The New England Wolfpack went into the Season 79 SHL Entry Draft with only two picks to work with in the first three rounds. The ‘pack picked up two players they hope to make a part of their future scoring lines. At 11, New England took Hotdog Lunch, a right winger currently playing for the Ottowa Highlanders in the SMJHL. Hotdog Lunch was the ninth overall pick in the S78 SMJHL Draft and had a solid first year with 34 points, including 16 goals. At 34, New England picked up Tip Toasty, a right winger out of Thunder Bay. Toasty was taken at 42 in the S78 SMJHL Draft, and ended the season with 46 points, including 16 goals.

To get some perspective, we talked with Wolfpack General Manager Luke about the reasoning behind the picks, the goals for these prospects, and the future of the organization.

Q: Talk about your first round pick. What drew you to take Hotdog Lunch at number 11?
A: Going into the 1st round we have a good couple of options. Initially we had a deal in placing to move back a couple of spots and pick up a future 1st as well, but that kinda fell through at the draft floor. Which is ok. We really wanted at 11 about 5 or 6 people. And most of them fell, so we just chose the one at the top of our board which was Hotdog Lunch. Through the draft interviews, we really thought he would be the best pick. He fits with our future goals, and had the drive and energy to be a max earner. He would also fit our locker room as well.

Q: The Wolfpack picked up Tip Toasty at 34. What drew you to pick Toasty?
A: Well, we had Tip Toasty in our range at 11, and by the time the 2nd round came and Tip Toasty was still on the board. We wanted to try to trade up to get him. We had a deal in place for 24, however Calgary had the better offer to Manhattan at the last second to get 24OA. So they went ahead and drafted Ztevans. As it got closer to 36, and you were still on the board we thought it would be out of the picture to see someone who we thought of highly to be slipping. We were able to snag 34, jumping up 2 spots to grab Tip Toasty. Through the scouting process, just like Hotdog Lunch we thought he would work well in the locker room as well had great earning potential. As much as Hotdog lunch. Being able to get 2 quality guys we both wanted at 11 is great to see.

Q: Out of the first three rounds New England had picks 11 and 34. How did you prioritize players to make use of the two picks you had?
A: This draft was pretty deep in terms of the number of good users we liked. I'll be honest here. I totally forgot we had pick #34 until the day of the draft. I totally forgot that we got that 2nd from trading away my retiring player. But since we scouted I believe 40 of the users this draft, we were prepared either way. Even then I wasn't even suppose to be at the draft, I was suppose to be on the beach, yet that was canceled. So I was able to attend and pick with JR that day. So it worked out great in the end haha.
But to get back to the original question, we do have a bit of an aging forward core. Its not like we have all old guys. We have a ton of young players in Cormier, Kenny Omega, Lil Jin Morrow, Thomas Sawschuk. Then in prospects we have Louis Belanger and Jackass pants too. We just continued having more forwards prospects with Hotdog Lunch and Tip Toasty now to eventually replace our vets like Outdoor Truck, Ivan Lacksamus, Matiss Ozolinsh to name a few.

Q: What do you hope to see out of the two prospects you picked up?
A: All I want to see is the effort being put in. And them enjoying their time in the league. There is a lot of fun opportunities to be had, especially when you want to make the most out of your player and be apart of this amazing community. Hopefully they had better counting stats as well in the J. But as a GM im not looking at that for their success or not. Im just making sure that they earn their TPE, and that I can help them earn as much TPE as possible

Q: What is the outlook for next year?
A: For next year, I am hoping that we remain competitive. We are running it back again this season with the same squad. I think we will see some players take the next step in their development, as they take over the PP1 and PP2 slots. We have an excellent goalie in Five-Hole Sieve, so we will have to take advantage of the strong and deep squad we have. We should be the top team in our division. Maybe Toronto will compete with us, but since Hamilton is going into a rebuild. Montreal is just coming out, and Buffalo is somewhere in the middle. We still are one of the best teams in the east. if we get back to the conference finals that would be a great win in my book.


(924 words, 2x draft media)