[1568 words, x2 media, ready for grading]

Now that the SHL draft is over and this season's new class of rookies have landed on SHL teams, I thought I'd do what some other GMs have done and talk a bit about the last draft, how it went, and what we were focusing on. I'll go pick-by-pick and go into a bit of detail about how we ended up selecting the players we did, who contributed to having six S55 creates selected in the SHL draft (the most since the S47 draft) and seven players total (the most since the S42 draft).

3rd Overall: Johnny Shuffleboard, RD
SHL: 38th overall selection by the Buffalo Stampede
TPE after SHL draft: 297

Shuffleboard was a player we brought in as a DFA near the end of S53 and really liked what we saw from his activity in the LR, and we pretty much knew going into the draft that he would be our first-round pick here to help shore up the defense, as we knew we were going to lose Sven Yxskaft after the season (it turned out to be a lot sooner). Shuffleboard was one of the best rookie earners in the league throughout the entire season and very active on Discord. Despite the team's struggles, he put up 21 points from the second pairing. His draft stock plummeted after a sudden absence just before the draft that was explained to a scout as a vacation, and he ended up going in the third round to the Buffalo Stampede, but if he comes back and returns to his usual level of activity WannabeFinn and Tomen will have gotten the biggest steal of the draft in my opinion.

12th Overall: Devin Basher, RW
SHL: 7th overall selection by the Minnesota Chiefs
TPE after SHL draft: 307

This single pick, along with 16th and 22nd overall, was probably the source of 75% of our discussions leading up to the draft. We had quite a few people rated in this area that we liked, but Basher was another player we had as a DFA near the end of S53 and absolutely knew we wanted to grab in the draft. We went in pretty much knowing we wanted Shuffleboard at 3 and Basher at 12, and that's what we came away with in the end. Han has been great for us in the locker room and on the ice, and was one of the best wingers in the draft class. Though he didn't get as much buzz as other prospects due to the team's record, Basher ended up going 7th overall to the Minnesota Chiefs, meaning that Vancouver has now had a top-ten draft pick in four of the last five seasons. We're looking forward to having him tear it up for the Whalers for the next 2-3 seasons.

16th Overall: Domenic Alessandrini, LW
SHL: undrafted
TPE after SHL draft: 222

This one hurts, partly because we traded up and also because this was a pick I was personally pushing hard for. Alessandrini was a recreate who hadn't done anything with his first player, but had created a chunk of media and graphics heading into the draft and looked like a solid pick. A few days before the draft, we decided to make a move, trading two future non-Reddit draft picks to Newfoundland for the 16th overall pick. On draft day, Alessandrini was still on the board at 16th overall, so we happily snapped him up. He was really active in the LR for the first little while, but around early June he disappeared and hasn't returned since. Hopefully he returns and is doing well wherever he is, but it's not fun to whiff on a second-round pick, especially one that was traded up for.

22nd Overall: Daniil Nikiforov, C
SHL: 28th overall selection by the Baltimore Platoon
TPE after SHL draft: 291

Going into this draft, we knew we had a massive roster hole at centre that needed to be patched, as we didn't have a single active player at that position on the roster. We kicked the tires on a few players, but Nikiforov was a late create just a few days before the draft that caught our eye with some media pieces. When the 22nd pick rolled around on draft day, he was still on the board and we picked him up to fix a deficiency on the roster. We didn't find out about his recreate status until after the draft was over, but that hasn't been an issue at all as he's been super positive in our LR and a committed earner. By the trade deadline the path was clear for him to be the team's #1 centre, a role which he is keeping into this season. He ended up going in the second round to the Baltimore Platoon, the fourth of our five rookies to go in the top 32.

32nd Overall: Wile Coyote, C
SHL: 78th overall selection by the Buffalo Stampede
TPE after SHL draft: 241

Coyote was a player we were scouting a decent bit before the draft due to his media and activity, but weren't actually expecting to be able to get as we figured he would be off the board in the mid-twenties. When he was around at the 32nd pick, we still had a roster hole at centre and decided to grab him. While Coyote hasn't been a max earner, he's been very consistent in his activity, doing activity checks and weekly training every week, and he's been able to work well anywhere in our lineup, being used last season largely as a two-way forward and penalty killer in addition to an offensive player. When the draft rolled around, he was on the board for a while before being picked up by the Buffalo Stampede, and has a pretty decent shot at hitting the 350 TPE cap this season.

40th Overall: Jason Desrouleaux, LW
SHL: 31st overall selection by the Hamilton Steelhawks
TPE after SHL draft: 270

Desrouleaux was the third and last of the DFAs we had signed last season, and leading up to the draft we knew we wanted to bring back all three. Gooney was another user who we weren't sure where we were going to be able to get him, and were looking at taking him with any of our picks between 22, 32 and (before the draft) 42. At the draft, we waited for the first few rounds and ultimately decided to move up to 40 to make sure we got Desrouleaux. Unfortunately, due to missing a spot check we accidentally traded away a pick we didn't have and lost what ultimately became the 25th overall pick in the S55 draft, but Gooney has been committed for us. Desrouleaux put up 15 points on a struggling team and with no real special-teams deployment, so with more TPE and potentially power-play time this season his numbers should get better. In the SHL draft, Desrouleaux eventually went back to his old team in the Hamilton Steelhawks with the 31st overall pick.

52nd Overall: Lonnie O'Donoghue, D
SHL: 19th overall selection by the Hamilton Steelhawks
TPE after SHL draft: 281

In terms of pure value, this was probably our best selection of the entire draft, and this one was all Mills in terms of scouting (I was busy with something else at this point and was following the last part of the draft from my phone). Kimmy was a recreate user who used to play for the Steelhawks, so our management team were familiar with him. The decision was made to grab him at 52, and he's been an extremely consistent earner throughout the season. As one of the two players on the S54 Whalers to never score a goal, we're hoping we can get him that first tally as a sophomore this upcoming season. The Hamilton connection ended up being enduring, as he was snapped up in the second round by the Steelhawks at 19th overall.

62nd Overall: Kyle Izzy, LW
SHL: undrafted
TPE after SHL draft: 155

Samee was a recreate who Mills knew from Hamilton and that we decided to take a flier on with our last pick in the 7th round. Unfortunately, he never actually updated his player and retired after the season to recreate as Cenek Iqbal, who was signed by the Detroit Falcons. On the bright side, he did give us the nice memory of scoring an overtime winner against the Colorado Raptors to give us back-to-back overtime victories.

Undrafted free agent: Ryan Anthony, G
SHL: undrafted
TPE after SHL draft: 155

Partway through the season, we saw an opportunity to upgrade our goaltending with an active backup goalie to take some of the load off our starter Name Redacted. Anthony never showed up again after signing his contract, but given how the team performed in S54 it's not a huge deal. Sometimes you swing and miss, and this was one of those times.

I didn't go into quite as much detail as I wanted because this was a pretty boring draft - we identified players we wanted at specific picks and got them - hopefully this gives a little insight into what it's like to work a draft for an SMJHL team.. This recent SMJHL draft was a lot more fast-paced and exciting, so hopefully if I discuss that one next season I'll be able to go into things a bit more.