Leeds Chiefs roster starts to take shape for 2020-21 season

Even before the Chiefs’ hopes of making the NIHL playoffs disappeared at the start of this month, player-coach Sam Zajac already had one eye on next season and, after being given the green light to continue by his Planet Ice bosses, he has already made a start on his roster.

But, as is always the case in any off-season in hockey, Zajac intends for there to be a number of new faces arriving at Elland Road as he looks to ensure he has a team capable of making the post-season and, maybe, even challenging for silverware.

The two main areas of concern for Zajac throughout his team’s debut campaign were a lack of scoring and depth, both issues which he intends to address in the coming weeks and months.

“We’ve got a handful of guys who have already signed, there are contracts out to a few more and there are others who we haven’t made a decision either way,” said Zajac, who held an informal gathering with the majority of his Chiefs’ squad at Elland Road on Wednesday night to bring the curtain down on the season after it was ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re not naive, knowing that we finished bottom of the league, we know we need to make improvements. Some of that can come internally and a lot of younger guys we had last year will improve from being a year older and a year wiser at this level.

“But, at the same time, there are areas we need to address in the build of the roster and, as I’ve said, scoring is a big issue that we need to address and depth is another area we need to look at as we played a lot of games short this year.

“We are looking at making a few moves and that will be guys in and guys out, but the guys that we are talking too now – both internally and from other teams around the leagues – if we do manage to get the majority of them in, then I’m confident we’ll have a very competitive team moving forwards.”