State of the Hounds ‘D’
The graduation of standout import defensemen Kirill Kudryavtsev and Arttu Karki has created space and opportunity for returnees Caeden Carlisle, Andrew Gibson, Spencer Evans and Brodie McConnell-Barker to have enhanced roles on the blue line of the Soo Greyhounds come the ’24-25 Ontario Hockey League season.
To be sure, the departure of the two National Hockey League draft picks to the pro ranks are voids that will not easily be filled. Over the course of ’23-24, regular season and playoffs included, Kudryavtsev and Karki put up huge offensive numbers from their blue line positions. Kudryavtsev totalled six goals, 50 assists, 56 points in 78 games while Karki clicked for 23 goals, 29 assists, 52 points in 70 outings.
Not only have those two plum defenders graduated from the Hounds and the OHL but 2006 birth year defenseman Matthew Virgilio requested an off season trade from the Greyhounds and was dealt to the Niagara Ice Dogs. Greyhounds’ general manager Kyle Raftis did manage to reel in a good haul for Virgilio, getting future second, third, fourth and 10th round draft picks for the disgruntled defender.
Which brings us back to Carlisle, Gibson, Evans and McConnell-Barker as returning defensemen of varied note.
A good, all around defender with good size and someone who has improved considerably over his time with the Red and White, Carlisle has already skated in more than 200 OHL games. With a 2004 birth date, Carlisle is poised to be one of the Greyhounds’ three overage players for the ’24-25 OHL season. He may be one of the more under rated defensemen in the entire OHL.
Meanwhile, with a 2005 birth date and a signed NHL prospect of the Nashville Predators, Gibson has already established himself as an elite OHL defender with size, skill and a scoring touch. A right hand shooting blue liner, Gibson played in 79 games — regular season and playoffs included — for the Greyhounds in ’23-24 and had 13 goals, 35 assists, 48 points. Not bad for a player that Raftis, as the Hounds’ GM, stole in the fourth round of the 2021 OHL priority selections draft from the Windsor Jr. Spitfires of the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario.
Then there are Evans and McConnell-Barker and their 2006 birth dates as draft picks from the 2022 OHL priority selections. Evans, a former sixth round pick from 2022, got into 41 regular season games for the Greyhounds as a full fledged rookie in ’23-24 and then suited up for all 11 of the Soo’s playoff matches. McConnell-Barker, who the Greyhounds took in the third round of the 2022 OHL priority selections draft, also played in 41 regular season games in ’23-24 but saw action in just two playoff matches.
With the above mentioned four returnees, the Greyhounds still have ample room to add to their blue line brigade and one player who is already signed is import defenseman David Holub, who the Soo tapped in the first round of this year’s 2024 Canadian Hockey League import draft.
With good size and a 2007 birth date, Holub, who is a Czechia/United States dual citizen, was the team captain in ’23-24 for the HC Ocelari Trinec under 17 program. Holub hit for five goals, 23 assists, 28 points in 28 regular season games before adding two goals, seven assists, nine points in eight playoff outings. Holub also played in 18 games with the Trinec under 20 team before he represented his home country of Czechia at the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge. And even more recently, recently, Holub was a member of Team Czechia at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup where he was part of its silver medal summer performance.
All in all, the Greyhounds have an initial appearance of having the potential to be good and solid on the back end as it currently stands ahead of training camp and the subsequent ’24-25 OHL regular season.