Today I’ll be talking a little about the Ottawa Highlanders expansion draft and what I think of the picks made. Before I continue I’d like to make it clear that I’m no professional in the SHL so I may say stuff that you totally disagree with which is totally fine, feel free to share your thoughts about the things you disagree with. Ok now about the expansion draft, frenchie and pyro did an amazing job in the expansion draft imo, picking up Demir Bellona, Cob O'Corn, Abdi Smokes, Joe Degen, Benji Hockiwi, Tanner Pitts, Florian Hascek, joe biggs, Æric Calland, Newton ''Lizard'' Campbell, then immediately after that traded Joe Degen for me and a S77 3rd round, (I know that a few of these players have been either traded or released but I’ll still go over the expansion). I think Ottawa did an amazing job here. I especially like the 2 first picks bringing in a highly skilled defensemen as well as a highly skilled forward into the team plus 2 of the best people I’ve talked to. I do know Abdi Smokes has been traded but I actually also like this pick, a descend build with over 700 TPE. I do think the bank could be higher but I know not everyone is able to. Joe Degen was also traded but he was also a very good pick here, although their TPE isn’t the highest they still perform really well. Next picked by Ottawa was Benji Hockiwi, now I think this was a pretty interesting pick here. Benji has 393 TPE and is in debt, now at first glance you might wonder why frenchie chose Benji but if you look closer Benji is doing a phenomenal job with racking up points with the TPE he has, this season he had 66 points in 66 games which means he’s a points per game player which is pretty crazy to me especially looking at his TPE. Tanner Pitts was picked next, now idk too much about goalies but this goalie looks pretty solid only bad thing I can see is that they’re in debt. The next one was Florian Hascek, another amazing pick here, 497 TPE and almost a points per game player but again not the most stable bank. This next pick I’m not the biggest fan of but still ok, Joe Biggs was the next one chosen. Joe has 288 TPE and is in debt but their points aren't the worst thing so I still get why this pick was made. David Doughtty has been IA for quite some time now hence why their TPE is that low, BUT….. I totally get why frenchie made this pick. David's bank isn’t the worst at 7M so if they come back and update I think thi would be such a steal. Alright last one before we move onto something else. Newton ''Lizard'' Campbell another ok pick imo, 440 TPE and a low bank is fine although the stats aren’t the worst. With all that being said Frenchie and Pyro did an amazing job here (not biased) I know that it’ll only go up from here for Ottawa or that just might be me being biased…..anyways if you made all the way through this boring deep dive congrats! Hope you enjoyed it!


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