When the Halifax Wanderers’ staff set out this off-season looking for ways to improve on a club-record 11-win, 42-point season, they settled on a few specific areas to target.

Over the past week — and especially on Wednesday — the club has addressed perhaps its biggest need, adding quality, experience and depth to its attack.

Halifax announced a pair of additions on Valentine’s Day, bringing in Brazilian attacking midfielder Victor Dias and American striker Christian Volesky. The pair has joined former York United and Atlético Ottawa star Ryan Telfer among the newcomers to the Wanderers’ front line.

“We had targets set, not in regard to people but in regard to profile we needed,” Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar told CanPL.ca this week. “I think we’ve done that.”

RELATED: Halifax Wanderers sign Brazilian attacking midfielder Vitor Dias || Wanderers sign experienced international striker Christian Volesky

With Dias, the Maritime club has acquired a talented 25-year-old who has been looking for a chance to play at a senior level. A former NCAA All-American and national champion with Marshall University, the Vancouver Whitecaps draft pick has recently played in MLS Next Pro with St. Louis City 2 and Sporting Kansas City II.

Gheisar explained that part of the appeal with Dias is his confidence playing between the lines, driving forward and picking out creative passes, which was a dynamic the Wanderers needed more of in 2023. In particular, Dias is a natural left-footer comfortable opening up on both feet, which will make him a versatile option playing just behind a striker.

With Volesky, meanwhile, the Wanderers are getting another profile of player they didn’t quite have last year: an experienced out-and-out number nine with a strong goalscoring track record.

The 31-year-old from Henderson, Nevada has come north of the border after spending all but one of his professional seasons so far in the USL Championship.

Over nine years in USL, Volesky has averaged a goal every 219 minutes. In the Canadian Premier League in 2023, that scoring rate would’ve been fifth best, behind only Ollie Bassett, Myer Bevan, Terran Campbell and Woobens Pacius.

“Our leading goalscorer [in 2023] was our left winger,” Gheisar explained, referencing Massimo Ferrin and his eight goals.

“We wanted more goals out of the nine [position], that was probably our number one challenge. Christian has scored numerous goals at very good levels, so we felt like bringing someone with confidence and readiness was important for us.”

Above all, though, Gheisar explained that Volesky and Dias — not to mention Telfer, who has 11 CPL goals on his résumé, including the first one ever — will give him more options than ever to rotate his side and throw different styles of attacking football at familiar opponents.

“We don’t want to ever be predictable,” he said. “We want to be able to get a feel about what’s different, and every game keep our opponents on their toes. Telfer’s left-footed, Vitor’s left-footed, Christian’s a guy that can stretch games; we can give our opponents different looks at home and away, and continue to be unpredictable. What really pops in this league is, you play the same team four times, so how many different formations and things can you do? We’re trying to be creative.”

Dias and Volesky are the fourth and fifth newcomers to the Wanderers’ 2024 roster (including Kareem Sow, who has previously represented the club), and there are a few more additions to come.

To Gheisar, though, this off-season has been much more about continuity and filling specific needs than making any grand changes, considering how well his team did in 2023. One of the club’s most significant departures this winter was Mo Omar, and they filled his spot by bringing in another left-footed midfielder, with many similar leadership qualities, in Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé — again, a player familiar with playing in Halifax.

RELATED: CPL Off-Season Roster Tracker: Who’s in and who’s out for 2024?

Otherwise, though, Gheisar says the overarching theme of this off-season has been latching onto the momentum the club began to build last year. They exceeded even his own expectations in his first season as coach, finishing third (tied on points with Forge FC for second place) and hosting their first playoff match at the Wanderers Grounds.

Seventeen of the 24 players who saw the pitch for Halifax in 2023 were new to the club, and yet they still managed to quickly adopt Gheisar’s desired style of play. After picking up their first win in the ninth game of the campaign, they would go on to an 11-3-6 record in the final 20 games of the regular season.

That’s why Gheisar and the Wanderers are cautiously optimistic about their ability to continue progressing, even with some other clubs around the league making bigger off-season splashes.

“I don’t mind speaking about vulnerability, I’m certainly anxious to see how things are coming together,” Gheisar said. “You see all these teams like Ottawa, Vancouver, everybody splashing the cash getting big-name guys. I think last year we were also the same thing.

“We look for players that are going to be good people that fit into our needs. I think that the most important thing for us was to keep the core together. I don’t want to dismiss this and make it about our new acquisitions; our core is the group that got us to where we are.”

Gheisar added that, not only was he delighted to see his players buy into his footballing philosophy so quickly, but he also enjoyed watching some younger individuals take major steps in their pro careers.

“I was blown away by the progress, not only that we made as a group,” he said. “Look at Cale Loughrey’s progress from Edmonton; look at Wesley Timotéo, look at Aidan Daniels’ progress as a pro, Zach Fernandez’s. That’s what really excited me, so I’m happy to have them back.

“But these complementary pieces now are going to give them the support they need to, dare I say, finish better than tied for second place?”

This year’s CPL season is shaping up to be as competitive as ever, with every team making some interesting changes and a few new contenders looking to rise from outside the playoff places last year.

In Halifax, though, the Wanderers feel confident they’re building a winning culture that will last.