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***Nike*** · 09-03-2023, 02:49 PM

No SMJHL season begins without the annual SMJHL draft. And off the back of a 11th place finish and a failure to quality for the Season 71 playoffs, Kelowna was poised to make the most of draft day in hopes that it would propel them into a position to see some progress on both the roster and the standings this offseason. With the third selection in the S72 SMJHL entry draft, Kelowna was sure to end up with a critical piece for the next two to three seasons.

Draft capital in the SMJHL is a bit different than that of the SHL, because the shelf life of a player in juniors is so much shorter than that of a player headed to the big leagues. And while juniors GMs rarely have to worry about a player headed elsewhere in free agency and managing assets in that way, they certainly have to manage draft picks carefully. One misfire at the top of a talented draft class can mean the difference between two or three seasons of Four Star Cup runs, or two or three seasons in the doldrums of the juniors standings.

When Kelowna came up to the podium at number three, Jonas Salat was the pick. A solid start to what would be a very successful draft for the Knights. With a subsequent pick in the first round from a prior trade with the Kraken, Kelowna selected Brooklyn Physt at selection number nine. As the first round finished up, there were still more than a few very solid looking prospects on the board. Kelowna made the most of that by grabbing Ho Lee-Smokes with its selection at number twenty-four and Daniel Durkburg. To come out of the draft with what will likely be a mainstay down the middle in Durkburg and THREE top flight defensemen in Salat, Physt and Lee-Smokes, Kelowna was absolutely thrilled.

In camp, all four showed that they still had quite a bit of learning to do before they were going to take Kelowna to the next level. And unfortunately, as the season began, it was evident that this cast of characters was not ready to save the roster in their first season as Knights. Kelowna had trouble nearly all season, from the jump, with keeping the puck out of the back of the net. While Five-Hole Sieve was just above .500 in 30 games in nets, Tibuk Soonika had a really rough year developing between the pipes and got out to an 11 and 27 record for the Knights. Without playing defense in front of the goaltenders, it was never a season that would materialize into a deep Four Star Cup run for Kelowna.

After a swift exist from the SMJHL playoffs at the hands of the Newfoundland Berserkers, the Knights again are looking forward to the upcoming SMJHL draft and have their eyes set on bolstering their roster to take yet another crack at climbing the standings in Season 73. With the rookies from last year having another offseason worth of growth and very minimal graduations coming from the main roster to the SHL, it’s quite possible that next season’s Knights have what it takes to make a deeper run in the junior playoffs.

For now, each player on the roster will be headed off for some much needed rest after a long 66 game regular season and will be gearing up for the next iteration of this storied Knights franchise in Season 73.

Knights

Go Knights Go Knights

chetib · 09-05-2023, 11:03 AM

Approved +5 TPE for @Nike

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