(I'll start by noting that I'll be using my first article bonus on this as I've never made an article before now. This statement will not be counted in the final word count.)


Today we're going to look at all of the potential landing spots for Vincent Mietitore for the S57 SHL Entry Draft. We'll break down each SHL team, their prospect pool, and their current goal tender situation to see where the best fit for Vincent may be.

A brief background on Vincent Mietitore first for those that are unfamiliar with the young prospect. Vincent is from London, and is the nephew of former SHL player Vince Reaper. Vincent and his uncle Vince grew very close as they both shared the same passion in hockey. Each off-season when Vince would return to England, he would spend time with Vincent on the rink staying active and showing Vincent a thing or two about what to expect from the big leagues. We're talking big slap shots and dangles like you wouldn't believe, Vince did not go easy on his nephew. This may give Vincent a bit of an edge as he works his way up in the league. Vincent was recently drafted by the Anaheim Outlaws in the SMJHL and is looking to make a name for himself as well as become the starter of his current team. Mietitore currently has 208 TPE and his competition is inactive Keisuke Suzuki at 270 TPE.


Eastern Conference:


Atlanta Inferno

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: Samat Beibitzhanov, Mike Hroch

Overview: As you can see the Inferno do not currently have any goalie prospects, but both of their current goalies are young and currently active! Beibitzhanov was drafted in S52 and is currently sitting at 797 TPE, and Hroch was drafted in S51 and has 552 TPE. Both of these players are still very young in their careers and haven't even reached their prime. It looks like these two will be the future of their franchise for quite some time. Unless one of them decide to retire early or happen to go inactive, this may not be the landing spot for Vincent.

Verdict: Unlikely.


Baltimore Platoon

Current Goalie Prospects: Leo Bloomfield
Current Roster: Luca Del Vecchio, Marques Brownlee

Overview: The Platoon currently have two goalies on their roster, and one within their prospect pool. Their prospect Bloomfield was drafted in S54 and is currently sitting at 397 TPE. The current starting goalie of the team looks to be Del Vecchio drafted in S51 with 1258 TPE. The third goalie they have in Brownlee appears to be sitting at 253 TPE and is not currently active (hasn't logged into the site since November 2019). Currently it looks like Bloomfield will take over the number two spot in a few seasons barring any future trades or free agent signings.

Verdict: If the Platoon want to keep three goalies and don't plan on moving forward with Brownlee, it's possible they may draft Mietitore if he's available in a later round. I'd still say it's unlikely here with both active goalies in their organization being so young however.


Buffalo Stampede

Current Goalie Prospects: Chimkin Tendy, Blunt Man
Current Roster: Elizabeth Doyle

Overview: The Stampede have one goalie on their roster and two upcoming within their prospect pool. I'll start by noting that all three goalies in their organization look to be active. Their starting goalie in Doyle was drafted in S51 and has 1118 TPE. As for their prospects, Man was drafted in S55 and has 394 TPE, and Tendy was drafted in S56 and has 267 TPE. It looks like Doyle is their goalie of the future for the time being and the two prospects will battle it out for the second goalie spot.

Verdict: Unlikely.


Chicago Syndicate

Current Goalie Prospects: Damien Vertigo, Mat Smith, Júnior Guarda
Current Roster: Tibuk Soonika, Billy Sorokin

Overview: Wew got a lot here. Let's start with the prospects. Both Vertigo and Smith were drafted in S56. Vertigo has 248 TPE, and Smith has 290 TPE. Both young and active. Now on their roster they have Soonika and Sorokin who were both drafted in S46. While they are both a bit older, Soonika is still sitting nicely with 1333 TPE. Sorokin on the other hand has 517 TPE, and hasn't logged into the site in over a year. It looks like their two prospects are what Chicago is hoping will be their future stars in net after Soonika has hung them up.

Verdict: Very unlikely.


Hamilton Steelhawks

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: Júnior Guarda, A Jobin

Overview: So far, the lowest total number of goalies within an organization. Both of these goalies are still pretty young in their careers, and are both active. Guarda currently has 247 TPE and Jobin has 810 TPE. They do not currently have any goalie prospects in their organization, but that could be due to them believing they have their future netminders on the roster already.

Verdict: Maybe?


Manhattan Rage

Current Goalie Prospects: Name Redacted
Current Roster: Malcolm Weekes, Peter Larson

Overview: The Rage have two goalies on their roster and one prospect in development. Their prospect was drafted in S54 and currently has 695 TPE. Between the two on the roster, Weekes drafted in S49 with 208 TPE has been inactive for about a month and a half. Larson who was drafted in S46 is the primary goalie of the team with 1355 TPE. Larson is a bit older, but still strong in net. Should the Rage decide to move on from Weekes, this could leave an opportunity to bring in a new prospect for development within the organization.

Verdict: Possible.


New England Wolfpack

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: Frans Eller, Alexander Thorstrom

Overview: New England has two goalies in the organization and both are on the roster. Eller was drafted in S53 and has 947 TPE. Thorstrom on the other hand was drafted in S48, has 305 TPE, and has been inactive for over a year now. It's clear that Eller is the primary goalie for the foreseeable future, but it does look like they are in need for an active backup.

Verdict: Possible.


Tampa Bay Barracuda 

Current Goalie Prospects: C.K. Supernaw, Phillip Weaver
Current Roster: Tobias Lindeman, Ian Venables

Overview: This is a bit of an interesting case. The Barracuda have two prospects and two goalies on their roster. Both of their goalies on the roster are inactive. Lindeman drafted in S50 is at 221 TPE and has been inactive almost a year now. Venables was also drafted in S50, has 720 TPE but has only been inactive for a few months. Now for the prospects, both were drafted in S56. From my personal speculation, I believe they were drafted as replacements for the two current netminders on the roster at some point in the future. In regards to their TPE if you're curious, Supernaw is at 251, and Weaver is at 365.

Verdict: Probably not, with the two latest prospects drafted in S56 the organization may believe that they have what they need.


Toronto North Stars

Current Goalie Prospects: Scoochie Stratton
Current Roster: Monty Montgomery, Harry Carpet

Overview: Let's start with the prospect. Drafted in S54, Stratton has 738 TPE. The main goalie on the roster is Carpet drafted in S47 with 1891 TPE. Carpet looks to be their starting goaltender for the foreseeable future. The current backup in Montgomery was drafted in S50, has been inactive for over a year and only has 173 TPE. My speculation would be that Stratton is being groomed for the backup role to take over for Montgomery. With Carpet and Stratton at the helm, I don't see much need of a third netminder in the organization.

Verdict: Unlikely.


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Western Conference:


Calgary Dragons

Current Goalie Prospects: Keisuke Suzuki, Cale Amundsen
Current Roster: Elle Rush, Kata Vilde

Overview: So far the oldest goalie on the list is the starter of the Dragons, Vilde. Drafted in S41 his TPE is currently at 1428. While no longer in his prime, he is still one of the best in the league and still has a few years left to dominate. Behind him is Rush who was drafted in S51 at 224 TPE and is inactive. Within their prospect pool is Suzuki drafted in S55 at 270 TPE who looks to be inactive for the past month. Amundsen drafted in S54 at 700 TPE looks to be the heir to the throne Calgary once Vilde has decided to hang them up.

Verdict: Unlikely.


Edmonton Blizzard

Current Goalie Prospects: Peter Ramsey
Current Roster: Emiko Spector, Eddy Ask Jr.

Overview: The Blizzard are another team with three goalies within the organization, however it appears one of them are inactive. Starting with the inactive, Ask Jr drafted in S46 is currently sitting at 495 TPE and sits as goalie number two behind Spector. Spector was drafted in S48 and has 1193 TPE and is the teams current starting netminder. As for their prospect Ramsey, he was drafted in S55 and has 475 TPE. While Ramsey can still use some development in the j's, it's possible he may come up to the roster to replace Ask Jr sometime soon.

Verdict: Probably not, I'd say it's possible but with Ramsey and Spector I think they will be in good hands for awhile.


Los Angeles Panthers

Current Goalie Prospects: Ragnar-Alexandre Ragnarsson-Tremblay
Current Roster: Knox Booth

Overview: Only two goalies here on the Panthers, interesting! Let's look at the young prospect Ragnarsson-Tremblay. Drafted in S56 and is currently sitting at 228 TPE. While Ragnarsson-Tremblay is active, they don't appear to be the highest TPE earner after a season in the league. Booth on the roster is riding solo currently with no backup. Booth was drafted in S49 and has 1523 TPE. In my opinion I think it would make sense to draft some competition for Ragnarsson-Tremblay to compete for the Pathers backup job at some point.

Verdict: Possible.


Minnesota Monarchs

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: Separa Borro, Markus Tegernako

Overview: While the Monarchs don't currently have a prospect in the organization, from an early look they may not need one. The starting goalie looks to be Tegernako drafted in S50 with 1323 TPE. Their backup is Borro drafted in S53 with 436 TPE. While it may not be the best one-two punch in the league, I don't personally see the need for the Monarchs to draft a third goalie unless they were worried about losing one of these two to free agency or retirement.

Verdict: Probably not.


New Orleans Specters

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: Sergei Potvinov, Olli Saarinen, Jr.

Overview: Recent development looks to be that starting goaltender Aleister Cain has left to explore free agency or possibly even retire. It doesn't look like he'll be returning, so the current starter would be Saarinen Jr. Saarinen Jr. was drafted in S52 and has 881 TPE. Their backup in Potvinov appears to be an inactive player. Potvinov was drafted in S52, has 290 TPE and hasn't logged into the site since March. I'd say the likelihood of the Specters drafting a goalie for the backup role would be high unless they are looking to trade for one instead. 

Verdict: Possible.


San Francisco Pride

Current Goalie Prospects: Valtteri Aalto, Nicolae Antonescu
Current Roster: Cillian Kavanagh, Geezus Kryyst

Overview: A bit to go over here. We'll start with the starting goalie for the team Kryyst. Drafted in S42 he's a bit older but still has 1314 TPE to his name. Unfortunately it looks like he's been inactive since July. His backup and possible future replacement is Kavanagh. Kavanagh drafted in S52 has 1008 TPE. Let's take a look at the prospects. Aalto was drafted in S56 and has 236 TPE. Not the highest TPE earner, but we'll see what his development looks like after this season. Antonescu was drafted in S55 and has 470 TPE. At the current rate it looks like the plan is for Kavanagh to take over as the number one goalie once Kryyst has retired or regressed to the point that Kavanagh is the better option and for Antonescu to be his backup. With all these options however, it doesn't look likely that drafting another goalie this soon would be in their plans.

Verdict: Very unlikely.


Seattle Argonauts

Current Goalie Prospects: Thor Odinson
Current Roster: Abroop Dhami, Nolan McMahon

Overview: At this current time, both goalies on the roster for the Argonauts are inactive though one more so than the other. Dhami was drafted in S51 and has 208 TPE. They have been inactive since December. McMahon was drafted in S49, has 798 TPE and hasn't logged in for exactly a month as of writing this. Their prospect Thor Odinson aka the God of thunder was drafted in S54 and has 555 TPE. While it looks like Thor is in position take over for McMahon in the near future the backup goalie role would be open to another active goalie.

Verdict: Possible.


Texas Renegades

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: White Goodman, Patrick Niederreiter

Overview: Only two goalies within the Renegades organization, let's take a look at them. The starting goalie of the team appears to be Goodman drafted in S51 with 996 TPE. Their backup in Niederreiter was drafted in S48 and has 510 TPE. While Niederreiter has been logging into the site recently, they haven't posted or updated in a few months which would technically consider them to be inactive. If the Renegades plan on moving on from Niederreiter picking up an active prospect in the draft might be in the cards for them.

Verdict: Possible.


Winnipeg Jets

Current Goalie Prospects: None
Current Roster: Strom Chamberlain, Steven Vassallo

Overview: Last but certainly not least on the list are the Winnipeg Jets! Two goalies on the roster and none in development within the prospect pool. Drafted in S52 Chamberlain looks to be the starting goalie of the team with 1098 TPE. The backup in Vassallo is inactive, drafted in S51 and has 287 TPE. Similar to the situation the Renegades are in, they have a strong active goalie but a question mark when it comes to their backup goalie situation. With Vassallo having a such low TPE count and almost a year of inactivity, trading for a new backup or drafting one for development would be almost certain sometime in the near future.

Verdict: Possible.


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Final Thoughts:

Out of the 18 teams in the SHL, it looks like there are seven of them that would be the most likely landing spots for Mietitore. Those being the Manhattan Rage, New England Wolfpack, Los Angeles Panthers, New Orleans Specters, Seattle Argonauts, Texas Renegades, and Winnipeg Jets. All of these teams have either some need at a backup or future replacement of their current starting goalie within the next few seasons. Mietitore has stated that while he would prefer to go to an organization where he could compete for a starting role in the future, he is open to any team that believes that he could be a vital asset to winning championships.


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