Hey all, Shiamus here! My player - Lily Jin Morrow - was drafted today 19th overall to the New England Wolfpack! After the hectic draft, I was able to sit down with luke - General Manager of the New England Wolfpack - to glean some insight on his draft picks for the Season 73 SHL Draft, and his feelings now that all the picks have been made.

Shiamus: Right off the bat, we saw the team with the fourth overall pick in the draft! As GM, what was your thought process with this crucial high pick?

luke: For starters, the start of the draft class was really easy with the 4th Overall Pick. We had our top 4 draft positions set up beforehand. It went Kahri, Fluw, Sewingwithnancy and Takk. So once 3 out of the 4 went drafted with the first three overall picks, it was an obvious choice for us with Nancy. 

Shiamus: What need were you trying to fill with picking Sewingwithnancy (Jeff Goldblum)? Fantastic name choice, by the way.

luke: First of all, we needed another defenseman with elmerchant going inactive recently. On top of that, Nancy is by far the best defenseman in the draft. Second of all, to avoid inactivity, we need a reliable defenseman, which Nancy is. His view of being a defenseman (shutdown defenseman), aligns with what we want to build him as.

Shiamus: Now having drafted Sewingwithnancy to the team, what is your view for how he will eventually fit in to the team in the future? What does the team look like to you?

luke: He will really help us elevate us to the next level once he gets called up in S76. He will either replace Steveoiscool or R1cebowl, who are both longtime players in the league and big holes to fill on the roster. Nevertheless, getting the 4th OA for a regressing defenseman (which is how we ended up with this pick), to pick up our future defenseman for the next 15 seasons is an easy decision. 

Shiamus: I agree that is a great decision. Looking towards the future, what does the team look like to you in S76 and beyond?

luke: When looking at the New England Wolfpack's defensive outlook at a whole, we truly see why Nancy was the best pick. Starting off, I recently switched to defenseman in order to bring in bruins10. Along with acquiring JR95, we have gotten a lot younger really quickly. In order to remain relevant in the league, we need to get even younger. Since I switched to defenseman, our current defensive top 6 consists of Z0rem, Stevoiscool, Luke, Runningman, Rankle, and R1cebowl. From that, the youngings in Rankle and Runningman will serve us well in cementing the top 4 into the future. Z0rem and I sadly will be entering regression next season, but we will be at the top of the league in TPE for a bit while Rankle and Runningman progress well enough. Stevoiscool and R1cebowl will soon be the veterans on the team. Cly will be coming up soon, providing a good young player to replace R1cebowl. So when its Stevo's time to go, we now have Nancy ready to take him over. So then we will have a complete top 6 for many years to come.

Shiamus: I love the thought that you put into constructing the roster, not only for now but heading off into the future. Now that we've talked about the vision for the defense, let's switch sides to the offense and talk about your draft pick of my player, Lily Jin Morrow at 19th overall. What was your thought process nearing the end of the first round in that 19 slot?

luke: At 19th overall, we were thinking about drafting a few people at that spot. RaidtheArcade, Bongo, and you to be precise were the names that we were deciding between. All really great picks, and I think that RaidtheArcade and Bongo will be great prospects for Atlanta and Texas specifically moving forward and wish them nothing but the best. 

Shiamus: A little biased coming from myself, but I'm of course ecstatic that you went with me at 19th, especially as I was being mocked as a mid second round draft pick. What were the reasons that you went with me with the 19th pick?

luke: In the end there were a couple reasons why I went with you above the rest. First of all, what made you such an good pick in my eyes, is that you are striving to be a max earner. Now, the TPE might not suggest that, but considering your creation date, it puts it all in perspective. You created a couple days before the trade deadline. So that's a huge disadvantage compared with the rest of the draft class, even with the catch-up TPE in effect and explains the gap between you and the top earners of the class. Second, is with my talks with you, I knew that you would fit the best in our locker room. Not to take anything away from Bongo and Arcade - as I think they would have fit in really well too. At the time and based on my conversations, it just felt like it was the right call at the right time. 

Shiamus: Did it feel like a risk drafting me as high as you did?

luke: You let me know that you came from the Pro Baseball Experience (PBE) League when we first chatted. Although you are a new create in this league, I figured with being in the PBE, you knew your way around a sim league, so its not like you are brand new. So that helped me with the knowledge that you won't ghost(hopefully). 

Shiamus: I appreciate the pick and won't let you down! That being said, how do you envision me fitting in with the team when I am eventually called up?

luke: In the future, you will be replacing probably Artemis or Tater on the forward position. We will now have 2 forwards that will replace that aging part of New England. Pretty solid business if you ask me.

Shiamus: Sounds like you have a solid plan for the future of the Wolfpack! I see you also made one more pick later in the draft, selecting sergeantens (Harry Sachs) with the 39th pick in the second round. What are your thoughts about that pick?

luke: *laughs* To be honest I really liked the name of Harry Sachs. *laughs again* He is currently inactive, but I had to go with him purely on the great name.

Shiamus: I agree that is a top tier player name. Well, that about wraps up our chat today - I wanted to thank you for taking the time to sit down and walk through your process with me.

luke: The pleasure is all mine.


That is it for today's Draft Analysis - excited to see how the Wolfpack progresses in the coming years!

Nice!

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. ... There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”

Ólafur Atlason| C | SMJHL Prospect | Future Edmonton Blizzard
Birthplace: Reykjavik, Iceland
------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions
[/pbl]
------------------------------------------------------------
Awards
------------------------------------------------------------
Achievements
[/pbl]
------------------------------------------------------------
SMJHL Season Stats
S76: GP: 0 | G: 0 | A: 0 | P: 0 | 0 | PIM: 0 | Hits: 0 | |
SMJHL Playoff Stats
S76: GP: 0 | G: 0 | A: 0 | P: 0 | 0 | PIM: 0 | Hits: 0 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
SHL Season Stats