The Toronto Rock struggled for consistency through much of the 2014 season before finally going on a 4-0 run to wrap up the schedule. And then, after such a strong finish, they were upset by the Buffalo Bandits in the first round of the playoffs.
Toronto management identified defense as an issue, feeling the Bandits were able to push them around and impose their will in the postseason. They’ve already beefed things up quite a bit with transactions that have seen 6’6″ Brock Sorenson, 6’4″ Jeff Gilbert and 6’4″ Brodie Merrill acquired. But what might the Rock be looking for in the upcoming draft?
When all is said and done, Toronto’s defense actually wasn’t all that bad. They were fourth in the league in goals against (213) and third in loose balls (1252). Their problems were too many penalties (a league-leading 436 penalty minutes and the third most penalty kills at 86) and too few forced turnovers (a league-worst 147). A lack of size may have contributed to their inability to earn takeaways and a tendency to take bad penalties.
One of the real issues though, was between the pipes. Nick Rose did not have a great year, going 6-8 with a 12.28 goals against average. The team didn’t really get hot until the arrival of Brandon Miller from the Philadelphia Wings—Miller went 3-1 with an 8.95 GAA down the home stretch. While Rose might have a bounce-back year, Miller is 35 years old and may not have a bunch more left in the tank.
Toronto might, therefore, be looking for some goaltending help in a draft that has a handful of decent netminders. And while they seem to have addressed their defensive size with their offseason acquisitions, they gave up their team leader in loose balls for 2014, rookie Ethan O’Connor, so they may be back in the market for defensive depth with young legs to help carry the load.
On the front end, the late-season loss of Garrett Billings to injury hurt the offense, but didn’t cripple it as any suspected it might. Stephan Leblanc, Rob Hellyer, ColinDoyle and Josh Sanderson were able to pick up the slack and keep Toronto’s offense ticking. Still, don’t be surprised if the Rock are looking for some extra help on the right side to support Billings if the right player is available.
Toronto doesn’t have a pick until late in the second round (17th overall) and then have to wait again until the fourth round (33rd overall), so they’ll have to be cagey about their early round selections, perhaps looking more for diamonds in the rough rather than kids who can contribute immediately. But they have already begun closing holes in their roster, so they may not have to rely too heavily on this year’s draft to be ready to compete in 2015.
