Quick Takes: Reviewing the S54 Entry Draft

I've decided that in order to fully round out my media efforts this offseason and really make the most of the double media bonus before it disappears for another season, the only logical thing left to do is give myself as big a brief to write about as possible and turn my attention to the entire S54 SHL Entry Draft. We all saw the draft go down on Saturday night, and while some picks were more or less what we expected, a lot of what happened certainly seemed to come out of left field. With that in mind, I'm going to try and give some quick takes on all the picks in the first two rounds of the draft, discussing why I think each player was chosen, what I see in the future of this player and give my honest opinion of whether or not I liked the pick. I've done some media already where I talked about why I chose to draft the guys I did for Texas, so I will try not to drone on about our picks too much and look more to give some some thoughts on what went down as a whole, with some reactions that I felt on the day itself thrown in too. We've had a couple of days to allow things to sink in a bit so there should be some scope for some more detailed opinions on things too, but I can't promise anything that I'm not sure I'll deliver. So without any more beating around the issue, here is my quick takes review of the first two rounds of the SHL Entry Draft; let's dive right in.

1. Texas Renegades - Mikkel Asmus Sondergard

The first overall pick, Sondergard was the TPE leader and has a successful track record in the league winning three cups and having a player who will almost certainly be a first ballot Hall of Famer. With this in mind, Texas add a player who at this stage looks very much like a generational talent on defense. After making this pick, the Renegades will look to exit their rebuild and enter the "MAS" era.

2. Toronto North Stars - Ryosuke Sato

Sato looked like the most impressive first generation player in the draft, racking up a huge bank account and become highly involved in various areas of the site. He will be a big add to a rebuilding Toronto's future, and could certainly be a leader for the team both on the ice and in the locker room. If he is able to continue on the path that he has set out for himself, then he certainly looks set to become an elite operator on the SHL scale in the future, and could well be a franchise player for the North Stars.

3. New England Wolfpack - Matthew Sawful

The President's Trophy winners are able to add another elite prospect to their ranks, which almost seems unfair at this point. Sawful seems to be another impressive young player, and had been mocked in all positions of the top three by various members of the community. This was a great pick for the Wolfpack, and them being able to sit on the edge of the top 3 and had a player this good given the strength of their roster already is certainly good news for them.

4. Tampa Bay Barracuda - Dwight Knight

Another great pick here in the Top 5, I thought Tampa Bay will be very excited that a player as good as Knight wasn't taken in the Top 3 and was there for them at 4. I know last season they went defenseman with their early pick, so being able to add a very good forward talent to their group keeps them nicely balanced as they head into the future. Tampa have a crazy number of picks during the next few drafts, so it looks like Knight will have the kind of supporting cast he needs to be a productive player for the Barracuda in the future, and certainly looks as if he might be the best forward in the class at this point.

5. Buffalo Stampede - Emilia Bergman

Another case of a playoff team being able to add a top prospect thanks to a trade they'd made, this was a big win for the Buffalo Stampede as they added one of the top group of defensemen in the draft to an already strong core of prospects. Bergman was very close to the group in front of her in all measurable ways on the day of the draft, and so I think this is a really good pickup to be able to make at 5th overall, another big win for Buffalo who keep that prospect pool looking very impressive.

6. Calgary Dragons - Mats Marner

This was the first pick of the draft that I found to be a little confusing for me personally. Not because I don't think Marner is deserving of being a Top 6 pick, but more because of the fact that I didn't think Calgary needed to trade up from their pick at 11th overall to be able to take him. Marner was definitely someone a lot of teams would have been looking at, but I don't think they needed to trade up like they did in order to grab him. With that being said, I think Marner could be a great add for the Dragons, I really enjoyed the conversation we had when I was scouting him, so I'd wish good luck to him and Calgary going forward.

7. Chicago Syndicate - Vitek Vitecek

I liked Vitecek a lot before the draft, and think Chicago made a good pick getting him here. He seems to be enthusiastic and active in in the league, and has earned well in his time since joining here. He's hit the cap in his post draft updates, so think that he seems to be progressing at a very impressive rate, and I think the Syndicate should be getting a very good player down the line here. Not too much I can think to say here other than well done.

8. Chicago Syndicate - Rotticus Scott

Chicago had two picks back to back which is always fun as it lets you snag a couple of guys you like in one go. I think the pick they made here was also a good one, I know Rotti well from sharing an LR with him in other sim leagues and he's a great guy. He's earned really well in his time since joining here, and seems to have taken to the league well too which is always nice to see. I think that he could go on to be a really good player for the Syndicate in the future, and with this pick and getting Vitecek the pick before, they could be set on the wing for seasons to come when both guys hit the big league.

9. Edmonton Blizzard - Daniel Laforest

I've already written some media about this pick, but I really thought this was a great steal for Edmonton as they got a top of the draft talent in the middle of the first round. This was the first of two 1st round picks that they owned, and being able to bring this sort of talent into the fold should help to keep them at the top of the Western conference for some time to come. If Laforest pans out to be the player he looks like at this point, then this is an incredible value pick for the Blizzard.

10. New Orleans Specters - Bork Lazer

I really liked this pick for NOLA, and before we ended up with the first overall pick in the draft, Lazer had been someone I really had been considering drafting quite a lot with Winnipeg's 1st. Aside from that, Frick is an NSFL GM and is active in PBE so I think it's fairly easy to trust him as someone who can maintain activity in sim leagues, which makes this a safe pick in some ways, but also great value in that Lazer has a good rate of earning and a solid enough bank account to buy equipment this season. He's already hit the SMJHL cap, so looks like he's on a very good trajectory in terms of his SMJHL development, and could be a great piece for NOLA to add for the future.

11. Baltimore Platoon - Pojo Biscuit

This was another mock busting pick, as we saw the man that every person in the league had mocked to go 6th overall fall down to the 11th overall pick thanks to the earlier mentioned Calgary trade up. Obviously Bojo has a great history with the league as whole, serving as the league's commissioner for a time, but has a deep connection with the Platoon in particular, serving for a time as their GM and spending two long careers there with both of his players. I know Bojo was set on bringing his latest player back to the Platoon, so this was a bit of a no brainer for Baltimore when all things are considered. He's about as safe a bet as there is to make a really good player, so this one should work out well for Baltimore going forward.

12. Baltimore Platoon - Patrick Shepherd

For the second time in the draft, we saw a team go through with back to back picks as the Platoon made a deal with the Stampede that sent a second in this draft and a future first to Buffalo in return for the 12th overall selection. The Platoon obviously had their eye on Shepherd, and I think that he does look like a really good prospect based on what I've seen so I think the pick itself was a good one. I am a little sceptical that it was a move the Platoon should have made as it does leave them now without a 1st round pick until S58, but if they really thought Shepherd was their guy then I can see why they made it. I think this pick will turn out to be a good one, I think Shepherd is building an interesting player being such a defensively minded centre, and I've enjoyed some of the podcast content I've seen from him so trust that he'll be a big add for the Platoon's future.

13. Minnesota Chiefs - Jack Klompus

This was another interesting pick for me. Toast has been around the SHL for a long time and has had a lot of success in his time in the league; in my first draft class he had a Hall of Fame goaltender in Brett Broadway, but in the last couple years or so, it wouldn't be unfair to say that his activity has been spotty, and he's had a few recreates whose careers never really took off. Klompus does look to be a different story as he's earned well and looks a lot more engaged, but I thought his recent history may cause him to be slightly later pick. With that being said, if Klompus is able to maintain the pace that he has set so far then he will be a great add, and certainly worthy of the 13th overall pick. It's all about seeing whether or not he's sticking around for good this time. As a final point, I think Toast was GM of Minnesota at some point so it's a pretty cool storyline to see him going back there many seasons later.

14. Texas Renegades - Taisto Jutila

This is another draft pick I've talked about in some other media I've written so I'll try and avoid going too in depth on it, but Jutila was a ways behind some of the guys we've talked about in this list already in TPE, but I was still convinced he was our guy. He's very active in both the NSFL and PBE, is a great LR presence that I knew from a couple different locker rooms and has earned at a great pace since joining the league as an undrafted free agent. He's bolstered his bank in the last week by dropping two big articles, so I think based on what we've seen from him so far, he's certainly got a lot of potential in the SHL as a league.

15. Los Angeles Panthers - Linus Grimstad

Another trade in to the draft similar to what we saw from Baltimore with the 12th pick, LA traded a second and future first to the Panthers in return for the 15th overall pick, which they used on this Swedish centre. Grimstad's user is a sim league veteran, and had a Hall of Fame player in the very early days of the league. He hasn't been around a huge amount since then, but he seems to have arrived back  with a bang of late, and has earned a lot of cash and TPE in the time since he returned to the SHL with Grimstad. If this can be the time that Grimstad's user is able to stick his return to the league for good, then I think this could be a really valuable pickup for the Panthers at the bottom of the first round.

16. Hamilton Steelhawks - Simon Takshak

I loved this pick, and thought it really made a lot of sense for Hamilton. Takshak's user is a super vocal presence who'd be a great add to any LR, and it looks like he's really working hard to make Simon into a quality player. He's got a bank account in excess of $40 million and is sitting at just under the TPE cap in his latest update, which makes it look like he's very much on the right trak to make a good player. I think this was a great value pickup for Hamilton, and I'm sure that they'll see a good return on their investment here when they call Takshak up in the seasons to come.

So that takes us to the end of the first round of the draft. We've seen some interesting picks so far, and it's fair to say that the second round didn't let us down either when it came to some intriguing choices, so lets not hang around and get straight back into it.

17. Toronto North Stars - Scoochie Stratton

I spoke a little bit about this pick in the media I wrote about draft steals, which probably tells you that I thought this was a really good pick for Toronto. Stratton was one of the elite first generation prospects in this draft by most accounts, and with the various roles on site that he's taken up, looks like someone who is massively engaged with the league and its goings on. Honestly, the only reason I can think of that he wasn't taken in the first round is a lack of need for goaltenders by those teams. In terms of everything he's done since creating he'd be an easy first round pick, it's just the fact that he decided to go down the underappreciated route of making a goalie that has held his draft position back some. With that being said, I'm sure that Stratton will go on to prove those teams who passed on him made a mistake as he looks to cultivate a good career in the SHL.

18. Texas Renegades - Joseph Fantobens

Wow look, it's one of the picks that I made again. This one was another pick that I thought was really easy to make, as we took the best player available at our selection and someone that I really like as a person. Fantobens is a solid earner, very reliable, and a guy I've always enjoyed having in the locker room, so it was an absolute no brainer for us. As I've alluded to in some other articles that I've written, he's a guy with a connection to our team and so I was very happy to make him a part of its future once more.

19. Tampa Bay Barracuda - Matthew Forrester

Having just come out of a fire sale of their previous roster, the Barracuda were back on the clock at 19th overall and seemed to go with the best available player, picking Forrester with the 19th overall pick. Forrester was another acquisition made later in the season and so was a slight amount behind some of the other guys in his class when it came to development, but all things considered he's done a great job of closing the gap and looks like he's on the fast track to a successful career. If he can maintain what he's started here then he's likely to become a very good player at the SHL level, and the Barracuda may just have got a real diamond in the rough by picking him up here.

20. Minnesota Chiefs - BPJ Souppan

Minnesota were back on the clock, 7 picks after their last selection, and once again they decided to go down the route of drafting a defenseman as they selected BPJ Souppan with the 20th overall pick. The user behind Souppan is an active presence in the NSFL and I was impressed myself in what he'd shown in his time in the SHL so far. He looks to be a good earner and reliable updater, so the Chiefs will be happy to be able to strengthen their blueline by picking him down here. I saw a lot of mock drafts that had him going within the first round so he's definitely at the talent level to be considered as an earlier pick, which makes it all the more sweeter for the Chiefs that they didn't need to use an earlier pick to select him.

21. Tampa Bay Barracuda - Elwulf Jericson

The draft order didn't allow much time for rest between picks for the Barracuda, as they were back at it once again just two picks after they made their last selection. With the 21st overall pick, they took Elwulf Jericson, a defenseman from St. Louis. This meant they went winger, centre, and defense with their three picks so far and so appeared to get some good coverage across the positions in this draft. Jericson looks like an impressive prospect based on what we've seen from him so far, so again, I really like this pick for the Barracuda. They low key came out of this draft with a really good haul, and the pieces they've acquired here should really help get the rebuild they've entered into off to a good start.

22. Chicago Syndicate - Cale Amundsen

This pick was the cause of great confusion, not based on the fact that Amundsen was taken here because he is easily at the talent level to justify being chosen here, if not earlier in the draft, but the fact that he was traded to the Calgary Dragons about 2 minutes after he'd been picked. This may have looked like some kind of arrangement like existed with Kobe Bryant when he was drafted, but alas, the Dragons had banked on Amundsen falling to the 23rd pick which he did not, so he was immediately traded for the 23rd pick and a future 2nd. This was a big win for Chicago as it meant they picked up a very useful future asset in return for only dropping back a single spot. Amundsen looks set to be a very good goaltender, and so could play a big part in Calgary's future, although for the sake of his bet that he would remain on the team that drafted him longer than another player in this class, I'm sure he wishes the Dragons had been the team that picked him.

23. Chicago Syndicate - Jean-Uthred Ragnarsson-Tremblay

After what had happened with the previous pick, the Syndicate had another go at drafting a player and this time it seemed to stick at least. They went with Finnish-Canadian centre Jean-Uthred Ragnarsson-Tremblay, which in addition to being one of the longest names in the draft, also looks like he could be well up there in terms of talent. Not too much to say about this pick besides it looking like a good one, and with the two wingers the Syndicate drafted earlier and the centre they got here, they might just have a line of the future to watch out for on their hands.

24. New England Wolfpack - James LeBlond

Having picked a defenseman earlier in the draft, the Wolfpack didn't go away from their script and went back to the well to add another one. LeBlond is someone I'm not crazy familiar with, I scouted him a little bit for my team's draft purposes but didn't look that much into him, but from what I can see at a glance he looks like a good value addition at this point. I think in terms of the positional makeup of their prospect pool, it'll be interesting to see what they can do to make room for all of the defenseman they have there currently, as if they all pan out into SHL ready players there's going to be a bit of a logjam for space. But with that said, Leblond looks like a solid pick at this point in the second round, and New England will be hoping for a solid step up to an SHL level player in the next few seasons.

25. Toronto North Stars - Alexei Petrikov

This pick was an interesting one for me, and I did find it a little bit surprising in some regards if I'm being totally honest. This isn't meant as any sort of knock against Petrikov's user as a person, as we had him on Texas a few seasons back and really enjoyed his contributions to the locker room, but I thought his record with short careers and early recreating would have seen him fall a little bit further than it did. While we've not really seen any of his player's pan out in the way we'd have hoped so far, that isn't to say that this can't be the time when it all comes together and Alexei is the player who really shows what he's capable of building in the league. I'm honestly really hoping it does turn out that way, as like I said, he's a good guy who I believe is capable of building a very solid player if he sticks at it.

26. New Orleans Specters - FORFEIT

A name that those who've been in the league for a while will be very familiar with, good old FORFEIT made another appearance in this draft. While this is a fall in draft position from some of the spots we've seen him taken in before (like when Texas used the first overall pick on him in S39, yikes), it will still make the Specters GMs a little sad to see that much maligned name on the draft list next to their logo.

27. Buffalo Stampede - Thor Odinson

Back to picks that were used on actual players now, as the Buffalo Stampede were up once again and made the choice to select Norwegian goaltender Thor Odinson. I actually wrote a prospect profile on Odinson recently where I talked about how impressed I was with his development, so it was good to see him get a pretty high draft spot all things considered. The Stampede obviously believe in depth at the goaltending position as being a big contributor to success since they drafted rookie goalie Elizabeth Doyle in the first round just 3 seasons ago, but it should give Odinson an exciting environment to develop in, and the chance to play as part of a genuinely talented goalie tandem could be a lot of fun for him down the road. Love this pick for both the Stampede and Thor, I believe the two will be a really good fit for each other long term and this pick could contribute to a lot of team and individual success.

28. San Francisco Pride - Thorbjörn Gunnarson

Another mock busting pick, the Pride traded down a spot to take their co-GM with the mandated second round pick, and cost the league half a TPE while they were at it. With that being said, it's absolutely the right thing to do for the Pride as it means they basically acquire a free asset as they would have had to use their first second to draft Gunnarson wherever it fell, so may as well move back some to do it. Obviously as this is a GM pick, it should turn out to be an elite player for the Pride in the long term, and it's always good value to be able to use a 2nd round pick to bring in a player that's going to be that important to the team's long term plans.

29. Edmonton Blizzard - Guy LeGrande

Contrary to what the draft thread currently tells us, LeGrande was picked here by the Blizzard and not the Panthers. Regardless of the small detail around which team actually picked him, this was a very good selection for the Blizzard again as they added a prospect who actually has looked fairly impressive during his time in the league so far. I think you could definitely consider this pick something of a steal because of how deep into the second round they were able to take him, so coupling this with the Laforest pick earlier, the Blizzard definitely did well out of the first two picks of the draft they used. Don't have too much I can say beyond that, but I'm interested to see how this one plays out both for the Blizzard and LeGrande in the seasons to come.

30. Minnesota Chiefs - Grapefruit Lizard

I thought this was a really good pick on paper for the Chiefs at the bottom of the second round, as they got a player who's really developed quite well in the league so far with a pick that wasn't that high. There is the fact that frost sucks lmao to be considered, but if you look beyond that then Lizard looks like he could be a very good prospect based on what we've seen from him so far. A GM in NSFL and active in PBE too, I think this was a sensible pick by the Chiefs, as Frostbite will be active on discord,able to contribute a lot to their locker room and has shown that he's able to earn and maintain activity in sim leagues with what he's done with his other players outside of the SHL.

31. Minnesota Chiefs - Slimy Snail

The Chiefs didn't even get the chance to sit down between picks as immediately after adding Lizard they picked up Slimy Snail, making it back to back prospects with interesting names. Snail is quite an interesting prospect, he's been a solid earner in his time in the league so far and sits around 263 TPE as of his last update. I think that when you're picking at this point in the draft you can't really ask for too much more than that, so all things considered Snail looks like he could be an interesting acquisition to the Chiefs growing group of prospects.

32. Hamilton Steelhawks - Adam Friedland

The final pick of the second round saw the Challenge Cup champion Hamilton Steelhawks make their way up to the podium, this time selecting Adam Friedland, a defenseman from the Carolina Kraken. Given that they have just come off wining the cup, the Steelhawks team is obviously built for immediate success but with some of their players getting on in years, it's important that they look to replace them down the line, and I believe Friedland could be a legitimately good player on a team like Hamilton in years down the line. If he can keep up his earning and interest in the league long term, then it looks like he could have some real potential. Being drafted by the Steelhawks will mean that he won't be rushed up to play in the SHL, and can take as long as he needs to develop with the Kraken before the time comes that he gets the call to go up and play in the big league. All things considered, this was a solid pick for Hamilton, and I'm sure that they'll be hoping that Friedland really kicks on and becomes the kind of player that he's hinted at being.

That does it, a discussion on every pick in the first two rounds of the draft. This turned into much more of an undertaking than I had initially thought it would be, but I did find it quite interesting to go through every pick on an individual basis and think some more on it, as it's quite easy when the draft's going on to focus solely on your next pick and whether or not the guy you want is going to be there, rather than sitting back and judging each pick on its own merits. I definitely won't be writing any more media on this draft class in the immediate future after churning this out, so thought I'd conclude by saying that this actually looks to be a really solid draft at this stage, and there's definitely a few interesting storylines and characters that I can see emerging from it already. I need to shout out those guys who are active but weren't picked until the third or fourth rounds, I would love to write a bit on you guys but I'm pretty burnt out on the topic after doing all this so maybe will leave that one until another day. Anyway, thanks to everyone who's taken a look at this review, and good luck to the S54 class going forward, hope you guys all achieve great things.