10-15-2023, 08:29 AM(This post was last modified: 10-22-2023, 10:17 AM by CptSquall. Edited 1 time in total.)
As we head into my first deep dive, I am going to be looking at the top 5 defenceman taken in the S73 SMJHL draft. I am going to be looking at the players stats and how they performed in the sim.
As we head into the first defenceman, we have John Peanut, the #1 overall pick from the draft who was selected by the Great Fall Grizzles. Currently, the Grizzlies are not one of the top teams, so Peanut is not expected to be a top performer. As they are on the second line though, they should have more stats than some of the other rookies. Currently peanut has 1 goal and 8 assists and a -17 +/- through 33 games which is not ideal. Looking at some other stats on the Grizzlies, Peanut really does not rank among the top in any categories other than TOI which was 754 minutes, 3rd on the team. If the team can get better defensively over the next few seasons, expect that +/- to soar in the opposite direction, and expect this defenceman to become a menace to top lines.
The second defenceman is Mikkel Enevoldsen, the #6 overall pick who was selected by the Regina Elk. Currently the Elk are 5th in the league, so Enevoldsen landed on a great team immediately. Enevoldsen is also on the second line like Peanut but is performing much better with 6 goals, 16 assists and an even +/-. On a team that is performing so well, you expect a better +/-, but that may get better as the season goes on and the player becomes better, especially since they have the 2nd highest PPTOI on the team with 3:04. With that much PP time, you expect great stats, which they do have, having the second highest point total as a D-man.
The third defenceman is Bartholomew Chungus Gingersnap III, the #11 overall pick, selected by Regina Elk as well. Unlike Enevoldsen, Gingersmap ended up on the third D pairing and currently has 2 goals, 11 assists and a +/- of 10, showing Enevoldsen how it's done. As a third liner it is hard to keep up in stats, but Gingersnap is logging the 4th highest minutes on the team with 650. Gingersnap does not rank high in many other stats on the team, but comparing them to Enevoldsen, they only get 0:55 PPTOI so that may show the discrepancy in point differential between the two.
The fourth defenceman is Sergey Ivanov, the #12 overall pick selected by the Nevada Battleborm. Currently the Battleborn are 2nd in the league so seeing Ivanov on the 2nd line is surprising as a rookie. Currently Ivanov has 5 goals and 15 assists with a +/- of 24, 2nd on the team, WOW. Ivanov truly is having a great season and spending some time in the box with 26 minutes, 4th on the team, 686 shots, 5th on the team and 22:09 TOI, 5th on the team. As a rookie, these truly are some great numbers, expect a lot when Ivanov can make it onto the top line on this team in a season or two and lead the league in multiple categories.
The fifth defenceman is Simo Jääskeläinen, the #13 overall pick taken by the Detroit Falcons. Currently the Falcons are 8th in the league but have a negative win lose record. Jääskeläinen is probably the worst performing defenceman when comparing them to their situation. Jääskeläinen has 3 goals and 4 assists with a +/- of -3. As another second liner, we expect way more out of a first rounder stat wise in the sim. Jääskeläinen does log a lot of minutes, 4th on the team with 723, so these stats hopefully can come back, which should be able to help the Falcons climb the standings even further.
It's hard to rank these 5 defenceman as they are only 14 TPE apart away from each other, so you could currently say that all 5 of these players were taken at the right time. As we move further into the season, we should see stat increases for some of them since they are logging so many minutes, and some of them spending a lot of that time on the PP.
JohnnyPatey
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