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Talls · 05-26-2021, 03:58 PM

Raptors Off To the Sunset

May 26, 2021

Talls

The Colorado Raptors season 59 comes to close with a loss in the second round of the playoffs to the Anchorage Armada, in a 0-4 sweep. After getting blown out 4-2 and 7-1 at home, the Raptors dropped their last two in heartbreaking, overtime fashion. It was not the end the team, management, or Raptors fans envisioned. Throughout the season, the squad was tested with the most number of shootouts in the league, at 16 (9-7), with the next closest teams being Detroit and Carolina at 9 shootout games.

After this season, a number of players will be making the best of their chances in the SHL. These players include: Captain RD McOoooh, G Rosejac, LW Kekalainen, C Diamante, RW Makinen, and LD Shimizu-Okoli. These loses will prove to be challenging to make up for Season 60. With the loss of the Captain, the team will have to look to McFife XVIII and Blanchet for leadership. As for goal tending, Rosejac is replaced by the up and coming rookie Senji Seteki, who played a respectable 14 games in the regular season (5-3-2, 2.77 GAA, 0.906 SV%). He will have big shoes to fill.

With all the faces leaving, let's take a quick look at eligible players for the upcoming S60 SMJHL draft that would make good replacements for the lost veterans. Please note, these are a sampling of players and many players were not analyzed. These players are merely to show that there is lots of young blood for the Raptors to consider in the future.

Defense:

LD - Jamal Nightingale - 165 TPE

The defense-man is out of Spanish Town, Jamaica. The left-hander stands at 6'2" and a weight of 200 lbs. He has excellent defensive ratings and puck handling. This is a player who is a defender first. The Raptors need more of these type of players to be better at slowing down the other offenses in the conference.

RD - Spicy MacHaggis - 160 TPE

From Glasglow Scotland, MacHaggis is a 6'5", 270 lbs giant. As anyone would imagine, he is a very physical player with well rounded defensive ratings. He does have some proficiency passing and puck handling, but that is not why MacHaggis is on the ice. He is there to stop goals and he will stop goals.

RD - Dobby Hintzskanen - 157 TPE

The American from Dallas is a 5'11", 200 lbs speedster. He has excellent speed and stamina, on top of great offensive ratings. He would be a project though as he has sub-par defensive ratings. He is a decent option to have an additional offensive minded player in the line-up.

LD - Clem Fandango - 177 TPE

This British defense-man is tall at 6'4" but lanky at 158 lbs. He has a good mix of offensive and defensive stats and is a great fighter. He can be an enforcer for those tougher games, while not being a liability on the ice.

Offense:

C - Sean Stevenson III - 165 TPE

Hailing from the Czech Republic, the 6'4" 226 lbs center is physical oriented player. He has some good ratings across defense and offense, with peaks in offensive read and stick checking. He would be a great addition as a 4th line center to develop into a number 1.

RW - Vic Smith - 160 TPE

Smith is from Cologne, Germany and stands at 5'9" and 195 lbs. He is fast, agile, and has great stamina. He is a well rounded offensive player with a high rating in shooting accuracy. Smith will need to work on his defense though, as his highest rating is in checking and it is a 6.

LW - Luca Shark - 167 TPE

Shark is a Canadian from Laval. A quick look at his ratings and it is obvious he is an offensive power-house. He has high ratings in getting open, puck handling, shooting range, and agility. Like these other rookies, he needs to spend some time on his defensive skills so that he is not a liability on the ice.

Goalies:

Here is a scary stat for teams, there are no goalies eligible for the S60 draft. Teams are going to have to find their goalies of the future by trading or the free agency market.

Overall, there seems to be a large amount of right wings and defense-men available in the draft. There are only a few of the other positions, but for a team like Colorado, they will be able to navigate to reload for next season.

Jumbobone19 · 05-26-2021, 04:06 PM

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