Preseason Roster Breakdown: Barrie Colts

Next up in our preseason roster breakdown series is one of the big movers and shakers in the offseason, the Barrie Colts. The team completed multiple trades during the offseason designed to bolster their already steady roster, including acquiring former Flint Firebirds defender Tristan Bertucci. 

Barrie finished eighth in the Eastern Conference last season with 28 wins and 60 points. They claimed the final playoff position in convincing fashion beating out ninth-place Peterborough by 12 points. 

Coming into 2024-25 Barrie will have a very different roster with a lot of firepower. Alongside Bertucci, they acquired Dallas Stars prospect Brad Gardiner from Ottawa and the rights to Senators prospect Gabriel Eliasson. 

The recent OHL power rankings placed Barrie fifth based largely upon how strong their team will be after these acquisitions.

Overage Players

Five overage players remain in Barrie's preseason roster. They are Zach Wigle, Tai York, Beau Jelsma, Roenick Jodoin and Jake Norman. 

With two 20-point seasons under his belt, Wigle could return to Barrie for his third consecutive season. In 137 OHL games, he scored 23 goals and added 24 assists for 47 points. At 5-foot-10 Wigle is slightly undersized. If he returns his experience will bolster Barrie's depth. 

This will be York's fourth season with the Colts. Throughout his career, he has been roughly a half a point per game player with 89 points in 168 OHL games. He has decent scoring upside and would boost the team's depth scoring. 

Jelsma captained the Colts last season while scoring 37 goals and adding 44 assists for a total of 81 points. His efforts resulted in four games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL. He scored a goal and added two assists in those games.

For the last three years, Jodoin has played in Barrie. During that time he recorded 29 goals and added 37 assists. At 5-foot-8 Jodoin is small for higher-level hockey. The upside for Jodoin is that he has increased his scoring every year in the OHL. If he returns for a fourth season he will have the opportunity to once again set personal records with Barrie.

Norman played in the NOJHL last season with Powassan and the Elliot Lake Vikings. In 54 games he scored one goal and added four assists. At 6-foot-4 Norman is a big physical defender who distinguished himself as the most penalized player in the NOJHL last season. 

While Jelsma feels like an easy pick to return, the other players on this list will be in a tight fight for roster spots. OHL teams can only roster four overage players and can only start three in any given game. As such, Barrie will need to pair this list down before opening night. 

Goaltenders

As is the case with most teams, three goalies remain on the preseason roster for Barrie. They are Arvin Jaswal, Sam Hillebrandt and Ben Hrebik. 

Hillebrandt, a 2005-born goaltender, was part of the Colts' goalie tandem last season. In 36 games played, he averaged 3.67 goals against while maintaining a .899 save percentage. He is the most experienced goaltender of the trio and it seems likely that he will shoulder a lot of the load early in the season. 

Hrebik featured in two games for the Colts last season while spending the majority of his time in the OJHL playing for the Burlington Cougars. He averaged 2.99 goals against while maintaining a .903 save percentage in the OJHL. In his two games with Barrie, he averaged 4.58 goals against while maintaining a .875 save percentage. 

Jaswal is a 2008-born goaltender that Barrie drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 OHL Priority Selection. He played 25 games for the Whitby Wildcats U-16 AAA team and averaged 2.05 goals against. While he was very impressive at the U-16 level it will take time before he is ready to shoulder the load of an OHL team. 

2024 Draft Class

There are four 2008-born players in Barrie's preseason roster including Jaswal. The other three are fifth-overall pick Parker Vaughn, second-round pick Noah Barton and fourth-round pick Jonah McCormick. 

Vaughn was the captain and top-scorer for the Elgin Middlesex Canucks U-16 AAA team last season. In 30 games, he scored 23 goals and added 26 assists for an impressive 49 points. He also played five games for the St. Thomas Stars in the GOJHL. In those games, he scored two goals and added seven assists. The young forward is an offensive force who took on a lot of responsibility last season.

Barton is a 6-foot-2 defenseman who played for the Oshawa Generals U-16 AAA club last season. In 72 games he scored five goals and added 12 assists for 17 points. He is a big defender who plays a physical style. These attributes make him a valuable player since all OHL teams are looking for big defenders. 

With 21 goals last season playing for the Greater Kingston Gaels U-16 AAA team, McCormick is a natural scorer who likes to shoot the puck. At 6-foot-1 he has good size. 

Since Barrie loaded up on older players this offseason, it may be difficult for many of these prospects to make the roster for the first game of the regular season. As a first-round pick, Vaughn is likely to be with the team. It is hard to predict beyond that. 

Barrie will be a strong team this upcoming season. They have a large number of NHL-drafted players in this group. They will be one of the teams who attempts to make a run for a championship.