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***TheGreatToeJam*** · 05-09-2022, 08:47 PM

S65 SMJHL Draft Analysis and Grading

Raptors

This past Saturday evening another SMJHL Entry Draft has come and gone, young hopefuls looked with nerves and wonderment as they patiently awaited their names to be called and the next chapter of their careers to begin. This weekends event was nothing short of spectacular as each team added pieces to their individual puzzles, trying to find the next superstars among the crop of prospects.

Let’s break it down by team, what holes were filled? What were left empty? Who’s team will be left disappointed and who’s team will hurt tomorrow?

Ciarelli Division

Colorado Raptors Raptors

Picks:

Round 1, 12OA - Koty Kochan, C

Round 2, 17OA - Tom Pedersen, LW

Round 2, 27OA - Ged Sparrowhawk, RD

The Raptors were coming off of an impressive season, finishing first in their division and second in the league. However, a third round loss to the Newfoundland Berserkers brought their season to an end a little sooner than they had hoped. This draft was incredibly important for the Raptors as they are potentially losing some key players to call ups in the SHL, RW Shoyo Hinata lead the entire league in points (86) and assists (51) while also potting 35 goals - impressive to say the least, it is unlikely that his SHL affiliate hasn’t taken notice. Left defenseman Jamal Nightingale has aged out which will be hard for the Raps to compensate for, he lead the league in hits with 179 and finished the regular season fourth in team scoring. Other depth pieces like Magnuss Galtisson (LD) and Jalal Ad Din Afinogenov (RW) are aging out as well.

They may not have directly addressed the positional need they have directly but Colorado has picked up some fantastic players. Koty Kochan was one of the few natural centers on the board, it wasn’t likely that he would fall out of the first round and I’m honestly surprised he went as far as he did. Between him and Goodwin Lupercal the Raptors will have a fantastic one-two punch down the middle for at least a couple more seasons.

Tom Pedersen will address a need on the wing, the balanced winger is looking to build on his solid skating and offensive game to become a mainstay on Colorado’s top six. Ged Sparrowhawk (also known lovingly as Poopmonster666) has all th makings of an absolute steal in this draft - he has above average offensive and defensive read, crisp skating and a decent first pass.

The Raps need their young players to take a big step forward this season if they plan to remain among the top of the leaderboard like they were last year, but they have all the skill to do it. With the addition of these three players the sky is the limit.

ToeJam’s Draft Rating: B+

So long as these players stay active the Raptors could be looking at three key pieces to their future core.

Carolina Kraken Kraken

Picks:

Round 1, 7OA - Julian Eaglesong, C

Round 2, 18OA - Thomas Nitro, LW

Finishing second in the Ciarelli division may sounds like an accomplishment, but the Kraken finished with only 22 wins and 8 over-time losses, good for only 52 points on the year. That’s exactly half the wins of the division champs Colorado and good for an 11th place finish in the league. Fortunately for Carolina that still earned them a playoff berth and they even won their first round matchup 4 games 2 against the Maine Timber. The Kraken have a ton of players that have aged out or are playing their last season in Carolina - Jason Playstation (G), Eddie Kastrba (RD) and Kristián Ženatík © will all age out of the SMJHL. First and second in team scoring Marek Skota and Rafael Boek will both play their last season for the black and orange, as will centers Aldo Huber and Stéphane Bababooéy and defenseman Ka Chow.

Carolina is on the brink of a rebuild as their core group is about to move on from the team, but if the play their cards right, develop their young talent and find the proper players via free agency or trade, they may be able to give the Four Star Cup another run this season. All that being said they picked up a couple fantastic players in the draft, their first rounder Julian Eaglesong being the big name. Julian laced up for Colorado during last seasons playoffs where he potted three goals as a DFA before being drafter to their divisional rival. He has above average puckhandling, decent passing and can find open ice when there doesn’t seem to be any, paired with a great shooter Eaglesong will absolutely soar.

Thomas Nitro was also a great pick, his skating is among the top of the entire draft class and his defensive game should not go unnoticed. He isn’t lost in the offensive zone either, an all around complete player, and while no single aspect of his game shines he has plenty of time to develop new skills.

ToeJam’s Draft Rating: C+

With so many players aging out or aging out after this season, I would have liked to see the Kraken take a swing on another player or two.

Anchorage Armada Armada

Picks:

Round 1, 4OA - Phillippe-Eko Eel, RD

Round 2, 16OA - Edward Elric, G

Round 3, 30OA - Matty Ice, RW

Round 4, 44OA - Giulio Cesare Polerio

The Armada would like a mulligan on last season. They finished second last in the entire league while being tied with Vancouver for point percentage with a whopping .235 and a -139 goal differential. Yikes. What positives I do have to say about Anchorage is that they are rounding the bend of a rebuild. They have no players aging out this season and a great crop of young guns that look to be ready to take a step forward, though it looks like their leading scorer and top line left winger Spack Jarrow will be moving on to his SHL affiliate. Spack put up a respectable 50 points on a not so great roster - the good news is that only one point behind him was right winger Lord Zomp who put up 49 points is just his second season in the J. Not too shabby.

P-E Eel seems like a no brainer at 4OA, he was the first defender taken in the draft and for good reason. At 6’11 this monster will terrorize oponents for years to come, and it isn’t just his size - this guy is actually good at hockey. Imagine Zdeno Chara, but bigger, meaner and he can actually read. They also picked up a solid netminder in Edward Elric, another huge player measuring 6’11. We’re beginning to see a trend. Elric needs to work on his skating and passing if he is to be a reliable goaltender who can help the offense breakout, but he has all the potential to get there.

An odd case hailing from Compton, California - Matty Ice will be the shooter that they need. He needs to work on his power but this kid has a fucking tractor beam of a shot, he chooses where it needs to go and the puck goes. He. Doed. Not. Miss. And last but not least Giulio will be the guy getting Matty the pucks, his passing and puckhandling will rival anyone in the entire draft class and his defensive stats are seriously nuts. To find someone who can contribute on both sides of the puck the way Giulio can is increasingly rare and Anchorage found an absolute gem in the late rounds.

Draft Rating: A

Literally nowhere to go but up.

Keep an eye out for the next post where we dive into the Wollker division.

***sve7en*** · 05-11-2022, 02:50 PM

Not gonna lie, C+ was not what I was expecting. We got two of our 7oa board at 7 and 18 and moved our 3rd rounder out to next season which was something I was hoping to do going in to the day. Outside of wildly beneficial trades being dropped on us, it was probably the best draft we could have hoped for.

While there were a few options left on our board who I would have liked to bring in, our existing roster and an expected change to the new create placement process meant that it made more sense to move the pick out. Going from free agency to waivers, while not a massive change to Carolina, makes it much more likely that we end the season with two FA pickups where normally that could be a much more variable factor. There was potential for the changes to be announced after the draft, and I pushed for that announcement to be made before the draft so that teams could make educated decisions, which I think we did a very good job of. It's not Vancouver's draft class, but we didn't have that level of draft capital and I'm really happy with how we navigated the weekend.

I really like the breakdowns overall, and think you did a good job in highlighting quality drafts from Nevada, Quebec, and Anchorage. Would be curious to see season prediction media, if there's any on the horizon.

***TheGreatToeJam*** · 05-11-2022, 03:10 PM

05-11-2022, 02:50 PMsve7en Wrote: Not gonna lie, C+ was not what I was expecting. We got two of our 7oa board at 7 and 18 and moved our 3rd rounder out to next season which was something I was hoping to do going in to the day. Outside of wildly beneficial trades being dropped on us, it was probably the best draft we could have hoped for.

While there were a few options left on our board who I would have liked to bring in, our existing roster and an expected change to the new create placement process meant that it made more sense to move the pick out. Going from free agency to waivers, while not a massive change to Carolina, makes it much more likely that we end the season with two FA pickups where normally that could be a much more variable factor. There was potential for the changes to be announced after the draft, and I pushed for that announcement to be made before the draft so that teams could make educated decisions, which I think we did a very good job of. It's not Vancouver's draft class, but we didn't have that level of draft capital and I'm really happy with how we navigated the weekend.

I really like the breakdowns overall, and think you did a good job in highlighting quality drafts from Nevada, Quebec, and Anchorage. Would be curious to see season prediction media, if there's any on the horizon.

Please don't read too far into my grading, this is my first season and I was trying to bang this out as quick as possible. I also didn't take into account FA signings. It was just for fun and to take advantage of the 2x media payout. You get an A+ for being a part of such a wonderful community!

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