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EXPANSION DRAFT PROTECTION PREDS PT. 1: The West (2x Expansion)(J+H Media)
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LGRW613Registered Senior Member
04-14-2025, 05:38 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-15-2025, 04:12 PM by LGRW613. Edited 6 times in total.)
WELL, WELL, WELL. It seems as though the expansion draft rules have finally been released, which means we can finally get these articles shored up and sent out for cash money your viewing pleasure. Me and @Just-Here-To-not-Get-Fined have had this idea locked and loaded since expansion was announced, and we've had a ton of fun trying to figure out what GMs are going to do. Today we've got the western conference mocked up, so I'm super excited to see how wrong we are once the season is done and all the extra trades are made and all the teams pivot to directions we didn't think they would. Is this the best mock ever? No. Is it even complete accurate? Probably not, remembering all the expansion rules was hard okay? Leave us alone.
San Francisco Pride  San Francisco might be the easiest of the bunch in the west, as they’ve signaled to the entire league that they’re fully beginning a rebuild after their era of utter dominance over the SHL. With the faces of the franchise gone through a smattering of trades this off-season, San Francisco has set themselves up nicely for the expansion draft, and really doesn’t have that many tough choices to make. Since they are in a rebuild, I would anticipate that SFP focuses on protecting its young players and continues to let go of the franchise icons. Interestingly, SFP GM Caleb has recreated for this upcoming season, and as such has not rejoined the team yet, which opens up one extra protection slot for SFP. I’m predicting they choose to take the 6-1 protection route, to ensure they can protect their young up and comers while retaining the most valuable trade assets they have. Look to the trade deadline for SFP to unload the rest of their all-star core for draft picks. GM Protections D - Sydney Shaw (Main GM protection slot) Player Protections F - Duke Howard F - Ima Noobie F - No Cheddar F - Mercedes Bayle F - Levin Schattenaxt F - Oskar Scholz G - Ally Mathieson WILDCARD: D - Nostradamus Texas Renegades  Texas is certainly an interesting case, as their young core is fully protected by the expansion rules (since majority of their prospects are from the S82 class). I think Texas continues the youth movement that’s brought them some success so far, as well as ensuring that most of their roster stays on the same timeline. I’m also of the opinion that they do not let Hodor go under any circumstances, as he’s the face of the franchise, he’s been there for literally his whole career, and he deserves to stay in Texas. GM Protections - No Main GM protection is available here, as CapnCooper’s player is auto protected in the S82 class F - Chris McZehrl III (co-GM protection slot can be flexed to protect any player if a GM player is a goalie) Player Protections F - Djoe Anderson F - Emile Dionne F - Thomas Hudson F - Brandon Gilleyes D - Weston Windsor D - Hodor D - Cadmael Ixazaluoh G - Anthony Dionne (co-GM player) WILDCARD: F - Dee Centerman IV, Jr., D - Bubbles Puff Seattle Argonauts  Oh boy, Seattle is gonna have quite a situation to navigate here. Seattle’s current core is at their peak, and they’re all gas no breaks here with huge championship aspirations. As such, I believe they’re going to do whatever they can to protect as many of their core as possible, with hopes to make another run in S83. But that doesn’t change the tough decisions the GMs will have to make here, and I’m excited to see how teams like Seattle navigate their expansion process. GM Protections F- Campbell Fischermann (Main GM protection) D - Stavros Kondos (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Squidwardo Tentacles F - Will Tomlander F - Shadow Fenix F - Rence Sykut D - Roquefort Cotswold D - Kal Akar Kekkonen D - AT-AT Wollker G - Henri Losanov WILDCARD: F - Gordon McFisherman New Orleans Specters  New Orleans is an interesting team to watch in the expansion area, as the team is in a window currently while simultaneously aging. NOLA has a ton of good, young players on the roster already, as well as a ton of good players waiting in the wings. Up to this point in this article, I think NOLA stands to take the hardest hit in the expansion draft, so I’m super interested in how they choose to go about this. I think given how talented their younger players are, NOLA is going to choose to protect the future of the team, and so we should see them take a small dip in the standings while the young players grow into S84. GM Protections F - Scar Bealey (main GM protection) D - Artturi Lappalainen (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Levon Dojkic F - Nanashi Mumei F - Rocky Gislason F - Blade Hunter D - Mikkel Enevoldsen D - Abbe Wass D - Smitty Werbenjaegermanjensen G - Jeff Kirkstone III WILDCARD: F - Optimus Autonomous, F - Joe Primeau Chicago Syndicate  Welp, I take back what I just said about NOLA being hit the hardest. Chicago is another team that stands to lose a TON of talent in the expansion draft, and arguably is poised to take the single largest hit to their roster of any SHL team. Chicago has a ton of young talent already on the roster, and has even more elite talent waiting in their system. Honestly, this is the first team I’ve felt bad for up to this point, and the GMs definitely have a few incredibly hard decisions ahead of them. Given their young talent, I think Chicago also elects to protect the future of the team, but honestly it could go either way here. GM Protections Ho Lee-Smokes (Main GM protection) Aaron Noxus (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Jason Bourne F - Zeus Storm F - Sam Volta F - Quazon Brosonchi D - Max Belcher D - McLovin D - Kiwi Soderberg-Snooks G - Elvar Gil-Galad WILDCARD: F - River Yekaterina Volkova Calgary Dragons  Calgary is pretty firmly in a window at this moment, and with no prospects outside of S82 in their system, I see them protecting as much of their core as they possibly can to continue competing into S83 and beyond. Plus, y’know, I can’t live in a world where the Solbergs aren’t in Calgary. Calgary is going to lose some talent though (as is the nature of expansion drafts), but I can see them coming out of the draft still firmly in place at the top end of the west. GM Protections F - Literally Wizard (main GM player flexed to goalie protection) F - Anna Skovgaard (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Froya Solberg F - Sonja Solberg F - Jennifer Huh F - James Howlett D - Journey Man D - Aslak Hestnes D - Kaarlo Koivunen G - Anastasia Soderstrom (Main GM player) WILDCARD: D - Westley Kirkpatrick Los Angeles Panthers  Los Angeles is in an interesting conundrum. Their roster is not good enough to truly compete in the SHL, but they also have basically nothing as far as prospects go. I’m predicting a rebuild for LA shortly, if not as soon as this upcoming season, so I would imagine that they keep as many of their high value players as possible (if they make it through the season with their current roster intact). Retaining these high value players would allow them to snag a ton of picks for future drafts, which should allow LA to rebound in a few seasons back to the perennial contender that they have been. GM Protections F - Emeric Gagner (main GM protection) D - Willow Soderberg-Snooks (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Teemu Salami F - Oliver Castillon F - Mac Griddle F - Andren Akerson D - Elena Maximova D - Olivija Agate D - Brooklyn Physt G - Grzegorz Brzeczyszczykiewicz WILDCARD: F - Derek Martin (honestly, this could be anyone, but I would think LA protects its all-star center who’s been the face of the team for years) Winnipeg Aurora  Winnipeg is still in the middle of their rebuild, and their roster already has a ton of young, promising players. As such, this is probably one of the easier teams to predict since we can pretty safely assume they’re going to protect the entire young core of the team. What is interesting is that it looks like this is the core Winnipeg are counting on, as their prospect pool is pretty drained at the moment, so I’m excited to see what the future brings to the team. GM Protections Chuck Lumbermouth (main GM protection) Ville Sato-Maki (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Hamper Linthome F - Yuri Boyka III F - Leo Carlsson F - Hockey Player D - Jeremy Snugglemuffin III D - Jett Labyinth D - Solaire of Astora G - Katharina Rosenthal WILDCARD: D - Oceane Soderberg-Tremblay, F - Soobin Edmonton Blizzard  Like Winnipeg, Edmonton is another team that has their entire young core locked in place, and is most likely protecting as many of the youngins as possible. Their trades this past off-season show that they are all in on this season, and comfortably too as their young players are still firmly locked up. I think they protect as many of the young core as they can, but I can also see them protecting their new additions and absolutely destroying my prediction. Should be an interesting watch here. GM Protections D - Matthias (main GM protection) F - Alexa Johansen (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Gwendolyn Telenn F - Jeyeff Effo F - Cristoforo Roccamontepiano F - Spaceman Spiff D - Dash Jackson D - Hip Hurts D - Roisin Armagh G - Abby Wright-Bach WILDCARD: F - Matviy Cajabi Minnesota Monarchs  Honestly, I have no idea what Minnesota is going to do. This is a complete wildcard given their current state, but I need to believe that they protect as many prospects as possible, because they are absolutely not in anything shaped like a window. They could surprise the world and protect all their highest TPE players, but I refuse to believe they will do this, my soul can’t take that kind of pain. GM Protections D - Dieter Fruhstuck (main GM protection flexed to goalie slot) F - Grindle Waters-Johnson (co-GM protection) Player Protections F - Normand Marineau F - Phoenix-Orion Soderberg-Tremblay F - Ivan Scochnikov III F - Jarrod Lakemore D - Sazed Kholin D - Trevor Lopez D - Lewis Holl G - Jack Ryan (main GM player) WILDCARD: F - Tom O’Donnell, F- Brett McMann And there it is! One mediocre mock expansion draft completed. Stayed tuned for part 2 where we cover the east, because it felt like too much to put into just one post (and also, we're not done the east, sue us). Also, please share your thoughts in the comments if you want! I'm excited as hell for the expansion and all the possibilities, and I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts! (1977 words, please split money between me and @Just-Here-To-not-Get-Fined, sorry for subjecting whatever poor soul has to grade this) ![[Image: KuRKhCc.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/KuRKhCc.jpeg) shoutout to the GOAT Raf for this incredible picture of the S79 Whalers squad
HabsFanFromOntarioSHL GM Professor of Baldeconomics
04-14-2025, 05:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-14-2025, 05:55 PM by HabsFanFromOntario. Edited 1 time in total.)
Quick note you can't swap who is protected by a GM slot but great write up! :D
Also if my co-gm is protected that'd kinda suck lol “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.”
![[Image: image.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/ydNncHgV/image.png)
LGRW613Registered Senior Member
04-14-2025, 05:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-14-2025, 05:56 PM by LGRW613. Edited 1 time in total.)
04-14-2025, 05:52 PMHabsFanFromOntario Wrote: Quick note you can't swap who is protected by a GM slot but great write up! :D Wait did I read that wrong? I thought the draft rules said GM spots can be swapped to anyone if the GM player is a goalie? (If the goalie is flexed to the goalie protection slot) shoutout to the GOAT Raf for this incredible picture of the S79 Whalers squad
HabsFanFromOntarioSHL GM Professor of Baldeconomics 04-14-2025, 05:54 PMLGRW613 Wrote: Wait did I read that wrong? I thought the draft rules said GM spots can be swapped to anyone if the GM player is a goalie? (If the goalie is flex to the goalie protection slot) Referring to SFP co-gm slot. Unless they fire Caleb and choose an active roster player which might be seen as circumventing the rules. “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.”
LGRW613Registered Senior Member
LGRW613Registered Senior Member
NikeSHL GM S22, S28, S40, S42 Challenge Cup Champion & Merica Lover
You can remove Jason Bourne from Chicago protects. Unfortunately for us (and good for him/Ace) he’s headed to Nashville as their Co-GM!
![[Image: ho-lee-smokes-iihf.png]](https://i.ibb.co/vjFwF57/ho-lee-smokes-iihf.png) Thanks Jove for my sig
LGRW613Registered Senior Member 04-14-2025, 07:28 PMNike Wrote: You can remove Jason Bourne from Chicago protects. Unfortunately for us (and good for him/Ace) he’s headed to Nashville as their Co-GM! UGH why do people take JOBS? and PRIOR to me writing this and EASILY verifiable if I had looked harder????? THE NERVE shoutout to the GOAT Raf for this incredible picture of the S79 Whalers squad
LGRW613Registered Senior Member
UptownCordSHL GM SHL GM
UptownCordSHL GM SHL GM
NOLA is swapping Co's this season, Luca Pane will be auto-protected instead of Lappanainen.
![[Image: Lodge-Sig.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/Nj1j01wM/Lodge-Sig.png)
leafsftw1967Moderators Moderator
Great article, it was an interesting read! Also my player has a no move clause and I am not waiving it to play on an expansion team so you can put me on Chicagos protected list
![[Image: apSD6uj.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/apSD6uj.gif) ![[Image: leafsftw1967.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/leafsftw1967.gif)   |
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