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MuNk22 · 11-20-2023, 11:48 PM

The S74 SHL draft held on November 18, 2023 at Nash's Doghouse saw 7 Colorado Raptors selected to SHL teams. In an incredibly deep draft, no Colorado players were picked until the 20th pick with Leonard Wood to the Philadelphia Forge. Then in the second round, Colorado players started getting selected at quicker pace with Shadow Fenix at 23 to the Seattle Argonauts, followed by Oranj Kohne at 24 to the Calgary Dragons, and then Brandon Gilleyes was drafted to Baltimore with the 37th pick in the draft. In the third round saw Napoleon Dinklage (48), Tanner Pitts (51), and Nick Kodiak (56) taken off of the board.

It was a successful draft for these S74 rookies in Colorado. You can expect these selections as well as the entire S74 class to be a core part of the SHL for many seasons to come.

Here is a recap of the draft for the Colorado Raptors:

Leonard Wood Forge

Round 1, Pick 20

With the last two picks in the first round, Philadelphia had a unique opportunity to add top notch quality players to their team. At 19, they picked another right winger with Marek Carda. Then with the last pick in the first round, they picked Colorado's own, Leonard Wood. With their two consecutive first rounders, the Forge got their one-two punch on the right wing.

“After scouting conversations with Leonard I felt he was a very high quality pick and was very high on our draft rankings it felt like he fell into our lap with our 19-20 picks. He could become the steal of the draft in our opinion,” Kalesalad, the general manager of the Philadelphia Forge spoke on his decision to draft Wood.

“Our feeling was that Leonard wood is a strong two way player in his rookie season. He appears to have a very high upside and potential on the offensive side of the puck and still be defensively responsible. He will slot in nicely with the play style that the forge run. Also when scouting looking into his belief of culture in the locker room and general philosophy of team success seemed to be the perfect fit for our organization.”

Leonard Wood was in shock after hearing his name called in the draft.

“Honestly, I was not expecting to be drafted in the first round at all. With how crazy this draft deep this draft was, I felt like I could've gone anywhere. I'm excited for this opportunity here with Philadelphia. They're exactly the kind of team I'd hope to join.”

But Leonard isn't getting too far ahead of himself yet. Asked on what's next for him, he replied, “Well, I've got unfinished business in Colorado. This draft was very important for me and I'm incredibly thankful to Kalesalad and his staff. But now that the draft is out of the way, it's time to get back to work for the Raptors.”

Shadow Fenix

Round 2, Pick 23

This explosive center was taken by the Seattle Argonauts early in the second round. Going into the draft, there was no telling where Shadow would end up. Some experts saw him going in the top 10, while Shadow himself thought he could drop to the third round.
Shadow is a first generation player who has number one center potential for the Seattle Argonauts. Shadow put up eye popping numbers in his rookie season with Colorado with 32 goals, 39 assists for a total of 71 points centering Colorado's first line. Shadow was the only player on the Raptors with a positive plus minus in the regular season. He was also named to the S73 SMJHL All-Stars.

Efischermann, Seattle's general manger offered his thoughts on selecting Shadow, “Shadow and I had a great conversation, and he was very easy to talk to. This is something I weigh heavily when I am scouting first gen prospects. His play last season and his current TPE speak for themselves. We were honestly shocked he was still there at 23. We are thrilled with where we got him and think he can really be a difference maker in a couple seasons in Seattle.”

“Like I said, we were shocked that he was still there in the second round. I fully expected him to be a first round pick base on his TPE alone. I would consider him one of the steals of the draft, because if you just talk to him, you realize you are getting a quality person who will add a lot to your locker room along with high end talent on the ice. We are very excited to watch him develop in the J over the next couple of seasons before he makes his debut here with the Argonauts.”

Shadow Fenix was equally shocked when we spoke with him. In his post draft press conference, he offered us these thoughts on being drafted, “Honestly I’m still a little overwhelmed from being drafted at all. There was a ton of excitement leading up to it to finally see it happen, it’s a dream come true. For Seattle in particular, so far it seems like a great group of people all around, and I feel like the up and coming aspect is kind of similar to the Raptor’s rebuild, and I’ve had a lot of fun being part of that. So I’m excited to be part of a new era in Seattle as well!”

Shadow's currently poised to take the SMJHL by storm in his second year with Colorado. Once again, he will be centering Colorado's first line as they hope to get back into the playoffs in S74. If his current development trajectory is maintained, he's destined to become a dangerous offensive threat for Seattle.

Asked on what he hopes to accomplish in Seattle, Shadow said, “Well hopefully I can get a goal or two, maybe the cup, and a few awards along the way? I think that would be a great career!”

Oranj Konhe Dragons

Round 2, Pick 24

Part of the stacked Calgary draft class in which the Dragons took Frøya Solberg first overall and Sonja Solberg 12th overall, Oranj Kohne was selected next by Calgary with their first of two 2nd round picks.

In his rookie season with the Raptors, Konhe proved that he was not just a cone that one could simply skate past. Using his tremendous hockey IQ, he disrupted plays on Colorado's third pairing with left defenseman Napoleon Dinklage. He also showed plenty of offensive ability as well, notching 8 goals and 20 assists on the season.

On his thoughts on being drafted to Calgary, Kohne offered, “I am grateful that Calgary thinks highly of me. I am excited to play with the Solberg twins in the future, they are top talent from this class and they will have a great career.”

Calgary fans are already envisioning the Solbergs and Konhe on a power play unit together. But right now, Konhe is just happy to be a part of Calgary's system. To him, it doesn't matter where he'll fit in on a future lineup.

With such a deep defensive core in Colorado, it may be difficult for Kohne to get more ice time. But it would not be a surprise to see Kohne and Dinklage to move up to the second pairing on the team.

“We are fortunate to have such a deep defensive core, and we have plenty of options when it comes setting up our lines. We’ll have to see how things shape up closer to the start of the season and as things get going, but I wouldn’t rule any movement throughout the depth chart off the table,” commented Colorado general manager NYR73.

But depth is a good thing. It means that opposing teams will get no relief from Colorado's suffocating defense. Calgary fans will see a fine example of that in Oranj Kohne this upcoming season.

Brandon Gilleyes Platoon

Round 2, Pick 37

Brandon Gilleyes was selected by the Baltimore Platoon, late in the second round. Believe it or not, this was Baltimore's first pick in the draft. They had one more draft as well but not until the fourth round. Baltimore's general manager, hhh81, is a former Colorado Raptor himself. So he couldn't help himself with selecting another Raptor with his 37th pick in the S74 SHL Entry Draft.

And hhh81 got himself a quality goal-scorer at that. Brandon Gilleyes' rookie season took off midway through the season, where he developed leaps and bounds. Gilleyes tallied 20 goals and 21 assists on the third line with Colorado. After spending his entire rookie season on the third line, he's looking to move up the depth chart in Colorado this upcoming season. But regardless of where he ends up in the line up, Colorado expects to be a force to be reckoned with this season. Brandon Gilleyes will make sure of that too as he hopes to continue his production with his wicked shot.

“I'm a sucker for Colorado players. My first player was a Raptor, and I have a tendency to keep that pipeline strong. At the point of our 2nd rounder, the draft board was starting to get shorter. There was another player or two I had my eye on that were drafted right before us. I was surprised to see Gilleyes still there. He's not the biggest earner in the class, but still is contributing at a decent rate, has an ok bank account, and is a HO intern. Having some history in other sim leagues was a plus, even if VHL remains Gilleyes' priority. I'm excited to get to chat with them further,” hhh81 spoke highly of Gilleyes.

Hhh81 continued, speaking on Gilleyes as a player and his development, “Gilleyes gives us another strong forward prospect for the future. Baltimore is coming into our window, and we'll need players down the road who can step in and produce. Being taken where he was, that gives Brandon time to develop in the J and not feel the pressure to contribute immediately. There's always going to be a place for a solid goal scorer in the SHL.”

Brandon was surprised to be drafted by Baltimore but excited regardless. He said, “Baltimore was a shock to me as I was never scouted by them, I am happy that I get to continue the COL-BAP pipeline though. I do feel like I have higher expectations as I am basically representing the S74 draft for BAP.”

Napoleon Dinklage

Round 3, Pick 48

The Los Angeles Panthers boosted their defense with a solid defender in Napoleon Dinklage. Napoleon played on Colorado's third defensive pairing along with fellow S74 draftee Oranj Kohne. Napoleon is known for his defensive abilities but is also known to flash plenty offense. He impressed with 32 points (9 goals, 23 assists) in his rookie season with the Raptors.

Don't be surprised when you see him breaking up an odd man rush, then setting up a forward for a goal on the other end of the ice. The Panthers got a steal with this pick.

Tanner Pitts Inferno

Round 3, Pick 51

Tanner Pitts is a big stoic force in front of the net at 6 feet, 2 inches and 200 pounds. He's a calm, methodical goaltender that doesn't get rattled easily. He won 20 games with Colorado but also lost 23 with them as well. Plenty of elite veteran scorers in the SMJHL scored on Pitts throughout the season. But Pitts simply reset, put it behind him, and moved on to the next game while honing his abilities.

Why? Because the Colorado general managers believe in him. They know what he can do. And so does the Atlanta Inferno. Tanner Pitts has flashed enough ability for Atlanta to take him with the 51st pick.

Don't be surprised if Tanner has a big breakout year this season with Colorado, as the Raptors will be depending on him once again to be an anchor on their team.

Nick Kodiak Patriotes

Round 3, Pick 56

Nick Kodiak is a strong winger that has the bank account to make a strong turn around with his development. He's an underdog that could develop into a true game changer in the league. That was enough potential for Montreal to take Nick 56th in the draft.

Here's what the Colorado Raptors general managers had to say about Colorado's selections in the SHL S74 Entry Draft.

NYR73:
“I thought all our raptors had a great draft. They worked hard throughout the season and deserve the recognition that they got from SHL GMs. I will always be happy to see a raptors alum win a cup, so when their raptors days are over I’ll be rooting for them in the big leagues too. But first we got some work to do in colorado and this core is gonna lead us to cup contention.”

Takk:
“I mostly was surprised that not all of COL players didn't make it in the 1st round to be honest. Of course I'm biased but I think that every single COL players truly have what it takes to have a huge impact in the SHL and their respective teams.”

“As for the impact in the COL LR, I'd say it's business as usual. We'll enjoy having these players around as long as possible until they get called up. COL has a bright future ahead of it and we hope to keep the S73 SMJHL players with us as long as possible since that each of them are a huge part of our organization and our identity as a team.”

What's next for the Raptors:
The Raptors head office is preparing for the SMJHL draft, which is this Saturday at 8 PM EST. Colorado currently holds the highly coveted third overall position in this draft. With that, the 17th overall pick, and the rest in the later rounds, the Raptors look to continue bolster their already growing nest of dinos.

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