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***TheGreatToeJam*** · 05-10-2022, 11:25 PM

So you think I phoned this one in, huh? Well that's preposterous, and I won't stand for it. Well, maybe a little. Shh. don't tell the graders.

Mayfield Division

Newfoundland Berserkers

Picks:

Round 2, 23OA - Kayden King

Round 3, 42OA - Samuel Piccard

The Beserkers are coming of a pretty incredible season - they won it all. The division, the conference, the league and even took home the Four Star cup in a spectacular fashion when they beat the Quebec City Citadelles in four games. Brooms out. Bravo, Newfoundland. They finished the entire season with only eight regulation losses and one over-time loss, leaving them with an astonishing 57 wins in only 66 games and a +184 goal differential. Let me repeat that, a +184 goal differential. After a season like that you would think that they’re bound to lose a few key players - and you would be exactly right. Their top three scorers will find new homes for next season leaving a huge gap in the roster for the Berserkers. Center Alexander Mackenzie went 38/38/76, and right wingers Jeff Larsson and Tommy Tightpants went 27/48/75 and 38/33/71 respectively. Those are not east spots to fill. Oh yea, add their starting goalie Jonas Johansson to that list. Woof.

I’m guessing trades were made and the Berserkers didn’t have a lot of draft picks because I’ve made bigger splashes during my morning routine, if you’re picking up what I’m throwing down. Nothing against Kayden King or Samuel Piccard, they look like they will be great players for Newfoundland, but they seem like a team that is going to need all the help they can get if they plan to repeat the success that they have had recently.

I’m split on these guys, they have a ton of good players that could take big steps forward. But I’m not convinced that they can replace the production of those that are leaving, and at the same time - do they need to? The Berserkers were so dominant that they could cut their goal differential in half and still be in second place. There are huge quotations marks for this team and only time will tell.

Draft Rating: B-

Even though they only made two picks they did manage to address some positional needs and picked up some good young players.

Nevada Battleborn

Picks:

Round 1, 10OA - Steven Connors, LW

Round 2, 22OA - Dominik Froste, LW

Round 3, 38OA - Luigi Ferraro, RD

Nevada earned a second place finish in the Mayfield division, the won a respectable 41 games giving them a .689 points percentage and a playoff berth. Their season was cut earlier than they would have hoped when they lost to the Quebec City Citadelles in six games in the second round. The Owls vs. Goats series seems like it was very exciting. Like a lot of other teams Nevada is losing their top scorer in the offseason, and luckily enough for them that seems to be the only player that they’re losing. Their top line left wing Wing Wang had a fantastic season scoring 34 goals and adding on to that with 36 helpers which was good for 70 points total which put him 9th in the entire league. He’ll be hard to replace, but seeing as there is only one gap to fill it seems like a much more manageable task for Nevada than others.

Seeing the need to replace Wing Wang’s production they took two left wingers in this draft. Steven Connors I found as an interesting choice with their first pic, as the undersized winger plays a defense first kind of game. Not to say that he isn’t a capable player, he is going to be great for them, but the points won’t come as easily as they did with Wanger. That’s where Dominik Froste comes in, his shot accuracy rivals Matty Ice’s and is a pure offensive winger. His skating is the biggest flaw in his game, but let’s see if Nevada can address that before coming to any conclusions. Their lat pick was Luigi Ferraro who is an all around balanced defender, he can produce on both sides of the puck and has a reputation of being reliable.

Overall I can see Nevada improving on their impressive season given that their young player step up their production to compensate for that lost from Wing Wang. Keep your eyes on Nevada, I think they’ll be serious contenders this year.

Draft Rank: A

They really only needed one thing and they went out and got it. They even managed to add a good defender with a late pick, nothing not to like here.

Yukon Malamutes

Picks:

Round 1, 1OA - Oles Kobliska, C

Round 2, 25OA - Pablo Pombo, RD

Round 3, 29OA - Flackoveli Lagerfield, RW

Round 3, 33OA - Joey Pizza, RW

The Anaheim Outlaws were so bad last year that they relocated and rebranded the entire franchise just to disassociate. On the bright side they got the first overall pick and some pieces that they desperately needed to get this rebuild going in the right direction. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I made it sound, but it’s late, I’m tired and I’ve lost all motivation to continue writing this article. The Outlaws finished just below .500 with a record of 29/30/7 which isn’t terrible, per se. They even managed to get into the playoffs, which is a memory they’re probably trying to repress as they lost to Kelowna in five games. They’re losing their two highest scorers but it’s honestly not that bad, the gap between them and the players that should surpass them is small.

They addressed their biggest need, which was down the middle. The first overall pick served them well, they selected Oles Kobliska - this sauerkraut and kielbasa eating machine plays hockey real good, hes an offensively focussed player with fantastic skating and great size. Yukon fans are going to love this guy. They managed to further bolster their forward group with two right wingers Flackoveli Lagerfield and Joey Pizza - Flacko being a defensively responsible player who isn’t lost in the offensive zone and Joey Pizza being a great pizza eater.

Pablo Pombo was another fantastic pickup, though he has an interesting build he’ll be an anchor on their blueline for the foreseeable future. He’s got silky mitts, his puckhandling is as good as anyone in the draft, his skating is great even if he does lack a little bit of speed and his defensive play is fantastic. He just needs to work on his shot, this guy cant hit the broad side of a barn, he’ll be tossing muffins at the net all day. Even if he does manage to get a shot through traffic it’ll pretty much float into the goalies glove.

Draft Rank: B+

They got their big fish with a few additional pieces. I’m going to wait until we see how these guys develop a but before having too much faith that the rebuild is over.

Vancouver Whalers Whalers

Picks:

Round 1, 2OA - Edge Rocks, C

Round 1, 9OA - Benson Fiorentini, LW

Round 2, 19OA - Pytor Gallen, RW

Round 3, 39OA - Mayson DeMonta, C

Whale team bad.

They had a really rough season winning only 11 games. I won’t pour too much salt in the wound, they’re rebuilding and there will be growing pains. Last season was one big growing pain. But let’s look to the future, shall we?

Vancouver isn’t losing any players, which is fantastic. Their leading scorer was a rookie, which is even better - Matthew McGarry put up 19 goals and 42 points in his rookie campaign which is pretty damn impressive on such an awful team. (-142 goal differential, lol) The biggest question for Vancouver is; how much can their young players take on? Will they be able to compete next season or will this rebuild need more time? I’m in the mind that it will take at least another season before Vancouver has a season above .500, but the good news is - it’s coming.

They picked up a great center in Edge Rocks, the guy used to play in U2 for crying out loud, there isn’t anything he can’t do. As long as his body doesn’t give out on him, because he’s like a hundred years old. My favorite pick of theirs is Pytor Gallen, I think this kid is going to be amazing. He’s one of the most gifted, natural goal scorers of this entire class and he’s going to bring the points that Vancouver desperately needs. I’m exhausted and I can’t write any more. We have truly saved the.. worst for last. Sorry Vancouver.

Draft Rank: A

They got what they needed and added to that ever so important center depth while also picking up a few extra sprinkles for that ice cream. Yum.

***Froste39*** · 05-11-2022, 09:52 AM

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your draft recaps, read all of them and got some idea how the teams are gonna suit up this season.
As a rookie it was neat to know.

Thanks for contributing to the immersion!

Also thanks to grading our draft with an A hehe.

***TheGreatToeJam*** · 05-11-2022, 01:09 PM

05-11-2022, 09:52 AMFroste39 Wrote: Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your draft recaps, read all of them and got some idea how the teams are gonna suit up this season.
As a rookie it was neat to know.

Thanks for contributing to the immersion!

Also thanks to grading our draft with an A hehe.

My pleasure! Gotta get that 2x payout while it lasts.

I'm new here as well and the write up really helped with my predictions, I was completely lost before I did it so I'm glad that others found it useful as well.

Cheers!

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