Youth making decisions difficult for Greyhounds

With three days in the books, the Soo Greyhounds training camp roster was cut down by 12 players on Thursday evening.

Thanks to the play of some young players in the system, the decisions are expected to get tougher as camp rolls on.

Among the young players who have impressed was winger Kalvyn Watson, who signed with the Greyhounds in December 2018 and played one game with the team last season.

“Watson has had a really strong couple of days,” Raftis said of the 2018 fifth rounder. “I like the speed, the creativity. Every time he was on the ice, he was making things happen. We talked about at the start of the week not blending in and some players have fallen into that. (Watson) has stood out, every period, every shift he’s had the last couple of days.”

“He seems more confident with the puck,” Raftis said. “He’s not just trying to play things safe.”

With a slew of young forwards signed, including the likes of 2019 third round pick Marc Boudreau as well as 2018 picks Watson and Dominic Mufarreh along with free agent Tanner Dickinson, the play of the young forwards in camp and a big group returning from last season will make for some tough decisions as camp moves into Friday.

“When you look at the young guys we have coming in and we have a lot of returning forwards, that breeds internal competition,” Raftis said.

Earlier in camp, Raftis spoke of the Greyhounds looking to fill the void left by graduation by committee and the play of some of the young draft picks has made that a possibility by forcing internal competition.

“When you look at the forward group, a lot of today’s games were the younger players, but you definitely see a lot of talent there,” Raftis said. “It’s something that, when you see guys that young that can take strides that quickly, it just increases the competition for positions.”

The Greyhounds general manager said he was pleased with the compete level early in the day Thursday but, “I think the guys were a little bit tired tonight. I still thought it was fine. It’s been a lot of hockey this week. Just mentally, it drains on them a little bit.”

Among the 12 players released from camp on Thursday were 11 free agent invites.

The group included local products Avery Rebek, Mateo Perri, Michael Chaffay, and Brock Santa Maria. Also released were free agent invites Robert Brisson, Andrew Casasanta, Cole Dennison, Jeffrey Carr, Luca Marcellitti, Ryan Mills, and Brett McGlade.

The lone draft pick released from camp was 2019 13th round pick Connor Miller.

The team now shifts focus to the annual Luke Williams Memorial Red and White game, set for Friday evening at the GFL Memorial Gardens.

More cuts are expected following the game.

The OHL exhibition schedule opened up on Thursday night with a single game.

In Ottawa, a goal by returning forward Graeme Clarke 5:32 into the third period gave the Ottawa 67’s a 1-0 victory over the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Gatineau Olympiques. Ottawa goaltender Cedric Andree made 25 saves for the shutout.

The Greyhounds will open exhibition action on Saturday night in Sudbury against the Wolves.