There may have been some bumps and bruises along the road with a few unforeseen circumstances last season, but the Sudbury Wolves roster is taking the form of a team that GM Rob Papineau is proud of.
The general manager from Sudbury went through his second offseason at the helm by drafting Quinton Byfield first overall and Jack Thompson in the second round.
Then he and his staff picked up goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the import draft and received a commitment from the NHL prospect.
Some minor changes rounded out the offseason and he believes this is a roster that can begin to turn the franchise around.
“Our expectation is to get back to the playoffs. It was a year last year that I don’t think any of us planned on in regards to how it sort of rolled out from pretty much the opening faceoff. It’s not something we enjoyed having to go through it. It’s behind us now and our expectation is that this group returns to the playoffs,” said Papineau.
He begins to become more comfortable with the role by the day and went through something last season that is tough for even the most experienced GM, a tear down.
Papineau was able to get back draft picks especially in the second round that had been long traded away and bring in a few players to help the team like Kirill Nizhnikov and Peter Stratis.
“We’ve had two drafts that we’ve gone through, we’ve made a couple trades based off of what was in place two years ago and starting from there. Our whole approach is to really balance not just the roster that we have today but the draft picks that we have that will determine what the team looks like in the future. For us, when we started here, we didn’t have any second-round picks, we didn’t have some of the real high end guys that I think we have now,” said Papineau.
While his hope is for the playoffs, he knows the team is going to take its lumps — like a 10-3 loss to Barrie in the third game — of the season as they search for leadership and turn a winning page.
“We’re still a young hockey team, and the leadership group that's been retained here from before we got here are really high-character guys and really want to have a winning culture. For us, it starts on top. We really believe that we have great leadership in Cory (Stillman) and his staff and we’re really proud of our guys and their never quit approach to the game,” said Papineau.
Papineau is going to leave the leadership core decisions up to the coaching staff, but said it doesn’t have to come from just a handful of players.
“I don’t think leadership is going to fall on the shoulders of one or two guys. I think with this group, they’re all accountable. That’s something that I think we will benefit from,” said Papineau.
It’s been quiet on the trade front for the front office and Papineau said it might be a wait-and-see approach, rather than make decisions to give up picks or players early in the season.
“We’re balanced, that’s the one thing that makes us strong and it’s not that we’re going to have to rely on one or two players to sort of carry the load. We’ve got some very special players on this roster, but I think overall we have a lot of balance,” said Papineau.
He hopes this assembled roster is what draws fans back into their seats in the Sudbury Arena, and is able to look towards next season as that go-for-it-all type of year.
“This is a good group, there obviously are a lot of good players here, but there are some real special ones. The opportunity to see guys like Quinton Byfield, that’s a special opportunity for any hockey franchise.
“Sudburians love their hockey, they’re passionate about it, and I think it’s one of those generational type talents, then you support him with high end guys like Blake Murray and David Levin and others and all of a sudden you’ve got an exciting product that can really take you out of your seat on any given night,” said Papineau.
The Sudbury Wolves want the playoffs, Papineau wants the playoffs, and the fans want playoffs.
Papineau is quickly becoming a veteran GM, getting good return for value, but we will see what moves he makes to push the team this year or will he let the roster play out and see what they can do.
The Wolves face off this afternoon against the Barrie Bolts. Game time is 3:05 p.m. The Pack is coming off a 5-2 win against the Oshawa Generals on Friday night at home.
