Another draft is behind us, a new class of wide-eyed rookies have begun their major league dreams, and all eight teams in the Simulation Major Junior Hockey League think that this is their year. As of now, nine of the leagues top ten scorers last season are returning. An experienced group of players can only mean we’re in for some outstanding hockey. In this five-part series, The Athletic Denver's Harry Hemmert team's up with The Leading One, who sits upon the precipice of the Eurasian Hockey Pyramid, to profile all eight teams and then make our predictions for this season! Tonight, we look into Anchorage and Colorado!
 

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Top Performers:
RW Doug Dimmadome (18-22-40, 147 SOG, 13 PPP)
D Jordan Von Matt (10-25-35, 90 SOG, 59 SB, 16 PPP)
D Karl Von Wittelsbach (6-18-24, 77 hits, 53 SB)

Brief Overview
While an all-together disappointing season, the Armada have a few things to be excited about. The traded several key players last season to stock up on picks in later years. 
Standout do-everything Jordan Von Matt did just that, leading the team in time on ice, power play points, and finishing second in total scoring for a roster starved for goal scoring. Wily veteran forward Doug Dimmadome lead the team in scoring, and is a steady bet for another 40 point season. Season 3 in Alaska, after relocating the long-storied, fan-favorite Prince George Firebirds, may see the Armada back in the playoff picture. A deep, skilled group of rookies look to compete immediately in camp. The team is looking for a new general manager, as their former head exec has moved onto Toronto of the SHL.

Players In: D Leopold Lockhart, LW Mika Mayfield, C Kenji Yoshimura, D Vegeta Muerto, RW Maxime Bouchard, RW Arsene Arsenich
Players Out: Sean Stevenson Jr.

Forwards
The youth rebuild is on in Anchorage, as last year’s promising rookie crop combines with a deep S44 draft class. Whoever is hired as the newest GM of the franchise will hope ml002’s work in the draft over the last few years pays dividends. Last season, Anchorage was plagued by needing contributions from a wide range of inactive players.
Two of the team’s bright spots were rookie centers Xena and Dean Colt III, who both heard their names called early in this summer’s SHL Draft. The opportunity to train with big league players this offseason should give them both a boost as they look to take on more of the scoring load for the young Armada. They’ll need to take a step, because Anchorage was the SMJHL’s worst offensive team, scoring just 2.44 goals per game and having a painful -30 goal differential.

The top six forwards remain the same, but the team hopes for better results. Last season’s top line of Bust, Xena, and Eero Niemi will likely continue to build off last season. Xena is an exciting young player with a developing offensive game. Bust is a strong two-way player with a deadly shot, and Niemi is a pure sniper. They should improve with another year together.

Maurice Amin will likely start the season where he ended it, on the wing opposite Dimmadome, though DImmadome and Niemi get switched. Amin’s a shifty skater and talented playmaker. Colt III will likely be their center again. He is natural goal scorer, but those skills didn’t show much last season. His conditioning was an issue, and he hasn’t shown great vision for setting up his teammates. He spent time this offseason building his strength and improving his passing, so expect a significant jump over his eight points as a rookie.

British-born center Takehiko Yukimura was largely ineffectual in his 45 games as a rookie. Japanese free agent center Kenji Yoshimura signed late in the season with Anchorage and took Yukimura’s spot in the lineup. He was one of only two players who didn’t have a negative plus/minus on the season and was highly effective in the faceoff circle (61.7%). Anchorage was thrilled to grab Yoshimura late in the entry draft’s second round. He’s a known product that will likely anchor the third line for the Armada this coming year. He will need to improve his skating and strength, as he occasionally gets beat by bigger and/or faster players.

The Armada have a crop of young players who will compete for bottom six minutes on the wings, headlined by three recent draft picks. Mika Mayfield, Anchorage’s second pick in the first round, 7th overall, is a small, defensively sound player. He will be given every opportunity to contribute this year. RWs Arsen Arsenich and Maxime Bouchard will likely start on the fourth line alongside one of Yukimura or Phoenix Kississippi, an offensive center. Arsenich has good size and a strong defensive game, while Bouchard is a playmaker with the more polished offensive game. Anchorage acquired the pick they used to draft Bouchard from the Muhammad McLovin trade last season.

Jackson Conklin and Geno Natostado are both veteran wingers. Natostado featured prominently in his rookie season with the former-Firebirds, but he’s been ineffectual in the years since. Conklin has yet to play a game for the Armada. Neither are expected to play for the team this season, in hopes of developing their young core.

Defense
While they struggled to score goals, their defense was far more of a strength. However, this strength only had them right around league average. The back end will likely get stronger. Sean Stevenson Jr. is in the SHL now, but his partner and Agante Trophy candidate Jordan Von Matt is back. Von Matt was second on the Armada in scoring with 35 points, and was a terror on the powerplay, producing eight goals and 16 points with the man advantage. Van Matt played in all situations for Anchorage, and he will likely duplicate that role this year.

He will have a new partner, however. He played some time with both Tucker Baloo and Stolp Skottson in special teams situations. Skottston and German prospect Karl Von Wittelsbach combined to the more effective defensive pair for the team last year with a combined -11 (versus Stevenson-Von Matt’s -33) plus/minus. The coaching staff may keep the pair together, or try either with Von Matt.

While it’s likely former fourth-overall pick Von Matt will get a call up to Toronto at some point this year, especially with ml002 now in their front office, the future is bright. Von Wittelsbach featured prominently during the World Junior Championships for Germany, and is a reliable defensive presence. Second-year player Stolp Skottson returns after being drafted in the second round of the SHL draft by Texas, ready to build on an impressive offensive season. Over half of his points came with the man advantage, so expect him to continue to see extensive time there.

The most likely partner for Van Matt, if he plays in the SMJHL again, may be one of the promising rookies ml002 drafted. The sexy name is second overall pick Leopold Lockhart, another skilled offensive defenseman. While he doesn’t have one skill that blows you away, he’s really good at most things and is represented by a veteran agent who carries pedigree from past SHL stars. This offseason he’s worked on his all-around game, with a special focus on his puck handling, scoring touch, and defensive positioning. The other option is Vegeta Muerto, the younger brother of standout St. Louis Scarecrow Goku Muerto. Like his brother, he’s a skilled defensive player; unlike Goku, Vegeta commits all of his energies to shutting down the other team’s top players. Either could be effective if given a chance to play with and learn from Van Matt.

Tucker Baloo was a solid depth player last year, compiling 12 points, 49 hits, 58 blocked shots in less than 17 minutes of time a game, including some penalty killing duties. He will continue to serve as a good two-way player, likely on the third pairing with one of the rookies.

Goalies
Goalie is a major weakness for the Armada after trading Benjamin Blue to Kelowna last season. Vasil Comescu is going into his fifth and final season for the team, but has made little progress as a player. He’s little more than a backup at this point. Larry Atta is in much the same position, and had a rough season as Anchorage’s primary starter. In light of this goalie situation, Anchorage’s defensive group only looks even more impressive. The first action of the team’s new general manager must be finding a way to address their goaltending (fast).
  

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Top Performers:
LW Philipp Winter (17-21-38, 149 SOG, 12 PPP)
RW Alex Winters (20-27-47, 151 SOG, 20 PPP)
D Kevin Maddox (7-25-32, 50 SB, 18 PPP)

Brief Overview
Despite being a rebuilding team, Colorado still made the playoffs. Unfortunately, they hobbled across the finish line with a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 before being executed in the first round by Montreal yet again.

Kimmy and Alaska definitely are hoping this year’s rookie crop is more impactful than last year’s ineffective group. They would have to be: Colorado had five picks in the first two rounds of the SMJHL Entry Draft and made seven total picks. This rookie crop will join a veteran group of competitors. Hopefully this is the season Colorado moves beyond the first round of the playoffs.

Players In: RW Alexander Selich, C Konstantin Voloshin, D Cassius Darrow, LW Jakub Novak, C Zivan Zidek, LW Guy McCool
Players Out: D Maui, LW Ignatius Blunt, RW Sulak O’Hritea, C Michael O’Dowd, RW Nate Forsberg

Forwards
These guys are gonna score some goals. Last year, Colorado eked out Kelowna for the second-best offense in the league, with 3.14 goals per game. They doubled down on this, using six of their seven picks on forwards.

The Cold Pizza/Frozen Sausage line of Phil Winter, Alex Winters, and Tony Pepperoni were a force late in the season, after Andrew Martin was traded to Vancouver. The talented trio registered 47 goals on the year. Winter and Winters showed immediate chemistry, and Pepperoni was the team’s most effective faceoff man. They will likely start the season together as the Raptors’ top line.

The departures of O’Hritea, Blunt, and O’Dowd may hurt—they were excellent middle six players and the first two were among the more physical players in Colorado’s forward group. Their departures mean that there will be some shuffling. Vladimir Vaskov will likely play with Kazlauskas on the second line.

First overall pick Alexander Selich is a mountain of a young man and a solid two-way player. He will likely start the year in the bottom six, but don’t be surprised if he runs with it and earns some special teams time. He may combine with his classmate and scoring savant Voloshin for one of the scarier bottom six lines in the J. That’s a nightmare matchup for any team. More likely, Voloshin will get chance to center the second line

Czech Jakub Novak has a wicked shot, and center Zivan Zidek is a smooth, skilled passer. They will get some time lower in the lineup and build chemistry. Watch out for the Czech World Juniors team next year—Novak and Zidek could feature prominently. Novak will get more opportunities early while Zidek serves a three-game suspension.
Nate Forsberg played out of position all year and then retired—he will be missed early in the bottom six, while the rookies adapt. Keegan Angello and Zakhar Turakov are decent depth options; Turakov especially shoots the puck as soon as he gets it. His 62 shots ranked 10th on the team, despite only playing 8:12 a night. Selich will likely join them on the third line.

Guy McCool is a skilled offensive player. He’ll compete in camp, but probably doesn’t see much ice time this year with the depth of the Raptors. The same with A.J. Robertson—he didn’t play a ton in his rookie season, and he likely will be pure depth this season.

Defense
The flip side of the Raptors’ scary offensive potential might be questions on stopping the other team. Only Halifax allowed more goals last season than Colorado’s 155.
Colorado’s top pair of Kevin Maddox and Maui were very strong; Maddox was the more offensively adept of the two, while Maui brought a strong physical and defensive game. Maui has moved onto the Manhattan Rage of the SHL. It will be imperative that one or more of the current young defenders take a step forward if the Raptors are to be better at keeping pucks out of their own net.

J. P. Gay is back! After a strong rookie year, the Saskatoon-born defenseman was drafted with the last pick of the first round by Hamilton. He was outstanding in his own end, leading the Raptors with a +11 rating in 45 games. It’s likely he’ll see even more time on the penalty kill this year—he and Maui played together on the top PK most of last season.

Kevin Maddox was a beast, playing in all situations for the Raptors. Surprisingly, he didn’t play much on the first unit. Rather, he anchored the second powerplay unit on his way to 18 powerplay points. He will be far and away the top defender for Colorado in his final juniors season. He’s good defensively, but a terror when pinching in on the attack. It wouldn’t be surprising if he broke a point per game pace this season. Sachimo Zoidberg Jr not only has one the best names in hockey; he also is an absolute monster on the attack and is the best skater on the Raptors. Period.

Maui played a lot in all situations, so there will be minutes to grab. Luckily, Colorado’s sole pick on the back end, Cassius Darrow, looks ready to take on some minutes. He will start on the Raptors’ third pairing and will likely see some special teams time. He has a strong first pass and good positioning.
Zach Reid and Nico Wallner filled out the blueline last year—due to free agent rules only one will be signed this coming season (likely Reid). It will be interesting to see what comes of Wallner—he likely is trade bait.

Goalies
Scottey Crawfling returns for another year between the pipes. He was a workhorse for the Raptors, appearing in 45 games and compiling a 24-17-2 record. While his individual stats weren’t great, the offense focused approach of the rest of the team may have left him high and dry a time or two. If the defense of the team tightens up in their own zone, Crawfling could have a breakout season. Backup Brando Sando is adequate, but he did not prove capable of covering the defensive shortcomings of the team in front of him when turned to in relief. He will likely be surpassed by free agent signing Aleksandr Aleksandrov, an athletic Russian netminder.
 
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Stay tuned for Part 2, where we look into the Detroit Falcons and Halifax Raiders!

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