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Merica · 06-12-2021, 09:18 PM

CHICAGO—It’s a beautiful day in Chicago, a light breeze coming across Lake Michigan with a crystal clear sky overhead, the lakeshore full of Chicagoans taking full advantage of the weather and relaxed covid restrictions, with sand volleyball visible in the distance, numerous boats on the horizon and bicyclists cruising down the path. It's hard to put into words how fantastic of a scene the Lakeshore is during the summer. Amongst those lake goers is Daniel Merica Jr., who instead of attending the S60 SHL Draft, chose to spend his time drinking beer and playing cornhole with some friends. For Merica Jr., it’s a big occasion, as he continues his quest to live up to this fathers legacy and once again torment the SHL with the Merica name, much to the chagrin of most of the league.

The draft process for Daniel has been much like the SMJHL one, with only a couple teams reaching out his way as the draft gets underway. ”Last year I had two teams hit me up, Maine and Anaheim, nobody even bothered to say hey. Merica says, as he tosses another bag into the hole. ”It all worked out for the best, @Ace was adamant about picking me up, and I’m very grateful to be in Anaheim, what we've been able to built there in such a short time is amazing, but I’d be lying if I didn’t take stock of everyone that didn’t even glance my way, or notice the amount of shit talk and mocking that followed their selection of me by the SMJHL announcers.”

When Merica’s name was called 22nd overall, it was met with some jeering and mocking by the announcers and SMJHL GMs, laughing at the idea of taking him and is very offensive minded build. ”It was almost as if they didn’t realize that it’s a developmental league, and you are looking at 3-4 seasons before you ever step foot on SHL ice, which means there is 3-4 seasons to develop your game and improve on weaknesses, so their mindset of "wow this guy is just a defensive liability he's trash" is incredibly ignorant.”

In his first season with Anaheim, Merica spent the majority of the time on the 4th line with fellow draftee Stan Din’Desque, who a few moments ago was just selected 1st overall by the Montreal Patriotes. "Montreal landed a stud right there, Stan is a class act, incredible teammate and extremely talented. @Inf1d3l " said Daniel, with nothing but praise for his linemate. Merica had 15 points and a PDO over 100, vastly improving his defensive skills as the season went on. Despite his development and dedication to being active and being a key contributor for Anaheim, the SHL draft process has proved to be the spitten image of the SMJHL one.

[Image: nbc_nhl_tomwilsoninterview_190108.jpg?itok=zB15t4QV.jpg]

Merica Jr. takes questions after a Anaheim win during the season.

”I had four teams reach out. Winnipeg, Montreal, Calgary and San Francisco, and only one of them expressed legitimate interest, and I’ll wait on divulging that team until after I get picked.” Merica said with a wink, pounding the remainder of his Spotted Cow beer. Almost on cue, his phone rang, and a smile gleamed across his face. ”Hey I really appreciate it, I’m glad it worked out, it’s going to be a hell of a ride” Merica said, then hung up the phone, caught a beer from his buddy and shotgunned it down before exclaiming ”Were going to Winnipeg boys!”.

With three picks in the first round, the Aurora made out like bandits, landing Gonzo Gobblygook at #4 (@tweedledunn ), Marcel Beck at #6 (@By-Tor ) and now Daniel Merica Jr. at #16. ”Back to what I was saying earlier, yeah, Winnipeg is the only team that was all In on me, when they made that big trade with Tampa Bay to get #16, Kez immediately messaged me and said that pick was for me. So I feel really good about it, it goes along way to have a GM that believes in you and makes a move like that.”

As the pick was called in, Merica tuned into the live stream to see what the announcers had to say this time around, and the look of irritation coming across face was palpable. ”I’m not sure what they mean when they say people thought I’d “get in trouble” or that I needed to “mature”- I’ve literally never been in trouble, I come from a line of two HOF players, I’ve ran the SMJHL and Co-GM’d the Rage to their first Cup. So not sure what their referring too, and that “Oh-No” draft class of Anaheim? Yeah we outgained everyone in the SMHL in TPE last season, so maybe they should issue an apology to Ace.” He scoffed, flipping the bird to the screen.

It’s pretty amazing that Merica Jr. received legitimate interest from only one team in the SHL, this is either incredibly poor scouting or intentional disregard. ”I can promise you that there is going to be substantial regret on the part of the GMs in both leagues. But let’s forget about them for now, I’m pumped as hell to be heading to Winnipeg, I love what they are doing there, and I can't wait to get to work with Gonzo and Marcel.”

Time will tell how this draft class plays out, it is by all accounts incredibly talented and top heavy, with numerous players over 300 TPE, so it will be a very interesting class to look back on in a few seasons. For Winnipeg, they’ve landed a very committed offensive dynamo to their ranks that is hell-bent on success. ”Last thing I wanna say is a big thank you to @Muerto .”

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Word Count: 944

***By-Tor*** · 06-12-2021, 09:31 PM

Let's win some cups

Credit to enigmatic, Merica, tweedledunn, and jaypc8237 for sigs

*tweedledunn* · 06-13-2021, 11:22 PM

***Muerto*** · 06-14-2021, 01:57 AM

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