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Blizzard Prospect and Draft Analysis (2x Media)
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The time has come. It is finally time to look back on draft prognostications and judge how good or bad they did. For the purposes of this article, I will focus on, yep, you guessed it, my own recent draft prognostication that was written before the draft (I swear!) but published after the draft had been completed. In true retrospective fashion, I am going to give my prognostication an A+, even if I was complete garbage. As much as I would like to give myself a glowing report on my prowess at identifying who the Edmonton Blizzard needed to draft, unfortunately for me (and my readers) I was nowhere close to being right. Instead of dwelling on my failures, however, I will focus on the positives, and one of the best things coming out of this draft is the Edmonton Blizzard.

While Edmonton did not go where I expected and draft a pure scorer, they did…. Well there’s no beating around the bush. They totally went the opposite direction and went defense heavy. Which kind of makes sense when you look at the Edmonton Blizzard prospects currently continuing to develop in the SMJHL. In Edmonton’s farm system are several players that will likely make the jump this season into the SHL, while several will likely continue to develop or be outright waived. Before we get to deep into why Edmonton’s draft was beneficial for the franchise, let’s take a look at a few of these players.

POTENTIAL CALL UPS

1) Kyle Sutton – Do not be shocked if you see Kyle Sutton make the jump this offseason to the big leagues. A rangy right winger that played last season for the Maine Timber (nee Halifax Raiders, #raidon), the Ottawa native played much of the season on the opposite side of the ice. You would not be able to really tell that from his performance, though. Over the course of the season the rangy Sutton tallied 31 points on 17 goals and 14 assists. His 31 points were good for fourth on the team, while his 17 goals earned him a share of the top spot in terms of goal scoring. All wasn’t rosy for Sutton, however, as his meager -17 +/- rating can attest to. That said, I would expect Sutton to improve that statistic drastically with a little more talent around him.

2) Axel Foley – As one of the up and comers in the Blizzard farm system, it may finally be time to see Axel Foley don an Edmonton sweater and join what has historically been one of the strong suits for the Blizzard: the defense. Foley has been one of the prized prospects in the Edmonton farm system since he was drafted and he has consistently shown his class playing for the Carolina Kraken. The Red Deer, Alberta native will likely finally come home to play in front of his hometown faithful and fill the void left by the trading away of future Hall of Famer, Jon Toner. Filling Toner’s skates will be a difficult, but not impossible task for the youngster. Indeed, at 6’3” and 229 pounds, it’s likely that Toner would have difficulty filling Foley’s skates. As evidence of his readiness to make the leap to the next level, Foley was clearly one of the best defensemen in the SMJHL last season. Foley scored 9 goals and garnered 33 assists during the course of the season, leading the team in both points and assists. What makes Foley’s performance even more impressive was his prowess on the defensive side of the ice, earning 95 hits and blocking 77 shots. Recognized as one of the very best in the SMJHL, it is clear that Foley will be value added and could make quite the splash during his rookie campaign.

3) Bryce McMahon – The final player that has the potential to receive a call up this offseason is Bryce McMahon, the young right winger from Leeds, England. McMahon, a gifted playmaker, has performed well in the SMJHL and could be deserving of a call up this offseason, but he also may be on the outside looking in due to all the veteran offensive talent Edmonton returns this season. McMahon’s play this past season is going to make it a tough decision for the Blizzard management however. While playing for the top rated Vancouver Whalers McMahon gathered 33 points off 8 goals and 25 assists, good for fifth on the squad. McMahon was no slouch in the defensive zone either, tallying 59 hits and 37 blocked shots. That mix of offensive and defensive prowess could put McMahon in good stead with Edmonton’s other forwards. The question, however, will be if there is even a roster spot to plug him into.

NEED MORE SEASONING

While the first three players profiled are all potential call ups, this latter group are the players that likely need some additional seasoning before making their debut in the SHL.

1) Terrence Smith – Big Terry as he likes to be called is, is one of the most physically imposing players in the SMJHL and likely could be one of the most physically impressive specimens to wear an Edmonton sweater should he continue progressing. The California native had a rough go of it last season and could potentially find himself in the WHO KNOWS category, but I am still holding out hope, not least of which is because of his size and mean streak. Smith only suited up for 24 games last season for the Colorado Raptors and did nothing to really endear himself beyond earning 7 assists. Indeed, his 18 penalty minutes in 24 games is impressive in the worst kind of way. What makes him an intriguing prospect, however, are the 52 hits he accrued. His physical presence alone is what keeps him in the hunt, at least for now, for a potential run at getting call up in a few seasons.

2) Sammy Blaze – If Big Terry Smith is in the mix due to his size alone, Sammy Blaze is in the mix due to his talent. A solidly built center, Blaze has found himself in the hunt for a future call up. A native of Jackson City, Michigan, Blaze played for his hometown Detroit Falcons last season and was clearly the team’s best player. Playing in every game, Blaze led the Falcons with 21 goals and 22 assists. Even more impressive was his ability to lead his team in goals while taking significantly fewer shots than his teammates. Indeed, Blaze had an astounding 18.58% shooting percentage on the season. Combine that offensive skill with solid defensive numbers to the tune of 42 hits and 71 blocked shots and you can clearly see why the Edmonton management are big on Blaze and his continued development. If he has another season like the one he just did, it will be tough to keep him down in the SMJHL.

3) Rikki Petrov – Next up on our list of players that need a little more seasoning is Rikki Petrov. A center for the Vancouver Whalers, Petrov had a decent yet unspectacular season. On a team loaded with talent, it was clearly difficult for the youngster to stand apart, but he did some really good things and showed his quality and potential. Playing in all 50 games, the Nizhny Novgorod, Russia native was able to tally 5 goals and 21 assists and clearly his value was making plays for his teammates, attested to by his +11 rating. There is still a lot to develop but Petrov could be one of the more interesting prospects in the near future.

4) Bane – One of the remaining players who probably needs a little more seasoning before making the jump to the big league club is none other than Batman nemesis, Bane. A solidly build defensemen from London, England, Bane has shown that he is more than just a physical presence on the ice. While playing, aptly so, for the Nevada Battleborn this past season, Bane was able to accumulate 27 points on 11 goals and 16 assists. Indeed, what was probably the most surprising about his season with Nevada was how surprisingly little he utilized his 6’4”, 226lb frame against opposing players, tallying only 28 hits while also garnering 64 assists. While there is a lot of talent to work with, the young defenseman could probably go for at least another season or two of seasoning before donning an Edmonton sweater.

5) Peter Ramsey – The last player to be profiled that will likely spend another season in the minor league ranks in Peter Ramsey. I struggled with this one since Ramsey has consistently shown that he can play at a high level and he likely could be a backup goaltender now and start gaining valuable professional experience. The problem isn’t Ramsey’s talent, but instead the funnel at the top that he is contending with. Ramsey was much better than his numbers indicate after starting in goal for the Kelowna Knights last season. Playing in 37 games, Ramsey amassed 12 wins, 24 losses and 1 overtime loss while sporting a 90.9% save percentage and 3.14 goals against average. Additionally, Ramsey ranked third amongst all goaltenders in saves with 1,153, clearly an indicator that a) he is talented and b) he was playing behind a less than stellar defense (although admittedly most defenses in the minors are less than stellar).

WHO KNOWS

The last few players are honestly a bit of a crapshoot. Some are still too young to see much ice team and may end up not fitting the Edmonton Blizzard philosophy while others are probably too long in the tooth at this point and/or just haven’t made the progress the franchise expected of them. Players like defenseman Chet Hillier, goalie Leo Bloomfield, defenseman Karl Schaufelberger, and right wing Markleesio Hopscotch all will likely either stay in the Blizzard farm system or be cut to make room for younger talent that fits with Edmonton’s philosophy. While all four of the aforementioned players could still be in Edmonton’s long term plans, it is hard to say based upon some of their play thus far and some of their development, or lack of. Only time, and the Edmonton management and scouts, will tell.

THE PICKS

Hopefully by spending a little time detailing the current batch of prospects already in the Edmonton farm system it helps to contextualize the draft picks Edmonton made and provide a little bit of a rubric for grading the picks. As can be seen from the above analysis, Edmonton has a fairly strong pool of offensive prospects while having a dearth of quality defenseman depth (although the defensemen that they do have could be amongst the best in all the farm systems). So, without any further ado, on to the picks.

With the Edmonton’s first draft pick, the Blizzard selected defenseman Rude Sniff of the Nevada Battleborn. The Osaka, Japan native is much more of a multi-tool type of player than a traditional defenseman having played last season almost exclusively as a forward for the Battleborn. Sniff did so well last season as a forward that some in the Edmonton scouting staff could potentially see him switching positions for good. Over the course of the season Sniff tallied 7 goals and 3 assists while also gathering 4 hits and 47 blocks. While it is clear from the numbers that, as a defenseman, he is much more focused on position than physical dominance that may in fact be the kind of defenseman Edmonton needs in its future. Additionally, with his recent experience as a forward Sniff could find himself the critical link in Edmonton’s transition game between defense and offense. While I would have preferred Edmonton use this pick on more traditional goal scorer, it is hard to argue that Sniff provides ample value this late in the first draft. Overall I grade this pick an A-.

Edmonton’s next pick was in the Second Round. With the 33rd overall pick the Blizzard selected goalie wunderkind Tyler Ward. A talented young goalie for the Quebec City Citadelles, Ward spent much of last season as the backup goalie for the Citadelles, but in his limited playing time he was nothing short of electric. In 15 games Ward amassed a 9-3-1 record with 2 shutouts to his name. Additionally, Ward tallied a spectacular 2.28 goals against average and a 92.3% save percentage on the season which was good for third best in the league. While Ward is an insanely good pick up, especially this late in the second round, Edmonton already has two goalies in their farm system and I just don’t see Ward pushing them for playing time very soon. Even with that said, it would be hard to pass up on such a talent and I can’t fault the Edmonton management or scouting department for that. Overall I give this pick a B+ grade.

Edmonton used their final pick of the draft to shore up their defensive depth by selecting defenseman Chad Alfa from the Newfoundland Berserkers. The rangy 6’4”, 230 lbs defender is an intriguing prospect and provides some size that Edmonton’s defensive pairings have been lacking. That said, Alfa is certainly more of a developmental prospect than a product that will make the transition to the SHL proper anytime soon. The Irishman played in all 50 games last season and collected 5 goals and 9 assists while also gathering 42 hits and 28 blocked shots, all respectable numbers for a third line defenseman. While Alfa is certainly an intriguing prospect and could develop into a fine defenseman, I question if Edmonton really needed to add another defenseman here. While the pickings were slim this late in the draft, I am wary of going too heavy in favor of defense, especially with only three picks. Overall I grade this pick as a B.

While it was not a very large draft for the Edmonton Blizzard, it was a talented one. With only three picks, Edmonton made the most of their picks and went all in on defense which could come back to haunt the team in future seasons. Only time will be the ultimate decider of how pundits in the future look back on this draft class. It could go down as one of the best classes in franchise history or be forgotten as a footnote. One thing is clear however, Edmonton was not afraid to take daring risks when it comes to building out their farm system and daring to be great is a much better indicator of future success than playing it safe.

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#2

Blizzard didn't go for a scoring winger, they got a scoring d-man instead Cool

Glad to see some love for my boys Foley and Sutton comin up this year, Blizzard got the big youth movement coming in to fill that depth and more.

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