S24 SHL Entry Draft 1st Round Mock
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patriotm21
Registered Member Well folks its that time of year again. The cups have been handed out and for the next few months the league will begin to re-shuffle for another exciting year of SHL hockey. One of the most anticipated events scheduled between now and the start of next season is the fan, and player, favorite SHL and SMJHL draft. Each year every team looks to the draft for an opportunity to infuse there roster with a little youth and talent that may someday be the difference in a Challenge cup run. Many players picked will never reach there full potential. Once promising careers will lead to draft day busts as high end picks find themselves shelved on junior rosters for the rest of the hockey lives. Some prospects will go on to be solid SHL players and play many years as contributors to playoff caliber teams. There is always a chance, however, that somewhere in this sea of young talent there is that one player. That one player who can forever change the face of a franchise. That player who might provide game after game of legendary performances. That player that kids will grow up wanting to be as there parents share the endless “I was there when he…†stories with. Could that player be here? Could that next great player be out there right now just waiting to be drafted to your team? Only time will tell. Here is a look at a few of the promising young faces of the S24 SHL entry draft. 1. Vlad McZehrl- A big jump in rankings from a year ago for McZehrl. Last years 8th overall pick and second player selected by the runner up Vancouver Whalers was second to none once the season kicked off. With an impressive 16 goals and 23 assists McZehrl led all rookies last year in including 1st overall selection, and fellow teammate, Beau Ballard in points scored. Not even the pressure of the playoffs were enough to break McZehrls stride during the Whalers cup run. Taking his dominant skill into the post-season Vlad posted an impressive 7 goals in 18 games. When it comes to speed, puckhandling and scoring McZehrl has no equals in this draft. Vancouver would love the opportunity to role him onto the ice again next season but first McZerhrl will have the opportunity to crack an SHL roster. At 6 feet 2 inches and 203lbs McZehrl already has the body type required to play at the next level. His solid defensive play and un-exhaustable endurance will also give him the best shot to start right away. McZehrl makes all the sense in the world to go number one to Calgary. The Dragons will look long and hard at the German born skater. He may be just what they need to spark a rise to the top. 2. Mitchell Dambach- Like the McZehrl, Mitchell Dambach has done some climbing this year in the mock drafts. Many experts still have Dambach going 1st overall and its not all that hard to see why. While Dambachs goal number wont blow you away he still finished top 5 in the SMJHL in points scored by rookes with 29. Another positive has been Dambachs ability to play a physical role in the St. Louis offensive. Despite being only 6’1, 200lbs Dambach was 3rd in the entire league when it came to hits. Dambachs physical strength is unprecedented and allows him to play an effective role as power forward even from the center position. Dambachs strength and checking ability was also a major factor in the St. Louis defense. While Dambach may end up being sent down for another season of junior hockey, West Kendall is in major need of a physical presence that Dambach can provide. I don’t forsee Dambach slipping much further then 2nd overall. 3. Beau Ballard- Last years number one selection and Vancouver Whalers golden boy didn’t enjoy the superstar success that many hoped he would have. Despite cranking up the heat in the playoffs and tallying 11 points Beau Ballard only managed 8 goals and 17 assists through the regular season, very average numbers compared to some of the other rookies. Even with Ballards under-whelming year in juniors hes just to good to pass up at the number three spot for Toronto. Ballard remains a young and gifted phenom and the North Stars would be very happy to see this young star fall to them. Overall Ballard may be the best overall skater in this draft and his ability to see the ice and create opportunities will be in high demand at the next level. Ballards 6 foot 3 inch height is also positive as he will be able to battle better for pucks if he can put some weight on that 190lb frame. It is important to note that at this point Ballard will require some coaching up when it comes to his defensive game. His play in the defensive zone should improve in the right system but lets be honest, Ballard will always be know for his offensive game. Have the North Stars found the next poster boy for Toronto sports? Expectations remain high for Ballard following a rough junior season 4. Damien Wert- The 3rd overall pick in the junior draft and first overall selection by St. Louis was another surprising low scorer in last years regular season. Which could be why he slips to 4th in the draft. Despite scoring only 8 goals for the last place Scarecrows, Wert was a workhorse on and off the ice. The 276 TPE earned by Wert this season shows that Wert is willing to get his hands dirty and work his way to the top. In the St. Louis lockerroom Wert is known for being the first one on the ice and the last one off. He is gym rat and never stops trying to improve his game. While goal scoring was not an eye popping stat for Wert this season his ability to shoot is better then any of the three players ranked before him. His defensive soundness, skating and puckhandling are also bluechip level skills for this young forward. Like McZehrl, Wert may be another SHL ready prospect next year. Expect Winnipeg to take a good long look at this kid as he may be the missing piece needed to get the Jets back in the playoffs. 5. Kyle Prince- Finally we stop our run of forwards in this draft and see our first goalie go off the board. Drafted in the second round of the SMJHL draft Prince once again appears to be the consensus top goalie of this years stock. This is a big accomplishment for the Regina Force net minder as his junior season started off on a rocky path. After being suspended prior to the start of the regular for substance abuse issues, Kyle Prince went on an embarrassing run of sub par play that led him to finishing the season with the most losses by a starting goaltender. Despite all this Prince continued to improve through the season posting a respectable .881 save percentage. His improvement continued through to the playoffs where, despite loosing in 5 games to Vancouver, Prince was easily the best player on the ice for the Regina Force. Despite early season issues Prince seems to have turned his act around and appears to be focused on becoming a top goaltender. Minnesota may be a good spot for Kyle Prince as the Chiefs could certainly use a top prospect like this to someday take over for Dymo Ranjan. Other then Ranjan the only other goaltender on the Chiefs roster is Mike Schmidt, who some might argue that Kyle Prince is already better then. The plan should be to let Prince marinade in Regina for a least another year and then work him up through the Chiefs system playing a few games a year in the back up role. By the time Ranjan is ready to retire Minnesota would be able to come off the bench with one of the top young goalies in hockey. 6. Patrick Brumm- Continuing to step away from the forward run we see our first defensemen go off the board in Patrick Brumm. Despite being drafted 17th overall by Regina last year Brumm blew everyone away with his pre-season play. As his high motor continued to run into the regular season it became obvious that Brumm was deserving of first line and power play minutes. Brumm is the definition of a puck-moving defensemen and while his ability to shoot and distribute the puck is excellent his defensive game is very sound too. Brumm wont wow you with physicality. He is not known as someone who lands the bone crushing blows or game altering checks. He will, however, be a future power play quarterback and wont give up an inch in the defensive zone. Texas may be looking for an upgrade to there blue-line with this pick. While the Renagades were middle of the pack in goals allowed and power play % Brumm makes the most sense as he can give both a much needed boost. Brumm could also bring a lot of leadership qualities to a team know to many as “arrogant†and may be looking for a face lift prior to the season. Brumm has what it takes to be top overall defenseman 7. This pick is the source of a little controversy as Hamilton had to forfeit this pick for “Bending the rules†in an attempt to gain a competitive edge. (Who do these guys think they are? The New England Patriots?) Hamilton finished at the top of there conference last year, so its hard to feel to bad for the Steelhawks. With that being said the loss of a first round pick can prove to be devastating to a teams foundation, especially if Hamilton is looking for that last piece to maybe get them to the cup. We will see if the Steelhawks can put this all behind them in the upcoming season. 8. Brandon Girard- Hamiltons loss is the Wolfpacks gain. This years Challenge cup champions hold the next two picks of the draft and it’s a bit of a surprise. Two days ago the Wolfpack held no first round picks but just as the team was hoisting the Challenge cup, management was already hard at work putting together a few big trades. Most recently the Pack shipped out long time New England forward Carter O’Callahan for a slew of picks over the next few years. With the first of these picks the Wolfpack go back to defense and grab Brandon Girard. What an opportunity it is for Girard to go to Challenge cup winners only a few short weeks after winning the Four Star cup for himself. Girard is much more of an all around defensemen then Brumm, the previous pick, appears to be. While Girard has a solid shot, and appears to be able to move the puck well he is also a sound defender who can lower his shoulder and lay the lumber from time to time. Girard is also known for being in incredible shape and having the endurance to put together big time minutes in key games. Even as a rookie it was clear the Girard was a major factor in the Falcons championship run posting not only 8 points in 12 games but a solid 24 hits. New England will be looking to add some key pieces to there system following some big trades. It looks right now as though the Pack might be sacrificing short term success for an opportunity to grab a load of young talent and put together some extended cup runs in the future. Girard is a very safe pick and may be a corner stone for that group for a long time. 9. Randy Randleman- For the second of their first round picks the Wolfpack go offense with Knights forward Randy Randleman. Randleman is a pure offensive forward with a ton of upside that the Pack should be pumped to get their hands on. Despite scoring only 3 goals this regular season and being vastly underrated, Randleman is known for being extremely active in the Knights locker room and leader on the ice. Like a few other forwards ahead of him offensive is the key Randlemans game. Randle is a possession winger with great scoring ability, puckhandling and skating. While his defensive game is poor it is not so bad to the point of Randleman being a hinderence when on the ice, at least not at the junior level. With another year of junior hockey under his belt Randleman would have time to work on his defensive game and prepare himself for a better all around performance at the next level. With Carter O’Callahan gone this pick makes all the sense in the world for New England to make. While it will be impossible to replace O’callahan, at least in the short-run, Randleman can be a big step in easing some of that pain. 10. Mirko Antonio Scuderi- With the tenth pick in the first round Manhattan gets its first opportunity to improve upon its “middle of the pack†roster. The Rage were fortunate enough to wedge there way into the playoffs this year, however, they are certainly a few strides away from a legitimate cup run. Mirko Antonio Scuderi was the fourth overall pick of the SMJHL entry draft last year and makes a lot of sense to Rage as a top ten selection. Scuderi quietly put together one of the more impressive rookie campaigns of the S23 season scoring 18 goals and 19 assists for a team without a lot of supporting talent. Scuderis 18 goals were actually enough to earn him the top goal scoring spot among rookies. Scuderi is another one of the all around forwards of this draft. With an impressive scoring touch to go with a solid defensive foundation Scudari gives coaches a good forward who, with a little work, could become a first line talent in the SHL someday. Scuderi could be a major addition to a Rage team that ranked in the bottom 3 of the league in goals for last year. 11. Igor Ogorodnikov- With the 11th pick in the draft we see the 2nd goalie come off the board to the Edmonton Blizzard. Ogorodnikov actually outplayed the number one ranked goalie of this draft for most of the season last year and is actually ranked higher than Kyle Prince on many draft boards. When it comes to number Igor Ororodnikov earns his 1st round grade here. Not only did he lead the SMJHL with a .891 save percentage and a 2.95 GAA but Ogorodnikov also finished with an impressive 11-6 win/loss record and posted 2 shutouts, most by a rookie last year. Although extremely talent Ogorodnikovs measurable are not what GMs may be searching for in a starting goaltender. Standing at only 6 feet tall and weighing in at 185 the Russian netminder is far from what teams like to see for a prototypical goalies size. This may be what leads team away from him initially and towards Prince. It is well documented that there is pretty exciting goalie dual between our two top netminders in this years draft and I think that we will get a chance to see it play out again next year in the SMJHL. Like Prince, Ogorodnikov could also usually a little more seasoning before taking on a starting role at the SHL level. Taking all of this into account Edmonton still takes a shot on Igor with a first round pick. His raw skills are better then Kyle Princes and if it weren’t for a few inches he may be the consensus number one guy between the pipes. It will be interesting to see how much the rivalry between these two guys is fueled by both of them going once again in the first round. Despite small size, Ogorodnikov may be the most skilled goalie in the draft 12. Shea Robinson- Rounding out the first round of the SHL draft any number of players could go off the board to Calgary. They Dragons have already snagged the best overall player in McZehrl with the top overall pick which is why I have Calgary going defense with number 12. Shea Robinson is giant defender standing 6 feet 6 inches and weighing in at 220 lbs. Physically he is a specimen that not many teams at any level will be able to counter. While known for being a level headed member of the Regina Force roster he is also known to have a mean streak that can lead to some bruises and black eyes for opposing teams. Listed as a two way defender Robinson put together a very impressing rookie year. Despite not being known for his offensive prowess Robinson managed to notch 5 goals and 23 assists last year, enough to rank him 6th in scoring among all rookies. On the defensive side Robinson showed little reguard for his own body ranking 5th amongst all players in shots blocked last year with 51 and landing 64 bone rattling hits on opponents. While there are many things Robinson does well at this point in his career many critics report that he doesn’t do any one thing at an exceptional level. He is a solid all around player but doesn’t hold any one skill that is better then the rest. This fact will make Robinson a bit of a project at the next level and he may require another year in Regina before the Dragons see what they really have in this pick. The good news is that Robinson has the right attitude and wants to be a top defender. The Dragons leave the first round with possibly the best player in the draft at #1 and a bit of a gamble player with a high ceiling at #12. A very good day to be a Dragons fan. Player most likely to bust: Beau Ballard- Ballard was ranked as a top end, once in a generation type prospect last year heading into the SMJHL entry draft, what happened? Well he put together a pretty average season while other rookies soared past him in the stats column. Beau Ballard is a pretty poor defensive player known purely for his dynamic offensive skill. If Beau can only muster 8 goals on a loaded Whalers roster then he may not be who we think he is. Player with biggest upside: Shea Robinson- A lot of heart in the big guy and a undeniable desire to be the best. He has intimidating size and a good core group of skills to build on. Under the right system, with the right coach this kid could flourish and end up being the steal of the draft. Even as the 12th overall pick. 3122 words
Schultzy
Registered S11, S24, S26, S31 Challenge Cup Champion
701 aka YUNG GUAP GOD
Registered S42 Challenge Cup Champion
Dion
Registered S7, S19, S23 Challenge Cup Champion
If I dont go to Toronto. Its a open field. I honestly dont know where I could possibly end up. Could drop and drop.
Chris-McZehrl
Registered S18, S23, S27, S34, S37, S46 Challenge Cup Champion
we will see what will happen in this great Draft Class :">
Challenge Cup Wins: S18 - Seattle Riot (with Chris McZehrl)* S23 - New England Wolfpack (with Chris McZehrl)* S27 - Calgary Dragons (with VLAD McZehrl) S34 - Manhattan Rage (with VLAD McZehrl) S37 - Winnipeg Jets (with VLAD McZehrl) S46 - Buffalo Stampede (with GOD McZehrl)* *first ever Challenge Cup of Franchise History Four Star Cup Wins: S24 - Vancouver Whalers (with VLAD McZehrl) S39 - St. Louis Scarecrows (with GOD McZehrl) SHL Hall of Fame Members: S24 - Chris McZehrl * (GP: 764 | G: 322 | A: 461 | P: 783 | +/-: +109) S40 - VLAD McZehrl * (GP: 653 | G: 333 | A: 361 | P: 694 | +/-: +141) *1st Ballot Hall of Famer small note: GOD McZehrl played at first as Defender and later as Forward!
Jesus The Mexican Way
Registered S10, S12, S20, S21, S28 Challenge Cup Champion
LB.
Registered S37 Challenge Cup Champion
Good read, but still Pejonis is going under the radar. What do I have to do to get in the 1st round, post nude pics of Kate Upton and Emma Watson?
Mook
Registered S22, S32, S34, S40, S42,S52 Challenge Cup Champion Quote:Originally posted by patriotm21@Jun 5 2015, 11:53 PM Just here polishing my Championship ring. Nice article though
GCool
Registered RIP Lefty Quote:Originally posted by LatvianBastard@Jun 6 2015, 07:12 AM Same! I still like this mock, though. Nice job!
Copenhagen
Registered S26, S29, S32 Challenge Cup Champion and Baby Daddy
Wow man, awesome article
Quote:Originally posted by LatvianBastard@Jun 6 2015, 08:12 AM YES PLEASE!
DollarAndADream
Registered S27, S29, S32, S40, S42 Challenge Cup Champion |
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