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By-Tor · 08-23-2021, 11:59 AM

And that's a wrap!

The S61 SMJHL draft was last night, and 83 of 99 prospects were picked to fill out spots in the junior league. Congratulations to all those picked!

Here's some stats:
By my estimation, about 20 of the last few picks are already IA. Here's to hoping some return.
83 prospects picked in S61 is the 4th most ever. S45 was 117. S52 was 98. S49 was 89. The next highest was S55 at 75.

Number of Picks by Team:
Anaheim - 16
Anchorage - 4
Carolina - 3
Colorado - 5
Detroit - 7
Great Falls - 3
Kelowna - 10
Maine - 5
Nevada - 4
Newfoundland - 6
Quebec City - 5
Regina - 10
St. Louis - 5
Vancouver - 0

A wide range of picks here. Vancouver staying put with what they have while Anaheim is doing a thing. Also notice the expansion teams taking slightly different approaches with 10 picks for Regina and only 3 for Great Falls. Most of the other teams in the happy middle. Kelowna tooling for a rebuild.

Team Comments:

[Image: Anaheim-min.png]

Look, I'm not going to say I hate what Anaheim is doing, but I don't really like it. (Thunderdome me). I get it, it's a tale as old as time and it happens almost every year - retool everyone in the same class so you have a whole load of hard capped players in 2 seasons. But what about those 5 or so players that are already hard capped? It's no fun for them. It's also no fun to the league when you can pretty much mark down a guaranteed win. It's different in WJC when you have no choice as to who is on your team (young guns, NA, etc.) Oh, well.

Now for the preview: Anaheim has a whopping 3 players over 175 TPE - Their starting goalie, a RW, and a RD (who was a rookie this year). Seven of their picks are already IA. There's not much to say. They succeeded in bringing in new personalities to the LR, which was their #1 goal. I really like some of the people they drafted this year. As a current Scarecrow, will be watching Anzelms Krastiņš (jack Lewis, former crow) with anticipation.

[Image: Anchorage-min.png]

Anchorage is sticking with their group for the most part. The Armada is right in the happy middle of TPE with a few hard caps, a few soft caps, some rookies, and some IAs. They needed some help up front and brought in two very good users in Briedaqueduc and High Stick King. I really like these two players. From the looks of it, they do not have a goalie over 155 TPE, though, which may be a problem. Look out for a trade in the near future. Defense is looking a bit thin (nonexistent) outside the top 3 as well. I suspect this will be one of those teams plugged with decently skilled IAs.

[Image: Carolina-min.png]

Carolina had a pretty short draft, but brought in some decent names. I like all three of their picks. Very good perceptions on where their future holes are and filling them. Still bummed Ka Chow's render is not Lightning McQueen. There's still time! Carolina is on the verge of success with a lot of capped players. I think this team could be near the top of the standings by the time things shake out.

[Image: Colorado-min.png]

Colorado had 5 picks in this draft. They spread out the love and chose 1 G, 2 D, and 3 F. I don't remember if I said it on the stream, but I think Zayne Dangle has the potential to be one of the best picks of this draft. They joined 3 days ago and already put in 15 hours of screen time. I see Colorado in the top 3, come playoffs. Micool might finally get their cup.

[Image: Detroit-min.png]

Detroit had more picks than most in this draft, albeit many of them in the later rounds. They picked up some big personalities late in FourFour and Southie. Overall, a pretty good draft for them. I am curious to see how their first pick, Vasily Arkhangelsky, turns out. They obviously saw something they liked and went with it. Detroit is still a very young team with only 9 players over 200 TPE. I think they will put up a good fight this year.

[Image: GreatFalls-min.png]

Ah! Expansion team 1. Great Falls is a balanced team. I think they had a good expansion draft and junior draft. They have some great personalities in the LR, and a first year chip to show what they are made of. Of the goalies selected this year, Brick Wall could be one of the best based on what I've seen so far. I am a bit concerned with their goalie situation, though, as they don't have a bonafide starter.

[Image: Kelowna-min.png]

I will say it first because I believe it: Christian Kinsinger (Symmetrik) at pick 34 is the steal of the draft. Period. No discussion. I had them going 1st overall in my pre-draft analysis. Honestly, Kelowna knocked this draft out of the park. (lol, ootp). I see no bad pick. It will help them out a lot in a season or two when all these players are capped. Kelowna is extremely young, but they have some great users and I feel they will be a team to watch that may cause some upsets in the playoffs.
[Image: Maine-min.png]

Maine brought in some good personalities this draft. That's really all you can wish for in the juniors draft, and Maine executed their plan well. Bringing in a recreated SHL GM is always a plus to a junior team (JayWhy), and they traded up to do so. I would group Maine with Anchorage - they have a good mix of players and can look forward to some success.
[Image: Nevada-min.png]

Who needs early draft picks? Certainly not Nevada. They brought in some low-risk, mid-reward players in this draft. They did the "Anaheim" retool last year, so they are set. Look at Nevada to see what Anaheim will look like in 3 months. I project a mid-tier finish.
[Image: Newfoundland-min.png]

It really amazes me how the team hat wins the cup this year is in a terrific draft position a few weeks later. They got two great players on the first round in RashfordU and tommytightpants. I like the DrB1gMack pick. I do see them taking a step back this year, but that is absolutely to be expected. I think they could win it all again, but it will be much more difficult this time. Their defense is a bit shallow.
[Image: QuebecCity-min.png]

I think Quebec City had a fine draft. Their focus right now is taking back their cup, so there wasn't much activity this draft. I am very curious to see how Skating Dino turns out. They do currently have 4 goalies on the roster. Quebec City is another team in my Top 3 come playoffs.
[Image: Regina-min.png]

Regina - Expansion Team 2. They took a different approach from their GFG peers. While GFG went with a balanced, experienced approach, Regina opted for the build-young approach. I think they got some good picks, especially OrbitingDeath as a Goalie. I do see them hanging out at the bottom of the standings, but that can be expected from an expansion team. They will be good next season.
[Image: StLouis-min.png]

My Scarecrows! I think St. Louis put together a good draft. Many of the draftees are already very active in our LR. I really like the personalities that were brought in and I look forward to this season. Maybe I'm biased, but I think the Scarecrows sit at just about that #4 spot if Vancouver, Quebec City, and Colorado are Top 3.
[Image: Vancouver-min.png]

Who needs draft picks? Not Vancouver. Top 3 team come playoffs.

That's it for my comments on the draft! I look forward to this season! Again, congrats to all the people drafted! I see more parity at the top of the league than I have in my whole time here. There's no team that I can say will 100% win the cup this year like NL last year. Cheers!

(1,351 WC)

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, tweedledunn, and jaypc8237 for sigs

steveoiscool · 08-23-2021, 12:16 PM

VAN winning the draft

By-Tor · 08-23-2021, 12:34 PM

08-23-2021, 12:16 PMsteveoiscool Wrote: VAN winning the draft

Honestly though

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, tweedledunn, and jaypc8237 for sigs

monochroma · 08-23-2021, 12:35 PM

i still can't believe we got symmetrik at 34 lmao

Toxlc · 08-23-2021, 01:26 PM

08-23-2021, 11:59 AMBy-Tor Wrote: Still bummed Ka Chow's render is not Lightning McQueen.

Ka Chow will be Lightning McQueen.

By-Tor · 08-23-2021, 01:46 PM

08-23-2021, 01:26 PMToxlc Wrote:
08-23-2021, 11:59 AMBy-Tor Wrote: Still bummed Ka Chow's render is not Lightning McQueen.

Ka Chow will be Lightning McQueen.

YESS