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+---- Thread: (GRADED) Deep Dive #1 - Newfoundland Berserker's: Best Defensive Squad in the League (/showthread.php?tid=120329)
(GRADED) Deep Dive #1 - Newfoundland Berserker's: Best Defensive Squad in the League - Vik - 11-10-2021
In this deep dive we are going to focus on the most stout defense in the league early on in the season and what makes them tick. For decision making purposes I decided that I would deep dive into the defense of the team the has the fewest goals against which is the Newfoundland Berserkers. What makes the Newfoundland defense so incredible? Let’s deep dive and find out!
Newfoundland began building their elite defense at the S60 draft. After missing out on the top prospect they wanted to Detroit at 8th overall, they traded 10th overall and 46th overall to the Falcons to get their guy; Jannik Nordstern. Nordstern is now a seasoned veteran in the SMJHL going on his 3rd season. He is at the 450 practice hours cap for junior players and has almost 200 practice hours banked for when he moves to the SHL. Nordstern has a very solid two-way defenseman build that focuses slightly more on defense than offense. In five games this season Nordstern has only managed one assist and is a +5 with 11 hits and 4 shots blocked. This is a bit of a step back for Nordstern who scored 6 goals and had 30 assists last season.
The next move that Newfoundland made to build a great defense was adding their goaltender through free agency. Two days after the S60 draft Newfoundland was able to sign their goalie of the future in Jonas Johansson. While Johansson hasn’t been the most aggressive earner of practice hours (328 total) he has quickly become one of the best goalies in the SMJHL this season. Johansson split time with Evgeni Petrov last season, but he has since moved on from the team. This season Johansson looks to be the obvious choice to start the maximum amount of games for Newfoundland and hasn’t shied away from the opportunity. Johansson is second in the league in both goals against average and save percentage displaying a 1.01 and .957 respectively. He also leads the league in shutouts in the early going with two. Johansson has been the goalie that Newfoundland needs him to be if they have a shot at winning the Four Star Cup.
The S61 entry draft was a big draft for every team in the SMJHL setting them up for the future, and Newfoundland took this draft to focus heavily on adding to their defensive core. The first pick they had in the draft was 5th overall and they naturally took a defenseman to help with their defensive strategy. At 5th overall they took Mikko Rashford, an offensively minded defenseman hailing from Finland. Rashford had a great rookie season with 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points. Rashford has picked up right where he left off last season starting with 1 goal and 4 assists in his first 5 games. He also has a +7 rating which is tied for first in the league. Rashford currently sits at the second year cap of 350 practice hours and is already well on his way to achieving the 450 practice hour cap for juniors with 86 banked practice hours (436 total). He also leads the team in shots with 21.
The next defensemen selected for Newfoundland in the S61 entry draft was Jay O’Neil. O’Neil is a defensive minded defenseman from Boston., United States. O’Neil is also at the second year 350 practice hour cap and has 72 practice hours banked already for next season. So far this season O’Neil has been solid with 2 assists, a +3 rating, 8 blocked shots, and 9 hits in 5 games. His 8 blocked shots lead the team currently and O’Neil has become a solid mainstay on the penalty kill as well averaging almost two and a half minutes per game which also leads the team.
The next key in the defensive squad of Newfoundland was added post draft via trade very similarly to Jannik Nordstern. After missing out on defenseman SD Core at the draft Newfoundland traded a S63 2nd round pick to bring the offensively minded player over. SD Core has underachieved compared to other defensemen in his class from Newfoundland as far as practice hours go logging only 279, and as such Core has found himself bumped out of position and playing left wing this season.
Newfoundland’s final acquisition of S61 would be a defenseman with rich SHL lineage, Merlin Metzler, whom they picked up as a free agent signing. Metzler is a defensive minded defenseman who has 339 practice hours to his name. His statistics this season have been average with 1 goal, 2 assists, a +2 rating, 7 blocked shots, and 3 hits.
The final two cogs in the machine that make up a dynamic rookie defensive duo were drafted in the S62 entry draft, Rand Al’Thor and Devin Williams II. Picked first at fifth overall was Rand Al’Thor who currently sits at 224 practice hours. The Swedish defenseman has a cannon from the point and has a goal and 2 assists in his first 5 games in the SMJHL and is also a +5 rating. Somehow however the Al’Thor has 0 blocks or hits in any game this season. His defensive partner Devin Williams II was drafted 18th overall to Newfoundland and currently has 215 practice hours under his belt. With 2 assists, 7 blocked shots, and 8 hits in 5 games Williams has been doing well to carry the defensive load of his pairing and he is also tied for 1st in the league with a +7 rating.
So what is the key to Newfoundland’s defense? A super strong top pairing defenseman at the 450 cap? A dynamic scoring defenseman chilling at the 350 cap waiting in the wings to hit 450? A second pairing that can shut down anyone in the league? Or a third pairing defenseman that has one of the heaviest shots in the NHL and the green light to shoot? Or maybe it’s the excellent performance of a goalie that wasn’t expected to be quite this good? If you ask me none of these things make the difference alone, the biggest thing Newfoundland has going for their defense is chemistry. All three of their pairings work well together with one player focusing more on offense and pinching in the zone and the other player covering their own zone.
RE: (GRADED) Deep Dive #1 - Newfoundland Berserker's: Best Defensive Squad in the League - Opera_Phantom - 11-11-2021
Approved!
+5 TPE @Vik