Will Ty Nelson and the Battalion Be Able to Make a Significant Jump in 2020-21?

The North Bay Battalion made significant changes in the offseason to improve their roster for this upcoming season as they look to exit the rebuilding phase. How good do I think they’ll be next season? Let’s preview it and predict how it’ll go! 

Last season: 

The Battalion were the worst team in the OHL last season. They didn’t have a good season whatsoever. They finished with a 17-41-4 record in a pretty weak Eastern Conference. Their leading scorer was Luke Moncada who had 60 points in 62 games as a 19 year old. They scored the least amount of goals with only 189 and allowed the 2nd most with 314. Their starting goalie, Joe Vrbetic, played 42 games and had a 14-25-1 record with an abysmal 4.23 GAA and a .881 sv%. Let’s just say that they didn’t have a good season last year and will hope to perform much better this coming season. 

2020 OHL Priority Selection, 2020 OHL u18 Draft, and the 2020 CHL Import Draft:

The Battalion made a lot of good selections in their drafts this season. In the OHL Priority Selection, they had the first overall pick and selected Toronto Junior Canadiens defender Ty Nelson. Ty was a force for his team last year where he excelled in all 3 zones. He had 32 points in 33 games on the backend and logged a lot of ice time for his team. He’s an effective 2 way defender who loves the game, loves to compete, and will do whatever it takes to be an effective player for the Battalion as soon as this season. He’ll be able to come in next season and at least be on one of their power plays and help solve a lot of their issues on the backend. In the 2nd round, they got an absolutely sick player in Dalyn Wakely. Dalyn led the ETA in scoring last year with 72 points in 36 games. He was a leader on his team and he has skill, hockey sense, and puts a lot of attention on detail in his game. He’s a center who can step in next year and hopefully provide a spark on their team. In the 3rd round, they drafted 6’2 190lb defenceman Tnias Mathurin from the Ajax Pickering Raiders. Tnias is a good skating defenceman that can log a lot of ice time for you when a guy goes down with an injury. He may be paired with Ty next year and they’ll be an exciting young duo for North Bay as soon as they step on the ice in 2020-21. In the 2020 u18 draft, they picked up 6’1 LW Kevin Henstock. He’s committed to the Collingwood Blues of the OJHL next season, so unfortunately he won’t be in the lineup full time, but maybe in 2021-22 he will. Only time will tell I guess. In the CHL Import Draft, they picked Russian forward Matvei Petrov 1st overall. He had 9 points in 21 MHL games last season and will look to be an offensive threat for North Bay in 2020-21. Overall, I’d say that North Bay hit on most of their players and they all should make an impact as soon as next season. 

Rest of the Roster:

The rest of the North Bay roster will need to lead and help guide these young kids if they want to do well in 2020-21. Brandon Coe will need to keep improving if they want to do damage in the east and will be a valuable leader on a young and up and coming squad. I’d expect him to reach 70-80 points next season. One player that i expect to improve a lot next season is Liam Arnsby. Liam was a part of the Don Mills Flyers team that had guys like Shane Wright and Brandt Clarke on it. Liam was a disappointment in his first season. He only had 20 points in 55 games and wasn’t really an impact player. I’d like him to reach around 50 points next season and improve his game in every way possible. For North Bay to make the playoffs, Joe Vrbetic will need to improve. The 4.23 GAA will need to come down to at least 3.1 and the sv% should increase to at least .900 if they wanna improve and make the playoffs. If Luke Moncada returns next year and they are still at the bottom of the standings, they should consider trading him for a bunch of draft picks because he’ll be an overager. 

Matvei Guskov: 

Matvei Guskov was acquired by the Battalion from the London Knights in the offseason to help out the forward core. He’s another center who will probably explode points wise with North Bay this season due to more ice time. If he’s paired with Petrov and Wakley next season full time, North Bay could be really scary. 

My expectations: 

My hope for North Bay in this upcoming season is that they all bond together and work hard and keep on improving. I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on these kids but I want them to do well. If they do make the playoffs and lose in the first round, it’s not the end of the world because they’ll probably end up with another high draft pick and gain valuable playoff experience. But hey, if they do in fact go on a run, good for them because this team will be a very fun and exciting team to watch in 2020-21 that’s for sure. 

By: Luka Tkalcevic (Instagram: luka_tkalcevic, futurehockeystars)