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Reviewing The Rookie Crow Seasons
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fishyCoach Posting Freak Reviewing The Rookie Crow Seasons
2x draft media bonus, 3800 wordsI've done one of these the last few seasons to reflect on the seasons all of our rookies had. This is done in part cause I'm selfish and need that double media bonus to afford everything, but also as captain, I like doing these to show our rookies that although their rookie seasons might not have gone as they hoped, their contributions are important and big things are expected of them in the following seasons. This will likely be the final time this is done, as I will be out of junior eligibility, and will be called up to Buffalo for the start of the FHM era. After these, I may or may not do some write-ups on the remaining Crow players, aka the S50s, S51s and the S52s, depending on how lazy I'm feeling after all of this writing.
S51 SMJHL (S52 SHL) Draft Recap:
In my post last offseason, I mentioned St. Louis had a severe hole on defence that would likely be the focus of the S52 SMJHL draft, especially whiffing majorly on top 5 pick Blake Faux, and a number of other defencemen. This appears to be true, as St. Louis spent all of their early round picks in an attempt to fix their defence, as they had only two borderline active defencemen in Flash Gordon and Luc Pierre Lespineau on the roster. I also mentioned that St. Louis has an aging forward core, with notable S50 prospects James Ronlain, Sasha Dangelchek, Yamamoto Mitsuharu, and myself, Aron Hernadivic, all at risk of call-ups after S52 due to having to be exposed on waivers. With this in mind, I thought St. Louis would spend some mid to late round picks on some forwards, hoping to provide some depth as their S50 draft graduates to the SHL. This was also correct, as St. Louis spent some later picks on some great young forwards, as well as finding an undrafted free agent stud. Lastly, I mentioned Evok's rise to A+ level prospect, and seeing as she may be called up to Buffalo a season early to be the 1B netminder to Grok's 1A for S53, I thought that St. Louis might look for a goalie of the future in order to replace the possibly departing Evok. This was also a hit, as St. Louis took a flyer on a goalie with their final selection. In total, St. Louis added 7 new faces to the roster this season, 6 draft picks and one undrafted free agent. Defencemen were the early focus, with 3 defencemen being taken with St. Louis' first 3 picks, followed by 2 forwards, and one goalie. An undrafted free agent forward was added to round out the S53 St. Louis class. All in all, these young rookies should help bring St. Louis forward again in the standings, allowing them to build off a deep playoff run in S51 that saw them lose in heartbreaking fashion, as they lost Games 6 and 7 in overtime in the league semi-finals to Kelowna. On to the draft analysis. Let’s take a deeper look at each of the active, new rookies added to St. Louis this season. As this was a Reddit draft, St. Louis had a number of draft selections, picking up a variety of players at each position group. St. Louis hit on a number of picks, both early and late round, and indeed drafted some serious steals that would likely go earlier than they did if redrafted today, ensuring they have a strong group of players to strongly replace the Reddit draft of S50.
1st round, 8th overall
Axel Meszaros, ml002's second SHL player, was the first round pick of St. Louis, giving them a solid foundation in their attempt to rebuild their defence. As ML is GM of the North Stars, St. Louis knows they've got their hands on someone who will be consistently active, a high TPE earner, and a veteran SHL presence for the locker room. However, ML said prior to the draft he might call himself up after two junior seasons, so we may see this first round pick have a brief SMJHL career. ML's second player is a right-handed defenceman, hailing from the nether regions of Hungary. After a highly contested transfer saga, this young defenceman decided to declare for Norway, picking them over Czechia bestia. Meszaros is 6 foot 1, 198 pounds, and has dreams of playing a strong two-way game with strengths in scoring defence, and skating, and a checking weakness. It will be interesting to see how Meszaros builds out his game with the switch to FHM.Axel Meszaros, D @ml002 Regular Season Stats GP G A P +/- PIM Hits Sh% SB AMG 50 4 12 16 -4 12 25 9.76 41 19.61 As the Crows first round selection, Meszaros was expected to play a big role from the start, immediately slotting in on the top pair with Flash Gordon. Meszaros and Gordon had great seasons together, with Flash coming close to tying the assist record in a season. Axel had a steady season, playing in all facets of the game, and averaged close to 20 minutes a game. He was a little bit unlucky with his shooting percentage falling below 10, so Meszaros should expect to take a big leap forward statistically next season as he continues to round out his game and rebound from being a little bit unlucky. ML has been a great part of the Locker Room Nic and TML have built, fitting in seamlessly personality-wise while being around to help some off the first gens with any questions they may have. The only true downside are his choice in sport teams, with his interests in Tottenham and Ohio State both being questionable teams to root for. MLs player and TOR both have bright futures, and will be exciting to play against ML for the entirety of our players careers. Playoff Stats GP G A P +/- PIM Hits Sh% SB AMG 17 1 3 4 4 6 11 5.88 21 19.83 MLs playoff debut probably didn't go as he expected as although he played a meaningful role in helping St. Louis reach the Cup Finals, ML didn't put up too many offensive stats in his first playoff run. In fact, this can likely be attributed to ML forgetting how to shoot the puck, as evidenced by his 5.88 shooting percentage in 17 playoff games. Should this have reflected his regular season numbers of about 10%, ML would've likely contributed an additional couple of goals, bringing his point total up closer to his regular season numbers. St. Louis will be relying on ML to anchor their defence next season, and should ML continue to develop, will likely be one of Toronto's best defenseman in about 2 seasons. ML should expect to get drafted sometime late, perhaps even at 69th overall. 2nd round, 16th overall
Building on their previous selection, St. Louis went and selected another defenceman in the second round, another recreate. Spec/Paq's first player was well-travelled, eventually finding a home in Toronto where he was part of the best line in the SHL, with him, ML aka Loki, and former St. Louis player, and rookie of the year, Mika Kandinsky. This line tore up the SHL for a few seasons, and maybe St. Louis is hoping ML and Paq can continue their productive previous partnerships to become an elite defensive pairing. Erben Kasius was born in the Netherlands, but raised by zaddy Tomen in the heartland of Germany, eventually declaring for the Germans. He is a bigger body than his friend ML and has more of an offensive flair to his game, arriving in St. Louis as a 6 foot 2, 210 pound offensive defenceman. Both Kasius and Meszaros have similar strengths and weaknesses, with Erben being less of a skater but more of a puckhandler. With their two first round selections, STL seems to have locked down a couple of young, high potential defencemen for a couple of seasons at least.Erben Kasius, D @Paq Regular Season Stats GP G A P +/- PIM Hits Sh% SB AMG 50 10 15 25 4 2 1 15.87 49 20.66 Erben aka Paq aka Spec, maybe decide on a username and stick with it, is another recreate, also by way of TOR but also the 19 other SHL teams. Spec's first player pales in comparison to Lokitonov, yet when they played together, they established immense chemistry with former Crow Mika Kandinsky, leading a below average TOR team to the playoffs. Perhaps St. Louis is hoping these two can reignite some of the chemistry they once had, except this time as defence partners. Spec is a great all-around guy, someone I had known previously from BUF and vouched for in the draft process. Although he's not always active in STL's LR, he is a fun, nice guy to have around, and can often be a sarcastic shithead, which I appreciate. Spec's first season in control of Erben saw him play meaningful, important minutes in st. Louis, playing over 20 minutes a game, while contributing in a major way offensively. Spec was all over the ice, finishing a +4 on the season, not taking next to no penalty minutes, while putting up half a point per game as a rookie. Great all around numbers for a sometimes good dude. Playoff Stats GP G A P +/- PIM Hits Sh% SB AMG 17 2 7 9 -1 4 3 12.5% 17 20.75 Spec picked up in his playoff debut exactly where he left off in the regular season, providing a little bit of everything for St. Louis from the back end. Spec actually upped his scoring, getting up to a little over half a point per game, even though his shooting percentage dropped slightly from the regular season. Spec was also kind of a lil bish out there, only dishing 3 hits in 17 games while playing nearly 21 minutes a game. Spec seems to enjoy playing like Tyson Barrie, aka minimal defence while maximizing a team's offensive capabilities by basically playing like a fourth forward. Spec should see his name called quite early in the upcoming SHL draft, perhaps even sometime in the early first round. His previous player reached a decent level, capping out just shy of about 1000, however, teams should expect Kasius to achieve much more than that, as he is currently one of the top earners in his class. Spec provides teams with a stable floor, as this recreate is unlikely to become a total bust. 3rd round, 25th overall
With their third selection, Nic and TML again went back to defence, selecting their first first-gen of this S52 J/S53 SHL Reddit draft. A complete overhaul of the defence is completed with this pick. Trevor Johnson, as I'm sure many can guess from his name, is a true American, born and raised in a lower-tier country with subpar quality of life, a lack of necessary infrastructure, and are currently in the midst of a complete political crisis. Trevor has been able to overcome the odds, and succeed, becoming a third round draft pick in a loaded draft. Trevor's development stalled late in the year, but he's still a quality junior player, and has strengths in scoring, defense, and discipline. Trevor aims to help St. Louis by providing depth scoring on the back-end, while minimizing the time he spends in the penalty box.Trevor Johnson, D @AeonSandwich Regular Season Stats GP G A P +/- PIM Hits Sh% SB AMG 50 2 7 9 2 50 62 15.38 30 17.42 Trevor was the first non-recreate defenceman taking by St. Louis, as they aimed to supplement their defence depth. Trevor had an average rookie season, coming in at about 0.2 points per game, but provided a physical prowess that the Crows young defence corps may have lacked, taking quite a few penalty minutes but consistently looking to lay the body and add his own flair to St. Louis. Johnson broke 200 TPE, but has seen his development slow down a bit. Johnson should still be picked in the SHL draft, and will provide valuable depth to the SHL team that picks him. Although quiet in the locker room, it is a happy sight whenever he pops in from time to time. Playoff Stats GP G A P +/- PIM Hits Sh% SB AMG 17 2 3 5 11 14 19 33.33 14 17.18 All three rookie Crow defenceman taken in this draft ended up playing huge minutes on a team that ultimately ran out of steam in the finals, and should make St. Louis one of the best defensive teams in the league next season as they all continue to develop. In 33 less games, Johnson almost matched his point totals from the regular season, getting more than halfway there in 1/3 the amount of games. Johnson proved to be a clutch performer, with a few of those points coming in the finals, and with both goals actually coming in a single final game as well. Although his shooting percentage would have fallen abck to earth, Johnson still provided a strong two-way game for St. Louis, contributing offensively while being responsible defensively, as seen by his 19 hits and his +11 rating. Johnson will likely fall a bit in the draft due to not being an elite TPE earner, but should he continue to develop, some team will likely be getting a late-round steal. 4th round, 35th overall
Another American boy, Eric Hudson comes to the SMJHL as a full-grown prospect, reaching heights of 6 foot 1, and weighing in at 210 pounds. Had the SHL and SMJHL continued with STHS, Hudson had the ideal build to become successful long term, with strengths in defense! and scoring!!, but also passing:(. Although he plays hard on both ends of the ice, Hudson doesn't love throwing the body around, with checking being the one thing he is truly weak at. Hudson is actually shaping up to be one of the steals in the draft, as he has already developed into one of the top 15-20 players of his class, even though he was selected at 35th overall. Hudson provides the Crows with some depth forwards to build their future around, and should expect to see meaningful, top-6 minutes as soon as next season.Eric Hudson, F @EricNCSU Regular Season Stats GP G A P +/- Hits Sh% AMG Sp. Pts P/20 50 7 5 12 2 28 14.58 10.32 0 0.47 Eric ultimately added quite a presence to the St. Louis lineup, as well as the St. Louis locker room, and is shaping up to carry on the tradition of St. Louis producing elite earning forwards, joining Marston, Zaprozhets, Hernadivic, and Ronlain, as high earning forwards recently drafted by St. Louis. Although his debut season may have not been what he wanted stats wise, Eric still had an all-around solid season for rookies, putting up 12 points while being a plus defensively, in not much ice time per game. Eric may have benefitted from a high shooting percentage, but is shaping up to have a really bright future, and is one of the best draft picks from his draft. Playoff Stats GP G A P +/- Hits Sh% AMG Sp. Pts P/20 17 2 4 6 9 10 6.67% 6.67 0 0.61 Again, we see rookies continuing to perform well, but continuing to be snakebitten in regards to goal tallies with his shooting percentage again far below 10%. Hudson rightfully expected to produce more in the playoffs than he actually did, and so should see a large uptick in production during his sophomore season in the SMJHL. Hudson's development saw him moe from the fourth line up toi the third line as the season progressed, and should expect to see even more ice time next season as St. Louis handles the departures of Hernadivic and Ronlain. Eric was another playoff performer who was a little snakebit for St. Louis, finishing with a shooting percentage far below 10%. However, his secondary contributions helped St. Louis make the finals for the first time in a little over 5 seasons, where they unfortunately succumbed to the great Outlaws team. However, he still managed to put up 6 points and was defenisvely responsible, seen in his quite high +9. Eric is going to be a great two-way winger, not afraid to throw around his body while still contributing offensively. He will likely be a first round pick in the upcoming SHL draft. 6th round, 55th overall
I think we have discovered some serious systemic issues in St. Louis. Not a single one of their forwards is Canadian, with St. Louis headed back to USA for their 6th round selection with Alex Reyer. Alex has developed at a pace slightly ahead of where he was drafted, coming in at about 40th in his class at the time of writing. This playmaking forward has strengths in passing, skating and endurance, showing that Alex has his eyes on eventually playing big minutes for St. Louis in the future. This young gun displays a weakness in strength, so he should focus on hitting the weight room to avoid consistently being knocked off the puck.Alex Reyer, F @iObscurity Regular Season Stats GP G A P +/- Hits Sh% AMG Sp. Pts P/20 50 5 10 15 8 45 9.62 11.11 0 0.54 Reyer had what I would consider an average-slightly above average rookie season, contributing 15 points, being good defensively, while not getting overwhelmed with ice time. Reyer developed slower than some of his draftmates, but is till slowly adding new skills to his game, and should be an intriguing depth piece for St. Louis moving forward. Playoff Stats GP G A P +/- Hits Sh% AMG Sp. Pts P/20 17 3 6 9 -1 5 15% 11.11 0 0.95 Reyer was invaluable in the playoffs for St. Louis, centering an elite fourth line that was able to feast on other teams' lack of depth. Reyer developed great chemistry with free agent addition Kriss Darzins, and terrorized other teams' bottom 6 to the tune of 9 points in 17 games, while only playing 11 minutes a game. This SHL prospect nearly put up a point/20, showing if he were to get increased ice time in the following season, he may continue to develop and put up elite offensive numbers. Reyer's last AC was over a month ago, so a team may take a flyer on him later in the draft, as they are unsure of his commitment and love to the game.
7th round, 65th overall
With their final selection of this Reddit draft, St. Louis took a flyer on a serial killer turned goalie, further cementing the fact that goalies are truly a weird breed of human. Voorhees' time as goalie turned out to be short, as his bloodlust was too much to overcome and he returned to his previous ways.Jason Voorhees, G Regular Season Stats GP W L OTL PCT GAA MP SO PS% 14 3 6 1 0.881 3.54 661 0 0 Voorhees had a supbar rookie goalie season, and quickly left St. Louis. Unsure of his whereabouts now. Playoff Stats GP W L OTL PCT GAA MP SO PS% 2 0 0 0 0.833 5.09 35 0 0 Yeah, the playoffs werent any better. Seems as if he realized hockey wasn't for him. RIP Voorhees.
Undrafted Free Agent
Darzins was a late entry to the S53 SHL draft, missing out entirely on the SMJHL draft, instead allowing teams to bid against one another for the chance to win the battle for this young sniper. Darzins has immediately turned into a stud, and should expect to see his name called earlier in the draft than he anticipates, as although his development started late, he has thrown himself into his routines, and has begun to truly blossom as an elite, young sniper. Darzins, the young Latvian, is a strong scorer, and is able to get himself into these positions through his strong skating and endurance. As he is a sniper, it comes of no surprise that Darzins is a weak checker. Darzins should be a vital piece for St. Louis moving forward, an amazing find as a free-agent. Him and Hudson should be the next great crop of St. Louis forwards.Kriss Darzins, F @lilstifler Regular Season Stats GP G A P +/- Hits Sh% AMG Sp. Pts P/20 27 1 2 3 0 8 3.85 9.27 0 0.24 Darzins had a late start to his junior career, and was dealt an unlucky hand with some seriously unlucky performances, as his 3.85% shooting percentage is comedically low. Darzins would've expected to at least score a couple more goals in the regular season, but still, not a terrible start for a player that didn't get his debut until halfway through the season. It is reasonable that St. Louis would expect Darzins to produce more in the playoffs, as just returning to the mean would increase his production dramatically. Playoff Stats GP G A P +/- Hits Sh% AMG Sp. Pts P/20 17 5 3 8 -1 4 22.73% 10.69 0 0.88 As mentioned earlier, Darzins formed immediate playoff chemistry with his centreman Alex Reyer, able to consistently outwit, outskate, and outscore the other team's forwards that would line up across from him. Darzins was lucky from a shooting percentage standpoint in the playoffs, making up for the bad luck he had in the regular season. Darzins produced some clutch results as well, as he was able to contribute a game winning goal, as well as scoring in some other timely opportunities. The development path Darzins is in is borderline incredible, as this undrafted player is already up to 48th in his draft class, and was about the 90th entry to the draft. Darzins appears as though he's going to be a great steal in one of the middle rounds of the draft, perhaps in the early third round at some point, but I wouldn't be surprised if some team takes a chance on him in the late second, he could be one of the hidden gems in this class. -----End of Player Analysis----- That marks the end of everything I'm going to do to get that sweet 2x media, shoutout to all the Crows for the great playoff run, you guys have a bright future and I'm excited to see where all of you get drafted!
lilstiflerRegistered Posting Freak
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