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**OrbitingDeath** · 07-29-2019, 10:56 AM

A first look at the S50 SHL prospects (part 1)

Fifty seasons of the Simulation Hockey League are approaching rapidly and over the last few weeks we have the first prospects signing up to be part of this historic draft class, it might not be historic for the players that are in it, but that it’s the 50th time, that’s a true milestone. Let’s introduce the prospects that have signed up so far, it’s still early and a lot more are expected, but these are your first members of the Season 50 draft class.

Defense - Disisde Dayudie

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Residing from the country of Japan, Disisde Dayudie was the first player to sign up for this years draft class, the 6 ft 3 defenseman plays a solid two way game, but remains a more defensive minded player at the moment, despite not being good at checking, his lack of bulk compared to his height seems to be the major reason for this. Next to his defense his major strength so far seems to be his puck handling skills. As mentioned, checking is not really his forte so it will be harder for him to train improve in this area, he will also has to work on some conditioning in order to play heavy top line minutes, definitely a player to keep in mind for the SHL scouts, his early sign up also gives him a slight advantage in terms of training hours.

Left Wing - Landon Flynn

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The second prospect that will be eligible for the season 50 draft will be Landon Flynn from the United States of America. This last winger is known for one thing mostly and that is he is triggerhappy on his shot. He is a shoot first kind of player and is known as an offensive forward. When you look at Flynn on the ice you will see a severe difference between his decision making proces. He will try to shoot whenever he has the opportunity. A team mate might be in a better position, but that will not stop him from trying to get the goal. If the opponent wants to score, they will have to settle for the rebounds, as that seems the only way Flynn will assist. His skating and puckhandling skills are also decent, but he has yet to put any effort into his passing game. Despite being 6 feet 1 and 190 lbs, he tries to shy away from a physical game and checking is a glaring weakness. He will get your team points, but don’t expect him to get dirty and battle for puck possession.

Right Wing - Bobby Lane

The next prospect on our list is also classified as an offensive forward, Bobby Lane from East Grand Forks, Minnesota, so another United States forward. While also having a similar skillset as Landon Flynn, Lane his offense is more balanced then his counterpart. Much more defensively aware, Lane will also keep track of his defensive duties which should help him to remain an important player for the team. Offensively he is also more balanced as he also has been working on his passing skill, this makes him a less predictable player on the ice. As a balanced player there isn’t much he actually stands out from already, but his main weaknesses would be the physical side of the game. He is 5 feet 11 and weighs 183 lbs and with the lack of strength training he might be easy to get off the puck.

Defense - Manboobs Harden

[Image: Harden_James_hou_171214.jpg]

Sometimes the player names make you wonder what their parents were thinking for naming their son Manboobs, but its probably after his great grandfather who also had this nickname and they wanted his name to live on. Despite having to live with a name like this Manboobs looks like one of these selections where you have little hopes for. Ever since signing up for the S50 SHL draft the United States resident has not been seen much. In fact we have yet to see a sign of life of him. Incase Manboos do return (which is usually the case without training), he is a more offensive minded defenseman. Despite his bigger frame ( 6 feet 5 and 220 lbs) he also has a glaring checking weakness. He has one major strength and that is his shot, his skating and defense are all very balanced for the rest. For now we won’t have high hopes for this prospect, but upon return he might surprise us.

Defense - Scott King

Another defenseman in the draft but one that actually used his training opportunities to get better. Scott King is a two-way defenseman from Canada, King looks like he won’t shy away from improving on his weaknesses as he is already improving his strength, despite this being a weakness. King is a real all around guy and with his 6 feet 4 and 220 lbs he is not shy from delivering a hit. With his checking ability he will likely be one of the more physical people that will be in this years draft. For the future it looks like he will improve most on his defensive play, his passing ability and his puck handle skills, so it looks like he would become a reliable blue liner for all sorts of situations.

Goaltender - Shiqa Vitalievich

[Image: Saville-1-Hickling-Images-USHL-846x390.jpg]

[Image: Saville-1-Hickling-Images-USHL-846x390.jpg]

The first goaltender and also the first non North American player in this draft is Shiqa Vitalievich. The Russian goaltender is known as a butterfly goalie with an excellent hand speed. His reaction times are a great second strength. Being 5 feet 4 he will have a major presence in net and will definitely have a lot of managers attention for future options in net. Vitalievich has made a quick entry in the league and is participating and applying for jobs, so he looks like a solid long term option. Some prospects enlist and are gone as fast as they came, but this Russian might be the goaltender to look out for during this draft. If a team is in need of a goaltender, do not look any further than Vitalievich.

Left Wing - Gylfi Eriksson

[Image: gettyimages-Mats-Zuccarello.jpg]

[Image: gettyimages-Mats-Zuccarello.jpg]

We are staying in Europe for our next prospect. It’s left winger Gylfi Eriksson from Sweden. With his 6 feet 2 and 215 lbs he has an impressive frame, but this does not make him a physical player, checking looks to be one of the flaws in his games that will not receive many attention from him. Eriksson is a really unselfish player as he prefers to pass the puck over shooting it himself, he will always look around to see if his teammates are in position for the finish. This does not mean he will not shoot, but he will at least assess the situation looking for the best possible option. He already has good puck handling skills as well and is a decent skater. Like most forwards around his age he has not yet put much effort in the weight room as he prefers to focus on the skating side of the game. Eriksson is a real playmaker, but do not count on him yet to come back on defense, he really is a stylist that only things of one thing, getting his team to score the goals.

Right Wing - Blake Gaudette

[Image: adam-gaudette-celebrates-a-goal.jpg]

[Image: adam-gaudette-celebrates-a-goal.jpg]

For our next prospect we are heading back to Canada and we noticed a player where you don’t normally see many off. With Adam Gaudette we are having our first Enforcer Forward of the draft. To make sure his opponents won’t leave the ice without bruises, Gaudette has already been working on his fighting, strength and checking on top of an already high amount of defense. Gaudette is only there for one thing and that is to hurt anyone in his path, so I can see General Managers being happy to select him and add him to his line up to protect their star athletes out there. The one thing you however shouldn’t ask from Blade is to shoot on goal or pass a puck, he just lacks the agility for that. But with a 6’7 frame and a total weight of 325 lbs i’m quite sure he will be the destroyer of worlds, he will be a force to be reckoned with, because if you don’t , today is probably the day you die.

Right Wing - Doug Glatt

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If having one enforcer in the draft class isn’t enough, we also have the United States of America their answer to the Canadian Gaudette, shortly after him, Doug Glatt also signed up for the S50 draft class. Glatt plays a more straightforward game, as he is only here for one thing and that is to fight. In fact, he already has his fighting skills up to a grand total of 91 out of 99, so definitely expect him to go toe-to-toe with all of his opponents. He is smaller framed and weight as his enforcer counterpart, but this does not mean he won’t back down for a fight, favorable or unfavorable matchup? He doesn’t mind at all, as long as he can drop the gloves he is happy. He will just have to start working on some other areas than to fight to be able to actually move on the ice, but that are troubles for later. But we will see him a lot next season, and it’s usually 5 minutes per time.

Right Wing - Ozzy Snozzborn

The United States are very well represented in the upcoming draft as also prospect Ozzy Snozzborn resides from there, this two-way forward lies an emphasis on scoring, defense and skating but for now is really decent all around without many glaring weaknesses. Being all around also makes you not excel at one specific point, but gives you alot of options to build around towards the future. Despite having checking as his weaknesses, with 50 in the stat he currently is one of the hardest hittest members in the draft class. He needs to work twice as hard for these upgrades, but it makes him a great addition for any team. Snozzborn is so all around that he has no real weaknesses, but also nothing that really stands out. Only time can tell about the exact route this prospect will take.

Goaltender - Mitchell Maverick

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Our Russian goaltender is no longer alone in this draft after Mitchell Maverick landed in the draft class as the second goalie. Where we could see a clear focus on the primary stats for Vitalievich, we see a more all around playstyle for Maverick, he is solid in almost every area except for his rebounds. While this is usually shown as one of the major stats for a goaltender to have, Maverick focusses on just stopping the puck on the first time around, so he doesn’t even have to control his rebound and shut down the opposition fully. Maverick uses a hybrid goaltender style and despite his 6 feet 4 large frame he is actually a good skater. This might become a nice rivalry to see who will become the number 1 goaltender of this class.

Right Wing - Kalevolaripaavo Käspertommevisnapuu

One of the hardest names in the draft, Kalevolaripaavo Käspertommevisnapuu is the first Estonian in this draft, a country where we do not see many prospects come from. This sniper type forward is actually a defense first player and with his 75 defense he knows he needs to play good at the defensive side in the game in order to be effective offensively, a bold strategy. With decent skating and puckhandling skills Käspertommevisnapuu is a shoot first guy but also worked on getting his passing game up a bit. Personally I would think Käspertommevisnapuu might be one of the first names called on draft night, the real question would be if the name will be pronounced correctly.

Left Wing - Niklas Fuhrberg

With Fuhrberg we see our first African player in this years draft, due to likely confusion he is added as being part of two countries (which are next to each other atleast): Namibia and South Africa, so we believe he is a border-born hockey player and always likes to explore his borders to the fullest. Fuhrberg is a power forward style player and next to his strength he is great in both shooting and passing the puck. Currently he has no real preference between those. The major downfall for Fuhrberg could be his skating ability, if you can’t skate that well, than how will you survive on the ice. But it’s great that this player from Africa, who likely never even has seen ice, is still trying to get his skating level up to an acceptable level. The other thing he still needs to practice on his puckhandling skill, so while he is a diamond in the rough, some GM might see his potential.

Defense - Ryan Leaf Jr.

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[Image: Caps-vs.-Islanders-15-610x400.jpg]

After having two enforcers on offense, we see our first defensive enforcer of the draft in Ryan Leaf Jr. who is probably the strongest enforcer when looking at pure strength. But with most of his stats still between 40 and 50 he is mainly muscle and has to work on his other attributes as well. With 6 feet and 250 lbs he isnt big but got alot of body to use while checking his opponents. His scoring is his glaring weakness and he hasn’t put any effort in that area of expertise, but with his main skill laying in trying to get some blood on the opponents team, he wont need it either. Usually teams would like their defenseman to stay on the ice, so Ryan Leaf Jr. might be an ideal 7th defenseman to not split up players during the penalty kill periods that certainly would happen.

Center - George Costanza

It took until the 15th player to get a center in the prospect pool, but do not worry as a lot more centers will follow later. George Costanza is probably the biggest center of the bunch and with his 6 feet 8 and 280 lbs it comes to no surprise that he is off the power forward variety. His strongest point is his ability to win face offs, we are not sure if this is due to pure skill or by scaring the opponents from having such a big guy in front of them. The biggest downside of Costanza is his puck handling ability, this is limited to a minimum amount and might proof hard for him to train. For the rest he is a fairly balanced skillset, so it will be interesting how he will match up compared to the others centers that will follow.

Defense - Zbigniew Pokrywka

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The 6 feet 3 Polish defenseman Zbigniew Pokrywka is the next player we will feature, as he is a two-way defenseman he is efficient in keeping the puck out of the net on defense and to pass the pass to the attackers of him team. He is not the strongest player yet and does need some more stamina for when he would play some higher minute games. Look for him to be mostly a shutdown type of guy early in his career, especially as he is not the best skater yet to move up the ice much.

Conclusion
These were the first sixteen players to sign up for the S50 SHL draft. We will likely revisit the other prospects later in the week until I run out of breath to write these. Hope you enjoy reading about the possible future SHL stars, the Season 50 draft should be a special one, so hopefully we will get a lot more people to join the fun and indeed make it a class to remember.

Words: 2612 - Double pay for draft related content.