.
The Sting return to action Wednesday night in Guelph.
The OHL trade deadline is January 10 while overagers must be moved by January 6.
