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Jala · 09-17-2020, 03:58 AM

Nevada Battleborn
S55 Record: 10-36-4 - 6th in the West
S56 Projection: 3rd in the West

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Depth Chart
LW - C - RW
Zelma Zuntnere (440) - James Kimanje (393) - Alexis Vermette (368)
Chad Danger (323) - Raivo Helminen (380) - Kenji Sugimoto (285)
Jarmo Kekäläinen (211) - Rob Wright (220) - Noah Johns III (160)
Chris Cerullo - Oskar Baldus - Gavin Wallace

LD - RD
Sachimo Zoidberg III (397) - Leonids Balzams (487)
Tanjiro Kamado (381) - Bane (345)
Grandmaster Funk (340) - Vili Afalava (267)
Sammy Koa (265) - Rude Sniff (224)

G
Phillip Weaver (377)
C.K. Supernaw (306)

Veteran - Sophomore - Rookie

Offense
Offense was the biggest issue that the Battleborn faced last season but things have taken a swing upwards for them in S56, and at a broad look they are looking to have a very solid top six with a majority of them reaching the corresponding caps for their draft years in the SMJHL. Add in a young third line who look to improve as the season goes on and some serviceable inactives to fill in as necessary and the Battleborn look much stronger offensively then they did last season.

Leading the charge in terms of goals are S55 team leaders Zelma Zuntnere and Raivo Helminen, who the San Fransisco Pride took in the third round. Both of these sharpshooters put in a lot of work in the off-season and are both capped and that looks to be a good sign for Nevada who struggled to put the puck in the net last season. Rounding out the first line with Zuntnere, James Kimanje and Alexis Vermette both put in tons of work since the end of last year and are both looking dangerous out on the ice. Kimanje in particular had a fire lit in him after going undrafted in his first year eligible and earned his way onto a SHL team going early in the third round to the Toronto North Stars. Vermette was a highly touted prospect and went to the New England Wolfpack in the second round this summer. Flanking Helminen on the second line is Chad Danger and Kenji Sugimoto both of which had solid off-seasons, with Danger looking to cap soon into the season and Sugimoto on track to cap before the season's end. Danger joined Helminen in San Fran as their first second round pick and Sugimoto showed real promise to the expansion team in Atlanta as the Inferno took him early into the third round.

The Battleborn had four picks going into the SMJHL Entry Draft and addressed their lack of offensive depth in a big way, selecting an entire forward line along with a defenseman and it's an exciting group they brought in to the team. Jarmo Kekäläinen is a young Finnish winger and has been a great addition to the locker room and is looking to make an impact soon this season. He's been great with his training and is looking to bring a great passing touch to the top nine. Nevada also brought in a center to bolster their depth with Rob Wright, who's birth certificate was lost in the past so we're not sure where he's from. A big center at 6'5" he looks to bring an imposing net front presence and to dominate the faceoff dot. Wright looks to be a jack of all trades big frame over a passer or shooter by nature and should be an interesting cog for the team. The Battleborn also brought a former Battleborn's third iteration, in Noah Johns III. Johns II was taken in the expansion draft and retired at the end of last season, so the III is fresh and looks to continue the tradition in Nevada.

Defense
The back end in Nevada was their strong point last season and that's going to continue to be true this year. With five capped defensemen with the potential for a sixth and a rookie looking to make his name in the league, the Battleborn are looking to give a must stronger performance defensively and make some noise with their blueliners this year. The proof of their defense core being desirable is that four of the five S55 SHL draft eligible players went in the first twenty picks of the draft.

Sachimo Zoidberg III went to his hometown team of the Calgary Dragons and is geared up to have another productive year on the back end as he finished last season as the points leader amongst defense and will most likely be paired with capped veteran Leonids Balzams. Balzams had a solid off-season himself and really kicked up his training regiment and is looking to become the number one guy on the squad this season. Tanjiro Kamado went very early in the second round to the Baltimore Platoon and Bane went in the third to a very deep Edmonton squad. Kamado has shown interest in rounding out his game as an offensive dynamo and may play on the wing this season to open up a spot for the Battleborn's rookie addition to the blue line and census is Kamado would be a great second line winger. Bane had a productive off-season and looks to have a better season in his sophomore year then he did in his rookie campaign. Grandmaster Funk went to the New England Wolfpack at number five in the draft and is looking to put up the numbers to back up that selection in S56, and he absolutely has the talent to do so. Vili Afalava went back to Los Angeles at sixteen, but unfortunately he had a quiet off-season to date so we'll be waiting with bated breath to see how he can turn it around in the remainder of the off-season and into the pre-season leading to the start of the year.

The fourth rookie joining the Battleborn is Japanese born Rude Sniff. Sniff is looking to be very strong with the puck and looks to have a solid passing touch along with good hockey sense in both ends of the ice. Not necessarily the strongest skate and liable to getting knocked down easily, but he is a young player and will certainly be looking to focus on some of those weaknesses during the season. A great addition that could certainly play some solid minutes on the third pairing.

[Image: Blue-Jackets-Third-Uniform-2018-19.jpg]

[Image: Blue-Jackets-Third-Uniform-2018-19.jpg]

Goalies
Along with an improving defense the Battleborn also had their netminders make huge stride this off-season and the best goaltending tandem in the juniors is looking to turn a lot of heads this season with breakout play. Coincidentally they were both drafted to the Tampa Bay Barracuda, Weaver late in the first and Supernaw late in the fourth, but they won't be a tandem out in Florida as Supernaw is looking to pursue other opportunities.

Weaver had a great rookie campaign considering the team in front of him and Supernaw led the team into the playoffs with a great performance of his own so this duo will be in a great place this season. With Weaver capping he will be the go to guy early in the campaign but with Supernaw not far behind on his training and being a capable 1A, look for the season to end with a split of 27/23 games in favour of Weaver. It may be optimistic but they will absolutely be in the running for awards at the end of the season in my opinion.

Conclusion
The Battleborn went into last season with the system that if everyone bought into training hard and being active on and off the ice, that they would be setting themselves up to have a strong S56 and that is looking to come to fruition this season. With a very strong number of capped second and third years and some promising young prospects, Nevada is looking to be set to put up a much more successful season and they could absolutely looking to be in the top half of the league this year. After a tough sweep in the first round to the Kelowna Knights, the Battleborn are poised to make their first round match-up much more of a challenge this year and overall the team is in a good head space and ready to take on the league. It's going to be an exciting season and look for Nevada to be on the right side of winning scores a lot more often this season.