Simulation Hockey League

The playoffs are about to start, and that brings us to the second DFA bounty:
Deadline: Sunday, September 3rd @ 11:59pm PST

Yves "Stinky" D'Odeur is the wild card of this draft.

Reports of his unique "scent-based approach" to goaltending has sparked controversy as more outlets have profiled him for the upcoming SMJHL draft. Being quoted as both "a perfect explanation for such an unpolished goaltender's consistent success" and "a complete load of (explitive) snake oil and luck" by anonymous team affiliates. Though a translation to a higher level of competition is uncertain, his success in overcoming his troubled life as a luxury perfumer and lack of real development time thus far cannot be ignored. Teams in need of a fresh, rose-scented locker room and a potential game-changer between the pipes might find Stinky's story and winning results too much to pass up. While this combine has been a test of Yves' abilities and character, teams with D'Odeur on their draft board will be tested with a balancing act between his underwhelming traditional scouting profile and the potential of tapping into a supposed "fifth sense" of sorts. In other words; A bet on whether he's going to bring innovation or aggravation.

D'Odeur's style in net offers an intriguing blend of exceptional strengths and challenging weaknesses. Despite being a raw prospect, with some core skills still a work-in-progress, his seemingly-supernatural puck-tracking ability compensates well and has kept him among the top goaltenders of the class. His rebound control is a standout asset, always smothering second chances with prime positioning. Notably, his length and reaction time forgive most instances of poor lateral movement speed in recovery situations. Facing elite shooters tends to expose his slower glove and blocker reactions, but this should improve with time and experience. Overall skating and edgework remains a weak point, which might limit his lateral movement until it gets up to SMJHL level. Despite these areas of concern, he's an exciting prospect primed for massive growth at the next level as his fundamentals develop.

After having traveled a bit early on in my life after "the change" I developed one heck of a bank account to help supplement all of my hockey training and equipment needs.  Special thanks out there to P.T. Barnum for making unusual things feel widely accepted.  With already having a solid bank account, apparently I have a reputation that preceded me here in the SMJHL.  I guess a walking, talking, hockey playing peanut isn't that unusual of a concept.  Anyway, I have a very strong foundation for a defenseman and my entire focus, at least what my coach taught me to focus on, was less scoring goals and more of teamwork.  I mean, teamwork makes the dream work, right?  As a defense-nut my goal is to become the goalie's best friend for blocking shots and separating the other person from the puck so my team can score, or at least have a better opportunity at scoring.  As a DFA, thankfully the team from Quebec decided to take a chance on me and give me some ice-time experience in the league to really show my potential.  I'm still very new compared to some of the other talent in the SMJHL but in 17 games with this great crew I tallied up thirty-one blocks, thirty hits and four points which included three assists (though someone else on the team called them an apple, which confused me because its a puck...not an apple), and one game winning goal.  I already have that puck framed and mounted back at the farm.

So with that ice-experience already on display, my bank account, and the apparent reputation before me I feel like my draft potential would be extremely high...dare I say a top 10 pick.  Otherwise I expect to be bottom of the barrel like those other schmucks from the farm that were bought by Texas Roadhouse by the barrel.

Dag-Otto is a defensive center known for his ability to read and react to opposing offensive breakouts. Often entering his own defensive zone deeply together with his defensemen rather than hovering at the blue line, awaiting a counter attack. Teams are not to be turned off by his lack of points, as his main focus in the offensive zone is screening. He thrives a lot better right in front of the net rather than behind it, or next to it trying to deflect shots. He stands out as a great supporting player.

Dag-Otto stands out especially in his draft class because of his unique face-off taking skills. He's one of few young players who've mastered the face-off dot at a very young age. As proven by the 15 games he played for the Great Falls Grizzlies in the SMJHL regular season. Taking a total of 177 face-offs he managed to win 109 of them. This equals an impressive 61.6% win rate. This ranked him 4th overall in the league for players taking at least 50 face-offs, and ranked #1 among centers in the league.

To summarize: Dag-Otto is an extraordinary defensive player who already today has the talent to lead any team's penalty kill and defensive zone efforts. When you don't want your opponents to score, or you have an upcoming critical face-off, you can and should lean on Dag-Otto. As many young forwards today focus on scoring, DO can be considered a gem for those team who know that defense wins championships.

Looking at the scouting profile of Johnny Patey V2, we have some highlights, and of course some lowlights as we head into the S73 SMJHL draft. As the draft comes closer, Patey is a multi national player from Europe and is not stuck to one place as he has loved all of the places he lived as a young child moving around with family. When looking at his build, Patey V2 is a 5'11, 195 pound puck moving defenseman, who is known for his playmaking and goal scoring ability as one of the best players on the ice, but maybe lacks on his backcheck. 

Patey V2 is dedicated to his craft for loving sports, but hockey was not always his favorite sport, this would be baseball. Patey V2 has always been more dedicated to baseball and always probably will be but he is putting a lot of effort into being a multi sport athlete, is this possible, I'm not sure, but Patey V2 always makes it work but putting in the extra time. This is Patey V2's best attribute coming into this draft, is that he puts his all into something, he never goes 50%. Sometimes this bites him in the butt as he gets a little exhausted, but he always performs when the time comes. Patey V2 not only performs on the ice as a point scoring machine but he is also great off the ice. He may not be one of the top leaders in the locker room, but he will always be around for the teams he is on, and will do whatever it takes to become better, as long as the team is becoming better as well.

If there is one thing that is in Patey V2's profile that I'm sure are in many others, is that he wants to win. Patey V2 does not like losing, like others, and will not sit on a losing team for his entire professional career. Even though Patey V2 puts in the work to score points, if he has to bring down his production to win, that's something he is willing to do. 

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The S73 Rookie Class has a few dark horses, one being the Anchorage Armada's "BONGO".

Aptly named, Bongo, this fellow is an offensive powerhouse. On the third line of a middling ninth place Armada squad, Bongo has posted 14 goals and 28 assists for a total of 42 points in 66 games. In the playoffs, he potted 5 goals in 7 games, but it was not enough to stay in the fight. In his first season, Bongo has shown that he is "Mr. Clutch".

Scouts predict that although in his career, he may not post super impressive numbers through the stretch, he will be a solid Top 9 forward that can show up in key moments. Bongo has been said to not complete his weekly supplementary trainings. Work ethic may affect his longevity in the league, but get this man in the early 2nd round, and it's more than a steal.

BONGO has a high high high upside, but like with most wildcard darkhorse prospects, with high reward comes high risk. There is no guarantee that Bongo can sustain these offensive numbers long term, but with the correct management, he is predicted to have a successful career. Bongo has voiced that he does not mind playing for a rebuilding team for a long time, as long as management has a linear plan to develop talent and compete for a championship.

Playing on a rebuilding team is something that interests BONGO. He responds well to management that correspond with him and remind him to sharpen parts of his game - BONGO follows a plan, and is incredibly loyal, but unpredictable at times. He may not be at the top of the TPE pile as of now, but is projected to be top 15 in his class.