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NONAME · 06-11-2019, 01:35 PM

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The SMJHL draft has officially concluded and every team is hoping they have hit gold to either continue their team's success or to turn the franchise's luck around with new young talent. For the Colorado Raptors it's all about improvement after their abysmal 16-30-4 season that had them at a -49 goal differential as a team. Let's take a look at each drafted prospect by the Colorado Raptors to gauge just how successful the future looks there.

2nd Overall Pick - Derek Bohne

TPE: 201
Strengths
Defence - 70
Checking - 65
Passing - 60

Derek Bohne entering the draft was considered one of the top defenseman prospects in the season 48 draft. He is the prototypical elite two-way defenseman with an incredibly high ceiling. Many have compared him to the NHL's Drew Doughty with more grit which is a very high appraisal. To start his career, you will likely see Bohne play around the #4 to #5 spot throughout the season but as the years go on he will be expected to carry the backend of the Raptors.

11th Overall Pick - Heat Siecker

TPE: 199
Strengths
Skating - 72
Defence - 70
Passing - 70

Heat Siecker is another incredible defenseman talent that was entered into the season 48 entry draft and the Colorado Raptors continued to take strides into improving their goals against by adding another defenseman. Siecker is also considered a two-way defenseman just like Bohne, however, his skating and passing abilities are currently at a higher level which will also help out the offence for the Raptors which struggled mightily with only 119 goals all season. A future pairing of Siecker and Bohne might be a very scary thought for opposing top offensive lines. We might be seeing Siecker playing the bottom pairing to start the year with the chance of moving up. There is also a good chance he might get some speciality teams time. Siecker is going to be a huge part of the Raptors future defensive core.

12th Overall Pick - Bo Kane

TPE: 221
Strengths
Endurance - 72
Scoring - 71
Defence - 60

Bo Kane is considered one of the better goal scorers to have entered into the draft which is the exact reason why the Raptors targeted him. He models his game after the NHL's Auston Matthews. Kane is going to be a massive part of the remodelling of the offensive core for the Colorado Raptors that struggled last season. While his role in his first season with the team will likely be limited to a bottom 6 role with speciality teams ice-time, expect to see Kane rise up the line-up in future seasons to become the top line centre and offensive dynamite for the Raptors.

20th Overall Pick - Knox Booth

TPE: 198
Strengths
Style Control - 78
Reaction Time - 76
Reaction Speed - 76

Knox Booth is one of the few goalies entered in the season 48 entry draft and was considered one of the top 2 overall. He is a butterfly goalie who's game all around is very consistent and even. Many compare him to the NHL's 2001/2002 Vezina and Hart trophy winner, Jose Theadore. The Colorado Raptors now have a very deep goalie depth chart with the addition of Booth. They have Thorstrom, Ushakov, and now Booth as well. The addition of Booth is important for the Raptors as they need to start grooming their future starting goalie for once Thorstrom and Ushakov get called up to the NHL. For the coming season, you will likely see Booth in a very limited amount of games, but as I said before, he is going to be the starting goalie in a season or two. This season will be a very important time for Booth to prepare for that.

21st Overall Pick - Jean-Francios Mayer

TPE: 183
Strengths
Scoring - 65
Passing - 65
Defence - 65

Jean-Francios Mayer is an amazing 3rd round selection for the Colorado Raptors. The later rounds of the draft are where teams can turn a good draft into a great one and Mayer looks like one of those promising players that's a steal in the 3rd round. Mayer is a sniper rightwing who will be another piece to fixing the offensive woes for the Raptors. Mayer to start his career will likely play a bottom 6 role but there's definitely room in the line-up for him to move up if he earns it.

31st Overall Pick - Cupp Kakko

TPE: 172
Strengths
Scoring - 77
Skating - 66
Strength - 63

Cupp Kakko is a player type you just don't see too much of anymore and that is a power forward. He is comparable to the elite prospect and brother Kaapo Kakko who is predicted to go in the top 2 of the NHL entry draft this year. There is a good chance you will see Kakko immediately pot some goals as his shot is arguably the best of the season 48 SMJHL draft class. This is the exact type of player the Raptors needed to select in the draft and they are hoping he will turn out to be another late round steal for them.

Overall it looks like the Colorado Raptors have done a great job in the season 48 entry draft. They have added players to help fix their offensive struggles, defensive struggles, and have also added a future starting goalie for the team. Only time will tell just how successful the draft is for them but if I was a betting man I would say the future looks extremely bright for the Colorado Raptors organization and fans.