Since I am a defenseman in the S56 draft, I figured I'd look at how the expansion draft shifted the landscape, if at all for this coming draft in terms of teams defenseman draft needs. With a grand total of 12 defenseman getting taken in the draft, teams had some planned and possibly unplanned losses for their long term building.

Baltimore Platoon:

Expansion Draft: Baltimore lost two inactives and neither of which will have a big impact long term on the platoon. Their first loss Svennson will have a bit more of an immediate impact as he was a serviceable inactive for the platoon to fill out their roster. Their second loss of smeb was a lower regressing TPE player and nothing that should really effect them immediately.

Defenseman draft need: Defense is something that the platoon could definitely improve in. This coming S56 season may be the debut of @suavemente on the blue line for the Platoon. However in terms of defensive prospects it sort of begins and ends with Suave. As a team, Old man Emerson is not getting any younger although still an overall stud now progressing deeper into regression. Sabo Tage should be someone else who should develop well for Baltimore. Look to see the Platoon to possibly take a defenseman. It also is an added benefit that they get a stud winger in Johansson for free in the draft.

Buffalo Stampede:

Expansion Draft: The players taken in the expansion draft were fairly expected by most. Otter was traded as a rental knowing that he was going to leave to be a part of the Inferno. Losing Darrow was a bit of a blow to the Stampede but someone who is starting regression, who knows how long they want to fight it off. Also as reported in my earlier article, they had the long term replacements for Darrow in the system with Finn's next player. Losing Darrow may actually have been a blessing to the Stampede with the recent change to the salary cap.

Defenseman Draft need: There is higher odds of the Stampede taking a forward than a defenseman as although they only really have four on the roster now, they have four in the system and may look to add one in free agency.

Chicago Syndicate:

Expansion Draft: In the expansion draft, the strong Syndicate squad lost two younger players in Skinner and Twist. Skinner this past season was not a big contributor for the Syndicate where he only averaged 12 minutes and put up only 12 points. Looking at their roster and long term plans. This pick may actually slow down the syndicate as the third pairing was definitely a weak spot for the Syndicate. Also looking at immediate solutions, they don't have a replacement for Skinner, so they may try to make a move for a defenseman.

Defenseman Draft Need: Legend could very well develop into the 5th/6th defenseman that the Syndicate need. In terms of defensive depth, it can be seen that defenseman is where they need to go especially as Watt and Smeb now enter regression this coming season/ next season. This is a spot where GM's Velv or Ofer either need to commit to a retool to stregnthen defense, or make a move to bring in defenseman to be able to run 6 strong defenseman. Keep your eyes on them as we get closer to the draft.

Hamilton Steelhawks:

Expansion Draft: Losing Tig stinks. Someone who has been around a while with a player who is still fighting regression well as well. This is something that I am sure Hallsy has been planning for since Tig was announced as the GM for Seattle. However losing FourFour was another big blow as a long time member of the site and the creator of multiple great players. Losing two key cogs to your defense after finishing third in the Eastern conference.

Defenseman Draft Need: In terms of immediately ready defenseman they have none. But they do have two prospects who will be able to fill in but they won't be able to come up for another few seasons. Hamilton looks to be in a situation like Chicago where this draft will be interesting in terms of what they decide to do in terms of building their roster post expansion.

Manhattan Rage:

Expansion Draft: Man Lost Leppish and and Duffy. Both a defenseman and a goalie. I do believe that Leppish was going to be a free agent so the loss was something that was definitely going to be planned by the Manhattan GM's. However in terms of prospects, they are fairly thin unfortunately. It is possible to see them trade for a replacement for Leppish to have them right back to where they were as 2nd in the Eastern Conference.

Defenseman Draft Need: I could see this be a fairly big possibly for the Rage as two of their two top defenseman are both regressing, although having six strong defenseman is definitely a great luxury for the Rage. With their roster they may just take the BPA or replace their back-up goalie who they lost to expansion

New England Wolfpack:

Expansion Draft: The Wolfpack Lost their back-up/ future back-up goalie as well as Moosecop. These losses were not too huge for the Wolfpack as they have been stockpiling defenseman to begin with and were most likely looking to replace the S43 player especially as regression becomes more difficult for him to fight off.

Draft Needs: Draft needs is definitely up front. Having four rostered defenseman and four defenseman as prospects. They did however recently move up in the draft with the drat surplus that they have been accumulating. They may take the BPA with their higher pick but I do believe that they will not take a defenseman with their later pick in the first round.

Tampa Bay Barracuda:

Expansion Draft: With many high level prospects defensively, they only managed to lose forwards in the expansion draft. Wanesly I do believe has already been signed (congrats!).

Defensive Draft needs: This is a team that is very deep in their system from the blueline. With players getting ready to come up, defense is something that they do not need. If they were to take any defenseman in this draft they would end up 9th on their depth chart before TPE growth or anything else. I see them going forward 1st OA.

Toronto North Stars:

Expansion Draft: Getting to Toronto, is a team that lost two forwards in expansion. Defensively it does not effect them especially with Langerbeer and Lee being a FA this coming offseason. As a team that is coming out of a rebuild, opening spots for younger players may be a blessing in surprise for them as well as being able to offer more money to rookies as they resign post their rookie deal.

Defensive Draft Needs: This is a team that is fairly set defensively with a young core and two strong young players coming up. I don't see Toronto going anywhere near a defenseman this draft with their core hopefully set for the foreseeable future. They make take a flier on someone towards the end of the draft as an emergency option if one of their two prospects don't pan out.

Calgary Dragons:

Expansion Draft: The Dragons lost a very good inactive Defenseman in Smeb, although he will look to start regression soon, he will be serviceable for a while for Seattle. They also lost a forward in Rykov. These moves picks did not hurt the Dragons as similar to earlier teams the grab of Smeb may move them to bring up some of their young talent earlier.

Defensive Draft Needs: The Dragons have 6 defenseman with their four on the roster and 2 upcoming prospects. While Barkov is ready, Goodname may need another season to develop. With Driftwood getting deeper in regression, the Dragons may look to grab a defenseman to have a long term replacement for Driftwood. I see the Dragons however looking to grab a replacement for Izzy as this coming season will be his last.

Edmonton Blizzard:

Expansion Draft: Like a few other teams, Edmonton lost two forwards in the expansion draft. One of which was going to test free agency, so like other teams, losing them was not as big of a deal. While they were big contributors to the Blizzard we will see where they go long term to learn how much the Blizzard may have lost out or not.

Defensive Draft Needs: Not owning a lot of picks to begin with, the Blizzard's first pick last I saw was in the third round. There is a possibility some defenseman may still be there but the odds of that are not overly high. I believe they will look to grab a forward late to replace the two players they lost to expansion/ would have been possibly free agency.

Los Angeles Panthers:

Expansion Draft: This team lost a free agent who was leaving in free agency as well as their back up goalie. Not exactly devastating when they were planning on losing cleary as seen by his free agency article early on in the season. This was also already forseen by GM Wasty recreating as a defenseman recently.

Defenseman Draft Needs: With getting Wasty for free as their GM. LAP Seems set in terms of defenseman adding GM Wasty's newest player this coming draft as well as other draft picks. With a smaller prospect pool, look for the Panthers to lean more towards grabbing a forward with their higher draft pick.

Minnesota Chiefs:

Expansion Draft: Like the previous team, Minnesota lost two forwards to the expansion draft. While it is sad to lose to them, I do believe that they were looking to lose players as their young rosters looks to step onto the ice this coming season. There deep prospect pool however was not touched by the draft and have players ready to go or almost ready to go.

Defenseman Draft needs: While their current SHL roster is not overly deep in defenseman, their prospects are seven players deep in terms of defenseman. Look for them to take a forward early on.

New Orleans Specters:

Expansion Draft:In the expansion draft, Nola lost old man Blastmeaway, a S39 player who I am sure they were looking to at least start to find a replacement for if they did not already have it. Jousu is a forward who I am sure will be a good asset to their team. Exactly as I had said, looking into their prospect pool, they have two defenseman that are looking to gain an SHL spot soon.

Defenseman Draft needs: Currently they are sitting on 4/5 defenseman based on how you look at things. As well as two coming up in the system. There is a possiblity that if a strong Defenseman falls to them, Nola may look to grab someone. I mostly believe they will just look to fill in their prospect pool with this draft having only four prospects in their system currently.

San Francisco Pride:

Expansion Draft: They only lost two forwards in this draft so for defenseman it was not a big lost for the pride. They are in a big state of flux with everything that has gone over the last few months.

Defenseman Draft needs: with everything to do to get under cap for this season and really tear it down, they may just be picking BPA picks because this season is going to be rough after the recent missteps from management. I believe for them they may be trying to just accumulate picks if possible for this draft and start their rebuild

Texas Renegades:

Expansion Draft:Texas lost a defenseman in the draft in Guy O'Shea who is a pretty good player and looks to be a good player going forward. Looking at their team this need was ready to be filled by another young player when they are ready.

Defenseman Draft needs: The defense in Texas seems pretty solid for a while with not a single defenseman in regression. I believe they may look forward although with a pretty solid roster across the board they may just go BPA instead of grabbing a need that they may not really have at the moment.

Winnipeg Jets:

Expansion Draft:With Wozy being picked, to no real surprise, this was a move that I am sure Kez (Muerto) was looking to happen. I am sure that he has had his eye on a defenseman to fill this role/ hole that he may not have wanted to have otherwise.

Defenseman Draft needs: I believe depending on who falls to Win's pick is where Kez will go. He may pick a defenseman that can be that huge point getter and help push WIN over the hump or hey may just go BPA as this draft is definitely a few rounds deep.

Code:

I know this is early for double draft media grading but figured I'd do it now before I didn't do it/ forgot about it. I'm hoping to also use this for my mock draft later this week, stay tuned!

Code:

2.2k words

Losing Tig stinks

Fixed that for you.



@notorioustig

Reid Sutherland || C || Detroit Falcons || Seattle Argonauts - coGM || 1735 TPE 

Name: Reid Sutherland

Username: reid_sutherland

Age: 21

Birthplace: Minnesota, USA Somewhere is Sweden

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 190 lbs

Number: 5

------------------------------------------------------------

Career Statistics:

SMJHL Regular Season: 

S52: 6G || 10A || 16P || -6 +/- || 54.20 FO%

S53: 9G || 31A || 40P || +25 +/- || 52.5 FO%

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Transaction History:

S52: Drafted 24th overall to the Detroit Falcons

S53: Drafted 14th overall to the Winnipeg Jets

S53 Zach Miller Award Recipient

Thanks Wasty, Carpy, JSS, TurdFerguson, Geekusoid and Awesomecakes for the sigs!

I've missed maybe 2 TPE ops in my 12 seasons on the site. I think I'll fight regression just fine haha. It does clear up some cap, but your never better for losing a 2k active player.

Mike Izzy's final season was actually this previous one fyu. His career is over.

M'Baku Olubori || #81 || RW

Drafted 4th overall in S64 SMJHL Draft by Regina

Drafted 95th overall in S65 SHL Draft by Baltimore

Won S68 Ryan Jesster Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

Cassius Darrow || #81 || RD
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SMJHL Stats:
S44 - S46 || COL  || GP: 150 || G: 15 || A: 85 || P: 100 || +/-: +1 || SB: 195
S47 - S55 || BUF  || GP: X || G: X || A: X || P: X || +/-: X || SB: X
S56 - S63 || SEA  || GP: 0 || G: 0 || A: 0 || P: 0 || +/-: 0 || SB: 0
-------------------------------------------
Drafted 8th overall in S44 SMJHL Draft to Colorado
Co-Winner of S44 Zach Miller Trophy
Drafted 4th overall in S45 SHL Draft to Buffalo
Named S45 & S46 Captain of the Colorado Raptors
3-time Challenge Cup Champion (S46, S48, S55)
Named Assistant Captain of Buffalo Stampede S53-S55
Drafted 1st overall S56 Expansion Draft by Seattle
Named Captain of the Seattle Argonauts in S56
Bojo Biscuit Winner S57, S58

Baltimore Platoon GM || S64 - present

SHL Executioner || S62 - S65
SHL Awards Committee || S57 - S66
SHL Historian Committee || S53 - S64
SHL Head Office || S60 - S61
SMJHL Awards Head || S48 - S57
Colorado Raptors GM || S48 - S53
Colorado Raptors Co-GM || S47
Team Germany Federation Head || S44 - S46
SMJHL HO Member - S45-S46
SMJHL Head Office Intern - S44 

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Thank you karey, OrbitingDeath Ragnar, and sköldpaddor for sigs! 

Good piece, although FA was never in my plans as i was expecting to stay in MAN, but then i got picked in the expansion draft despite trying to avoid that happening.