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jRuutu · 09-11-2020, 01:28 PM

Good day to you, and welcome to CGN - Cash Grab News presented by Raivo Helminen! Today I'm going to talk about the upcoming SHL draft. I'm going to do that from my point of view as a player who might get picked in that draft, but also from the point of view as a player that might not be drafted. I realize this idea has already been done, but since I'm a center I naturally want to focus on that position, so I will quickly take a look at each team and what their center situation looks like when going forward.

I will also add some general comments if I happen to have any, so let's get started.

Inferno

Atlanta Inferno Inferno

Center situation: For a young center Atlanta's center group looks great, there are not many of them in the roster. Season 52 players Carragher and Lee are the only ones, especially Lee as a 1000+TPE player might be a player that is going to be a leading player for Atlanta for a long time. Carragher is a couple of hundred TPE behind Lee when looking at it now, so he is more of a depth option, but he could still play in a solid role during the upcoming year at least.

Atlanta is more than likely interested in adding centers into their organization, which is good news to all the young centers out there!

General comments: Will I get drafted by Atlanta? More than likely not. I'm familiar with the current management group from the time my previous player was in New England, Hotdog was the co-GM at the time, so he will more than likely continue running a tight ship in Atlanta, there is no room for silly business and dancing on the line so to speak. Hotdog and GoldenGlutes play by the rules and they follow the rules on the site and in Discord. You could say these two are crazy about rules. Despite my troubles being in the past, they are still fresh in the minds of ATL management, Atlanta is not a likely destination.

Platoon

Baltimore Platoon Platoon

Center situation: Baltimore has a rather deep center selection, young centers like Duncan, Lundqvist, and Drunkebird are slowly moving into bigger roles as centers like Klaus and Ralchankinov are getting older. On top of that Baltimore has a whopping five center prospects including names like Nikiforov. Granted some of those prospects might close to being inactive, but Nikiforov with centers already in the Baltimore roster means that there is fierce competition for ice time.

My random guess is that Baltimore does not have center high in their draft list.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Baltimore? More than likely not. I don't have an extensive history with the current Baltimore management group, but I do remember JR95 from other leagues and if my memory serves right I might have seen Zoone in some other league as well.
Combined with the fact that Platoon has the center situation in a nice place and how some of the users in the roster might not be interested in sharing a team with me, Baltimore is not a likely destination.

Buffalo Stampede

Center situation: As you can maybe guess Buffalo has talented centers in their organization, Passamus, Luffy, Scarn, Kholin, and Sharp are all top-level players. On top of those players, Buffalo has younger centers like Okabe and Roach in the roster. If that was not enough, young center Coyote is currently playing in the juniors, so getting ice time in Buffalo as a center is not something that will happen soon. In a similar fashion as with Baltimore, I don't think Buffalo has center drawn too high in their lists.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Buffalo? More than likely not. The biggest point is the center core in place already, there is no room. From the management group analyzed so far I have maybe the longest connection to Buffalos's Wannabefinn, starting from the time we shared a team in LAP years ago, I want to think somewhere in S23ish. On top of that Wannabefinn has been Team Finlands general manager for a long long time. (I have always made Finnish players in SHL. ) Anyways, I have been a fan of his work around the league and forums for some time, I want to bring up a recent example that I found joy in, Wannabe was among the first ones to publicly put pressure on New England's management to release me when I got suspended, sure it was just one message but I appreciate the effort and process behind it. Some general managers cheat by figuring out a way to abuse the sim engine, some actively try to influence fellow general managers and their decisions, not enough love is given to those who do the latter.

Chicago Syndicate

Center situation: Chicago has a top-level center group as well, Smeb, Westbroek, and Shepard make for an exciting trio. They are not super young, but not that old either. In the juniors young Suhonen and Ragnarsson-Tremblay seem to be active and steadily improving, which suggests that it will take a long time for any young center to get into nice roles in Chicago, competition for ice time is real.
My uneducated guess is that the Syndicate does not have a center high in their lists of players they are looking at.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Chicago? More than likely not. The center situation is a big factor, but I also doubt the management is interested in having me in the roster despite some history in other leagues between myself and Velevra. The current star players might not be up for it, which is fine, Chicago a not likely destination for Raivo.

Hamilton Steelhawks

Center situation: Hamilton has a pretty nice looking center group, some of the older players like Phelps and Knurtsson might be playing their last years at the top, but right behind those two is Wilson who is not a young man either, but still a lot younger than Phelps for example. The final piece in the puzzle is Anazibf as an S49 and 1100+ TPE player. Rather experienced center collection at the moment, but Hammarberg could be making the jump from juniors soon, so I'd say right now things are fine.

Wild guess is that Hamilton could be interested in adding a center fairly early, there is only one center prospect in the system, and Phelps as mentioned is an old man already, same with Knurttson and even Wilson, so there could be room in the middle few seasons from now.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Hamilton? More than likely not. The team is known for bending the rules and having who knows how many high-level members in their rosters. I have been part of the anti-Hamilton movement in the past. Hamilton is not a likely destination.

Rage

Manhattan Rage Rage

Center situation: Veccelli, Aittokallio, and I guess Thomason are the centers in the current Manhattan Rage roster. Aittokallio and Thomasson are not getting younger, but Veccelli is improving nicely. In the juniors they have one prospect center, Räsänen. He is dangerously close to inactive status, so when keeping that in mind and also the fact that Aittokallio and Thomasson as S43 players might be closing in on retirement thoughts - Manhattan could very well be interested in drafting a center. Solid landing spot for young centers as they could potentially get to play in solid roles a lot faster than in the teams mentioned so far.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Manhattan? More than likely not. I can't remember for sure if I have shared a team with Jaywhy or luketd in SHL or any other leagues, perhaps the Finnish national team is one, but other than that I have fairly limited connections to the management. However there are quite a few users in the Rage roster that I do recognize, but still when looking at it from all angles, Manhattan not a likely destination.

New England Wolfpack

Center situation: van der Heijden, McShotty, and Bruchevski are the top-9 centers in New England, Zacha is more of a depth option I guess, but the center situation for Wolfpack is in solid place right now. The top players are not old but not young either, so you can expect them to get things done. In the juniors, New England has one center prospect, Bergen, but he has not done too much lately in terms of progressing as a player. That opens the door for center draftee being put higher in the scouting papers than perhaps normally.

General comments: Will I get drafted by New England? More than likely not. I played in New England with my last player, we had some nice moments together, but also some not so nice moments. Ending to that road was a not so nice moment, even if the roster and management have changed a fair bit, that ending is also the reason why it's not so likely that New England will draft me.

Tampa Bay Barracuda

Center situation: Fitted and Fiddler are the top guys in Tampa, they are still young but both have reached the 1100TPE mark. Behind those two is Wawazat who fairly surely is going to lose his spot in the lineup soon as young Forrester makes the jump to the big leagues. Despite having only three active centers in the organization, they are all still young players, which suggests that Tampa is not so interested in drafting a center early, but then again only three centers could be a risky business, maybe they want to add some competition by drafting a talented center early on, who knows? Not me.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Tampa Bay? More than likely not. They are a wicked group, the center situation is in a solid place and what comes to my connection with the management, I don't think they are interested in adding me into the roster.

Stars

Toronto North Stars Stars

Center situation: Johansson, Last-Name, Marston and Kadinsky are running the show in the middle for Toronto. Kadinsky is the top player, S48 draftee with 1600+ TPE. Johansson, Marston and Name are not too bad either, closing in on that 1000 TPE mark. Apologies to Marston, missed your player earlier. In the juniors, Toronto has no center prospects. Toronto's center depth is in great place, multiple young centers who are improving steadily, could even go as far as saying they are one of the better looking center groups around the league, future super team in the making, so they might not need a center in the near future, but could Toronto be after a center in the draft if they are looking into adding depth into the system?

General comments: Will I get drafted by Toronto? Who knows. I don't actually know that much about Toronto as a team, I don't think I have been in the same team with the management group and when I look at the roster I recognize only a few names, so technically speaking there could be a possibility for me landing into Toronto at some point in the draft if I'd be willing to play in the winger position for example, but the center situation is a concern from my point of view, would I get to play as a center anytime soon?

SHL Western Conference

Dragons

Calgary

Center situation: Parmborg, Batsbak, Christiansen. That is a great looking center core, Parmborg and Batsbak run the top lines, and Christiansen as a veteran center takes care of the shutdown minutes. In the juniors, Marner and Daddy are improving nicely, so when going forward I don't think Calgary is in urgent need of a center. Once Christiansen retires one of the younger players will move to his role and the next opening after that is Batsbak's position, which will take years.

General comments: In a similar fashion as with Manhattans management, I think I have only shared a team with Calgary's management members while playing in the Finnish national team and that was some time ago, so an actual connection between myself and the management is on the lighter side. Calgary does have quite a few familiar names in the roster in general, but when I think about that center situation, it is not looking likely that I will be drafted by Calgary.

Edmonton Blizzard

Center situation: Pepperoni and Forty-One, only two centers in the current roster, is that correct? If so, there could be some room in the middle. However, LeGrande and Laforest are waiting in the juniors and both of them are improving steadily, so any young center would walk into a real battle for ice time. Pepperoni is not getting younger, but he could have at least multiple solid years left, that could open a spot at some point or maybe not.
Random guess of mine is that Edmonton is not in a terrible hurry in picking a center early on in the upcoming draft, but they could take one at some point to bring an element of competition as they have only four centers in the organization.

General comments: Another team I played in for a bit with my previous player, ended up winning my first cup here during that ride, so that is a nice memory. I know a little bit about the current management group from that time, I can't say for sure where we are at, but no contacts have been made, so that combined with the fact that the center situation in Edmonton looks to be in pretty good place makes me think that Raivo getting picked by Edmonton is not so likely.

Los Angeles Panthers

Center situation: Bischoff, Atreides, McZehrl, Cannellini, and Mauldin. The last two are retiring, I think, but Bischoff, McZehrl, and Atreides are right behind them. In the juniors Q. Next and Grimstad are developing nicely, so despite LA having openings in the middle, those openings are quickly filled by centers already in the roster and/or by the younger centers currently in juniors. Guessing it's not so likely that center is a priority for the scouts in LA.

General comments: My first ever team in SHL! Actual years ago, played quite a long time there. Sad news was posted earlier when Wasty announced that he won't be the GM of LAP anymore. End of an era truly, going to be interesting to see who will be the next GM and of course where Wasty and his player ends up, those news could even affect me indirectly since a lot of teams are interested in Wasty and his player, trades could happen, etc, so interesting moments just before the draft! What comes down to me getting drafted into LA, as mentioned the center situation in LA is so good that it's not looking likely that I will end up into LA.

Chiefs

Minnesota Chiefs Chiefs

Center situation: MacTavish, Banananák, and retiring Aizawa. MacTavis and Banananak are the top centers in the current Chiefs roster. Aizawa is retiring if I understood correctly, so there will be clear need and space for center in Minnesota. Berni from the juniors is a top-level prospect, the same words can be said about Boxman II, but even if Berni moves into SHL next year there might be a chance that Chiefs are interested in adding a center early. Banananak is not a faceoff expert by any means, so that fact also suggests that center is a need, and adding competition for Boxmann II is never a bad move.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Minnesota? More than likely not. The current management group is mostly known for their love towards recipes and even more so about their willingness to share those recipes with the good people of SHL. That could be seen as a positive and educational thing, but if we take into consideration the fact that most people have access to the internet, the posting of recipes has to serve a different purpose. Somebody could ask what does this have to do with me being drafted to Minnesota? Nothing, this is just a bit of filler.

New Orleans Specters

Center situation: Slothface and Williams are the two centers in the roster, I believe. Quite interestingly both started their careers as wingers but later moved to the middle. Slothface and Williams are both veteran players, especially Williams might be getting near to the last few solid years at the absolute top, but both centers are elite players who can get the job done against any and every defense.
New Orleans has one center prospect in the juniors, Sven Gunnar. He is potentially getting near to inactive status, so I have to guess and say that New Orleans is after a center in the upcoming draft and they are more than likely going to take one early.

General comments: Will I get drafted by New Orleans? More than likely not. The Center situation looks pretty nice for a younger center like myself, I could maybe even get to play in a nice role right away once I move up to SHL, but I don't know if on a personal or individual level we would be a good match.

pride

San Francisco Pride pride

Center situation: Primeau and Moyer are the only centers in San Francisco right now, Moyeur as an S43 player is an older player, but still a top-level player. Primeau is more of a depth option since he has not progressed as a player that much lately. Pride has one center prospect in the juniors, Stromberg who is taking steps forward at a nice pace, he is more than likely coming up into SHL soon, but even then there could be an opening in the middle, so San Francisco could be interested in drafting a center early on.

General comments: I don't know that much about the team, to be honest, I don't think I have played in the same team with the management group members and as I look at the roster there are only a few familiar names, but the center depth is something any young center is happy to see, the potential for ice time in the middle is there. Do I get drafted by San Fran? Who knows.

Seattle Argonauts

Center situation: Bo Kane and Svensson are running the center group, fairly similar setup to San Francisco, Kane is the leader and top player among centers, Svensson provides secondary scoring and depth. Argonauts are also in need of center prospects most likely, since they don't have any at the moment, so yet another team that could potentially offer a nice role for young centers early on.

General comments: The second expansion team, I don't know that much about the management or the roster and the players in there, for example, I don't know how long they are sticking together since I guess most of them joined through the expansion draft, but as mentioned ice time is there for young center, which is nice. How likely it is that I will get picked by Seattle, no idea. I don't think it's very likely, but who knows.

Texas Renegades

Center situation: Williams, Maximus, and Kvalheim. A rather solid group lead by Kvalheim, behind him two younger centers in Williams and Maximus. In the juniors Texas has Jutila and Danke who both are improving steadily, so Texas might not need a center. There is very little room for other younger centers in the organization, all the current pro roster players are relatively young and they have two active ones in the juniors waiting for the opportunity to come up.

General comments: Will I get drafted by Texas? More than likely not. I don't have to analyze this too much, the center depth is in a solid place. I would not get the opportunity to play in the middle and in a nice role anytime soon, so not a likely destination.

Jets

Winnipeg Jets Jets

Center situation: Muerto, Sutherland, Shepard, and Brain. Once again, two players who started as wingers, Brain and Shepard have made the move into the middle. Winnipeg also has Muerto and Sutherland as options for centers, so the pro roster setup for centers is pretty much as good as it gets, high quality with a nice mix of youth and experience.
Winnipeg could be after a center, Muerto is the oldest of the center group as an S43 player, S53 draftee Sutherland is the youngest, but there could be some interest in making sure there are options if Muerto grows really old fast or something else happens, at the moment Winnipeg does not have any center prospects.

General comments: Can't say for sure if I have shared a team with Muerto or Geekusoid, more than likely not, so no real connection to the management group. Roster however has some familiar names in it, but that center depth does look almost scary. The road to top-6 as a center is rather heavily blocked, which from my point of view makes me getting picked by the jets not a likely thing to happen.

If you somehow made it to this point, I'm going to next discuss a little bit about my thoughts about the upcoming draft as a draftee, but before I do that, here is a quick and random list of teams that could have room in the middle, some teams might have more of urgent need and then some perhaps could need one or two centers couple season down the line. As always there is more than fair chance I simply missed a player or made other silly mistakes, which ends up meaning that there is no need to draft a center anytime soon, so take the above ramblings and list below with a grain of salt.

Teams that could have space in the middle:
Atlanta
Hamilton
Manhattan
New England
Tampa Bay
Minnesota
New Orleans
San Francisco
Seattle

This ongoing draft process has been an interesting one, so far only one team has contacted me, which is not maybe that unusual in a rather deep looking draft that also has a fair number of totally new SHL users, so teams and the scouting groups need to make most of the time they have and focus on the players that could be steals and more unknown to figure out where they are at.
Then comes the simple fact that not every team even needs a center, I listed some teams above that could have room, but in all honesty, some of those teams might not even need a center from this years draft, they are in a solid place and despite not having a wide selection of centers waiting in the juniors they still have top players in the current pro roster, which is more than enough to push the potential positional need at least one season down the line.

The final piece in my little puzzle is the fact that I have a somewhat poor relationship with quite a few of those teams I have listed, that is going to show in the interest from the scouting staff of those teams as in there is not going to be any. If you want an honest guess on how many of the teams I listed above could have an interest in drafting me, I'd roughly say two or three teams. That is a combination of the positional need for center and neutral vibe, I could get lucky and all the centers are taken when some team needs one, I get into a team that way. There is a somewhat neutral vibe, I have not heard anything negative - perhaps I could be among the centers and users they are looking at?

Tough to say exactly when I could be drafted, TPE total suggest second or third roundish, I think, but there is always more to it than TPE that dictates where someone gets picked, even more so now when for example few teams have solid looking defensive cores, but they also have multiple first-round picks, that is going to affect and some defenders might get taken later than maybe normally, and of course the other way around. However, that does not affect my situation that much as a center, I'm going to be a late-round pick at best.

Getting drafted would be nice, I would be lying if I said that going undrafted would not be a bummer. I'm still hoping that there are general managers out there who put a value on decent TPE earning and see value in decent players being built. I don't know what my so-called prime player will look like, how many points or goals I score, or how much TPE I will have, but I should be able to reach 1500 TPE. I won't be buying the equipment or whatever training worth of 8 mills every year, but I'll do everything else for TPE, which should be enough to make me at least a decent second-line option.

If I do end up getting undrafted, I want to send this message to the good people of SHL. If your team after the draft happens to need a center, look at your general managers and/or scouting staff, ask from them what happened. If a couple of seasons from now you notice that a center prospect teammate of yours is not developing as well as you hoped, look at your general managers and scouting staff, ask from them what happened. They dropped the ball, they did not do their job. They cut corners and tried to be cute, they left things to the last minute.

I'm focused on building this player and hopefully I get the opportunity to join a cool project that leads to championship celebrations someday. That is all!

(Ready to be graded, draft related media, so 2x?, 4331 words according to wordcounter.net, did some research on teams when I looked the rosters for centers)