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Raven · 04-08-2021, 08:34 PM

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The Toronto North Stars had a great regular season campaign in the 58th season of the SHL. With a record of 46-14-6 for a total of 98 points, they finished third overall in league standings. Which was good for 2nd in their division behind a powerful Hamilton team. Their great form followed into the playoffs as they took out the San Francisco Pride in a rough seven game series, before disposing of the Manhattan rage in five games. In the semi finals of the cup they ran into a tough buffalo team, with whom they tangled for seven games before ultimately losing that game seven.

The S59 SHL entree draft happened last saturday and many players were drafted by SHL teams. Toronto, a team who had just made it to the semi finals and losing in a close seven game series, came to the draft with three picks in the top six! This has to be some of the greatest GMing I have seen in a while. How does this elite of a team have three draft picks in a very steep draft. Let’s deep dive into how Toronto found themselves with these picks.

TOR - SEA trade

On the 15th of September of 2020, a trade was announced between these two teams. Heading in Seattle's direction was at the time defender Jack Kanoff. In return the Toronto North Stars received Seattle’s S57 first rounder, Winnipeg’s S57 second rounder and Seattle’s S59 first rounder. This pick had the condition that if S59 was a reddit draft the pick would slide to a S60 pick. Luckily for Toronto the S59 was deep and not a reddit draft so they got to keep this pick.

I have no idea what happened to these picks as Toronto did not pick up any players with those picks and I cannot find a trade involving these picks. I think Seattle’s pick was the 5th overall pick in that draft, which is the position that Winnipeg made a draft pick. So I can only imagine Toronto and Winnipeg drafted somewhere in a shady back alley. Same goes for that Winnipeg 2nd no clue where that was dealt.

Keep that Seattle S59 first in mind, because that ends up being the first overall pick after the draft lottery.

TOR - NOLA trade

A little while later on the 28th of January this year the New Orleans Specters and Toronto North Stars end up making a trade. Heading towards the Specters goes the 6th overall pick in the S58 draft. Toronto would receive New Orleans S59 first round pick as well as a 27th overall pick in that S58 draft. Apparently Toronto did not like their options in the S58 draft and decided to trade back a draft and try their luck in that draft.

For New Orleans that first round pick became the 6th overall pick and with that they drafted prospect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. For Toronto that 27th overall pick became prospect Jesse Trudeau.
The first rounder they traded for would eventually become the second overall pick in the S59 draft.

LAP - TOR trade

On the 2nd of April a day before the S59 draft the Toronto North Stars made an aggressive move. To the Los Angeles Panthers they traded their own S59 first round pick, a 15th overall pick. Their 2nd rounders, the 33 overall pick and for the S60 draft their own first round pick. In return they would receive the Chicago Syndicate’s first round draft pick, which was a 6th overall.

With this trade the Toronto North Stars would own the first, second and sixth overall pick in the S60 draft. An aggressive move to pick up a player they had high hopes would still be available at sixth overall. Would it work out? Only time could tell if the player they had traded would still be there at the time of the draft.

3rd of April 2021

Trade day was upon us and the Toronto North Stars are the first time on the board to make a pick. All eyes are on them as they own the first two picks and with that comes a lot of pressure. In a stacked draft class as the S59 class there are plenty of options of players who could be named worthy of a first and second overall selection. However Toronto have had plenty of time to go over their options and came into the draft prepared to pick up the pieces they were most confident in.

With their first overall pick in the Season 59 draft the Toronto North Stars would select defense man Jay Sink.

Jay Sink - Anchorage Armada - 6ft tall - 190 pounds - right defender
Season stats: 66 games played | 7 goals | 11 assist | 18 points | +21 | 16 PIM | 19:50 ATOI | 62 SBLK | 73 HITS

Jay Sink is a hard working defender from the english capital of London. In his rookie campaign with the Armada he played the 4th highest amount of minutes. Sink brings a sturdy frame to any defense and he has been using his frame very well so far in his career. Throughout his S58 SMJHL campaign he was good for 62 blocked shots as well as bringing a physical edge with 73 hits. On the offense Sink ain't no slouch either as he rang up 7 goals and 11 assists for a total of 18 points in his 66 game campaign with the Armada. Overall Sink can be described as quite the balanced player. His read of the defensive play is excellent and he brings that big body any coach would like to see. Checking is a forte of his, which creates a dynamic his opponents have to respect and keep in mind. If you think you can go easy on Sink you will be laid out in no time. Sink keeps up with the play well and his frame gives him noticeable strength in corner battles. Offensively Sink can best be described as the guy who translates a successful defense in a great counter attack. He is able to break out the puck easily, finding his team mates on the rush. Sink was a great pickup by the North Stars as they added some elite level talent to their prospect pool.

After their first overall pick came their second overall pick and with that pick they drafted another defenseman in Gucci von Dane.

Gucci von Dane - St. Louis Scarecrows - 6’2” tall - 210 pounds - Left defender
Season stats: 66 games played | 5 goals | 13 assists | 18 points | -10 | 18 PIM | 20:12 ATOI | 37 SBLK | 23 HITS

If you thought the North Stars were done with adding elite level of talent to their defensive prospect pool you are mistaken. Coming in hot with the second overall pick, Toronto picks up Austrian born left defender Gucci von Dane. Besides coming with a sick name, Gucci also comes in an impressive frame. At 6 foot 2 inches and 210 pounds Gucci is a unit of a man. Interestingly enough though Gucci’s bread and butter is not using his body for defense, but rather for offense. On the defensive side of the puck Gucci blocked 37 shots and laid out the body 23 times. On the offensive side with 5 goals and 13 assists, just like his fellow draft mate he recorded 18 points. Gucci was definitely more busy up in the offensive zone trying to help out his teammates score goals. His offensive skills are of elite level one might even call him a quarterback on the blue line. He not only is able to read the offensive play very well and set up crisp passes to his teammates. Gucci also comes with a monster of a clap bomb shot. This is the kind of player you want to have on the power play lurking on the backline looking for a powerful ripper and beating the goaltender from far. This is not to say his defensive skills are not up to snuff, but you can definitely tell Gucci is the guy you want to have not far behind the rush. His physicals feel very balanced and having played an average of 20:12 in his rookie season he is a player who can be out on the ice for a long time. All in all the North Stars have solidified two great defensive players who can pair up quite nicely with each other in the future. Look forward to these two causing mayhem playing together.

Now it was time for the North Stars to sit back and see if their intel so far was correct and that the player they thought could drop to 6th overall would do so. As the draft continued eventually their pick came up and they could not be any happier.

With their third draft pick in the top six the Toronto North Stars select their first forward of the draft center playmaker Ryuuji Kawashima.

Ryuuji Kawashima - Anaheim Outlaws - 6’4” tall - 213 pounds - center
Season stats: 66 games played | 9 goals | 18 assists | 27 points | -30 | 30 PIM | 15:00 ATOI | 46 SBLK | 46 HIT |

After picking up two elite level defenders the North Stars also are able to pick up some elite talent up front. They select Japanese born Ryuuji Kawashima as their center of the future. Kawashima is a huge presence in the center of the ice and is built with a massive frame to overpower anyone in the face off circle. In his rookie season Kawashima was able to score 9 goals and assist on 18 for a respectable 27 points only playing an average of 15 minutes per night. Kawashima did come with some minor disciplinary issues as he took 30 minutes in penalties through his rookie campaign. A -30 goal differential was also a stain on his rookie stats. Kawashima brings a lot of qualities to any forward group. His abilities to handle the puck as he dangles his way through the defense is solid and he possesses a clean crisp pass which he calls his bread and butter. Kawashima reads offensive situations very well and helps keep the play going. Defensively Kawashima proved to have issues, his read of the defensive play seems good. However he clearly had trouble adjusting to the north american game. Physically Kawashima is able to use his frame to win faceoffs and he has the hands to pull a quick pull off and pass it off as well as the strength to really battle for the puck. He possesses some nice speed and an unproven pool of stamina.

As mentioned before Toronto already is playing at a very high level as seen last season by making the semi finals of the cup. They have a roster which is clearly at the top of their game and yet they have somehow managed to come into this draft and get two free picks of their choosing and make a big brian last day trade to also bring in the ability to pick up a great player early in the draft. With a draft like this the prospect has been filled up with some elite level talent and teams in the league will be kicking themselves for letting this happen. A common phrase I have heard is ‘stop trading picks to the great lakes’, as well as ‘fuck the great lakes’.

I for one am super excited to have had the opportunity to be drafted to a great organisation like the North Stars. I have been drafted with two fellow rookies who I enjoy and who have already made waves in the locker room. It was a stacked draft so many teams have been able to pick up some absolutely wonderful talent. I look forward to seeing how this draft class develops and compares in a few seasons to come. I know I will continue to be putting in the work to keep Kawashima at the top of this draft class and I hope to achieve great success in Toronto. Let’s go North Stars!

Thank you Fever, sköldpaddor and OD for the amazing sigs!

Montreal Impact/Militia Militia-Old

|Player Page| Stars

|Update Page| Japan

SFresh3 · 04-08-2021, 09:30 PM

Great write up Raven. Looking forward to the day when I play with all of you amazing picks.

If you're curious on how those picks mysteriously went to WPG, they were dealt in the trade to acquire Adam Barron here.

gucci · 04-08-2021, 11:39 PM

Good stuff as usual Raven

Raven · 04-09-2021, 05:20 AM

04-08-2021, 09:30 PMSFresh3 Wrote: Great write up Raven. Looking forward to the day when I play with all of you amazing picks.

If you're curious on how those picks mysteriously went to WPG, they were dealt in the trade to acquire Adam Barron here.

Thanks, definitely feel the same, y'all a great group.

Oh god, the worst part is I even looked at that trade and my mind went, these are not the picks you are looking for. Thanks for clarifying that for me!

Thank you Fever, sköldpaddor and OD for the amazing sigs!

Montreal Impact/Militia Militia-Old

|Player Page| Stars

|Update Page| Japan