Hello simulation hockey fans and welcome to a new article by Siberia Sports.  In this article we are going to be looking at the new editions made to the Toronto North Stars by GM @ml002 in the S53 SHL Entry draft.  It was a busy day for ML as he was finalizing his draft board and preparing for the big day ahead of him.  Toronto was starting the draft with the 8th overall pick and were poised to take a great player at that pick.  The hope being that Toronto would continue to stock up on young players that will continuously join the lineup in Toronto and add to the core of young players that will be pushing to compete for a cup in a few seasons.  Landing solid prospects is how you get good in this league and so it was imperative that ML make some nice choices and get some future studs for the team.  Let's see how he did.

Pick # 8: Jack Kanoff (D), Detroit Falcons

With their first pick of the draft Toronto chose offensive defenseman, Jack Kanoff from the Detroit Falcons.  Kanoff is a scoring, right shooting, offensive dman standing at 6'2" and weighing 220lbs from Canada.  In his rookie year in the SMJHL, Kanoff scored 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points on the season.  He was a +2 and had 22pims.  Shooting around 12%, Jack proved to be an offensive force from the blue line for the Detroit Falcons.  Earning 2.08 tpe per day and being 6th in his class in tpe when he was drafted makes Jack a bit of a steal and just what Toronto needed to find in this draft.  In our earlier draft article we remarked how Toronto was best off drafting a top defenseman if they got the chance.  It earlier seemed that there was no way Toronto was going to pick Kanoff because rumor had it that he wasn't interested in going to Toronto.  That all changed right before the draft and Toronto was able to snag him.  Kanoff was high on Toronto's board so they must feel very lucky that they were able to get their guy at pick #8.  Kanoff will be able to add an offensive punch to the blue line for Toronto in as little as three seasons.  Adding another guy who can score some goals and lead rushes will be pivotal in helping Toronto be a deeper more threatening team.

Kanoff had a nice rookie season in the J on a Detroit team where all the forwards do the heavy lifting in the scoring department.  Kanoff was still able to score at a pace of .43 points per 20 minutes played.  He also found himself scoring big time clutch goals with two game winners and one game tying goal.  Toronto has to like what they see in this young player from Canada.  It's very promising that they were able to pick up a kid who already knows how to score and seems to be able to adapt his game to new leagues fairly well.  And while Kanoff is a defenseman who is focused on offense, he is no slouch in his own end either.  He has good attention to detail and can really use his size to throw the body around a bit and disrupt the opponent's plans with the puck.  He uses this defensive prowess to get the puck going the other way which lets him spend more time in the offensive zone.  While in the offensive zone, he's shooting at a healthy 12% which is definitely sustainable.  If he sees his shot totals rising in the next few seasons, it is not unreasonable to see him score 15 goals in a season in the J.

Toronto was able to get a lot of value with this pick.  It both fits a team need, and fits into a best player available.  This is a solid pickup for Toronto and you know they must be excited about it.


Pick # 24: Taylor Johansson ©, Anaheim Outlaws

With their 2nd pick in the draft, Toronto had pick #24 and with that pick they selected 6'0" 190lbs playmaking centerman from Sweden, Taylor Johansson.  You never have enough centers in the pipeline.  Success is built down the middle of the ice and Toronto is sticking with that philosophy.  Johansson will fall in line behind Marston, Petrovic, and Zacha.  The odds that all of them stay at center are pretty low, so expect to see some of them moved to wing at some point.  It could be the Johansson could join Toronto as a winger to start, much like their star center, Mika Kandinsky did.  Johansson is a speedy playmaker with excellent puck handling ability for his age.  He uses his vision, speed and hands to make plays happen and find his men open in the hard areas of the ice.  Johansson has the ability to slow the game down around him and make the opponent make mistakes.  He's not afraid to hold onto the puck a little longer to make a play that others might not dare to try.  He still needs work on his defensive game as sometimes he holds the puck too often or tries to make the cute play when he should make a simpler play.  These are all things that can be ironed out with experience playing in the J.  He is earning 2.08 tpe per day and already sits at 263.  Solid numbers for a rookie.

For the Outlaws, Johansson scored 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points on the season.  He was only averaging 10 minutes of ice time a game as a rookie on a pretty deep Outlaws team.  Expect to see a bigger game from this young center next season.  The bright side is that he is already doing great in the face off dot as a young center.  He took 561 face offs and had a 52% face off win percentage.  This is encouraging to see for a center in his first year in the J.  He ended the season with a +/- of 0.  He can hold his own at even strength, but obviously Toronto would love to see him have an offensive breakout season for the Outlaws in S53. 

This was a solid pick for Toronto and they were able to take him right around where he was ranked on their board.  We heard that Toronto really liked Johansson's game and they also really like him as a person during the interview process.  ML making strong moves to pick a center with the second pick of their draft, drafting two high value positions right off the bat.  This is turning out to be a great draft for Toronto so far.


Pick # 29: Toki Wartooth (D), Detroit Falcons

For their third pick in the draft, only five picks after their previous pick, Toronto selected another defenseman, Toki Wartooth.  Wartooth is a stay at home defenseman which counter balances their first pick in Kanoff.  Wartooth is a big player at 6'4" and 230lbs.  He shoots right and hails from Norway.  Wartooth is earning 1.89 tpe per day and sits at 270 currently.  Not bad numbers for later in the draft.  Wartooth likes to throw his body around and uses a long reach to break up plays in his own zone.  Not known for his scoring touch, but he can collect the puck in his own zone and dish out a solid first pass that gets the play moving the other way.  Once in the offensive zone, expect to see him move the puck to his D partner or throw it down the boards.  He isn't much of a shooter.  What he lacks in a shot, he makes up in hockey IQ and solid defensive reads.  Responsible is the one word we would use for Wartooth's game.  He is not going to light it up on the scoresheet, but it is going to be tough for opponents to put the puck in the net when he's on the ice. 

Wartooth scored 1 goal and 13 assists for 14 points for the Falcons this season.  His passing game helps him get on the score sheet and gets him involved in the offensive side of things.  He found himself finishing the season at +6, showing how solid he can be in his own zone.  Right now he's logging a lot of penalty minutes as he likes to play aggressively.  He will learn to cut that back as he gains more experience.  He had 64 pims in his first season and that is going to have to be cut back as his career goes on.  He did also throw 64 hits which Toronto is going to like to see.  Having a big solid defensive defenseman will be great for them as they currently give up some of the most shots in the entire league.  Wartooth could be a big help for them on the blue line in a few seasons and just the type of guy they might need.

All this being said, we did mention in our last article that Wartooth has a bigger potential to bust out.  He currently doesn't have the bank account that Toronto would like to see.  This is easily fixable and could just be a fluke for the time being.  Either way, Toronto will want to see that bank account go up so he can continue earning tpe at a higher pace.  Toronto saw a lot of value in this pick and decided to take a chance on a guy that they could see being highly effective for them down the line.  If Wartooth works out, he will be an absolute monster in the SHL.


Pick # 45: Braden Lowrie (LW), Anchorage Armada

With their fourth selection of the S53 draft, at # 45, the Toronto North Stars selected a member of the #boatgang, 6'2" 200lbs left winger Braden Lowrie.  Lowrie is the first winger that Toronto selected in the draft and is a pick that rounds out their needs as a team.  Lowrie is a pure goal scorer.  He has a deadly and accurate shot and he likes to use it.  The main focus of his game is getting open on the ice so that his teammate can feed him a perfect one timer which he will then deposit top shelf past the opponents tender.  Having a sniper on the team will be vital to Toronto putting up bigger offensive numbers and having a go to guy for putting in big goals when they need them.  Lowrie is a solid pick at 45.  His tpe earning per day is 1.25 and he is sitting on 226 tpe.  Toronto would really like to see those two numbers start to rise over the next couple of seasons.  They want Lowrie to come up and be an effective goal scorer as soon as possible. 

In his rookie year in juniors, Lowrie scored 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points.  Not the best season for the young winger as he was averaging about 18 minutes per game in that time.  He was scoring at a pace of only .24 points per 20 minutes played.  As he grows and continues to improve Lowrie should begin to see those numbers rise.  Some players don't step into new leagues and light it up the way they had been used to at lower levels.  After a bit of an adjustment period and some solid training in the offseason, Lowrie should be poised for a better year with the Armada next season.

If Lowrie continues to improve and picks up his tpe earning pace he will be a steal at this stage of the draft.  Toronto is hoping Lowrie remains dedicated to improving his game so that he can come up and be an effective goal scorer at the SHL level.  He would be a perfect compliment to Jan Zacha's wing.  Toronto would love to see him step in and round out the top 6 and help make them a more competitive team.  There will be a lot of competition for the young winger, however, as Toronto has really been stocking up on prospects over the past few seasons.  We think this could be a steal at pick 45, but it all depends if Lowrie wants it bad enough.


Pick # 72: Axel Meszaros (D), St. Louis Scarecrows

With the last pick of their draft and at pick #72, the Toronto North Stars selected 6'1" 198 lbs Hungarian two way defenseman, Axel Meszaros.  Meszaros shoots right and has a well balanced game on the blue line.  He's quick on his feet and is a guy who does well in transition.  He can pass and shoot and contribute to offense without sacrificing anything on the defensive end.  He is sitting currently at 276 tpe which is a steal for this late in the draft.  Meszaros uses his speed and high hockey IQ to make the smart play in both ends of the ice.  It's very rare to see Meszaros make a mistake that will burn the team.  He plays a heady game and is always thinking the game at a level that just seems always to be slightly ahead of his opponents.  His ability to think and see the game at a high level gives him the advantages he possesses on the ice. 

In his rookie year with the Scarecrows, Meszaros scored 4 goals and 12 assist for 16 points.  He scored at a solid pace of .33 points per 20 minutes played as a rookie which is an encouraging sign for the young defenseman.  He did half a rough time at 5v5 posting a -4 on the season, but he is a young player with a lot to learn still.  Expect to see a breakout season in the J next season for Meszaros as he continues to improve his game and take the next step towards stardom.

Toronto is hoping the Meszaros will be a big steal for them this late in the draft.  If he works out, he could be helping Toronto win playoff games in 3 seasons and would really help to bolster the blue line for Toronto.  If he can keep improving and earning the sky is the limit for this player that probably should have gone higher in this draft. 

All in all we will give Toronto an A- for this draft.  They were able to get a lot of value out of each pick and took one risk with Wartooth.  However, if he works out for them, this easily would be an A+ draft for the North Stars.  They were able to address team needs while at the same time avoiding reaching for any players.  They were also able to pick up Kanoff who they originally believed they would not be able tog get, so GM ML will walk away from this draft feeling pretty good.  Only time will tell how well Toronto truly did here, and we look forward to seeing the rookies grow and eventually make the big club.