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ec06aaj · 03-26-2024, 02:12 PM

Last time I did this piece, between seasons 74 and 75, the portal automatically graduated a ton of players before I was finished. I have cunningly side-stepped that issue this time by…waiting until after the portal ticked, meaning I have to do another set of checks entirely to figure out who’s graduated to the SHL, who retired, who’s inactive but technically still on the roster and who seems to have fallen into the void. There will, of course, be errors in this and probably more than there were last time – to them, I say fie and begone. I am but one man, one extremely overworked man, one man who has too many projects because he has no ability to say no, one man who you get the picture.

What I’m hoping to do is go a bit further than last time. For each team I’ll be looking to record who’s no longer on the squad and the likely impact, but also how they could mitigate it in the upcoming draft, thus also qualifying this piece for some of that sweet, sweet double income draft content. Furthermore, because we also have to factor in the expansion draft, I’ll attempt to work in who could potentially be leaving their teams for one of the new franchises. Ambitious? Yes, obviously.

Anchorage Armada
Losing: Bongo (Atlanta Inferno), Jean-Francois Bokassa (Manhattan Rage), Ubba Lodbrok (Philadelphia Forge)
Graduation Impact: Middling
Expansion Impact: Middling
Ideal Draft Target: An offensively-minded centre
When last I did this, I brought up Anchorage losing some of their key offensive talent and questioned whether Ubba Lodbrok was going to be capable of stepping up into the holes left by Joseph Reed et al and keep the Armada competitive. “Competitive” may be a charitable way to describe Anchorage’s season, dropping to the bottom of the league table’s mushy middle and getting bounced in the first round by Carolina, but that was no fault of Lodbrok at all who led the team in points and racked up minutes on the power play. Which means, of course, that Anchorage again lose their team’s top scorer and in the graduation of Bokassa, their top defenseman as well.

This may seem more severe than my rating impact implies, and there’s a reason for that: Bokassa being gone is a shame but Chuck Chunky has being nothing short of a beast in his rookie season and there’s a legitimate argument to be made he was Anchorage’s most valuable player this season. Between him and the sophomore Carter Crutchfield, I don’t have much concern about the Armada blueline at all.

The expansion draft may be a bigger concern, however. On the assumption they lock down Crutchfield and Chunky, the 3-D rule means that Deth Klaw or Sebastian Levesque are going to be vulnerable and either would be a valuable piece for a fresh team to pinch. Having all four of those would make for a very solid defensive unit – having three makes things a lot less comfortable.

Looking forward to the draft, my assessment is that Anchorage is most in need of not just a centre but a centre who will get points on the scoreboard. Both Jesus Murphy and Squilliam Fancyson are fine players but players geared for two-way play, and that’s reflected in the top centres available of the incoming class of rookies. I’d consider Samuel Cadieux as the best dedicated centre in those terms – if I were willing to spend time teaching him how to face off, I’d consider picking up Skyler Stevens and moving him to the middle.

Carolina Kraken
Losing: Betzee Nickelback (Manhattan Rage), Rence Sykut (Seattle Argonauts), Carl Stutz (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Middling
Expansion Impact: Limited
Ideal Draft Target: A fresh forward prospect
The Nickelback era is over in Carolina. Betzee was a beast of a player for a team that often didn’t give her a lot of help and the pairing of her and Sykut was among the league’s best when everything was clicking. So why do I rate the graduation impact as only middling?

Because, and say it quietly lest I be burned at the stake for my heresy, I don’t think she was THAT crucial to Carolina’s success that she can’t be replaced. Behind Betzee on the Kraken’s depth chart are Dag-Otto Bjorntjanst and Roger Murdock, both high picks in what is proving to be a stacked S73 SMJHL junior class, who haven’t been able to get the minutes some of the other picks from that draft have because Carolina were able to rely on Betzee’s presence. The preseason should absolutely be about determining who’s going to inherit her place taking faceoffs for the first line, and I’m not wagering anything on that. Similarly, losing Sykut hurts but he finished the season behind Cob O’Corn and Walter Melon in points scored, so arguably wasn’t even the team’s top left winger by the end of last season. Carolina still have a way to go to contend but this graduation class isn’t going to put a huge hindrance in that path, in my eyes.

Nor will expansion, for that matter. Unless the Kraken staff manage to make some trades, I suspect they’ll be leaving some younger players unprotected and those are losses they can weather in the short term a lot easier than being forced to expose a core part of their lineup. No foreshadowing intended, honestly…

In the draft, I feel like Carolina have got a lot of freedom with which way to look. They’re going to be leaving a lot of forwards unprotected, primarily younger players, so it feels appropriate that they’d react to the loss of younger forwards by taking younger forwards. I sense the wing is going to require more attention than the middle, so potential targets for me would be Zhen Serkr if you like having pass-first wingers or Theo Kane for a stronger scoring option, with an outside chance of French prodigy Emeric Lavoie.

Colorado Raptors
Losing: Jussi Mutou (Montreal Patriotes), Xavier Beausoleil (Minnesota Monarchs), Brooklyn Physt (Toronto North Stars), Valerija Serapin (Montreal Patriotes)
Graduation Impact: Heavy
Expansion Impact: Middling
Ideal Draft Target: Load-bearing defenseman
Three of their starting lineup and the centrepiece of arguably the most impactful trade made in the last decade of the SMJHL leaving a team? Yeah, that qualifies as Heavy. If I had a category above that I’d arguably be using it here – between the trades for Physt and Herman Stahl, Colorado went if not all-in then certainly pushed most of their stack into the table to make their trophy cabinet look less barren, and you can see how that worked out. The Mutou-Beausoleil connection is broken up for good.

There’s some interesting changes likely to be in play next season. Balance of probability suggests that it’ll be Leonard Wood and Brandon Gilleyes accompanying Shadow Fenix on the Raptors’ top line, and both of those are players who have been getting respect for their defensive capabilities – graduation might mark the end of Colorado’s famed run-and-gun playstyle, for which neutral fans will weep, but we could see a slightly more well-rounded Raptors squad take the ice for season 76.

Normally, the flip side to being hit hard in graduation is that with a smaller roster comes smaller exposure, and that is still technically the case here; the unfortunate quirk is that the rules state every team is guaranteed to lose one player and looking at Colorado’s corps of forwards, they’re either going to lose an important piece or give up the promising rookie about to be sophomore Nathangus McExplosion. Neither situation is going to be greeted with open arms.

Despite that, I think the smarter option in the draft is going to be looking to the blueline, especially if I’m right about the team’s desire to tone down the ruthless aggression of the last couple of seasons. There are interesting options – Jeyeff Effo, the 6’9 beanpole who is registered as a defenseman despite having no obvious interest in the position – but as a potential future anchor of the position I’d be leaning towards a player like Artem Zub. You can teach footspeed.

Detroit Falcons
Losing: Dunkler Sowerwine (Tampa Bay Barracuda), Emil Karlsson (Montreal Patriotes), Kenny Omega (New England Wolfpack), Prince Marius (Buffalo Stampede), Luma Lee (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Critical
Expansion Impact: Light
Ideal Draft Target: The best skater available
I decided to make a category above Heavy. Detroit were already going to be hit fairly badly by graduation as it was, but what tips them from Heavy into Critical is the news that Emil Karlsson’s time in the small leagues has been ended – Montreal clearly have had enough of being battered night after night and want to make a go of it in the coming season. Good for the Patriotes – bad for the Falcons, for whom Karlsson was both a big part of their forwards’ defensive play and an important depth scorer.

Losing Karlsson means Detroit is likely going to be relying on sophomore Brayden Point as their first-line centre and with all respect to Point for a fine rookie season, where he didn’t seem at all out of his depth, it’s hard not to feel like the drop-off is going to be substantial. All in all, Detroit’s forward corps has been stripped down very heavily and if you thought the team played defensively last season, get ready for some true snoozefests.

Here, the flipside genuinely does apply: Detroit’s roster has been so pillaged that they can at least keep all of their forwards safe and expose only one skater. Whoever gets left vulnerable is likely to be taken, but that’s a loss that can be suffered through a lot easier than the possibility of going into the draft without even being able to ice two full lines of forwards. The draft is going to be key for the Falcons’ future and they are in a position where the best plan is going with the best skater on the board – goal is secured but everything else is firmly up for grabs.

Great Falls Grizzlies
Losing: Brandon Strongstick (retirement), Jani Manty (Hamilton Steelhawks)
Graduation Impact: Limited
Expansion Impact: Minimal
Ideal Draft Target: More offensive talent on the wing
All told, things could have gone worse for Great Falls – in an offseason where a number of SHL teams have chosen to call up some of their prospects ahead of time, the Grizzlies keep their crown jewels for another season of improvement. Obviously, they can scarcely rest on their laurels with John Peanut and Gordon-William Gibbles, but the iron is scorching and bright red: now is the time to strike if ever the Grizzlies are going to try.

Then again, it’s hardly all good news. Brandon Strongstick hanging up his skates after a career-best season and Jani Manty ascending after breaking his own career records put a pair of holes in the top line that are going to require some big improvement from their depth players to fill. James Howlett looked like a rough diamond at the start of the year and got more polished with every game; Grizzlies fans will be crossing every appendage they have in the hope that stays on track as he and Poiklm move up the batting order. Notably, Howlett did all his work with barely any powerplay time and I suspect the three minutes plus that Manty was chewing up is going to find a welcome home in his grubby paws. I vacillated on describing the graduation impact as Middling or Limited but my eventual decision to go with Limited is a sign of my optimism that Great Falls are going to keep on the upward trajectory they’ve shown.

I don’t think expansion is likely to hold many horrors either, unless both of the new franchises are led by GMs who have a real beef against Great Falls. The core of skaters who’ll fall under the umbrella of protection aren’t quite on the same level as the league powerhouses but should still allow the Grizzlies to keep their youngest players safe from unwanted attention, and with only one goalie on the roster there’s no reason to fear losing the British behemoth Lee Harrison.

Right now, most of the Grizzlies’ forward talent is up the middle and so my guess is they’ll prioritise adding skill on the wing; I can see GWG moving back to centre if the staff aren’t convinced Poiklm will work as a top-line player and that will just exacerbate the issue. I like Max Kielinen as a good fit, as a player with a lot of stamina and good all-round hockey IQ; technical skills will come with time but having a lot of raw natural fitness and the determination to improve feels like it’ll fit Great Falls well.

Kelowna Knights
Losing: Daniel Durkburg (Texas Renegades), Graham Schwartz (Calgary Dragons), James MacAvoy (Free agency), Five-Hole Sieve (Buffalo Stampede)
Graduation Impact: Heavy
Expansion Impact: Limited
Ideal Draft Target: A new starting goaltender
And you thought you’d be picking first. If this doesn’t spark an immediate Kelowna vs. Ottawa rivalry, Knights vs. Highlanders, the Great Canadian Swordfight, then I don’t deserve to work in marketing, which I don’t.

Heavy might seem like an odd choice of rating, given what I’ve written above and below about some of the other bottom-feeding teams, but that’s not down to my admiration of James MacAvoy or fear of Daniel Durkburg - the other teams have goalies and now, the Knights have lost their workhorse. The Sieve has been the hardest-working goaltender in the J for his career down here - facing an absurd 6,462 shots, not just the most raw shots but the highest shots per game figure, playing more than 25 games above Jim Wen in second place - and dropping from him to Dako Nanokov or whoever the Knights end up picking in the draft is possibly the biggest dropoff in raw talent graduation has caused anywhere. That’s why this is a Heavy impact and it’s why I suspect Kelowna are going to be racing towards the bottom next season as well.

And truly, that’s it. Forget the fact there are only two defensemen on the roster, forget that they’ll lose a rookie in expansion, the goaltender is the most important position on the ice and without an answer for Sieve’s departure, Kelowna are sunk. Of the four currently registered in the draft, I think Nicholas Scalice is the most pro-ready but there’s good points in Evil Kyle Murray that Scalice doesn’t cover, either would be fine choices.

Maine Timber
Losing: Jeff Goldblum (New England Wolfpack), Jordan Thompson (Edmonton Blizzard), Wain Gretski (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Middling
Expansion Impact: Limited
Ideal Draft Target: Defense, particularly offensively-minded players
The Timber have been a model of consistency for some time now and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t anticipate that changing a lot either even with the loss of some high-quality players. Jordan Thompson’s position as offensive catalyst may have been taken from him by the Lavoies, but he was still more than good enough for 70+ points in a more limited role, and the defensive corps is definitely hurt for not having Goldblum on board. Not least because there are going to be hundreds of pucks flying on net that he’s not around to leap in front of like a Presidential bodyguard.

And yet. Despite a couple of picks that never panned out - Nick Kodiak sadly hasn’t lived up to his high draft billing - the Timber are stocked for at least another season of being a constant danger. Their top six is arguably as strong as any in the league perhaps barring Quebec City and I hear that Ace Guilded has been deliberately riling up his younger teammates by flashing his S74 Four Star Cup championship ring to keep them nice and angry; there are five members of the Timber squad from that title run still in play and you’d be a fool to think they aren’t extremely motivated to pick up a second before leaving the comfort of the J.

Happily, the defensive corps may have taken some hits but expansion isn’t likely to make it worse - with the array of forwards on offer, Warwick Windsor or Will Nuck being left available won’t move the needle. I’m anticipating Benji Hockiwi be the man to depart the forested shores and while it’s never nice to lose a good depth player, better that than a stud. Sorry Benji, hope you score 40 for Ottawa.

As much as you can praise the forwards, a huge amount of Maine’s offensive success comes from Teal’c as one of the league’s best set-up men from the blueline, and were I in charge I’d be looking to prioritise finding somebody in the draft who could fill his skates. Thomas Harley immediately looks like an interesting option there, particularly with most of the scouting reports on him focusing on his eye for an outlet pass and good hands; if not him, then Jeyeff Effo, the defenseman who has no defensive skill at all, is an option.

Nevada Battleborn
Losing: Cal Juice (Chicago Syndicate)
Graduation Impact: Minimal
Expansion Impact: Limited
Ideal Draft Target: Anybody prepared to grit it out as part of a rebuild
Calm down, Juicers. I’m not suggesting that Cal Juice is a non-factor in Nevada by assessing the graduation impact as minimal, put down the pitchforks and the flaming torches. What I am saying is that with the Battleborn being so bad, the graduation of one player really isn’t going to make a significant difference to their chances of success (and likely lack of it) next season. You can pick those torches back up now.

Obviously the hope will be that this is temporary and the Battleborn are paying the price for their earlier success, being in a valley rather than at a peak. There are still some fine players - the other parts of their top line, Literally Wizard and Jim Wieners were strong offensively - but the problem is that the same can be said for almost every team. Most of the top lines in the league are powerful, it’s what you have beneath them that makes more of a difference and Nevada’s cupboard is not empty, but full of people in the very beginnings of their professional career. With another couple of seasons of sauce they could be a monster; right now the team is just monstrous.

It stings that a lot of that young talent is going to fall victim to the expansion draft rules and be left unprotected, but I don’t personally think it’s going to be that big a problem. There are going to be some tough decisions being made but that’s life; the roster is full and is going to stay packed regardless who goes to the Highlanders or the Tidal, although I have a suspicion this is the last we’ve seen of Lucas Raymond wearing the Nevada colours. By my count, it’s him or Chopper Donquixote being left available and the loss of either of those is unpleasant.

Newfoundland Berserkers
Losing: Ben Harrison (Free agency), Entropy Sanchez (Free agency), Sad Ketchup (Chicago Syndicate)
Graduation Impact: Middling
Expansion Impact: Heavy
Ideal Draft Target: Defense, regardless of play style
Close, but no cigar. In every final series there’s a winner and a loser and frankly, Newfoundland have won too many cups recently, they deserve to sip from the chalice of failure instead.

Sadly for Berserker haters, that is probably not going to be happening next season. The graduation of Sad Ketchup to Chicago and Entropy Sanchez to nowhere is probably going to ding the Newfoundland offense a bit, but last year’s Berserkers weren’t a team reliant on one player popping off to win their games and even if they were, they still have Sabage Cabage on the roster ready to sauerkraut the rest of the league. Pierre Mailloux moves up, Mac Griddle starts and bam, Newfoundland look ready to roll yet again. Even Ben Harrison leaving isn’t going to be a huge loss, Launchpad McQuack looks like a goaltender who could rack up 60 games without breaking much of a sweat and he’s there for two more years.

If there is hope for the anti-Newfoundland mafia it’s in expansion and I do think the Berserkers have reason to be worried on both sides of the puck. Slowpoke and MVP candidate Eric Vanderberg Jr are safe, but are you leaving Turtle Bob or Joe Degen up for grabs? Is it Pique Boo who gets exposed of the forwards? Recent first-round pick for the Edmonton Blizzard MattyJ? The older Alexel Kamensky? I highly expect Newfoundland to be one of the teams pilfered from twice because there is a lot to like here, and that isn’t going to do their depth any favours.

In much the same vein as Regina later, I think Newfoundland’s draft strategy should be shaped by the draft. They certainly need defense more than offense, but how high they focus on the blueline is the real question; if I had to pick, I’d be putting that first and looking to grab somebody able to flex, like Sawyer Keenin or LiMu Emu.

Quebec City Citadelles
Losing: Lukas Konecny (retirement), Ryland Murphy (Calgary Dragons)
Graduation Impact: Limited
Expansion Impact: Middling
Ideal Draft Target: Raw talent in need of development
It seems unfair that after a season that saw actual SMHJL records broken, the Citadelles are barely going to lose a step from graduation. They lost Jeff Hunziker between this season and last and still led the league, so it’s hard to imagine that Ryland Murphy is going to be the lost nail in the horse’s shoe that causes the whole bandwagon to go careening into the ravine; no disrespect to Mr. Murphy but for one more season at least, the superteam is going to continue dominating the regular season. Of course, this is now two years of dominance that haven’t resulted in a Four Star Cup, and the clock is ticking on the Solberg / Solberg / Desjardins / Tymer / Roze core…

Some roster shuffling has even left them in a position of having only six forwards on the roster, and the unfortunate retirement of Lukas Konecny means they only need to be concerned about protecting Song Ju-gong, but that inevitably means the Citadelles have a lot of defensemen and very little space to save them. My guess is that Leo Roze, Juan Tymer and Demir Bellona get protected, but that is going to leave some talented players twisting in the wind – Fredrik Gronlund and Supah Dupah, in particular, would be fine pieces for an expansion team to build upon. But, as ever, you can’t make an omelette without some feelings getting hurt.

While the piper is going to come calling, Quebec City aren’t in a position of great need anywhere. Even if they lose two players to expansion, they’ll still have a strong core of forwards and can work on supplementing them through draft pickups rather than feeling forced into drafting for need. A backup goaltender would obviously be useful but they can afford to pick a project player in any position, fairly safe in the knowledge they can play sheltered minutes for a season to acclimatise.

Regina Elk
Losing: Guy Incognito (Texas Renegades), Mikkel Enevoldsen (Montreal Patriotes), Nico Nurminen (Free agency), Red Panda (retirement), Jonas Salat (Los Angeles Panthers), Mac Turner (Toronto North Stars), Simon Wymann (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Heavy
Expansion Impact: Minimal
Ideal Draft Target: Defensive defensemen
Regina stood up to be counted last year, finishing unexpectedly high in the standings - above even the eventual losing finalists, no less - and their reward is to lose seven players, including one the victim of Montreal’s sudden desire to compete and contend. The early bird etc etc.

I’m not actually as bearish on their prospects as that might suggest, though. Enevoldsen being called up early is the deepest cut of the lot because I suspect he was going to be relied upon heavily to bear the burden of Guy Incognito’s departure - that responsibility is going to be shifted further down the roster, landing on BC Gingersnap and Troy the Fourth - but most of their most important players are still in place and potentially ready to take a big step up in their third year. Mary Hollywood and Violet Stoica are going to be looked at particularly hard as I sense one of them is going to be best placed to fill Red Panda’s shoes; while Stoica’s numbers aren’t impressive so far, she’s never been called upon for powerplay duty and there’s a lot of time on the man advantage to fill.

Nevertheless, the impact of graduation is still a heavy one and it’s a positive sign that I don’t see the Elk getting slaughtered by expansion. Masataka Ninomiya is probably going to be left available, ditto the two waiver wire pickups, but I don’t see any of those three being high-priority selections for the expansion rosters. They’ll lose one but I’d be gobsmacked if both San Diego and Ottawa thought Regina needed to suffer.

St. Louis Scarecrows
Losing: Axel Hamalainen (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Minimal
Expansion Impact: Minimal
Ideal Draft Target: Yes
Alright St. Louis, here’s the brutal truth. You and I both know the team sucked out loud last year, and that it’s likely going to continue to stink next season as well. You went all-in for the Cup, you won the Cup, and now the Devil is going to take his due, it’s too late to change it and there’s no use in crying.

The good news is that the team isn’t going to get significantly worse. Axel Hamalainen was a decent player but not a needle mover when the team surrounding him was as bad as it was. The prospects starting to show some potential are going to be able to be protected in expansion. Even if Ottawa so rudely jumped the queue and will be taking the #1 overall pick in the draft, you will still get a fine prospect. There are glimmers of light in the horizon, you will just have to do your best Andy Dufresne impression and wade through an ocean of shit to get there.

Vancouver Whalers
Losing: Ivan Scochnikov Jr (Retirement), Joulu Kuusi (retirement), Lily Jin Morrow (New England Wolfpack), Nick Larsson (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Middling
Expansion Impact: Heavy
Ideal Draft Target: A switch player, somebody who could play forward or defense as needed
Speaking of oceans of shit, Vancouver’s season was a titanic mess and one they may end up repeating. Losing two relatively productive forwards is bad, losing a goalie who was a very capable starter before the rigours of getting beaten night after night wore him down is worse, and losing one of the league’s top goalscorers, somebody who has been talked up as among the best players ever to don the Whalers’ colours, a bright spot in a miserable year of hockey…that’s pretty fucking bad. Morrow moves cross-country, from Vancouver to New England, and is going to leave a gigantic hole in the roster.

So it’s not great. Barring some astonishing trades that would have to be outright robbery, Vancouver are going to spend the season rooted to the bottom of the table again. Even more of the offense is going to flow through GM’s Son and I don’t see a whole lot of depth to take the workload of him - maybe if Tank Sharksy and Robo Sven can pick up the slack the Whalers might break 20 wins, but even that’s looking like a stretch at the moment.

Expansion is going to be just as unpleasant because the rookies are going to be up for grabs and surprisingly, I could see Vancouver getting picked from twice. Six of their ten rostered forwards are going to be safe but among those vulnerable are rookies like Caper Poirot and Roman Jalopski, either of whom would be a nice young player for a nice young team to build on. It’s not the worst core, but the high-end talent isn’t there outside GM’s Son.

Vancouver is another team who can afford to be flexible in the draft, however. Masked Stanger is capable of holding down the fort in goal for another year, so spending a later pick on a backup would be smart, but otherwise the page is blank. I’d suggest it would depend on who does get picked up in expansion that should dictate the draft protocol, but two days is a bit of a brutal turnaround to come up with a plan. I quite like Sam Quintilo as a possible high pick, as somebody who has very few obvious holes in their game even if nothing stands out - a solid meat and potatoes player is probably the best thing for the Whalers.

Yukon Malamutes
Losing: Bobby Tkachuky (Toronto North Stars), Florian Soderberg-Motyla (Toronto North Stars), Jaxson Reaper (New England Wolfpack), Jim Wen (Minnesota Monarchs), Kristian Seppanen (Atlanta Inferno), The Great Khali (Free agency), Vyacheslav Shevchenko (Free agency)
Graduation Impact: Critical
Expansion Impact: Limited
Ideal Draft Target: Goalscoring
Fun fact: in graduation, the Malamutes lost 107 goals and 296 total points. You might look at that and say that’s not fun at all and that’s not right - it’s very fun for most of the other teams, it’s just Yukon fans who will be crying because graduation absolutely GUTTED the ‘Mutes. The team were already hovering around the mushy middle of the league standings as it is and now a huge part of the supporting cast to (at time of writing) reigning league MVP Langston Hardison-Laurent has gone - the question has to be asked how on earth this squad is going to stand a chance at competing in the upcoming season?

If there’s hope, it lies in the strength of the remaining core. Yukon is unusual in that not only does it have a small remaining roster but everybody there is a Player, even the rookies from the most recent season showed enough skill and capability to be reasonable high picks in the SHL draft: Ylib Kove heading to Manhattan as pick #4 and Dash Jackson dropping just out of the first round, going to the rebuilding Blizzard. The ‘Mutes staff is going to have to do some quick work to fill out the roster but they’re in the position of needing depth pieces more than core players. They’ll also only lose the one player to expansion - I’d guess Peyton McBride or the Wellerman - and that won’t make any of the above untrue.

But in the draft, it’s going to be sniper city. Yukon got a fair amount of goals as a product of depth - six forwards reached the 20-goal mark and another seven players were in double digits - but without Shevchenko I think the first priority is looking for somebody who can thread the puck through the eye of a needle. It means not having a dedicated right winger again, but I like Czech center Marian Hanak for that: some of his physical capabilities aren’t there yet but he already has an SHL-ready release on his wrist shot and you can build around a top-tier skill like that very easily.

And there you go. Have I slated your team in a way you feel personally offended by? Probably. Write some media calling me a hack with no idea what I’m talking about and earn some cash for it.

[5589 words, 10 pages in Google Docs and probably 20 hours research (waiting for the site to load up so I could cross-check all the callups)]

***Jexter*** · 03-26-2024, 02:28 PM

Excellent, the cheat sheet for my power rankings just dropped. Also Shevchenko aged out and will be going to the Blizzard. I suppose I can just start scoring again instead of passing. Great article!

ec06aaj · 03-26-2024, 02:30 PM

03-26-2024, 02:28 PMJexter Wrote: Excellent, the cheat sheet for my power rankings just dropped. Also Shevchenko aged out and will be going to the Blizzard. I suppose I can just start scoring again instead of passing. Great article!

This is precisely why I should compile that bit of it early, trying to pick through and work out who was missing after the fact was painful.

Anyway you should probably just score 130 points.

(Hit me up when you do come to power rank things though, bet you we get a ton more words arguing the toss over whether Detroit should be 8th or 9th]

***Jexter*** · 03-26-2024, 02:35 PM

03-26-2024, 02:30 PMec06aaj Wrote: This is precisely why I should compile that bit of it early, trying to pick through and work out who was missing after the fact was painful.

Anyway you should probably just score 130 points.

(Hit me up when you do come to power rank things though, bet you we get a ton more words arguing the toss over whether Detroit should be 8th or 9th]

Power ranking'll be post draft, like to see the TPE totals and such for preseason.

***sve7en*** · 03-26-2024, 02:41 PM

Fwiw, I'm pretty sure Carolina is top or next to top of the list in expansion impact and Colorado very little. Most of the others feel accurate at first glance.

*Wally* · 03-26-2024, 02:56 PM

Awesome lunch time read!

***Seany148*** · 03-26-2024, 03:09 PM

Great read!
Vancouver got trolled with retirements lol, but I'm not exactly sure if we'll get a compensation pick!

ec06aaj · 03-26-2024, 04:04 PM

03-26-2024, 02:41 PMsve7en Wrote: Fwiw, I'm pretty sure Carolina is top or next to top of the list in expansion impact and Colorado very little. Most of the others feel accurate at first glance.

I don't see it with Carolina: the key forwards are covered and I don't think it's massively likely both their exposed defensemen get picked. I'd consider going up to Middling but nothing more than that - they're still going to have 3 capped and high-earning defensemen who are about to go up to 425 TPE. On the other hand, Colorado are probably locked to lose a goalie and I'd consider McExplosion or D'Lee as high up the list for a team to take of their likely unprotected players - there's an argument that if picked McExplosion retires but that's still hurting Colorado nonetheless.

***sve7en*** · 03-26-2024, 04:56 PM

03-26-2024, 04:04 PMec06aaj Wrote: I don't see it with Carolina: the key forwards are covered and I don't think it's massively likely both their exposed defensemen get picked. I'd consider going up to Middling but nothing more than that - they're still going to have 3 capped and high-earning defensemen who are about to go up to 425 TPE. On the other hand, Colorado are probably locked to lose a goalie and I'd consider McExplosion or D'Lee as high up the list for a team to take of their likely unprotected players - there's an argument that if picked McExplosion retires but that's still hurting Colorado nonetheless.

I think you're very off with how teams are likely to protect, but I understand how this would give different perceived impact to mine.

***Gwdjohnson*** · 03-26-2024, 05:17 PM

Awesome article, great research even if it ends up not being 100% accurate

***sve7en*** · 03-26-2024, 05:28 PM

03-26-2024, 05:17 PMGwdjohnson Wrote: Awesome article, great research even if it ends up not being 100% accurate

For sure, definitely well researched and prepared

ec06aaj · 03-26-2024, 06:44 PM

Yeah, no way is it going to be accurate; I'm not involved in Detroit's protection process and obviously haven't got any inside information on who's being protected elsewhere. All you're getting are my spicy hot / tepid and lukewarm / ice cold takes.

MuNk22 · 03-27-2024, 08:21 PM

Great stuff. Looks like a lot of hard work went into the writing of this article.

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