Memorial Cup Contenders: Sudbury Wolves

Memorial Cup Contender Series

We're pleased that you have joined us as we continue an early look at Memorial Cup contenders from all three leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. This series is intended to provide our QMJHL fans with perspective about opponents that the 'Q' representative will face from the OHL and WHL once they reach the Memorial Cup tournament in May.

Please take a few minutes to catch up on any of the articles that you missed in the series. You will find the links below.

This week, the series turns its attention to the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The East is widely considered to be the less superior of the two conferences. This has been the case for a few years now and this year is possibly the biggest example of that gap.

While the West leading London Knights have already clinched a playoff spot with 79 points, the leaders in the East, the Sudbury Wolves, are currently at 66 points. That would be good enough to fall right above the middle pack of the Western conference standings, tied for 4th, with the slumping Kitchener Rangers.

One advantage the East does have over the West is the potential for a guaranteed berth in the Memorial Cup if the West Champion ends up being the Saginaw Spirit. With their guaranteed spot in the tournament as hosts, it would make the finals result irrelevant for qualification purposes.

Let's start this week's contenders preview with the current leaders of the east, and owners of an 8-1-0-1 last 10-game run, the Sudbury Wolves.

Sudbury Wolves (30-15-3-3): 1st in Eastern Conference / 1st Division

The Wolves may be the biggest junior hockey wildcard in Canada at the moment. They feature one of the most potent and star-studded lineups across the entire CHL yet have a very difficult time keeping pucks out of their net. A post-deadline hot streak, along with the 2nd highest goals-scored in the entire OHL has covered up some of those deficiencies of late, but there is no doubt this team still has work to do to become a true contender.

Strengths

Anything related to attacking is a major strength for the 2023-2024 Sudbury Wolves. A deep and diverse lineup is led by current league points leader David Goyette. The 2022 Seattle Kraken second round pick has recorded 85 points on 31 goals and 54 assists.

The Hawkesbury, Ontario native has been nothing short of spectacular all season long. Despite a snub for the disappointing 2024 Canadian World Junior squad, Goyette used the potential setback as positive motivation and has reached new heights in production.

After posting an impressive 1.11 points-per-game (PPG) in his rookie season, good enough to lead all fellow first year OHL players in 2022-2023 season, the versatile winger upped his production last season to 1.46 PPG. He is currently on track to smash that number yet again in 2023-2024 with a running tally of 1.67 PPG.

That result should firmly have him in the running for the Red Tilson Award for the league MVP, but I have a feeling the Wolves No. 88 is much more focused on a Wayne Gretzky 99 Award (OHL Playoff MVP) and the Nickel Cities first J. Ross Robertson Cup (OHL Playoff Winner.)

After the pandemic wiped away a chance for the Quinton Byfield-led Wolves to make some real damage in the East, Sudbury was instead rewarded with a 2021 OHL Draft Lottery win and chose to select Hamburg, New York native Quentin Musty with the first overall selection.

Musty, along with Goyette, have become a formidable duo and arguably the most dangerous pair in the entire OHL. Along with Goyette`s league leading 85 points, Musty, the 2023 NHL first round pick (26th overall) of the San Jose Sharks, is currently 11th in league scoring with 28 goals and 41 assists for a total of 69 points. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound left-winger is also amongst league leaders in game-winning-goals (GWG) with six on the season.

As if that duo of wingers is not enough, the Wolves also added, with the 68th overall selection in the 2022 CHL Import Draft, Slovakian center Dalibor Dvorsky. Since surprisingly making the decision to come to North America in the fall of 2023, the first-round pick (10th overall) of the St Louis Blues, has been a stellar pivot to compliment Sudbury`s lethal attack.

The shifty playmaker is better known to Sudburians as “Mr. Short Side”, in honor of his favorite spot to score. The native of Zvolen, Slovakia has consistently contributed offensively since his arrival with 29 goals and 26 assists. A total of 55 points in only 35 games has Dvorsky amongst the league leaders in PPG with 1.77, besting both Goyette and Musty in that category.

The Wolves offense currently ranks just four goals behind the league leading Knights. The Sudbury power play has vastly improved as the season has gone on to currently rank top five in the league after being near the bottom for much of the first half. All aspects of this offence are lethal and can match any team across the CHL. From elite star power, to depth, the Pack has a forward core that can win the Memorial Cup on its own.

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Weaknesses

Simply put, all defensive aspects rank in the bottom third of the Ontario Hockey League. This has been an issue from day one at Wolves camp. The current group ranks 14th in goals against on the season. Trades and acquisitions have been made throughout the season to tweak the group with little success to date.

At the OHL Trade deadline, Sudbury loaded up on experienced and championship caliber leaders in hopes of putting out the fires on the back end. Fellow 19-year-old veterans Donovan McCoy of the Peteborough Petes and Noah Van Vliet of the Brantford Bulldogs were brought in while the rugged Ottawa Senators free agent signing Djibril Toure and highly regarded rookie rearguard Owen Protz left in corresponding deals to make room for the veterans.

Since the deadline, the Wolves still rank 15th in the league in team goals-against-average (GAA) amongst a group of teams that are fighting for best odds for the top selection in the 2024 OHL priority draft rather than an opportunity to win a conference and league championship.

The goaltending potential created a lot of hype heading into the season and has also unfortunately flopped to date. Highly regarded 2023 CHL Import selection (22nd overall), Czechia native Jakub Vondras has struggled to adjust to the high scoring OHL to date. In 29 games played, most by a Wolves goalie this season by nearly double, the 2022 sixth round NHL Draft pick (171 overall) of the Carolina Hurricanes has posted a modest 3.63 GAA along with a .865 save percentage (SV%). These numbers are just good enough to make the 19-year-old left-catching Plzen, Czechia native the figurative top option for the Northern club.

To shore up the position alongside backup and Thunder Bay, Ontario native Nate Krawchuk, the Wolves also acquired Niagara Ice Dogs co-starter and Dorchester, Ontario native Marcus Vandenberg. The duo has posted similar numbers to Vondras, with Krawchuk`s 3.22 GAA and .874 SV% technically leading the club in both categories, but also only posting a 5-5 record in 14 appearances, far worse than the combined record of 25-9-6 of the other two goalie options.

Outlook

A weak East will go a long way to ensuring the Wolves finish at or near the top of the conference and home ice advantage in the playoffs. Even if the goals against continue to balloon down the stretch, the fans at the Sudbury Community Arena know they can and have outscored their flaws to date.

In order to be a true Memorial Cup contender and also bring that illusive first OHL Championship to Sudbury, the veteran deadline acquisitions of McCoy, Van Vliet and Sudbury native overage center Zacharie Giroux, need to instill that championship mentality and transition a run-and-gun elite offensive powerhouse into a more complete unit.

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Additional Content from the Contender Series