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ValorX77 · 07-24-2024, 07:41 PM

Have you always wonder why sometimes a player who doesn’t exactly has the highest TPE in their position manages to go earlier than the top guy in the draft? Today I’ll go through the secrets of the draft, and how to improve your draft stock; And also give you advice to relieve any draft anxiety. As a former GM in an affiliate league, I have some analysis on how each team views each prospect, about a few days before the pre draft, you will probably receive a direct message from a general manager either on the forums, or through Discord. You will receive a set a questions, and be told from which team the general manager represents, but there’s more to scouting then just the answers to those questions.

My philosophy is quite simple, I just ask these questions in my head after reading the scouting answers, and these are very important because these will help you figure out where this specific prospect should go.

The biggest thing GM’s look for is these things:

1. Is the User active? Does he have a history in other sim leagues? Does the user have trouble with H.O.?

The first thing General managers see in a prospect is how active the prospect is, this is dependent on two things: 1. Are they active on the forums?, if so, they’re on every day, and frequently are commenting on league announcements or updating their player. 2. Are they active on discord?, if so, they’re talking about something if it’s either something that happened in a non-sim league, or debating if a hot dog is a sandwich or not, (Yes, people fight over this almost every single day.) Another thing GM’s look for is if a user is involved in other leagues like the International Simulation Football League or Pro Baseball Experience for example, with a connection to more than one league, they are pretty much a highly touted prospect that should be high on almost every team’s draft boards. The next thing they look for is how the user’s personality is, because this could possibly be a potential red flag if the user has a personality that could possible divide the team locker room or even worse, demand to be traded to another team because they didn’t like the team for some unusual reason, these types of players are likely going to drop into the later rounds.

2. Does the player fit a team need, if not can he/she switch to that hole?

Probably the single biggest thing for why the draft exists is for teams to find young talent to fill holes on their teams. The easiest way is figuring out what position your team needs to consider selecting at your position of the draft, the biggest part is figuring out who might be on their way out of the team, for example a team might consider to draft a forward because their capped players are being called up to the SHL. In which this would form a large hole that other teams could exploit. Now, some teams may consider drafting someone who is not exactly that position they need, but, they are open to position switch to that spot, which could mean a guy not projected to go in that round could go earlier because they are willing to work with the team and switch to that position of need. One example of this was when Jeffie was selected first overall by New England a couple of seasons back, switching from goalie to a forward.

3. How much TPE does this person have? Is he/she a max earner?

TPE is probably one of main cores on deciding on who to select in a draft, it’s the main source on what players use to increase on what their player is truly capable of, because the more they have, the earlier the prospect goes, because TPE is the one thing that everyone should have on their minds on when you first joined this league on day 1. However, the less you have, the more likely you’ll drop to lower rounds, in large draft classes, Max earners, the players who earn the most TPE, will likely be spread out across the whole draft.

4. How will this player fit into the locker room? Has this user been good/bad in other team locker rooms?

Locker Room culture is probably the most important part of a draftee, because the more active and encouraging the prospect is, the earlier they go because simply they can make someone’s day in the league, because we all need that sometimes in our darkest moments. Take someone like Valpix, who is a great person to be around. She’ll be high on many draft boards because of her great reputation. But let’s try something you shouldn’t do, harassing others by taking out your frustrations on them, that will tank you stock and you’ll get the dreaded "toxic" label and hurt your stock.

5. Here’s the big one, Does the user have enough to afford equipment and weekly trainings? Is the player broke?
The last thing that a general manager may look at it is your bank account and how you make money to afford weekly trainings and of course, seasonal equipment every offseason, because the more money you have, and the bigger effort you put into your analysis articles, and of course your signatures you make of other players to help give a flashy sense to their own player. It’s simple, General managers would like to find a max earner to be the face of their franchise, but if the player doesn’t have enough money, they simply cannot be a max earner their general manager strides them to be. It’s quite simple Wealth helps your stock, but it’s the personality that matters in the end.

6. The next thing that’ll happen is that you will get is scouting messages by either the team’s managers or a scout from the team.

This is the time to prove yourself to be worthy of the teams picks in the draft and first impressions do matter, but it is okay to nervous by the amount of questions and or users trying to reach out to you. It’s perfectly normal.

Here’s a list of questions you might run into during the scouting process:

"So, you are an active member in this league. How do you see the LR that you'll join as a draftee. Do you think you'll be active in there? Do you know anyone in [REDACTED]?"

"What kind of player do you wish to make? Do you have an IRL player you're drawing inspiration from?"

"Have you considered what kind of locker room/team environnement you wish to find yourself in?"

"We obviously have a lot to do with the team in setting it up for success. How would you feel being on an expansion team and do you think you could help with its development? If so, how?"

"Do you have any interest in helping the team with scouting/coaching/management ?"

"What made you decide to join the league?"

"What goals do you have for your player?"

7. Not all questions are gonna be league related, you might be hit by a curveball question such as:

"Do you have any interests outside of the league?"

"We have a DnD session every week, would you be interested?"

"What toppings do you put on a pizza?"

"Does Mayo go on a hot dog?"

These are important topics to consider during the scouting process, but at the end of the conversation, the GM will usually ask if you have questions about them and the team. This is where you should ask about how you will fit in the team on the ice and in the locker room. You should also ask how your interests will lineup with the rest of the locker room. This will let the team know you better.

Anyway, I hope that this article will help you out with the upcoming SMJHL and SHL drafts, as this guide applies to both drafts.

My advice is to use your first season in the J to get your foot in the door, and get yourself out there, and always take veterans advice on anything, even if it ends up being gaslighting.

Best of luck in the draft and I’ll talk to you soon.

-Valor

***sliceruser*** · 07-24-2024, 07:49 PM

I will make a quick add, if you have questions about the team do not be afraid to ask the scout/gm. They will see it as having interest and taking initiative and you can get the best information on the team from the team.

ValorX77 · 07-24-2024, 07:53 PM

07-24-2024, 07:49 PMsliceruser Wrote: I will make a quick add, if you have questions about the team do not be afraid to ask the scout/gm. They will see it as having interest and taking initiative and you can get the best information on the team from the team.

This is a good piece of advice here.

***Shiamus*** · 07-24-2024, 08:03 PM

fantastic write-up! This should be really helpful for new players entering the draft for the first time Smile

Fantobens · 07-24-2024, 09:03 PM

Pin it

*Carpy48* · 07-25-2024, 01:59 AM

This is very informative, I would've liked to have something like this when I had my first player, because back then I assumed TPE mattered...haha.

Two comments or rather a comment and a question:
if you're a goalie don't expect to go first overall even if everything else fits, almost nobody would pick a goalie this early (rarely in the first round).
My question: is it that relevant or important if a user is in multiple leagues? We have several that are only in one league. I always assumed that helped with newer users here if someone could say "Oh yes, I know this user because they're also in league XYZ", but can't it also be negative if someone is in four leagues and the SHL isn't (meant to be) their main league?

ValorX77 · 07-25-2024, 06:11 AM

07-25-2024, 01:59 AMCarpy48 Wrote: This is very informative, I would've liked to have something like this when I had my first player, because back then I assumed TPE mattered...haha.

Two comments or rather a comment and a question:
if you're a goalie don't expect to go first overall even if everything else fits, almost nobody would pick a goalie this early (rarely in the first round).
My question: is it that relevant or important if a user is in multiple leagues? We have several that are only in one league. I always assumed that helped with newer users here if someone could say "Oh yes, I know this user because they're also in league XYZ", but can't it also be negative if someone is in four leagues and the SHL isn't (meant to be) their main league?

This is a good question. GM’s can be concerned if this isn’t their main league, since the more leagues that they are in, the more likely that they’re gonna get burned out. A good example of someone who did this and was successful in all leagues was dogwoodmaple.

***RAmenAmen*** · 07-25-2024, 12:17 PM

07-25-2024, 01:59 AMCarpy48 Wrote: This is very informative, I would've liked to have something like this when I had my first player, because back then I assumed TPE mattered...haha.

Two comments or rather a comment and a question:
if you're a goalie don't expect to go first overall even if everything else fits, almost nobody would pick a goalie this early (rarely in the first round).
My question: is it that relevant or important if a user is in multiple leagues? We have several that are only in one league. I always assumed that helped with newer users here if someone could say "Oh yes, I know this user because they're also in league XYZ", but can't it also be negative if someone is in four leagues and the SHL isn't (meant to be) their main league?

As a GM, my two concerns with other leagues are the user's reputation and their workload. If my war room points out a history of conduct problems in another league, or a history of being the best thing since sliced bread, that matters a lot. If they're committed to several jobs in another league, it means I need to ask pointed questions about the user's goals and expectations for the SHL. The latter isn't a good or bad thing by default, but changes the way I'd scout the user compared to someone new to sim leagues.

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