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***goldenglutes*** · 03-17-2020, 10:58 PM

Trades, Draft Picks, New England's Future, Everything (2x Media)!

Quote:3012 words, 2x media

If you were expecting some quality content that will give you some form of insight into what's been happening in this league, turn back now. There is absolutely nothing of value in this article. Now, with that out of the way, time to talk about what I think of the pre-draft trades, New England's draft picks, our future, and everything else in between.

Let's start with the biggest pre-draft trades. Let's start with the biggest blockbuster trade of the season: New England trades 70th overall and 86th overall to Winnipeg in exchange for 69th overall. This is truly the most important trade of the season because it allows New England's General Manager, Ace, to finally fulfill his dream of getting drafted at 69th overall. This is a huge steal for the New England Wolfpack squad, and there's really nothing else to say about it. What a fleece.

Next, let's talk about the big juicy trades:

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NEW receives:
Rex Kirkby

WKP receives:
Delver Fudgeson
NEW S53 1st
NEW S54 1st*
*If the Wolfpack miss the postseason, this pick slides to S55.

This is an incredible trade for all sides -- it was no secret that Kirkby wanted to have a real shot at the cup and it was clear that the Platoon aren't going to be contenders anytime soon. So, in that sense, it is a great win for Kirkby. For New England, we've finally solidified our defense with the star player we've lacked ever since Tigole Bitties retired. Giving up this much stings quite a bit, but you gotta trade assets if you're acquiring the best defenseman in the league. For West Kendall, this is a haul and a half for a player that everyone knew wanted to leave, so they should be super happy with what they got.

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TEX receives:
MIN S53 1st (4th OA)
WPG S54/55 1st*
*Conditional Pick: Prior to the S54 Draft, TEX may choose to take WPG S54 1st Rd Pick or defer and take WPG S55 1st Rd Pick

WPG receives:
TEX S53 1st (1st OA)

Honestly, not entirely sure what's going on here. Is there a player that Muerto is targetting at 1OA that is that much more valuable than whoever's going to be available at 4OA? Actually, now that the draft is over, we can have a a look at the outcome of these picks. The 1OA pick is Magnus Liljeström, a first timer who's looking very exciting. I don't have a barrage of advanced stats at my mercy, so I'm just going to go off the two measures that I can easily see -- number of posts and the amount of money in his bank account. For posts, roastpuff is absolutely popping off. 393 posts as of March 15? 2 months after he join the SHL? This guy's on a mission to break all kinds of records and is probably going to be a stud. And that bank account? Almost 30 million already? Holy crap.

Now, who was drafted at 4OA? Edward Williams was picked, and let's do the same evaluation. 111 posts? Definitely very decent, and it should be noted that roastpuff's numbers are probably inflated because of his position as SMJHL intern (although holding a job like that is definitely a huge plus). 23 million in the bank? Man where are they finding these new creates? These guys are superhuman.

Now, an evaluation of this trade based on the two draft picks. I honestly believe that while roastpuff is a bona fide stud, there should be no way that Liljestrom is worth almost twice as much as Williams. Now, how do I come to that evaluation? Just based off my gut feeling, Liljestrom is very likely to end up being a better player than Williams, but what about that other first? It's probably going to turn into another high first, just one or two rounds after this one, and soon Texas are going to have two excellent players for the price of one potential superstar. In my opinion, having those two players is more valuable, but I am happy to be proven wrong.

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BUF receives:
WPG S53 1st (5th OA)
TEX S53 4th (51 OA)

WPG receives:
Kristoffer Svensson (928 TPE, S46)
BUF S53 1st (14 OA)

I'm gonna be honest here. This is a huge win for Buffalo. The team got rid of an extra forward who will likely be a borderline second/third liner (3 seasons from regression), to move up 9 spots in the first round. It's important to note too that they needed to clear roster space to comply with the new FHM rules as well. So this is pretty much a throwaway warm body for a massive jump in draft position.

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Alright, enough of that. Let's talk about the newest draftees from the New England Wolfpack. We drafted two players this past draft - Ethan Price and Lucas Hellquist. Price is a right winger hailing from the United States, who is looking to become the next big SHL sniper. I'd like to think he models his game after our very own Ola Wagstrom, but I won't judge if he looks up to Luke Thomason, either. He's currently already looking like quite the sniper, as his shooting accuracy and ability to get open are already elite in terms of Simulation Major Junior Hockey League play. From here, he can either decide to become a more well rounded player, or continue sticking to his guns and clap bombs all night long. If he can develop a more refined game, I feel he can be a potential All-Star. He is so large, so skilled and has such a light, heavy wrist that he is able to easily break his opponents' arms on many of his shots. His strength on the puck is above average as well, allowing him to start the transition game himself or allow the speedy forwards in front of him to get to the front of the net and create a chance. He also has good hockey sense as a big defenseman, and will attempt to play the puck, but can sometimes get caught for a quick turnover. One of the biggest areas for improvement in my mind would be his skating ability and strength in the corners and in front of the net, as he can get himself out of position and doesn't always give up much in terms of shots if he isn't corralled in. He is a pretty good skater, but he'll need to be a better shooter to help out in my opinion, as he will struggle to do so with that weakness in his game, as he did not look good even in the shootout last season. But, as long as he gets his shot off, he will be a very effective player and if he keeps working at it, he has a good shot at the SHL level in a few seasons. But, his value to his team depends on the way he handles himself in a highly competitive SHL game, one in which he could be on the receiving end of a whack across the face from Andrej Doskocil, or be on the receiving end of a cross-check from Poopity Scoop and could see the puck sail in the net to spite them.

It will take some time for his offensive game to reach his full potential in the SHL, but if he continues to work and become a complete player, his offensive skills will eventually translate. The future is bright for this rookie, and I'll be keeping my eye on him.

On the other end of the offensive spectrum, Lucas Hellquist is already looking like a playmaking master. He's already got elite playmaking abilities when it comes to the Simulation Major Junior Hockey league standards, and is able to read the game at an impressive level. He's got some decent skating for now as well, but there's always room for improvement. Just like with Price, Hellquist will need to make a key decision in the coming seasons on whether he wants to continue to specialize in his offensive game, or if he wants to become more of a well-rounded player. We all know that Hellquist has the potential to become a top six player in the SHL one day, so for the moment, he needs to find the way to maximize his game. There are some that like the way he goes about his game and believe that he might eventually learn to play a more defensive-oriented game like Dick Clapper does, but he could very well turn into the next Slap McShotty. For now, he should focus on his SMJHL career and morph into whatever type of player the Maine Timber require, and when he makes it to the big leagues we'll have a small chat about what kind of player he aspires to be.

Alright, enough about the New England draftees. I'm starting to run out of material/bullshit to pull out of ass. What else can we talk about that's draft related? Can we talk about how Gabe is dying from the coronavirus? Probably a bit too off topic. Nah actually let's talk about that because it's pretty topical. @Gwdjohnson, what were you thinking, living in the same house as your paternal figure? How can you have the audacity to reside in the same residence as your father, who took a very reasonable trip to Europe and came back with what is more likely than not the coronavirus? You should be ashamed of your reckless conduct, and next time just don't do what you did! Next time, just don't get sick. It's that simple. Many citizens have been so grateful for the quick response to this virus that they're leaving empty handed! Do you really expect me to believe that you have not seen more than a few posters and/or airport-wide newspaper articles? If not, you should take a good look in the mirror, and then once again…

Just don't get sick…

Who wants to hear more about how Gabe is probably going to infect the rest of Canada? Honestly, it's a good thing that the Canadian IIHF team bowed out in the quarterfinals (thanks to yours truly with the game winning goal), because now they can all go into self isolation in order to get away from the contagious Fed Head. Be more considerate next time -- if you're going to lead an IIHF federation, you have to take care of yourself first and make sure you don't get sick. Otherwise, you'll just infect all the other players and we're going to have to suspend the SHL season! That would be a tragedy, for the players, the fans, and for the franchises. Think of how many fans would be robbed of watching Cameron Carter II, the prime meat horse, playing his power forward game? The JODAN of SHL himself deserves to have cameras pointed at him, and the world deserves to watch. Also, how else are we going to watch and cheer on the Toronto North Stars as they attempt to break the league record for fewest points in a season? How else will we be able to chant "Fuck Hamilton" at our tv screens? A league suspesions would be devastating for the fans, but it would arguably be even more devastating for the players. Take Cameron Carter II as an example. He lives to be the star of the show and to make big bucks, and if he's denied the chance to play then he's denied his chance at both of those. They're what keeps him running! And take Gabriel Johnson. If he's not able to play hockey, a contact sport where you're in close proximity with many other people, often transferring your sweat onto them, how else is he going to complete his diabolical plan of infecting the whole league, and therefore the world? We've really got to stay clean and hygienic so we can avoid a situation like this at all costs.

Let's talk a little bit about the SMJHL draft as well. I know this isn't in the SMJHL media section, but it is definitely still draft related. Specifically I want to talk about the Anchorage Armada's draft, and all of the players they've picked up since the draft's conclusion. So it seems that the Armada had a fairly strong draft, picking up a whole bunch of very promising rookies. That's all well and good, but has anyone had a look at all of the recent recreates right after the draft that made a beeline directly to Acsolap's team? I'm sure Assclap is a law abiding citizen and has definitely done his due diligence (he's said that he didn't contact these rookies until after they were eligible to be solicited), so there won't be any trouble with the SMJHL HO. I just think it's funny that you can essentially create a superteam if you manage to convince a few alumni to recreate, and they happen to like your team enough to come back. Reminds me of one of Tomen's old rambly stories about how in S31, the Detroit team signed a total of 7 recreates after the draft, because a group of 7 players wanted to all play together and Detroit was the only team with the roster space. I wonder if any more similar situations will arise in the future, and I hope they do because I live for the drama. SHL without drama is just another boring site.

Alright, anyone got any other topics I can talk about? I need that dough for my personal coaching, and this article ain't long enough yet. Alright I found one let's try this on for size. Let's talk about Cameron Carter the Second's newest free agent adventures and his eventual extension with the Chicago Syndicate. Earlier in the offseason, Cameron Carter the Second made a dramatic announcement that he was activating his player option and hitting the free agent market. Rumour is, Cameron Carter the Second was asking for offers within the realm of 8-10 million SHL bux. Obviously, no sane general manager would bite on a ridiculous contract like that for an aging, past-prime meat horse. However, Cameron Carter the Second was unfazed -- he trudged on in the face of adversity and kept trying to justify it to both himself and the Anchorage Armada locker room that he was worth at least 8 million SHL dollars because he could go to a tanking team who could then flip him at the deadline, while retaining half the salary. In reality, there was no general manager that wanted to harm their locker room atmosphere in the pursuit of what would've likely been a low 3rd round pick at the trade deadline, so Cameron Carter the Second went unsigned and crawled back to the Chicago Syndicate. In many ways, this entire debacle made sense. Carter had been a mediocre professional hockey player and had yet to find a permanent home in the SHL. While he was certainly capable of putting up good numbers, he did not have a proven track record, and his prime is behind him. With regression already looming over his head, it was clear that no one was going to pay the rotten meat horse what he was asking for. However, if anything, this whole situation was highly entertaining for most of us, so for now we will wait with bated breath as Cameron Carter the Second looks to navigate his next offseason in a similar manner.

Let's bring this article back together to talk about the draft. In fact, come reminisce with me about my own draft day, way back in Season 46. So many years ago, at this very moment, I was on the roster, talking to Ace about the draft. We were talking about the New England Wolfpack. And I was saying the most clichéd thing I could think of, but it stuck: "But I've never been a Wolfpack fan." Ace then went out of his way to say the "Wolfpack" thing was a joke and he was kidding. As if that wasn't enough, Ace was going to pass on drafting me because I have a yellow health card hanging around my neck. I don't know if he is treating me different because of this, but it annoys the living daylights out of me. It seems like when you're trying to make a good impression on a sponsor, the last thing you want to be considered is sloppy. However, people rarely have the balls to ask why they are being given such preferential treatment. That's just something that comes along with being injured, and it was a bit of a tough pill to swallow. I can admit that I am somewhat lucky, though, because I'm pretty sure someone was just coming at me from behind with a rusty machete the entire time! My arm swelled up, it was all screwed up in an weird way, and I wasn't able to make any passes or slap any shots. So I basically had to have surgery to fix that. It was pretty gruesome and I really don't want to experience that again. Actually, now that I think about it, let's not reminisce about my draft day. I'm much happier thinking about the things that have happened since. I'm grateful for everything that's happened to me. From being on an amazing team with amazing teammates in an amazing locker room, to making it to the challenge cup finals all the way back when. It's been a long journey, and I can't wait to see what our new simulation engine brings. Who knows, we might even be decent for a change. I look forward to it. For now, let's just enjoy Simon T's one last hurrah as team Great Britain is on track to beat team Sweden in the IIHF tournament, and bring home the gold for the boys. We all know we're going to win it, and there's nothing those Scandinavian bastards can do to stop us.

Signatures by Vulfzilla, Jepox, Jess, rum_ham, Ragnar, and myself
[Image: 9vAsr7c.png]

***Ace*** · 03-18-2020, 05:47 PM

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