It is an exciting time for the Maine Timber (nee Halifax Raiders) as they enter the first draft of the fledgling franchise. While the only significant change to the franchise is the new location, uniforms and mascot, much of the management and players remain from the Halifax days and are eagerly awaiting the fresh start that relocation to the beautiful Portland, Maine provides. While the Timber are undefeated in their franchise history, the artist formerly known as the Halifax Raiders were not. Indeed, last season’s edition of the Raiders franchise found the team at the bottom of the standings with an 18-27-5 record and, as the statistics clearly show, there was not much going right for the team. While much of the poor performance during the season can be attributed to the relative youth of the squad, that same youth and inexperience portends for favorable results in the future as the young squad brings back several critical returnees to their first season in Maine. What the Timber do not return, however, is veteran leadership with the impending loss of forwards Al Kayhall, Thicc Cheezy and Indigo Trevino and blue liner Abel Skinner to their respective major Simulation Hockey League teams. Due to these losses, Maine will be looking in this upcoming draft to find several diamonds in the rough as the team struggles to find quality replacements and added depth. What is clear about this upcoming draft, however, is that Maine will be in the driver’s seat, entering the draft with the first overall pick and having four picks in the first two rounds overall. Expect Maine to capitalize on these early draft picks, either using all of them to invest on high quality young players that can turn the team around or looking to capitalize on high draft position to trade back and earn additional picks to add much needed youthful energy to the squad.
Some of the early candidates the Maine may look to add to the squad through the draft are right winger Simon Takshak, defenseman Tinke Jutila and center Konrad Danke and defenseman Mikkel Asmus Sondergard. All four of these players have shown incredible promise in other national junior leagues and in the college ranks and could potentially develop into stars in both the Simulation Minor Junior Hockey League and the Simulation Hockey League.
Takshak, a hard hitting power forward from Indonesia, shows immense potential for being a cannon ball in the line up. Being only five feet tall and weighing in at 300 pounds, Takshak looks as much like a cannon ball as he plays like one. While the diminutive native of Jakarta does not hail from a hockey rich environment (indeed, scouts first saw him at a hockey camp in Russia), Takshak has already started showing the potential to develop into a star, if not a fan favorite due to his size and his ability to make the tough plays along the boards.
Another potential top flight draft prospect is none other than Tinke Jutila. Jutila, who hails from Tampere, Finland is another short yet stocky player that shows a lot of promise, having recently played in the Finnish Junior Leagues where he held himself in good account and was one of that league’s better players. While the young Jutila shows promise defensively, it is his impressive athletic ability that makes him such an intriguing prospect for the Timber team. With incredible stamina and the ability to dissect opposing offenses, Jutila has the ability to provide quality defensive play for long stretches of ice time with little decrease in performance. As the young Finn continues to develop, he could prove to be one of the best picks of the draft should Maine take him first overall.
A third potential top flight prospect that Maine would be fortunate to land is none other than Konrad Danke, a tall, powerful center that calls the Czech Republic home. The six foot two inch, two hundred and twenty pound force of nature dominated the Czech leagues last season enroute to earning Player of the Year nods. What makes Danke such an intriguing prospect is not just the quality of his play offensively but his willingness to be a true two-way forward that finds passing lanes in the offensive zone and then stuffs them in the defensive zone. Those qualities are rare by themselves but when you combine them with the ability to not only face off but to consistently win face offs you end up with a total product, which is Danke in a nut shell. If Maine is able to take him early in the second round, or potentially with the first overall pick if they rate him highly enough, Danke could develop into an Esa Parmborg style center and could find himself leading the Timber back to the promised land.
The final prospect worth mentioning, at least at this early pre-draft juncture, is Mikkel Asmus Sondergard. Sondergard, a defenseman from Denmark, is a stout two way defenseman who played last season abroad in the Ontario Hockey League. It was in the OHL that the young Dane showed incredible acumen on both sides of the ice, garnering All League honors and leading his team, the Saskatoon Swans, in assists, hits and blocked shots. This do everything wunderkind has all the makings of a top flight defenseman in the SMJHL and could even blossom into a consistent performer at the highest levels of ice hockey. What makes Sondergard so special is his physical ability is matched by his incredibly high hockey IQ. The young Dane consistently finds ways to put himself in the right position to make a play and will undoubtedly garner a lot of attention as a potential first overall.
While none of these four players that were profiled will be the savior of the Maine Timber as they embark on their inaugural season in Portland, they all could provide the Timber with a future star in the making that future seasons of experience and depth could build around. As the Timber look to narrow down their draft board heading into tomorrow’s draft, it would not be surprising to see the franchise make moves to secure the rights to one or two of these top flight talents.
03-14-2020, 06:37 PMFinnRhys Wrote: As the Timber look to narrow down their draft board heading into tomorrow’s draft, it would not be surprising to see the franchise make moves to secure the rights to one or two of these top flight talents.
FinnRhys
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