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***39alaska39*** · 03-27-2023, 09:26 AM

The St. Louis Scarecrows had one of the busiest draft nights this season with 8 draft picks and it looks like each one has a great opportunity to be a key piece of our program and our team’s success this season and moving forward. We’re going to go into a first round pick breakdown and see if there was anyone in the immediate area that could have potentially been a good alternative for the Crows at each draft spot.

1st Round, 3rd Overall – Dominik Winters, C, Czechia

Winters is a player that comes from a family with a history of producing strong SMJHL players that have been able to compete at the highest levels as well. This is the highest that any Winters has been drafted, but it is likely that this is due to the fact that Dominik plays the highest value position of the three Winters thus far. He seems to be off to a strong start, playing reasonably well in the preseason as a rookie and eating big minutes for the Crows. Going 3rd overall means that there is always going to be a level of pressure on Winters, and it’s up to him to live up to the hype.

Alternatives at 3rd overall were really the next four picks: Levin Schattenaxt (Switzerland), Just-to-Buy My-Love (Finland), Thomas Sawschuk (Canada), and Finn Weiss (Germany). All four are strong forwards and Sawschuk, in particular, is also a center and would have likely been of interest to the Crows brass.

1st Round, 11th Overall – Jay Bryzi, D, Poland

Sticking in the eastern half of Europe with this pick, Bryzi is expected to be an immediate contributor for the Crows on defense this season. Bryzi already played strong minutes in the preseason, and it appears that he is going to be paired with #1 defenseman Doug Doug and be given every opportunity to play important minutes for the Crows in all situations. Expect to see a big helping of Bryzi in all situations for the Crows this year, including on special teams.

The alternative at 11th overall for the Crows was probably Adelbert Steiner (Great Britain). Another strong developing defenseman, sources tell me that he was on a lot of teams radar, including as high as 1st overall before the board ended up breaking as it did. Steiner ended up going 12th overall to Newfoundland and it will be a situation to watch to see how each player ends up developing and playing in their respective situations.

1st Round, 14th Overall – Marshall Madden, LW, United States

Technically speaking, Madden was not actually drafted by the Crows but by the Carolina Kraken who immediately traded him to the Crows for the 15th Overall pick and a pair of 3rds in the future. That being said, for the sake of the article, it was never expected that Madden would play for Carolina and this was considered a move to acquire some additional assets by the Kraken. Madden is a well-balanced winger who led the Crows in points during the preseason and will be playing first line minutes in the early part of the season. He’s got all the talent in the world and I would expect to see him move up the rankings between the start of this SMJHL season and the SHL draft at the end of the year.

Alternatives at 14th overall were, once again, the next two picks in the draft: Mercedes Bayle (United States) and Theodore Svatos (Slovakia). Each is a high caliber winger who would have filled similar roles on ice to Madden and have shown a comparable aptitude for on ice play through the preseason.

WC: 608

Alex Winters (retired)
Matej Winters (retired)
Dominik Winters
S45 Jesster Trophy Winner
Challenge Cup Winning Goal Club: S52

***sve7en*** · 03-27-2023, 10:08 AM

03-27-2023, 09:26 AM39alaska39 Wrote: That being said, for the sake of the article, it was never expected that Madden would play for Carolina and this was considered a move to acquire some additional assets by the Kraken.

Just gonna chime in real quick, definitely not the case.

A. Gumba is a friend of basically the entire Carolina org, he was a captain, war room member, and he and I were both on the same page that it would be great to have him back in orange. I had people from my war room asking me excitedly if we were taking him, and he was that high on our board regardless of what STL was doing.

B. The draft class as a whole knew we were interested in him. The simple solution would be to pick him at 11 and not risk anything.

C. We literally snaked someone's brother because I thought it was just a recruit and not a family connection and traded down with Colorado to get the player to the right team. I'm not out here screwing with teams for no reason.

*CptSquall* · 03-28-2023, 03:22 PM

Approved, +5 TPE to @39alaska39

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