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*Flowseidon* · 02-11-2019, 02:59 PM

Expansion draft review:

We’ve been waiting a while, and now we have some squads for our new teams. New Orleans and Chicago are exciting additions to the SHL and help round out the size of each conference. I’m looking forward for the chance to get to play these teams and see what they can do both on and off the ice.
Now that the expansion draft is all said and done, it’s time to take a deeper dive into everything that happened and how things look going forward for these teams. There were plenty of quality players picked, and we will also take a quick look at how this will be affecting the teams that are losing these players.

Round 1:

- Aleister Cain
A great first pick. Aleister Cain is a high value prospect who has already signed a team friendly contract. He has all the making of a long-term goalie for the Specters and while isn’t there quite yet, will have this team competitive in a few seasons. He’s on the lower end of the TPE that you’ll see picked in this draft, but he was definitely picked for his future and the potential he has to be an all-star. This won’t hurt Edmonton immediately, but he was a solid piece for their future that will definitely suck to lose and they’ll need to look at the successor issue in the coming seasons.

- Fredrich Koenig
Koenig is a solid defender, but the pick leaves something to be desired as the 2OA pick in the draft. There is definitely potential with this pick, and he will definitely contribute as a member of the team, but this one has left a few analysts scratching their heads. It would seem they’re drafting him for his future, but he has had some softer years in TPE earning. Maybe they know something we don’t and he will turn to be a massive pick and contributer on the blue line as he approaches that 1k mark. Buffalo is losing a talented player out of this, but their blueline should survive as they are still pretty healthy there

Round 2:

- Gvidas Kazlauskas
Young, active, and a promising future ahead of him. I love the pick and I think he will be a staple member of the Syndicate for year to come.this pick will pay off in spades, especially if they’re able to get him to sign a contract to secure his future with the team. In the mean time, they have a young player who trains hard and who will make

- Oisin Fletcher
Oisin has been a solid contributer for years and it looks like those talents are moving for the former MVP Fletcher. Having just had his rights traded to Winnipeg, it seems like the trade is all for naught for the Jets as they will be losing out on the chance to negotiate with this legend. A strong resume with plenty of time left to contribute, Fletcher will be a key piece of the Specters and the only thing that hurts this pick at all is that there is no contract in place. If they manage to land a contract, then this pick will be huge.

Round 3:

- Roman Augustus
Back to back picks from the same draft class and another players with heaps of experience. Augustus comes from West Kendell were he was a great score and a major piece of their team. This will be quite the loss for them, but a huge gain for the Specters. He can be expected to produce immediately and will be a great addition to the forward lineup that is being built. While it may look like they’re betting on another FA, I think they’re fairly safe here as he has been named the Co-GM of the team. With that in mind, I think it’s safe to say that he’s going to re-sign and will help build this teams core

- Mikkel Haugen
Again, I’m left a bit surprised based on what I’m seeing out of Chicago. We’re picking a guy here, who while he has potential, is behind his counterparts of his draft year, and is behind people several seasons after him. It’s definitely a risk, however he is on a contract for a number of seasons and will definitely be able to contribute in a depth role for the team. I don’t think that it’s a bad pick to make, just early for this pick to be made. We’re only in round 3

Round 4:

- Romualds Loks
Decent level of TPE for this inactive player who will definitely be able to come in and contribute on the second line as they develop more players. He seems like he’ll be early trade bait for the team in order to start building picks for the coming years. I think it’s early to be starti ng with the IFAs, but maybe there’s a plan in place for this player to be more than we might think he is.

- Sean Stevenson Jr
Stevenson is definitely a risk. Great guy to be around, but he’s been on radio silence lately. If he gets down to updating more consistently, he’ll be a great addition to the team as he seems to have upped his activity lately and has a good base to work off of. While he’s a bit behind many of his s43 counterparts, he definitely has the ability to be a strong depth piece for the team in the years coming. The Pride is absolutely chalk full of young prospects from the S43 draft, so it won’t make a huge dent in their team to lose him, though it will definitely throw a slight hiccup into the rebuild.

Round 5:

- Richard Physt
Another solid pick by the Specters, but also another free agent. It’s looking more and more like locking up their free agents is going to be the biggest concern going forward for New Orleans. Physt is a great addition to the team and the core is starting to look very solid. He’ll definitely be missed by Toronto as he was a decent presence for the team. Quite a strong player compared to many of the others remaining to be picked

- Buck Maverick
A slow earning, but active defender, Buck will be serving in a depth role at the moment, and probably at least in the short term of his career as well. Expectations will be tempered for this player as he starts to grab more SHL minutes and tries to make his way in the big leagues. He’s on a cheap contract, so the pay won’t be any sort of issue for Chicago.

Round 6:

- Jack Kennedy
It’ll be a shame to lose Jack it really will. He’s active and is a super kind guy who’s fun to be around at practice and on roadies. Unfortunately, this is the product again of S43 Pride players being very deep. While their deep, losing a key piece of the rebuild will no doubt still affect them. I think this is a great choice by Chicago and think that Jack will go on to lead them for seasons to come if he signs a new contract with them

- Clint Eastwood

It’s becoming more and more clear that New Orleans isn’t willing to wait to compete, and that they want to do it immediately. Clint is a very solid defender who is currently on the stagnating Rage. He waived his NTC to be able to be put on the list, so I think it’s safe to say that he’s at the very list open to re-signing with the team. This will be a hit for Manhattan to take on, but seeing as they’re in the rebuilding it may be best for the player. I like the pick as it puts him in a position to succeed with a team that is quickly becoming poised to be very competitive

Round 7:

- Karl Hefeweizen
An inactive player with a good TPE count who will be able to immediately contribute. He will not be a top line threat for the Specters, but it’s clear at this point that they’re trying to round out their lineup with what is left on the board. Considering the obvious strategy they’re taking, I think this is a very solid pick this late in the draft.

- Mikhail Petrikov
I don’t get the continual picks of inactive free agents who are coming close to their regression. The picks made so far have left me scratching my head a bit. Petrikov is a defender who will be fine enough on lower pairings, but doesn’t really seem to be capable of doing any more than that. I expect him to stay with the team for the duration of his career as I can’t imagine the demand for him will be particularily high

Round 8:

- Sven Brokstad
Sven will be a solid contributor for his team in the coming season and is looking poised to take on a top line role on the blueline. I see no problems with the player, though it appears as though this player is destined for being active. The contract is Weber-esque. Fine for the current situation but looks worse and worse as it ages.

- Adam Kaiser
Kaiser is a solid defender and has had a great career. The problem is that the time is ticking on this pick, and I suspect that he will be retiring fairly shortly. Bringing him in for a depth role on a competitive team seems like the perfect way to cap off the career of such a long serving veteran of the league. He has a window, and NO seems to believe that they can win in that time.

Round 9:

- Alex Andani
Active player, but a slow earner. Still, a great pick for this point in the draft, especially if they can leverage this into re-signing him after S46. Some will complain about the cost of the contract, but for one season I think it’s super easy for them to take on. The Bears…err… Wolfpack will definitely miss him as a depth center, but I think he will go on to be an effective piece of New Orleans solid squat this year.

- Muhammad McLovin
To me, it’s once again a very ‘meh’ pick. While New Orleans is out grabbing people who are moderately active or will immediately be able to contribute at the SHL level, the Syndicate are over here picking players who are inactive and will only be contributing at a depth level. I feel like I’ve said “depth level” for most of their picks at this point, and frankly, some of those will need to step up to be a premier player. McLovin is inactive so he won’t be doing that

Round 10:

- Svatoslav Bodnar
Again, nothing much from this pick. Has the makings of a bottom pairing defenseman and won’t be expected to come back and do anything else. He shouldn’t do much damage in a low position, so I don’t think we can expect this to really hurt or help the team and it’s just a neutral pick.,

- Vasily Horvat
Another regressing player chosen. He’s definitely still very able to contribute well at the SHL level and will be a solid pick for a few years for New Orleans. He’s a free agent as well, so one of the first things they’ll need to do is worry about signing him to another contract. A tough pick to take away from Texas, but they’ll still be okay on their blueline without him.

Round 11:

- Soren Kirkegaard
A risk of a pick, definitely hoping for the player to come back to his active status. As it stands, if he continues to not update, he probably won’t be of much use in the SHL, maybe for a depth role at a weak position. I don’t think there’ll be much issue from losing him at this point.

- Helmuts Akmenlauks
Well behind his counterparts from the S43 draft, Helmuts is somewhat active and the hope is definitely that they will be able to guide him into being a more active piece in their roster. This pick is a risk, but that’s the strategy you need to take at this point in the draft. We don’t know how this one will turn out as it could definitely go either way. This is not a pick that will really hurt Calgary

Round 12:

- Cédric Moreau
Chicago’s only goalie pick of the draft. He’ll be a very solid piece in the coming seasons until they’re able to make their own top level goalie. Moreau will slot in well and will be effective for coming seasons. He’s currently inactive, so we can’t expect any sort of improvement, but will definitely serve the team well in the interim.

- Patrick Brumm, Jr.
I would expect this is a bottom pairing type of choice. Not much else that you’re going to get this late in the draft. The pick doesn’t really seem to have any chance of coming back and being more active, so I think it’s safe to say that his time on the roster is limited until somebody comes up from the Jrs after their draft.

Round 13:
- Nathan Cosco
Filling out their goaltending pair with this pick. I think it’s clear that they intend on Cain being their goalie for nearly every game. Cosco is an inactive player with a low TPE total. I don’t expect him to play anything outside of what is required, and I expect that they will be hoping for some stellar defense when he is playing. He will quickly be replaced in the draft, and may not even make it to see the first season with New Orleans.

- Kire Yelkrab
The last standard pick of the draft. Actually has a decent TPE count for being picked this late. He’ll slot in on the 3rd or 4th line depending on who they pick up over the coming weeks. I don’t suspect he will make a large hole in Hamilton’s lineup that they won’t be able to fill in too quickly. This should be a solid depth piece for the team. He won’t be anything crazy out there on the ice, but he’ll be able to contribute and help the later lines.

Round 14:
- Luke Atmey (GM)
Luke is in a position to succeed and have a good season as a player. He’s a very strong forward and will be expected to be leading his team through the season. He is a veteran player with many seasons of experience, so he’ll be a key piece of the locker room and in getting this team going. Buffalo will definitely be reeling a bit from missing him, but they’ve known this was coming for a little so will find a way to adjust

- Joe Kurczewski (GM)
Whoa how did ol Joe make it this far? Don’t worry folks, he wasn’t slept on. He’s going to be the GM of the new franchise, so he was saved for last. Joe will be a massive part of the team as he’s still in a strong position to be a leading scorer for the team and will be effective on both ends of the puck. It hurts for Edmonton to lose him, but seeing as he’s an FA there was always the chance that they would have lost him anyway had there not been an expansion draft

In this draft we saw a very different strategy and mindset. New Orleans really seems to be going for the throat right away and is looking at stamping their name on this league with a cup win in their first couple of seasons. The first thing they will need to focus on is contract extensions. At this time, they have a lot of pending free agents, or guys who only have a year left on their contract. If they want to really solidify their place in this league, they will need to lock some of these players up on a longer term in order to be able to keep their place in this league for the coming years. I have to say though, I am a big fan of this draft and expect them to be very competitive in their first season in the league, potentially even historic for an expansion team. I think when they go to the draft they will be looking deeply at the goalies as their backup is currently quite low on the TPE and they will want to find a more serviceable backup/replacement for Aleister Cain when he moves on.

Chicago on the other hand left me a bit confused. Several times they left players on the board who seemed to be a better choice. Maybe it’s that they were looking for longer term contracts so that they would have people in place while they develop their own talent via draft. Suffice to say, I am not the biggest fan of their draft and think that they will flounder this season and I don’t expect there to be much success on the ice. They have a number of inactive free agents, so it may be tougher than expected to solidify a solid lockerroom presence with the number of players they have. In terms of the coming draft, Chicago will have to aggressively target forwards and start to look at what they are going to do in order to replace their interim goalie down the line. I hope for the best out of them and hope they defy my expectations!

To me, it’s clear. The winner of the expansion draft is New Orleans, and it isn’t even close in my mind. I think we’ll be seeing one team near the top of the league and the other near the bottom. I expect to see a lot more moves coming out of these teams as we approach the draft, and am excited to see what these teams can do with the rosters they have built.
Good luck to both teams in the draft, I’ll do my best to bury against you in the season.

tweedledunn · 02-11-2019, 06:13 PM

SlashACM · 02-11-2019, 07:02 PM

Trying to score on me eh? Buy me dinner first

*Flowseidon* · 02-11-2019, 07:33 PM

02-11-2019, 07:02 PMSlashACM Wrote: Trying to score on me eh? Buy me dinner first

Would you prefer taco bell or subway?

SlashACM · 02-11-2019, 07:40 PM

02-11-2019, 07:33 PMFlowseidon Wrote:
02-11-2019, 07:02 PMSlashACM Wrote: Trying to score on me eh? Buy me dinner first

Would you prefer taco bell or subway?

Wendy's?

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