Ontario Reign: Two Players Who Could See A Bigger Role

88 days! That’s how much time is left until the Ontario Reign kickoff their 2023-24 season, their 10th in the American Hockey League.

Free agency is in its third week, both NHL and AHL rosters go through changes, and the summer heat hasn’t left. Soon, the calendar will flip to September and hockey activities will ramp up again. For now, all we can do is project possible lineup combinations and wait for other signings, trades, or extensions to be announced.

For the Ontario Reign, most of the roster is already starting to fill out, especially from the forward group. There’s a good mix of players who the Kings signed in free agency that are sure bets to start the year in Ontario if they pass through waivers, prospects on their entry-level contracts, and players like Charles Hudon on AHL contracts for the Ontario Reign.

The Reign roster, as is the case for every AHL team, will look different from the previous year. TJ Tynan, the Reign’s leading scorer the past three seasons, signed with the Colorado Avalanche on day one of free agency. Akil Thomas and Alex Turcotte are expected to be on the Kings this upcoming season. Brandt Clarke is expected to make the jump to the NHL, and who knows what the plan is with Samuel Fagemo.

When you look at the first three players, there will be some holes to fill in the top six for the Reign. Tynan’s departure leaves a hole at 1C, which I think will go to Glenn Gawdin, who signed a two-year contract with the Kings and should be one of those players expected to clear waivers during preseason. However, Turcotte and Thomas graduating to the Kings leave a hole at the center and wing position on the second line.

Which two players could be options to take on a bigger role? Those two players are Martin Chromiak and Francesco Pinelli.

Here is what Marco Sturm had to say about the two young forwards on the recent Reign Check podcast episode with Josh Schaefer and Jared Shafran:

Click HERE for the full episode (For the quote, fast forward to 8:12)

“I expect both of them [Chromiak and Pinelli] to be better than they have been in the past…I have a lot of hopes for them because we need them. We had a lot of changes. A lot of new faces coming up for the new season, but those are the guys we need and they got to be ready right away from day one.” – Marco Sturm on Martin Chromiak and Francesco Pinelli for the upcoming season.

Let’s talk about them:

Martin Chromiak

Martin Chromiak is a player who could fill one of those options. Chromiak’s two years in the AHL haven’t been filled with flowers and rainbows. For starters, he had an illness in the summer of 2022 and missed the first month of the 2022-23 season, his rookie year, after having surgery on his appendix. That season saw Chromiak start slow but catch fire for January before sizzling out the rest of the way.

This past season, I thought Chromiak made strides on the defensive side of the ice while getting better at protecting the puck with his body. However, most of his ice time came in the bottom six and occasionally on the second power-play unit. This is going to be a big year for Chromiak’s development. 15 goals each of his two seasons isn’t bad, but it’s not great. Chromiak has quick hands and a good shot but it’s time to start producing more offense.

Francesco Pinelli

Francesco Pinelli is a player I can see having a bigger role this season. The Reign were loaded at center, which made Pinelli play wing to get into the lineup, last season but with some departures and graduations to the NHL level, I can see him taking the 2C spot. If Samuel Helenius and Kaleb Lawrence are getting the 2C spot in Ontario over Pinelli then that is a huge problem, but I don’t think we’ll get there.

As with most players in their first year of professional hockey after coming from college or juniors, Pinelli had to go through an adjustment period. One of the adjustments from juniors to the professional ranking is playing against teenagers compared to going up against grown men in a more structured league.

When sitting in the press box for a game in November, I asked Pinelli about some of the adjustments he is learning in the AHL and the three things he mentioned were size, speed, and puck management. Marco Sturm made him a healthy scratch early on, so he could get a different view and understanding of the game.

The early struggles and adjusting period paid off as Pinelli made strides in all areas toward the end of the season. Just by looking at how the Reign roster could be, he might be the best puck handler who can skate east to west with good zone entry on the team. I believe he should get a bigger role at 2C this upcoming season.

Perhaps Sturm already plans on giving Chromiak and Pinelli bigger roles, but we shall see.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign

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