The Sarnia Sting brass will have some difficult roster decisions to make heading into the 2018-2019 Ontario Hockey League season.
The Sting have a potential of nine overage players eligible to return to the fold, namely Jordan Kyrou, Drake Rymsha, Jonathan Ang, Cam Dineen, Franco Sproviero, Anthony Salinitri, Mitch Eliot, Michael Pezzetta, and Theo Calvas.
They can only carry three 20-year-olds on the roster for the duration of the season.
GM Nick Sinclair believes two or three of those players could make the jump to the pro level.
"It won't be a fun process to have to maybe make some transactions or trades to get down to three," says Sinclair. "All of these guys had key contributions throughout the season and even going back for certain guys three or four years. If we are looking at a situation where we've got five or six guys that we need to make decisions on, at the end of the day that's a good thing for the organization. We'll just be patient as we go through the spring and summer and see how everything unfolds as we get towards camp in August."
Sinclair says while the Sting had a great season, setting franchise records for wins (46), and points (97), it was disappointing to be eliminated in the second round by the Kitchener Rangers.
"You know, I'd be lying to you if I said we weren't disappointed overall with not still playing right now," says Sinclair. "That's the way it goes at times, but overall there were definitely some positive notes to key on from this season."
Sarnia's powerplay dried up during the playoffs, capitalizing on just two of their 45 chances.
They were fifth during the regular season, with a success rate of 24.2%.
The team's orientation camp opens on May 12 at Progressive Auto Sales Arena. There will be team black vs. white practice sessions from 10am until noon, with the black vs. white game scheduled for 6:30pm.
There will also be a scrimmage on May 13 at 10am.