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ec06aaj · 01-22-2024, 11:09 AM

Just like last season, I preface this with the disclaimer that I have no input and no insight on Detroit's drafting processes and also no idea who's coming into this draft as a recreate and who's a complete fresh face. I'm going off stats and vibes alone. As it stands, the Falcons don't have a first-round pick but will pick with the opener of the second round (thanks to a succession of trades that saw the pick go from St. Louis, to Quebec, back to St. Louis and then eventually to the Motor City), again at #26, at #29 and then retain their picks throughout. So, at pick #15...

Centre
It doesn't seem likely that centre is going to be a priority position as it's the most stocked of the team. Luma Lee will being playing their final season with the Falcons, now weighed down by a Four Star Cup, but Conner Ray and Æric Calland played important depth parts in the championship run and there are more pressing needs than down the middle. Should that be the direction the war room goes, however, high on my list is Irishman Squilliam Fancyson - I like my centres to be responsible in the faceoff circle and concern themselves with being set-up men first and foremost, and Fancyson brings both elements, but importantly also has no fear of getting into scraps in front of the opposing crease. One of the bigger centres in the draft - 6'4 and 235 pounds - with some work to bring his strength up to scratch Fancyson has a potential future as a gritty, nasty player to face. If, on the other hand, you're not concerned about those elements and you want a goalscorer, Mason Chernezky comes equipped with professional level accuracy and impressive range, even if he seems destined to be moved to the wing at a mere 170 pounds. Chernezky is much more of a project player, however, and has a glaring hole in that while he's got great top speed and acceleration, his change of direction and reactions are a long way below par. It's something that should come with some game time.

Right Wing
Pound for pound Detroit boasts one of the strongest group of wingers in the league but graduation has left the group vulnerable - it makes for an exceptional top two lines but there's nobody to pair with Teemu Salami. Considering Salami as a potential wing partner, my pick for the right would go on a player with more natural sandpaper to their playing style and that leads me to Nathan Abel. Built like a tank, Abel is among the physically strongest players coming into the SMJHL and is very much a 200-foot winger, somebody about as comfortable pinging pucks from the fringes as he is bullying opponents away from his more delicate teammates - Abel clearing shooting lanes for the sniper Salami I see as a recipe for future success. There are other possibilities along the same lines - Oswine Spudster and Peppi Guiseppe - but none that look as natural a fit as Abel.

Left Wing
Even accepting that forward positions are fairly malleable at this level, a winger on the left sits behind three of Detroit's top forwards, and that means this is room for a project pick. Daquavion Davis II would be an interesting choice as he's a good all-round offensive talent with one glaring weakness, but strength is something both that can be built up over time and be worked around by matching him with physical and hard-nosed players - a twist on the "four protect one" strategy. Lukas Fischer is an unusual possibility as well, as a pass-first winger who's proven to be great in the faceoff circle.

Defense
Detroit already invested their first round pick last year into Kal Åkar Kekkonen - who just got drafted second overall in the SHL draft, going to the Buffalo Stampede - and it might be wise to do that again because this is the last year the Falcons are going to have Mephistopheles Morgonstjärna and Dunkler Sowerwine to play with. For my money, the priority is replacing Morgonstjärna, who's made his name as an archetypal powerplay quarterback and been an underrated part of Detroit's play with the man advantage, not least because his slapshot goes off like a nuke - a survey from last offseason among the league's goaltenders had Mephi right at the top of a list of players they least wanted to face a slapper from. Juice Williams and Andy Lammers both look like fine candidates to mould into that area, with Lammers just ahead on my board as a bigger body who brings that to bear blowing up opposing forwards. To replace Dunk, I tip my hat to Eddie Morozov for his assessment of Will Nuck as an all-rounder who could grow to be among the class' top players - like Nuck, Sowerwine is not a man beholden to the heavy hits but does all the little things right for a defensive anchor and rarely gets outworked by anybody. Any of those three would be excellent additions and, moreover, would land in a great place to develop.

Goaltender
Now this is tricky. Wayne Holloway goes up to the big leagues as a champion and Luke Fromm is going to step into his pads as the starter after some fine work last year backing the perennial All-Star up. Fromm's statline was very impressive for a raw rookie - .905 save percentage and 3 shutouts from 18 games - but it's the epitome of small sample size and the question is going to be how much do the Falcons trust Fromm to carry the can? If they believe they've got their starter for the next three years then goalie isn't as much a priority, but if it's a position of concern than Lee Harrison should be in Detroit's sights. Besides being incredibly imposing - 288 pounds! - Harrison does not simply rely on his physical advantages to smother plays but rarely gets caught out of position as well. His skating is poor but, again, is something that can be fixed over the next few seasons.

So, with the pick, Detroit should...
It boils down to what the Falcons want from this year. If they're looking to repeat as champions, there's an argument that flipping the pick might be a better option - get some draft players this year and go for broke - but on the assumption the pick stays in-house, I feel they're more heavily impacted by the loss of the Lahey / Murray combination than by Zeddie Zilliams' graduation and that
pushes me towards forward, either Nathan Abel or Squilliam Fancyson. If the ethos is more about making sure the team doesn't collapse, though, then it's defense and that says Will Nuck, and I think if pressed I'd go with Nuck at #15 simply because if he's there he's fallen from the general mock draft consensus, and you can justify it as a pick on the grounds of being the best player available as well.

Good call. SKREE

[1259 words, harvest that sweet sweet double media payday]

ibuprofenaddict · 01-22-2024, 02:00 PM

if we're going back down to 3 lines, it feels as if goalie is the only choice here since the roster is full

***boom*** · 01-22-2024, 04:24 PM

01-22-2024, 02:00 PMibuprofenaddict Wrote: if we're going back down to 3 lines, it feels as if goalie is the only choice here since the roster is full

For sure, teams had graduations but because of losing 4th lines they don’t actually have roster openings that need to be replaced.

NUCK · 01-23-2024, 08:46 AM

I would be honored to go back to where it all began!

Thanks for the ego stroke.

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