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**The__Y-man__100** · 05-01-2021, 11:46 AM

Latvia is very proud to announce yet another strong addition to its already growing nation. On Friday April 30th it was announced that @Kraagenskul Zebulon Leavitt, the S56 24th overall pick of the Baltimore Platoon, would be joining Latvia on the international ice! Press reports claim that the citizens of Latvia rejoiced when news of the signing broke out as not only did Latvia's defensive core get younger and stronger, but now the timeline for Latvia to make its way back to the medal rounds has been accelerated! For those who don't know the name Zebulon Leavitt, let's take a small dive into the career of this very promising two way defender.

Rewind to S55, Zebulon Leavitt was a late round steal, being drafted by Vancouver with the first pick of the fourth round in the S55 entry draft. Zebulon would go on to add 9 points, fifth best +/- rating on the team, virtually 100 hits, boasting one of the better defensive game ratings for the team all while logging just under 17 minutes a night (which is pretty high for a rookie). Vancouver would sweep St. Louis in the first round only to have their egos put into place by losing four straight to Carolina in the second round. Leavitt would produce one goal and a large amount of hits and blocks in this playoff run, but rookies tend to have a disadvantage in the playoffs due to lack of experience.

Fast forward to S56 where Zebulon looked a lot more comfortable in the Whaler jersey as he almost tripled his point production while having a +/- rating of 32! He also successfully cracked triple digit hit counts along with the second best defensive rating and block count on the team. Vancouver would DOMINATE this season having a 14 point lead above second place (who was that pesky Carolina team Leavitt faced in S55 playoffs). The post season was one for the history books as Vancouver would go on to sweep the Knights in the second round and serve up some payback to Carolina, beating them in 7 to then go on and beat Newfoundland to win the S56 SMJHL playoffs! While Zebulon registered 5 assists during the Whalers playoff run, he would once again finish with the 2nd most hits on the team, the most blocks and the 2nd best defensive game rating.

Advancing into S57, it became clear with an aging Vancouver team that Zebulon was now one of the locker room leaders being a much more experienced player. during the S57 run, he was able to accumulate more then thirty points, the BEST +/- on the team (with a rating of +17), 140 hugeee hits along with 105 blocks in a very competitive pacific division. Going into the playoffs though Vancouver was hungry to go back to back and would beat Nevada 4-1 in the first round along with sweeping Detroit in the second round. All the signs were pointing to good things, but unfortunately Anaheim showed them no mercy and ended their run with a 4-1 victory over the Whalers in the third round. Zebulon would have 9 points in this playoff run along with the most hits and blocks on the team this time around.

S58 was an emotional one for Zebulon, knowing it would be his last run with Vancouver before he would start his new journey with an up and coming Baltimore team. When the season began the LR felt a little more empty as the mentors who build up his game were already off the the big leagues while Leavitt stayed behind. Leavitt would go on to hit all time high career goal counts and shot block totals this season, however was not able to crack 30+ points like he did the season before. He would also maintain a respectable triple hit count in this season as well. Vancouver was in a weird spot this season as they were not rebuilding, but no one really looked at them as a cup favorite. They would go on to beat Carolina yet again 4-2, however would fall short to the Knights in round 2 losing in game seven. Leavitt would have 4 points along with more crazy high block and hit counts (not to mention leading the team in take aways) and while Vancouver could not win him a cup in his final year, the city was excited to witness his growth as he now begins a new adventure in the SHL.

For the regular season over his time in Vancouver, Zebulon finished with 86 points, 458 hits, 362 blocks, 100 take aways and +/- rating of 40. Comparing to his first season with Baltimore this year, in just 29 games he is already showing similar stats to the ones he put up in the SMJHL. 11 points, 53 hits, 63 shots blocked and 10 take aways. He is estimated to be 1000 tpe come this IIHF tournament when he suits up for team Latvia.

With Baltimore having an average defender age of S55, Zebulon will grow with the majority of Baltimore's defensive core and come S62 this will be one HEAVILY defensively stacked team!

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First ever Yukon Malamute draft pick (1st overall S65)

Randominoe · 05-01-2021, 12:42 PM

Kraagenskul · 05-01-2021, 08:56 PM

Great stuff, nice summary of my career so far.

*gurbs* · 05-02-2021, 04:43 PM

Congrats!!

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