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nour · 04-10-2022, 10:29 PM

The SHL Trade Deadline is coming to a close shortly, and with it we've seen the one of the SHL's greatest dynasties finally come to an end, as the Hamilton Steelhawks have offloaded a good number of big name franchise players such as Rotticus Scott, Jay Cue, Ty Murphy and Dogwood Maple in exchange for multiple picks within the the next 3 SHL Entry Drafts, in preparation of entering a rebuild, and loading up for the next era of Steelhawks hockey in Hamilton. In this deep dive, we're going to take a look at what the future looks like for Hamilton, see what remains of their aging roster, and what we can expect of them going forward into the future. Let's jump right in:

The future for Hamilton is admittedly a bit rough in the immediate, but there are some glimmering pieces of hope to be excited for into the future, especially over the next few seasons. Without top offensive weapons like Rotticus Scott and Dogwood Maple, the Steelhawks are obviously taking a massive hit to their offensive production, and with their defensive core aging alongside their goaltending, they're all but surely going to be a rebuilding, basement dwelling team at least for the next 5 or so seasons, a position Hamilton hasn't found themselves in since the S40s. That said, unlike a lot of teams who find themselves in the basement of the SHL's standings, Hamilton came prepared. Hamilton looks to enter the S65 and S66 drafts with 3 first round picks in each draft, and a good handful of 2nd round picks that should be high as well. Using these picks, Hamilton can not only stock the cupboards up, but also ensure that the next core they build will all be of a similar age range, making it very easy to build a solid foundation to build on top of once they return to contending.

Hamilton's current roster still holds some solid faces of the SHL, such as Mitchell van der Heijden, Guy O'Shea, Rikard Hammarberg, Devin Basher and Evangelos Giannopoulos. Their are other big names on their roster on offense and on defense, but a good number of them are very deep into their careers and aging fast, so their usability and value will be very limited going into the future. The Hamilton Steelhawks are likely to try and avoid being a middling team, and will prefer to embrace a full rebuild, so it's very likely they move into the offseason looking to find new homes for van der Heijden and O'Shea, both to ensure their own picks be higher, and to gain more draft capital in the coming drafts, to rebuild a core as fast and as close in age as possible.

Going into the future, keep a watchful eye on the Steelhawks to see how their hall of fame GMs will manage this rebuild, as the next few months are going to be very pivotal for them. This long and storied chapter of Steelhawks hockey comes to a close, but it won't be long before this team finds itself among the league's upper echelons again. The king is dead, long live the king.

**First GM in SMJHL history to win 3 Four Star Cups back-to-back-to-back**

*CptSquall* · 04-10-2022, 11:32 PM

Approved, +5 TPE to @nour

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