The Nevada Battleborn are entering the playoffs with a first round bye. They have yet to play any playoff games as of yet, but if their regular season success is to be trusted to continue, they should be a strong contender for the Four Star Cup. Where will they be, however, at the end of this season? What holes will be left by players ready for the next level that will need to be filled through the draft? In this article, we'll take a look at who could possibly be leaving the team at the end of this season, and what positions they may be looking at to build up their roster.

Now, as far as I know, the only player I 100% know of that is being called up next season is right-handed defenseman Leonids Balzams. Accounting for the unknown and a general need for words, let's just assume that all of the players from his draft year are moving up. That is four players total from the Season 55 draft class. Leonids Balzams, James Kimanje, Zelma Zuntnere, and Sven Gunnar. This is what their roster looks like with those players:


And once they've gone:


There is a pretty gaping hole on the top line on either side of Raivo Helminen, a young defenseman needs to step up, and we need another depth winger. There is also the issue of having Rude Sniff playing out of position as a winger instead of his draft position of defenseman. Let's take a look at what their roster may look like as players graduate to more important roles:


So the defense core is solid. They have excellent depth and the younger players will only be getting better next season. They do, however, have pretty glaring holes in the forward group. There is at least one spot on each of the bottom three lines that needs filled for a total of four bottom 9 forwards. Their center group is strong and that makes the task a lot simpler. Collecting wingers is much easier than hoping to hit on a center which are much harder to come by. This may prove to be difficult still depending on what picks they control for this upcoming draft, so they may find themselves exploring free agency a fair bit.

Interestingly enough though, as it turns out, the Battleborn are actually only losing one player to a call up next season in Leonids Balzams after all, so if we just drop Rude Sniff to his rightful place on the defense corps, the depth chart is actually exceptional. The team finds themselves with only an open spot on the right wing that they can fill easily through the draft. Accounting for all the big players getting better, we'll find that the Battleborn on paper should be a force to be reckoned with this upcoming season. If they should fall short in this playoff run of theirs, then season 57 will be the year of The Goats for sure.


Approved! +5 TPE @Dude