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**OrbitingDeath** · 09-25-2019, 11:06 AM

Being Scouted for the SHL Draft

Since it is double payout, I wanted to make sure to pull out another draft related media article and I decided to make an overview of my experiences with the scouting process I had with the several teams. From some teams I had not heard at all, while others showed more interest. Either way it was fun having a draft experience where everything was open for me instead of me forcing my way to a certain team.

[Image: Buffalo.png]

Tomen I still knew from my times with the Prince George Firebirds so been in contact with him several times before the draft, even if it was to see if he had some draft information to share or to check out if Buffalo would be an option. He sent me a long list of questions that he likely send to everyone and we kept in touch after that. As I would have liked playing for them I kept checking for information there. Hours before the draft he informed me that they would be taking a defenseman and that if their options wouldn’t be there, that they would trade down then. Luckily for them their first option even was available. I enjoyed the talks here and they kept being friendly even though they knew they wouldn’t select me.

The Chicago Syndicate is another franchise that I had a pleasant scouting experience with. I received a message from Velevra to have a chat in either pm or on discord. So I messaged on discord and vouched my concerns position wise, as with Kylrad and JNH they have two people they can rely on at center and I didn’t want to move positions (or at least not remove my face off tpe) since my IIHF team will rely on me in the future. This all was no problem for them and Kyl and JNH were likely open to moving around if it was needed they said. I always had a feeling I would fall to them at the fifth overall pick and I was probably one of the options for them, but to go with a first-gen that looks reliable and motivated, then you can’t go wrong there. I think they made a perfect pick with Ryan Shepard here, as I expected Shepard to be off the board already.

[Image: Hamilton.png]

Hamilton was one of the earliest teams to scout and had sent an actual scout of the team my way. They had indeed investigated my old player as well and noticed that i went inactive with him in the end. So they had a great question in asking about how serious I was about this player. As both Willems and Green went inactive over courses of their careers I could only be honest about it and say I don’t know what would happen. Of course i’m enthusiastic now and want him to grow, but I also can never be too certain about what will happen in the future.He did mention that if i got to 1000 - 1200 tpe again I would be a solid pick for any team, so that was a nice way to end the talks. In the end, I don’t know if Hamilton would have picked me at #9, but I do think they made a brilliant selection with @uhh there.

The other franchise that was early was the Manhattan Rage, JayWhy was actually the first person to check up and express interest in my player (but mostly how things were going). So we talked more about how it was with his gf and her possibly joining the SHL and Greebsie and the kids from my side. I would have loved to play for the Rage, but with them having one of the later picks in the first round this always has been a stretch. I did really appreciate them being so far, as after Manhattan, Hamilton followed shortly, but then it was a long time of nothing. I even checked in the rookie discord if there were others that did hear more, as I was hoping for more attention.

This is probably the shortest draft interview I ever had. It didn’t even contain a question. Ace just mentioned that if I was there with their 2nd round pick, that they would draft me. In the end it turned out to be a longer draft interview with hotdog as I had no idea yet where I would land. But when I mentioned to him that center is likely not their first needed position with guys like Gordieboom, he agreed with me and admitted their main focus lied at getting wingers/defenseman at the moment. Shortly after this conversation the pick was already gone. The second round always was a reach but in a reddit draft you never know.

The Barracuda were also a bit later than the most, but at least they reached out. They did not have very much questions for me as (in their eyes) I was a respected recreate. They mostly wanted to know how much I enjoyed the player so far, which in all fairness, is not very much still due to the horrible performance off him the last season. But with a lot of points stocked in faceoffs I must admit I also did not expect wonders. Still nice to reach out despite only having a second.

[Image: Toronto.png]

The first of the teams that did not reach out to me. With the fourth overall pick they had a lot of possibilities to select from and they probably did not feel like I would be a good fit in the franchise as I’m cursed in the Eastern Conference, they are actually hoping to build Toronto in a winner again and adding a known curse won’t help with that. But indeed, no information from them.

[Image: WestKendall.png]

A franchise where I played before under both SyckeZ and Bojo, but also no scouting messages from there side. Perhaps the contract negotiations about the pony stories still haunts any manager there and they wanted to avoid this at any costs, so no message from them either.

With Esa I exchanged some pleasant messages as it was a great way to check if and how much interest I would have in the Dragons. I brought up the story about Jesster getting an expansion franchise and then bailing before having played a game because he wanted to get back on Calgary as he missed em, that it must be a wonder full place to play and that i was certainly interested. They however did not really wanted to move up, so it was a crapshoot that I would fall for them, but they wished me success and said LA was a great fit, so that was nice to hear.

[Image: Edmonton.png]

The Blizzard also sent me some questions on how interested I would be, where I would draft myself if i was a manager and if i was interested in fun activities/games during weeknights like video games and fantasy stuff. That last point I had to disappoint them with as I would not really be looking to add more activities as I’ve already have enough to do myself. I do think I nailed the question about where I would draft myself if I was the GM, as I told them with our last available draft pick, as a GM can only draft his own player and other teams wouldn’t be able to touch it.

[Image: LosAngeles.png]

The scouting process for LA started with me messaging Wasty on Saturday, informing him that Chicago was not sure what they would do and that Velevra told me they might even look into trading down. I felt not so sure about them really wanting me. With the 7th and 8th pick at their disposal I wanted to check if he had any interest in acquiring me, and Wasty informed me that they indeed wanted to reach out to potential prospects today. So with 1,5 day to go before the draft, they would start their scouting. I’ve kept in touch to see if he found out anything about the other teams and he kept me posted, but only 10 minutes for the draft he told me we would see if i would indeed fall. I did and ended up in LA and loved seeing old teammates and gm’s there in RomanusEatsDonuts and Martucci and a lot of other recognizable names. I’m happy they took the shot on me and that I can proof being a worthfull asset for the Panthers.

[Image: Minnesota.png]

They have not reached out as they probably knew they wouldn’t have enough 1st rounders to acquire me with. So not much to be said there.

I feel NOLA knew that they were not able to get me at the draft, but it’s always good for a team to lay contact with prospects as you never know what happens down the road. It was nice off them to show interest despite me not falling anywhere near their pick.

The Pride did not contact me, but I also didn’t really expect them to with them having a wide range of options with the third pick. They picked that guy at 3 and I think it’s a smart move as he’s a great guy to have around your locker room. I feel he will definitely proof his worth for the Pride.

[Image: Texas.png]

The last team that did not contact me from the list. The Renegades had the second pick and I really believed they would go for Ryan Shepard here. But with Ivan Maximus you can’t go wrong either. Unless you like cheese of course, as he will steal yours. With enough selections to have their picks from they only needed to focus on a few potential ones, because even if there were 2 guys they wanted, they would always get one of them, so I’m not really surprised for not having heard off them.

[Image: Winnipeg.png]

Winnipeg had 2 picks in the top 10 and I really thought that this would end up to become my team for a while. I know StadiumGambler from the Colorado locker room and he told me that if I was there at 10, it would certainly be a pick he would consider. But I was off the board two picks before, so I was proven wrong.

Despite not having heard from all the teams, it still was a nice draft experience. Especially since I had no idea where I was going. And I wasn’t the only one as a lot of people had a lot of horrible results with the mock draft. This only shows how strong this class was as everyone could go anywhere. Now it’s time to get back to Colorado for my second season and continue to get ready for my future at Los Angeles. And even though Less than Jake once had a song ‘Hell looks a lot like LA’, I feel this is a wonderful place to be!

Words: 1939 - Double draft media week

Grapehead · 09-25-2019, 04:09 PM

This is pretty sweet. I don't recall reading another prospect share this kind of experience from the draft. Sorry I wasn't in touch, but it was nothing personal as I dropped the ball on contacting the majority of prospects. No excuse, was just poor scouting from me this time around to not at least make contact with every prospect. Really dig this article though, you should recommend something similar to teammates/prospects who are looking for some media inspiration.

***Alaska*** · 09-25-2019, 04:14 PM

This is a cool article! Very neat idea

Alex Winters (retired)
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