By Kris Smith
The Stars have so far confirmed that eight players from last season’s team that reached the playoff Quarter-Finals will return for the 2024-2025 campaign and have also added three new recruits to their ranks.
Through the first six weeks of the off-season, LeFebvre quickly tied up some key players from the past year, including the services of captain, Drydn Dow and Elite League veteran, Ben O’Connor both on two-year deals.
Reflecting on his first 11 signings, he said: “So far so good, we want to take our time and make sure we get the right guys and the guys we are replacing, we want to make sure they are upgrades on last year.
“We want to improve on where we were in the standings last season and compete for a trophy, because that is what we are play for.
“The two new guys we have brought in on offence Gravelle and Yamamoto will provide some important offence with secondary scoring, which we missed a bit last year.
“So, rather than relying on one line for the most part, having that secondary scoring will make us more of a threat throughout our lineup.”
He continued: “We had a slow start last year and there was a lot of turnover when I came in last summer because I had to change the whole programme around but we found a way to work through it.
“We went on to have a good bit of success from probably the end of October on and whilst we did fall a bit short of our goals as a team, the guys who are returning this year are all hungry to do better and do it with Dundee.
“Not with another club because they want to come back together as a group and we are still trying to sign other guys back from last year.
“We set the standard last year of how we want to do things, of how we want to practice and play every day, so we know guys will buy-in and continue to raise those standards every day.
“Overall, we are off to a good start in the first half but there is still a lot of work to do and so far, so good.”
Looking ahead to the second half of his recruitment stage, the Canadian coach said: “There will be some guys that we want to bring back that might not be back, so we have to fill those gaps and there are guys who we are not offering new contracts to, that we have to upgrade on in certain areas.
“So, it is about both upgrading and making sure we are not taking a step back, we are still trying to sign a few more guys from last year and we do have a solid-core coming back.
“However, we will have a few spots to fill around them where we want to take a step forward for next season and it is going to be an even more competitive league than last season, you take a look around the league and I think it is going to be even better than it was this year, so we have to make sure we keep up with that and be better than we were.
“So far I am happy with where we are going and we still have a few months before we hit training camp and there is a lot of work to be done before then.”
LeFebvre also discussed the strength of the other teams in the league as many have made signings of intent so far.
He added: “I think there were some bigger clubs that were disappointed how they performed last season and from what I have heard from talking to agents and other people around the league, the money being spent to upgrade their teams is a new level for the Elite League.
“We have no problem with that because if you have the money, spend it and it is a good thing for the league because look at the level of players coming to the league and the players that are coming back, I think everyone is just stepping up their game and all 10 teams will be even more competitive this year.
“I hope we have a league where no one team runs away with it, I hope first through to tenth is competitive every night and we saw last year that it all went down to the last day of the season for teams to get into the playoffs and others were jockeying for position, so I would not be surprised if it is the same this season.”
Finally, LeFebvre said: “The season ticket sales have been going really well and it is great to see the record has been broken once again, our off-ice team do a phenomenal job generating interest in the club and bringing new faces in every week and new sponsors.
“It all goes a long way and helps with our recruiting budget too, so it is a big thing for us but we are doing a lot of things to enhance our product for next season.”
You can still buy your season tickets at the early bird price until June 30th, click HERE and you can also view our current roster for the 2024-2025 Elite League season HERE.
All images: Derek Black.
