What's next for the Anchorage Armada? Following their loss to the Newfoundland Berserkers in the conference finals, Anchorage will be undergoing a bit of a facelift. Long time General Manager Acsolap announced that he would be stepping down, and many of their core players they had come to depend on these past few seasons will be aging out or be called up. In turn a new age of players will be ready to step up for the Armada. In this deep dive I would like to go over how this season’s crop of rookies performed.

Pablo Salvatici was taken 8th overall by the Armada this season and had by all means a solid rookie season. Despite limited minutes the young centre put up nine goals and seven assists through 50 games. He was not great defensively however, with 18 giveaways and only 8 takeaways to his name. He laid 26 hits over the season and managed to stay disciplined, only having 8 penalty minutes. Come playoff time Salvatici put up two goals and four assists in their 16 game run, ending up a -4 and being a black hole defensively. He will definitely need to improve his two-way game if he wants any chance at being a top player in the league.

Tokkulu Lakkamaa was the Anchorage Armada’s 11th overall pick and while he had a very slow start to the season, he really picked it up towards the end and in the playoffs. A single goal and eight assists gave him nine points over the 50 game season. Lakkamaa had a much better defensive game, only having 15 giveaways and 11 takeaways. He blocked 34 shots and laid 21 hits, and only was in the box twice through the entirety of the season. During the playoffs Tokkulu had a goal and four assists, and kept up his great defensive play with 3 giveaways, takeaways and blocked shots while being a +5. If he continues as he has he should become an elite two-way winger the Armada can depend on in all situations.

Bjorn Thornsen was taken with the 23rd overall pick by Anchorage, and due to their stacked blueline ended up playing as a forward for his rookie season. He outperformed both Salvatici and Lakkamaa as well, potting four goals and assisting on fifteen others for a total 19 points. He was a force to be reckoned with, putting up 51 hits as well. While he had 22 takeaways he also had 36 giveaways, and ended the season as a -2. As he looks to transition back to the blueline for next season he’ll need to look to cut down on the giveaways, and maybe block a few more shots as he only got in front of 15. Through the 16 playoff games Anchorage played, Bjorn scored two goals and added an assist. He took finished as a minus, but only had 2 giveaways and takeaways. If he does indeed go back on defense he’ll look to keep improving his defensive game and keep setting up teammates, this time from the blueline instead.

These three rookies will start to play key roles for Anchorage in the coming couple of seasons, stepping into bigger roles as more players are called up and other rookies are drafted to one day fill the void they will leave when they too make the jump up to the SHL.

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