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***Shiamus*** · 11-18-2023, 11:36 PM

Hey all, Shiamus here! After today's S74 SHL draft, I was able to sit down once again with luke - the GM of the New England Wolfpack - and talk about the new pups that were drafted to the team this season! Let's get straight into it!

Shiamus: Hey luke, long time no see! Last time we chatted we talked about the S73 draft, and now we have just drafted three new pups for the New England Wolfpack moving forward. Can you tell me what your goal was going into this draft class?

luke: Going into this draft class. our main focus was to get at least 2 defensemen, and then maybe a forward at pick number 30.

Shiamus: A well-rounded goal, especially since you have Scary Jerry down there going to hold down the goal in the foreseeable future. Well since we've talked about your overall strategy, let's get right into the picks. You first pick was at tenth overall, can you talk a little about who you were looking at and who you ultimately chose?

luke: At 10, we mostly had our focus on Juan Tymer (Thepyroalpaca), Teal'C (Delirivm), Marek Carda (ibuprofenaddict), and Squidwardo Tentacles (OPSquid). And obviously now that you have seen the results - we selected Delirivm at the 10th pick. It was tough because we liked a lot of players there, but with the fit and the conversations we had with him, we felt comfortable with him at 10. We thought maybe Alpaca would fall to us at 10, and then able to snag Delirivm at 18, but obviously that was not the case. But that's fine, we still got a great user at 10.

Shiamus: Glad that you were able to grab one of your top picks in that first slot. I don't know too much about Delirivm - do you have any background on him?

luke: Delirivm already had a HOF player in Timo Has, so he obviously knows the SHL a lot and knows how to make a great player. Even though he had a couple of bad players in the past, that was years ago. He also proved his prowess by making it up with a 2.2k player recently. All the previous information, and after talking with Delirivm, we felt comfortable picking him at 10 overall. It filled a need that we had, which was getting a defenseman to eventually replace Sven Svechnikov (steveoiscool), and resulted in someone that both JR and I are familiar with. JR drafted him in a previous season and resulted in an amazing player. So we thought -why not run it back?

Shiamus: Great to hear that Delirivm was a great fit for the organization, and that he will slot in nicely to the lineup when it is time for his player to be called up. So it sounds like you started off strong with the first pick at the 10th spot, let's move on to the next pick - down at number 18. What was your thought process for your second pick of the draft?

luke: So onto our second pick of the draft, the 18th draft pick. That's when it was getting hard to choose because we really liked 4 players at the 18 spot, and it looked like all 4 would be there. Deep Thought (Vulfzilla), Troy McClure IIII (Troy McClure03), Marek Carda (Ibuprofenaddict), and Leonard Wood (Munk22). And what made it so hard, is that we liked all of them. Previously, I had Vulfzilla in New England and knew that he would earn great. We won a cup, and he trusted me with his player and it really sucked that I couldn't pick him up this time. But instead we went with Troy McClure03, who was an equally great pick, and continued our goal of drafting a defensemen.

Shiamus: Sounds like you were torn between the two as your first choices - similar to what I asked you previously - I don't know much about Troy McClure03. Could you tell me a bit more about him for others that also may be unfamiliar?

luke: I've actually known Troy all the way back in S42 (over 30 seasons ago, it has been a minute!), as we were both players for Czechia. He previously had a great defenseman in Troy McClure III, so the goal with Troy McClure IIII should be the same. I expect him to be a great presence in the locker room, to earn a good amount of TPE, and help us continue to try to win cups.

Shiamus: I'm glad that you were again able to get such a solid pick with the 18th overall, but sadly you couldn't draft all four of the players you wanted with just that one pick. Since we already mentioned Troy McClure03 and Vulfzilla, do you have any words to say to Ibuprofenaddict and Munk22?

luke: Honestly, it sucks that we couldnt get ibuprofenaddict and munk as well. But they landed safely in Philadelphia - where I am sure they will enjoy and thrive over there. We really enjoyed talking to them as well, and they will be great players. It was super tough to pick just 1 player at 18. I wish I had another 1st, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Luckily from the Petr Svoboda (Artemis) trade, we got 10th and 30th picks this draft - in addition to the 18th. Both of those additional picks made it so that we could draft an amazing draft class.

Shiamus: And an amazing draft class it has been so far. Now I heard there was some attempted movement with your 30th pick, but you ultimately didn't end up moving that pick. Could you give me a bit of insider information on what transpired there?

luke: Who told you about that? That was supposed to be a secret! But since you've already heard about that rumor - I might as well spill the beans on what happened. Now, during the draft, I tried to trade up from 30 in order to get Vulfzilla, but unfortunately Buffalo had too many 2nd round picks and was able to outbid me in order to trade to 26 and draft him - which sucked a lot. I wished I was able to get him.

Shiamus: Unfortunate that Vulfzilla wasn't able to fall to the 30th pick, but you ended up getting someone that you were really excited about. Could you tell me more about them?

luke: Since we couldn't move up with our pick, we had to set our eyes to different people, and the person that stood out to me was Jaxson Reaper (Vin). Vin was actually in my original class, but VIN is an OG user - someone who joined all the way back in 2015. But as you said, I was very excited to draft him - Vin is a great guy to have on the team. He will earn TPE, especially with the portal now. and talking with him, it just felt like at 30, he was the best choice available. We did consider some other players like Gewmba Stolemamoney (UberBJ), or Kaarlo Koivunen (Juho), but at the end of the day, we felt like Vin was the safest pick. Vin is also someone that can also earn money with graphics - which also plays a big role because people need to earn money in order to be their best SHL self and succeed in this league.

Shiamus: You mentioned that making money is extremely important in this league. You talked about Vin's graphic prowess - what can you tell me about how Delirivm and Troy McClure03 look to earn money in the future?

luke: I didn't mention it earlier, but this is another reason that Delivirm made a lot sense at the 10th pick. He also makes cards and graphics, both fairly easy ways to earn money, especially when you do it often/constantly. And then Troy McClure03 earns money though articles and Chirper - which gives him a solid buffer. The goal is to get people not to rely on contracts all the time, but enough where they are able to earn enough TPE that they want to in order to succeed in the league.

Shiamus: Thank you for that insight - and I think that is a great point for SMJHL newbies looking to be drafted by top teams in the future to take note of. Overall it sounds like you had a great draft class! Now that we have went over each of your picks in the draft - could you tell me what the overall plan is for the New England Wolfpack moving forward and how much of a success this draft class was in achieving that plan?

luke: So overall, this draft class was a big success to us. As we are still a top team in the league, we need to continue with the growth of the young players. We have turned over the roster a bit during the last couple seasons in order to get younger - like getting Nathan Cormier (JR95) from Toronto, getting Thomas Sawschuk (Nokazoa) from Hamilton, and then getting Bruno Tooyo (Bruins10) from Tampa Bay. Now, having said those moves, they all came at a cost. Cormier cost us a future 1st which we were comfortable sending away in order to get a great guy in JR95. Thomas Sawschuck we received in a trade to trade away Paul Koivu (Brieaqueduct), since he wanted to explore more teams. But also as a result of that trade we got a 1st that got us Tooyo. So it all worked out in the end. We then also got Antoine Beauregard (Count Chocula) from Edmonton, as Eggward Elric (Jeffie43) asked out of New England. So just that right there is a lot of youth injected, while still being a top team in the league.

Shiamus: So after all those trades to get a younger core, how do your prospects from last draft - Lily Jin Morrow (Shiamus) and Jeff Goldblum (sewingwithnancy) - along with the three new prospects look to be filling in the gaps as the older generation retires?

luke: So now overall we got 5 amazing prospects to help continue us in the youth push while not sacrificing the competitiveness we have. As our defensemen like Sven Svechnikov and Borje Samuelsson (r1c3bowl22) are about to retire, we got the defensemen to replace them. Now at the start they might not have the TPE to replace them outright, but in the 2-4 seasons they have to develop they will surpass them and start to become the studs they are. Then on the forward side we really only need to replace Makrus "The Tater" Jager (taterswc) whenever he decides to retire, and we got Lily Jin Morrow to replace him. So its always about the cycle of getting prospects to replace the retiring guys, while also having players that are peaking or just entering regression. So we can always have the injection of youth while still being a top 6 team in the league. And from that, should lead us to another cup or two hopefully. But if not a cup itself, we are looking to a future of a lot of successful playoff runs, award winners, and a lot of good memories.

Shiamus: Sounds like you have a solid process and strategy in place for the future - and it looks like New England will continue to be in great hands moving forward! Thank you again luke for taking the time to stop by and have a chat with me.

luke: The pleasure is all mine!

And everyone that is a wrap! Thanks again to luke for speaking with me so quickly after the draft - he gave me a bunch of great insights into the inner workings of the New England Wolfpack once again. Thanks for tuning in!

- Shiamus (Lily Jin Morrow)

MuNk22 · 11-18-2023, 11:57 PM

Great interview. Thanks for the kind words and best of luck New England!

ibuprofenaddict · 11-19-2023, 10:58 PM

Nice article! Thanks for considering me, maybe next time!

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