03-21-2020, 04:23 PM(This post was last modified: 03-21-2020, 04:30 PM by hhh81.)
S45 SHL Redraft
After seeing @BDonini's media redrafting S47, we thought it would be fun to look back on the last “very weak” SHL Draft we had, S45. After the boom of the S43 Reddit, S44 and S45 were understandably weak drafts seeing only 31 and 32 players drafted, respectively. There are only 20 active players left from the class. What S45 lacked in depth, it made up for it in franchise, game-breaking talent: as of the last round of updates, seven players have passed 1600 TPE, with another about to pass 1500 and another four over 1000 TPE.
For these rankings, I will exclude Alexander Selich @Tomen ; as the Co-General Manager for Buffalo, he was their highest second round pick (otherwise he’s easily a top five pick in this redraft and in the real draft).
Round One
1. San Francisco Pride
Original Pick: D Leopold Lockhart
San Francisco did a good job here. They acquired picks in this draft for the sole purpose of grabbing @ej27’s recreate, and felt confident taking her here. She’s continued to be a top earner, sitting a solid third in the class with 1717 TPE. Lockhart solidifies the deepest blueline in the entire SHL alongside Charlie Schieck, Ray Bork, and Dom Montgomery. EJ was also the longtime Co-SMJHL Player Progression Head until stepping down this offseason. Good player, great user, little to question. There’s nothing to hate about this pick, other than there are two higher earners in the class, one of which is going first overall instead….
New Pick: D Cassius Darrow
Is anyone surprised? Darrow is the highest earner of the class over vaunted recreates from EJ, Tomen, and Raymond, who got a TPE head start over the first gen. Going into the S45 draft, Darrow was sixth in the class with 286 TPE (55 TPE back of first place). That hasn’t seemed to matter as Darrow’s 1784 TPE leads Selich by 18 points (a 73 TPE swing). hhh81 has also stepped into a wide range of jobs on the site, including former SMJHL Head Office Intern and Member, former Team Germany IIHF Fed Head, and now GM of the Colorado Raptors and SMJHL Awards Head. In hindsight, amongst a group of stellar top end talent, Darrow has the edge. Kvalheim or Lockhart would both be very valid options here, as well.
Pick Grade: A
2. Texas Renegades (via Seattle Riot)
Original Pick: LW Andreas Kvalheim New Pick: LW Andreas Kvalheim
When you get it right, you get it right. Texas needed a power forward for their next generation, and they got it. @raymond3000 has had two other players reach the Hall of Fame, and I have no doubts Kvalheim will join Kristan Eriksson and Raymond Lindsay there someday. When San Francisco passed on Kvalheim, @dankoa ran to the podium to make this pick. Lockhart is also a perfectly good fit here and is unquestionably deserving of this position.
Pick Grade: A
3. Manhattan Rage
Original Pick: LW Mika Mayfield
I can tell you this (because I’ve heard it from multiple people) JayWhy was considering his options at this pick between two first gens: the smooth scoring winger Mayfield or the upstart blueliner Cassius Darrow. Looking at the Rage’s needs, JY went for Mayfield. The choice seemed like a solid one, as BadWolf got involved as a banker, auditor, and joined both SMJHL and SHL Head Offices in her first few seasons. There was a time where she went semi-to-in-active (how dare she get married!) but has returned with a vengeance as a consistent updater—Mayfield current sits at 1496 TPE, good for 8th in the class and will likely break the 1500 threshold next week. She also holds some other site job, but it’s not very important… right? Jk she’s my boss as SMJHL Commissioner… more on that later
New Pick: RW Maxime Bouchard
While I think Leopold Lockhart is the best player available at this point, honoring the stated need of Manhattan for a star forward moves Bouchard here. Bouchard has 1696 TPE, good for a tie with Kvalheim for 5th in the class. @Weretarantula is also the Head Banker, a job which I have no questions he despises most days when GMs don’t list their players’ usernames in budget sheets. He also had a brief tenure as SMJHL Pick Tracker, which he did well. Other than being a smelly Dragon, I have nothing mean to say about him. In the redraft, Manhattan gets an elite forward to add to their team.
Pick Grade: B
4. Buffalo Stampede
Original Pick: D Cassius Darrow
While San Francisco considered taking Darrow first overall originally, thankfully for @WannabeFinn and @Tomen that didn’t happen and Darrow fell to them at 4th overall. Many at the time said this class had a tier of four elite prospects (Lockhart, Mayfield, Kvalheim and Darrow), and sitting at fourth Buffalo could scoop up whichever one was left to them. Despite some pre-draft angst about team/locker room culture, Darrow seems to have enjoyed and bought into the Buffalo Stampede, playing his entire career so far with the franchise, winning two Challenge Cups, and now stepping into roles as their top defenseman and newly voted Assistant Captain. This was an excellent pick, on and off the ice.
New Pick: D Leopold Lockhart
I recall there being some angst and rumors EJ wouldn’t play for Buffalo if drafted there in S45. I have no idea if this is true, but I’m ignoring that. Lockhart is too good a prospect to pass up here in this redraft. All the things I said before hold—well known user, top end earner in the class, and had a site job as SMJHL Player Progression Co-Head for so, so long.
Pick Grade: A+
5. San Francisco Pride (via New England Wolfpack)
Original Pick: D Dominic Montgomery New Pick: D Dominic Montgomery
This was a pick that was more focused on off-the-ice things than on-ice things. @bilbo is a gem of a human being and I will fight anyone who comes for them. Anytime, anywhere. It was stated very clearly by multiple people that Bilbo wanted to play for San Francisco and join the Pride locker room. Montgomery’s love affair with Leopold Lockhart also helps add to the fit. Unfortunately, the star crossed lovers don’t get to play together for the Pride in the redraft, but Bilbo does get to join the Pride. Instead of playing his career with Lockhart, Montgomery would likely get to play with fellow S45 draftee Cassius Darrow. There are worst consolation prizes, and the Pride still get two top end blueliners for their team. On the ice, Montgomery has the 7th highest TPE in the class, at 1606, despite being only 11th in the class at the time of this draft.
This is what a first rounder who is a “top flight locker room ‘guy’” looks like. Nicest kid in town and a great user.
Pick Grade: A
6. Texas Renegades
Original Pick: RW Nicolas Fleming
This one has to hurt for ol’ dankoa. After getting an elite forward with their first pick, he took a chance on a recreate in Fleming, who created a past Hall of Fame player and was a former SHL GM and Challenge Cup Champion. Unfortunately, Nereus disappeared without a trace not long after the draft. His 522 TPE is good for 21st in the class. Dankoa wants this one back, but we all have those moments where we trust the word of a stranger and it bites us.
New Pick: D Slip McScruff
First gen defenseman; 1642 TPE (good for 6th in the class); Team USA Fed Head in IIHF. If I recall correctly, captain at both the junior (St. Louis) and SHL (Winnipeg) levels. Scruff is a great user and player, and was (at the time) the defenseman I most wanted Darrow to eventually play with (now that’s a competition between him and @Inf1d3l ‘s Barret McCarthy). In the redraft, Texas gets an elite defensive prospect to anchor their blueline for another generation.
Pick Grade: D-
7. Hamilton Steelhawks
Original Pick: LW Donnie Dicks
Ugh, let’s keep this brief. One person from this team told me before the draft, even if Darrow dropped out of the top 5, Hamilton would pass on him here in favor of drafting Gooney’s Dicks. That was a stupid comment then and is even dumber now. It was one thing to choose a recreate you know well and trust over a brand new first gen in the SMJHL Draft; I forgive Detroit for that choice. It would have been an entirely different level of stupid here. Darrow didn’t fall, and they never got to do that. Instead they took Dicks, who never passed 703 TPE for his career (17th in the class), went inactive, then recreated *twice* since then. I’m skeptical Wang Liqin (S54) will be much better than The stingray that Killed steven irwin (S51, 305 TPE) or Dicks—since Ronnie Westbrook, who was arguably a very good player, Gooney hasn’t had much success building new players.
I’m of an opinion you can’t be a “good LR guy” and be friends with ThatDamnWalrus. Those are mutually exclusive situations. Next.
New Pick: LW Mika Mayfield
This isn’t just about TPE, but Mayfield’s almost 100 TPE above the other remaining redraftable players. She also has held quite a few jobs on the site (Banker? Auditor? Updater? No problem) including time in both SMJHL and SHL Head Offices. After some angsty times being traded from Manhattan to Minnesota, she’s moved onto and settled in New Orleans (surprising no one). At this point, she’s the best pick Hamilton could make. Plus… who knows if she might have been able to curb some stuff that led to the death of SimonT?
Pick Grade: F
8. Calgary Dragons
Original Pick: RW Maxime Bouchard
This was a great pick—Anchorage got a steal in the S44 SMJHL Draft in Bouchard, and he’s proven all involved they made a great pick then that went on to be a first round draft pick, Challenge Cup Champion, and solid top line forward. Were’s also been a great Head Banker. I hope he remains there for a long time. Bouchard was 9th in the class heading into the draft with 280 TPE, and now is 5th with 1696 TPE. Unfortunately for Jakarta, Bouchard is gone, so they have to make a new pick…
New Pick: D Nat Emerson
I went back and forth here between Emerson and Fujikawa. Marley is the same position as Bouchard who they’re missing out on, but comes with some baggage from past players. I’ve been here 10 seasons and I honestly couldn’t tell you what that is. I haven’t seen or heard Marley in… seasons? I know he’s out there, but he mostly keeps to himself. Instead, I went with the slow but steady updating Emerson. After doing some pretty great media early on, we largely haven’t heard much from @Thelastheraclid. They seem to update and go along their way quietly. At the time of the draft, he seemed like a longshot, with only 251 TPE (19th in the class) being drafted 20th overall by West Kendall. Since then, the slow and steady marathoner has hit 1406 TPE (9th in the class). Calgary gets a solid 2/3 defender a season earlier, which may send ripples into what they took in a very deep S46 Draft.
Pick Grade: A+
9. Los Angeles Panthers
Original Pick: RW Hiro Fujikawa New Pick: RW Hiro Fujikawa
It was a risky pick at the time from what I recall. Marley had some off-ice concerns about demanding more ice team for Montreal, and worries he might not stick with it. Those concerns were unfounded and he found his perfect home in Los Angeles. He was 10th in TPE for the class before the draft and 10th now. That consistency is key. He won’t be a 2000 TPE player, but the Panthers don’t need him to be. He might max out around 1500-1600 TPE, and that’s plenty fine for a smooth scorer like Hiro. There isn’t and wasn’t much better a pick at this point than this.
Pick Grade: B+
10. Toronto North Stars
Original Pick: C Konstantin Voloshin
Ouch, the meme of TOR wasting 1st rounders on IH players continues. I was juniors teammates with Voloshin, and saw him struggle with not being mocked as a top 5 pick. He was second in the class with an impressive 318 TPE before the draft, but saw his draft value slide after media of a “do not draft” list and concerns about his commitment. When it all came down to it, he went IA within a season of Nobody giving up a first round pick on him, then was called up to be useless bottom six filler until he returned and recreated… then went inactive again. In a shallow draft, this was one of the worst picks.
New Pick: C Nickolaus Klaus
If you’re going to take a risk on a high earning but controversial center, why not Noble? Klaus’s 268 TPE before the draft wasn’t spectacular, but he originally went 16th overall and now, despite some back-and-forth activity, has a respectable 1246 TPE as a member of West Kendall. While he’s played for three different SHL teams so far, Toronto would hope they would have been able to retain him long-term as a solid top six center to ease the transition from the playoff contender era of @Nobody to the rebuilding era under @ml002.
Pick Grade: F
11. Minnesota Chiefs
Original Pick: D Sanyi Kocsis
At the time, this looked like a solid pick for a playoff contender. Kocsis was days away from winning the Anrikkanen Trophy as SMJHL Rookie of the Year, and would go onto to win the Agante Trophy the next season as top defenseman in the SMJHL. The recreate was a known quantity with some warts that led teams to pass on him, and then went inactive. He still floats around the SHL as an inactive free agent (currently with Toronto), and Minnesota is struggling to rebuild after the dark days featuring Daco and McZ. I honestly never really understood benches, but I miss his great media and seeing him as a rival for Darrow.
New Pick: RW Nolan Sawchuk
He’s the only active left in this draft class, and jumps one pick earlier to Minnesota. Sawchuk has been consistent—he was taken 12th overall by Seattle, he was 11th in his class at the time of the draft with 274 TPE, and now he’s 12th in the class with 1179 TPE. That’s good enough for a middle six forward for the rebuilding Barracuda now, and would be good enough for Minnesota to draft him here.
Pick Grade: C
12. Seattle Riot (via Edmonton Blizzard)
Original Pick: RW Nolan Sawchuk
Seattle (now Tampa Bay) needed a player to build around, and they took a shot on @Jepox ’s player, Sawchuk, to be a future key piece. Fast forward ten seasons and he’s stuck to it. Never the top top earner in the class, he’s been consistently right outside of it. While overshadowed at times by his more controversial friend, Noble, and the wealth of draft choices from S46 and S47 (shoutouts to Olivier Cloutier, Matt Kholin, Gunnar Soderberg up front), Sawchuk has had a decent career. He also spent a few seasons as Co-GM of the Cudas with @JSS. You don’t need every player to be a superstar—Sawchuk is another “play the marathon, not the sprint” users, and it’s worked well.
New Pick: LW Jakub Novak
This is where it gets hard. Everyone else from here on has retired or gone fully inactive. Considering Seattle/Tampa Bay’s needs at the time, I think Novak is the right call. @Esso2264 is a consummate locker room troll and funny guy. I love having him around (thus me drafting my S45 buddy back to Colorado with his recreate). When you’re trying to rebuild a team, I think good people in the locker room are key, and Esso is the sort of user you can bank on. He’s been key to my time in Colorado management, has big roles over in VHL, and is an updater here. While Novak never broke out (he maxed out at 791 TPE) as more than a strong third liner, Simothy Drunkebird has had a strong start to his SHL career and should have a much longer, more fruitful career than Hats Novak.
Pick Grade: B
13. Winnipeg Jets (via Hamilton Steelhawks, West Kendall Platoon)
Original Pick: D Slip McScruff
I said great things about Scruff above. Winnipeg hit it out of the park with this pick. Because of that, Scruff went much higher in the redraft, meaning Winnipeg has to pick someone else.
New Pick: G Vivian Leblanc
She ended up here eventually, so might as well make it happen in the redraft, right? Leblanc was dead to rights right before the draft—her 195 TPE was the lowest of any player drafted in S45. However, Toronto took a shot on the PBE veteran and it worked out… for Winnipeg. While never a huge earner when updating, Leblanc did well enough to hit 816 TPE, good for 13th in the class. She now continues as Winnipeg’s starting goalie and will do so until Strom Chamberlain @Geekusoid is ready to claim the starter’s mantle (likely in S54). She fills a role and a need right now, albeit inactively. Many say if you fall off early you can’t bounce back, and Vivian Leblanc is a counter-narrative to that thought.
On this note, I want to take a moment and recognize Winnipeg as the Isle of Misfit Goalies. On their roster and in their prospect pool they have Chamberlain (546) as a legit goalie prospect. They also have Leblanc, alongside a swarm of inactives: Aleksandr Aleksandrov (S45, 208 TPE), Steven Vassallo (S51, 287 TPE), Abroop Dhami (S51, 208 TPE), and Daichi Franciszek (155 TPE). I don’t think it means anything, but it is fascinating to see so many goalies just sitting around.
Pick Grade: A+
(They won a Cup then got a franchise defenseman at the end of the first round. Can’t do much better than that)
14. Los Angeles Panthers (via Hamilton Steelhawks, Winnipeg Jets)
Original Pick: C Kenji Yoshimura
Long connected to the Panthers, this seemed like a no-brainer with one of LAP’s two first rounders. @BigTittySmitty formerly played for the Panthers, and Wasty is well known to draft a ton of recreates, usually people who have been there before. If Yoshimura was still updating consistently and active, this would seem like a solid pick. Instead, he retired back in January after being inactive for a bit. His high mark of 770 TPE is still a solid number—good enough for 15th in the class and solid enough as a third line center. In hindsight, it’s not a terrible pick, though there were better players taken later than 14th.
New Pick: D Sanyi Kocsis
I know Los Angeles doesn’t need defensemen right now, but even an IFA filler is more useful than a player that’s retired. Kocsis never caught on to his pre-draft hype at either level. He won some hardware, but then fell off on his updating. Now he gets passed from team to team as the seasons go on. Still, what team wouldn’t want a 763 inactive defenseman they could reshape for the FHM era for another season or two prior to regression? Plus, if any team was able to keep benches engaged and updating, the team that’s had success with other divergent personalities might be the one.
Pick Grade: C-
That’s it! That is my redraft of the 1st round of the S45 SHL Draft. Where did I mess up? Which picks would you change?
For fun’s take, if I included Alexander Selich in this, here’s how I think things would go:
Me before reading: Uh oh, I was tagged in a thing. hhh is nice and likes me, right? Right?
Me after: :') Also, for sure there are far worse consolation prizes than Darrow, but Dom within says "fight me" about Leo, I am v sorry.
Glad I know u, fellow nice kid in town and great user. <3
sigs by sulovilen, slothfacekilla, Flareon
avatar by prettyburn
03-21-2020, 06:48 PMbilbo Wrote: Me before reading: Uh oh, I was tagged in a thing. hhh is nice and likes me, right? Right?
Me after: :') Also, for sure there are far worse consolation prizes than Darrow, but Dom within says "fight me" about Leo, I am v sorry.
Glad I know u, fellow nice kid in town and great user. <3
bilbo yet again proving why they are the nicest person on the site
ty to @High Stick King @EvilAllBran and @Ragnar for the sigs
03-21-2020, 07:54 PMLeppish Wrote: Can we get an S42 one? I'm curious.
That is before my time! This took me a few hours to redo all the research and put together. I don't think I"m up for another one anytime soon haha, at least on my own.
If there are people out there that wanna do a combined project and split the $$$, I'm open to it lol
Thank you karey, OrbitingDeath Ragnar, and sköldpaddor for sigs!
Yay, h I'm so glad I slid into your dm's. You're a hugggeee reason I'm still active. Thanks for a great article, congrats on your hard work and recent captaincyish, and thanks for being a friend.
03-22-2020, 10:13 AM(This post was last modified: 03-22-2020, 10:14 AM by ej27.)
Quote:I recall there being some angst and rumors EJ wouldn’t play for Buffalo if drafted there in S45.
iirc I told Tomen I'd give any team a shot and wouldn't screw them over by leaving in FA if I hated the LR, but that I would politely request a trade if it didn't seem like a good fit once I got there
Quote:I recall there being some angst and rumors EJ wouldn’t play for Buffalo if drafted there in S45.
iirc I told Tomen I'd give any team a shot and wouldn't screw them over by leaving in FA if I hated the LR, but that I would politely request a trade if it didn't seem like a good fit once I got there
definitely not mad at this re-draft, nice work
Well we don't really know each other, but I'm impossible to hate. So you'd probably have stayed
03-22-2020, 10:13 AMej27 Wrote: iirc I told Tomen I'd give any team a shot and wouldn't screw them over by leaving in FA if I hated the LR, but that I would politely request a trade if it didn't seem like a good fit once I got there
definitely not mad at this re-draft, nice work
Well we don't really know each other, but I'm impossible to hate. So you'd probably have stayed
Quote:I recall there being some angst and rumors EJ wouldn’t play for Buffalo if drafted there in S45.
iirc I told Tomen I'd give any team a shot and wouldn't screw them over by leaving in FA if I hated the LR, but that I would politely request a trade if it didn't seem like a good fit once I got there
definitely not mad at this re-draft, nice work
Good to know! I couldn't remember, as this was over a real year ago, but I'm glad to hear that. You're a gem, EJ!
Thank you karey, OrbitingDeath Ragnar, and sköldpaddor for sigs!
03-22-2020, 10:13 AMej27 Wrote: iirc I told Tomen I'd give any team a shot and wouldn't screw them over by leaving in FA if I hated the LR, but that I would politely request a trade if it didn't seem like a good fit once I got there
definitely not mad at this re-draft, nice work
Good to know! I couldn't remember, as this was over a real year ago, but I'm glad to hear that. You're a gem, EJ!
hhh81
San Francisco Pride 
Texas Renegades (via Seattle Riot) 
Manhattan Rage 
Buffalo Stampede 
Hamilton Steelhawks 
Calgary Dragons 
Los Angeles Panthers 
Toronto North Stars 
Minnesota Chiefs 
Seattle Riot (via Edmonton Blizzard) 
Winnipeg Jets (via Hamilton Steelhawks, West Kendall Platoon) 
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