State of the Spitfire ‘D’
As it stands now with the start of training camp about two weeks away the Spitfires have six defensemen with at least a full season of Ontario Hockey League experience on their roster.
Besides recently acquired overage Tnias Mathurin and his 2004 birth date, there are Tanner Winegard and Josef Eichler who were both born in 2005, as well as a trio with 2006 birth dates, namely Anthony Cristoforo, Conor Walton and Carson Woodall.
Mathurin has played in the most games — regular season and playoffs included — having suited up for 136 matches over parts of three OHL seasons with the North Bay Battalion. Meanwhile, Cristoforo, who is two years younger, has already skated in 134 games — just two fewer than Mathurin — over two full OHL seasons in Windsor.
As for the other four, Winegard, Eichler, Walton and Woodall were all OHL rookies with the rebuilding Spitfires of ’23-24.
So, while the six pack of Windsor defenders are seasoned, they are not overly experienced as a group. Still, there is a lot to like about the Spitfires’ blue line brigade as Windsor looks to move up from its last place Western Conference finish of ’23-24 to more of an upper floor status in ’24-25.
Overall, the Spitfires have size on the back end led by the 6 foot 6 Winegard, the 6 foot 4 Walton and the 6 foot 3 Mathurin. And the other three are not exactly on the small side.
Defensively, Winegard was the Spitfires plus-minus leader in ’23-24 as an older rookie.
Offensively, there is no denying what Cristoforo and Woodall can bring from the back end.
In 134 games over two seasons, Cristoforo has put up 14 goals, 67 assists, 81 points. Meanwhile, as a rookie in ’23-24, Woodall wound up for six goals, 23 assists, 29 points in 57 games.
Should the above mentioned six defenders begin the ’24-25 OHL season in Windsor — no one is saying they won’t — who will be the seventh defenseman? Will it be one of two draft picks from 2023 who played briefly for the Spitfires in ’23-24, namely Michael Lavigne or Adrian Manzo? Or will highly regarded Carter Hicks, who the Spitfires took in the second round of this year’s 2024 OHL priority selections draft, earn a spot?
Whatever the case, Spitfires’ general manager Billy Bowler has put together a good group for new head coach Greg Walters to work with.