Who Will Carry Kelowna in S61

While the Kelowna Knights have had a rough S60 (to put it kindly). The hope is that next season will be much better though, and with the help of an extremely large draft pool from S61 I think those hopes will be realized. The following players were all drafted in the S60 SMJHL draft and are going to be taking more prominent roles in the coming season.

The Offense
Left Wing - Tomas Zadina - TPE: 298
Top Attributes:
Getting Open - 14
Offensive Read - 14
Stickchecking - 14

Zadina is a shoot first kind of player with some defensive chops. Expect him to be in the top 6 next season driving one of the lines from the wing. He's not going to be hitting anyone but with his stickchecking and ability to read the play defensively you can expect him to make an impact at both ends of the ice.

Right Wing - Duncan Mackenzie - TPE: 290
Top Attributes:
Screening - 13
Getting Open - 13
Passing - 13

Mackenzie is someone you want on your top line logging a ton of offensive minutes. He's no slouch in the defensive zone but he also doesn't stand out. His best asset is that he's a dual threat. With other players the goalie can cheat toward the shot or pass but with Mackenzie you never know if he's going to thread the needle or take the shot.

Right Wing - Petr Svoboda - TPE: 274
Top Attributes:
Getting Open - 15
Defensive Read - 15
Puckhandling -13

Svoboda is someone I would describe as a really high hockey IQ player. He doesn't quite put it all together yet, but he's the kind of player you could see take a huge leap in a single offseason, He knows where to be on the ice at all times, he's always open in the offensive zone and he isn't afraid to go to the front of the net. If he works on his skating a little this offseason I think you could expect to see him as Kelowna's 1C next season.

Center - Sean Stevenson III - TPE: 268
Top Attributes:
Stamina - 14
Screening - 13
Getting Open - 13

Stevenson III is an interesting player. He's not going to drive play offensively or defensively, but he'll win a faceoff and if you're in the offensive zone he'll park himself in front of the net and get a tip on any shot that comes his way. I see him as a power play specialist for this coming season, either a 2nd or 3rd line center.

Right Wing - Scott Thorn - TPE: 245
Top Attributes:
Screening - 13
Offensive Read - 13
Checking - 13

Thorn is what I would call high impact player. Big hits, a net front presence, using body position and stick lifts down low in the offensive zone, lots of shots from anywhere in the offensive zone. He's going to fit in on the 3rd line next season and if he continues growing in height he could absolutely bully his opponents.

Left Wing - Petra Sabor - TPE: 238
Top Attributes:
Shooting Accuracy - 14
Getting Open - 13
Passing - 13

Sabor is a shooter. Through and through, if you have one person to take a shot on the power play or with 15 seconds left in the game you let Sabor lineup on the point. Sabor won't be playing a ton of defense. This is kind of player that you put on the 2nd line with a defensive player and a pure playmaker and make sure to give them a ton of powerplay time.

The Defense
Left Defense - Leons Briedis - TPE: 310
Top Attributes:
Passing - 14
Checking - 14
Hitting - 14

I truly believe that Briedis is the perfect player to become the team's top defenseman, He's got the passing ability to make a 1st pass, he's get the checking, hitting and defensive read to shutdown plays in the neutral zone before other team breaks into the defensive zone. He'll be on the top pair next season.

Left Defense - Sebastian Weiss - TPE: 291
Top Attributes:
Checking - 14
Defensive Read - 14
Getting Open - 13

Sebastian Weiss is the perfect partner to go on the top pair with Briedis. Another perfect 2 way player except instead of a passer he's a shooter. You'll be seeing a lot of shots off of his stick next season.

Right Defense - Adriano Donini - TPE: 224
Top Attributes:
Stamina - 12
Passing - 10
Puckhandling - 10

Donini is a really raw player. He's got the physical tools and he's an all around decent player, but his main asset is his upside. At this point he just needs to take one part of his game and elevate it to the next level. A worst he can spend another season on the 3rd pair, at best he becomes a defensive specialist who can eat some minutes while the top pair is resting.

So where does that put the squad for next season?

Zadina - Svoboda - Mackenzie
Sabor - Stevenson III - ???
??? - Thorn - ???
??? - ??? - ???

Briedis - Weiss
??? - Donini
??? - ???

Not too bad. Now fill it out with the older players, maybe an overager and a couple youngsters. This is gonna be a really really good team.

Cal Juice
Tomas Zadina
Brady McIntyre

Approved!

+5 TPE @caltroit_red_flames

pog

i'll playwith anyone
playing with my teammates is part of the intangibles I bring to the table
i play with them a lot.
they didn't like it at first
but after a while, it just felt normal

4-0 and 0-4 aren't that different tbh

FIRE EGGY
HIRE ARTY