1200 Words x2 Draft Related Bonus.

Good afternoon TSN readers, I'm Dames Juthie, and in today's article, we rewind to a week ago to the draft that saw many big-name prospects that started their SMJHL careers in S47. That draft had very little expectations as it was following a reddit draft, but instead, we have seen upwards of 2 rounds worth of active prospects join the pools of SHL teams everywhere. One of those prospects is Espen Knutsen Jr., and we brought him up to the analyst desk at the draft after his selection. In a TSN exclusive, here's what Espen had to say after being drafted on Wednesday:

Dames: Espen, congratulations on being drafted fifth overall by the Tampa Bay Barracuda, what kind of emotion are you feeling right now?

Espen: Thanks very much Dames for having me on the show, and yeah it's truly an honor that the Barracuda decided to select me fifth overall. It's honestly complete chaos of emotion that I'm feeling right now, while I understand that being selected in the first round, let alone fifth overall, is a great accomplishment, there is a part of me that feels I was the best player available from the beginning so I'm slightly disappointed that three other teams passed on me. Otherwise, I am stoked to be joining a franchise that is clearly focused on building for the future and wants me to be here and I plan on being here for the long run.

Dames: Let's talk about where you were picked in the draft, Winnipeg went for defense in the Canadian Jax Duggan with the first pick, then your team, Tampa Bay, took the Swedish playmaking winger Gunnar Söderberg second overall, Chicago threw everyone off after being very secretive by selecting Irish defenceman Corey Kennedy at number three, and then San Francisco took the Czech sniper Filip Zadina right before you went off the board at fifth, so you're telling us that you felt that you should have been selected before these four fellow prospects?

Espen: Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for those four and am proud of how far they have come and cannot wait to battle against and alongside them for our entire careers. With that said, I can't help but feel like Winnipeg, Chicago, and San Francisco will all come to regret their decision on passing up on me as a player. I knew after a crazy day of phone calls and connecting with teams that if I was going to be picked in the top 5 it would have to be to either Tampa Bay or San Francisco. Neither Winnipeg nor Chicago reached out to me whatsoever, and that could be associated with their team needs on defense which is fair, but in the end, my coaches have always told me that the best defense is a good offense so I don't really buy that excuse at all. When it comes to Tampa and San Francisco, while disappointed, I feel that Tampa made the right decision taking Gunnar who has a very similar playstyle to myself and would probably have been taken before their second pick, but I was surprised that I fell past San Francisco because we had some very positive talks throughout the process and they seemed to be interested in my hockey IQ and playmaking abilities, but seemed to decide on the pure goal-scoring threat that Filip is, so congrats to him. 

Dames: Strong words for those other SHL franchises, but it seems to me that that comes out of a passion for success and not out of resentment for your fellow prospects. Now let's quickly discuss your draft year performance in the SMJHL and how you felt that affected your draft stock between being selected ninth by Detroit and then fifth by Tampa.

Espen: My draft stock has evidently grown over this past season and the only people that can take credit for that is the coaching staff and management in Detroit who guided my development down the right path into a true playmaker and that showed on the ice. If I remember correctly I started the season on the third line alongside fellow rookie Lex Peters and our mentor Gabster TheMagnificent who also played a role in how I excelled on and off the ice this past season. I had been training hard, was the first one on the ice every day and the last one off at the end, putting countless hours in the gym to improve my performance which would, in turn, help the team's performance. Coach rewarded me about 30 games in by moving me up to the second line where I would play out the rest of the season with two SMJHL stars in Kalvins Zvejnieks and Marc Palicka. That is when my production really soared and that gave me a lot of confidence headed into the post-season. I believe I finished the season with 4 goals and 17 assists which really emphasized my playmaking style of play.

Dames: Speaking of the post-season, your showing in the first round against Vancouver has to go down as one of the single best performances by a rookie in a playoff series in the history of the SMJHL, tell us about that.

Espen: Like I said, playing with those two linemates of mine brought a lot of confidence to my game as well as the additional skill required to break out of my shell and I found myself taking on more players and eventually shooting the puck a lot. You said it yourself, we dominated Vancouver in every way which surprised many and I guess I ended up scoring 5 goals in total, 2 of them being game winners and another 1 of them sending the series clincher into overtime. I can't give enough credit to my teammates for putting me in those positions to score so many goals and upsetting a rival in Vancouver felt really nice.

Dames: Finally, now that you've been selected by an SHL team and your career is officially underway, what should be expecting in the future from yourself?

Espen: Well, once the draft is over and I have a chance to sit down with the management team over in Tampa Bay, I hope to lay out a constructed plan of development that will hopefully allow me to return to Detroit for a season or two in hopes of reimbursing them for drafting me with a Four-Star cup. I'm starting to catch up to the highest level of competition that is seen in the SMJHL and hopefully after a strong offseason of working out and then training camp I will be one of the top players on the team and in the league. The plan is to continue to develop and check in with Tampa on my progress and when the time comes I will be prepared to make the jump to the SHL and have a long career with the Barracuda.

Dames: Thanks for taking the time on such a crazy day Espen, enjoy it, young man.

Espen: Thanks Dames, I enjoy talking to the media anytime.

That's all from us TSN fans, but tune in next time for an in-depth recap of the first-round of the S47 SHL Draft.