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The Mis-Informed S56 Draft Review (2x draft media)
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(This post was last modified: 09-15-2020, 10:32 PM by Buster.)

Back in S50, I decided to write a draft review where I looked at each first round pick individually and tried to guess what kinds of players they were aiming for and why they were drafted where they were. To be honest, I went into it doing absolutely no research. Now that we are 6 seasons in the future, I thought to myself: damn, it has been almost a year since I've done this. So get the groans ready because we are going to do another Mis-Informed Draft Review based on this past weekend's entry draft.

The rules are pretty simple: I'm not going to do any real research. I'm going to look at builds, team prospects and very few other points. I'm going to try and figure out who these prospects are, why they were drafted among other factors. I honestly have no idea what I'm getting into and I can honestly say I have no idea who many of these prospects are. I know that no one actually considers to stuff like SMJHL point totals to be a factor in drafting but lets have some fun here and realize I don't have much to really go off of. So if I get your review completely wrong, please don't PM me in anger. Take this all with a grain of salt and honestly go read any other draft review.

Without further ado, lets get to the reviewing!

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Number One: Aleksander Kozlov – Center - Carolina Kraken -> Tampa Bay Barracuda
S55: GP: 50 | G: 10 | A: 8 | P: 18 | 12 | H: 30 | SB: 23
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 5th overall to Carolina
NHL Comparison: Steven Stamkos

Another year, another season where the Tampa Bay Barracuda aren't any good. This is by design though considering they went full scorched earth to begin their rebuild. Only a few seasons in and this re-build is really starting to shape up. Being able to add a player of Kozlov's talents to an already loaded prospect group seems like a major home run. This is a team this off-season that was able to call up Ambacas Cuddles, Dwight Knight and Zoltan Topalo and are still absolutely loaded in the minor leagues. Aleksander Kozlov comes by way of FlappyGiraffe, who knows his way around the SHL already. In the past few seasons, Flappy's player was longtime Jets defensemen Gary Grease who for a while was always a lock for Bojo contention. So essentially what I'm saying is Flappy knows what he is doing. Being able to bring someone like Flappy into a locker room like Tampa's is a huge boon. You're able to bring in someone with experience who can be an aid to a general manager and to help new members learn their way around the SHL. Drafting him for this reason alone is huge.

Enough with the member status. The player right now isn't half bad either. Kozlov is very close to being a maxed player for the Kraken so he's a top earner even before off-season TPE starts to kick off. Kozlov currently looks to project as a strong multi-purpose centre. He can carry the puck, pass and shoot. He demonstrated that this season by putting up more goals than assists. Being able to run a player like that on your first line is going to be huge for the Barracuda in a few seasons when they start moving towards contention. This is what Flappy is going to be for them. The undisputed first line centre who will combine with Dwight Knight to dominate the league for seasons to come. Keep in mind, putting up 18 points this season is amazing when you consider how often he played. Kozlov only averaged 10 minutes of ice time a game. The moment Carolina gives him the spotlight, his potential is going to absolutely show.

He reminds me a lot of Steven Stamkos. We always think of Stamkos as the elite goal-scorer who has the potential to put 50 goals in any given season. Based on his first SMJHL season, Kozlov gives those vibes. At the same time, Stamkos is sneaky good at all facets of the game and when he combines with a producer, like a Kucherov, he is good to take a backseat and allow that other player to drive offence. He's going to be an interesting case in that regard where he is guaranteed to be a 70 point guy but one season may be due to his goal scoring numbers while the next is due to his playmaking.

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Number Two: Evangelos Giannopoulos – Left Defence – Detroit Falcons -> Toronto North Stars
S55: GP: 50 | G: 2 | A: 10 | P: 12 | -20 | H: 59 | SB: 63
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 6th overall to Detroit
NHL Comparison: Morgan Rielly

Our next pick in the draft comes from the Falcons. Much in the way that Kozlov was a departure for Flappy who was used to having a punishing defensive defensemen as his player, JSS is currently in the same boat. JSS just finished up a career with an MVP calibur player in Flacko Lagerfield. Flacko will go down in SHL history as the first superstar of the FHM era. An MVP award in S54 after having over 80 points will go that for you. Now JSS is going the opposite direction with a sizeable defensemen who is currently starring on the Falcons blueline. Much like Flappy, JSS brings a level of experience in a younger locker room. He just came off having an MVP and you know he has something to prove with his new player.

Back in S54, the Toronto North Stars drafted their defensemen of the future. That player is Ryosuke Sato, who is currently a top earner from the S54 draft. That shores up their top pairing on the right side in the future. So why not bring an elite talent in on the other side? That is exactly what Evangelos Giannopoulos is for the Toronto North Stars. Right now, Giannopoulos is kind of a balanced defensemen in the SMJHL. He's not a fantastic offensive defensemen and he's not standout on the other end of the ice. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though. I can see him eventually developing into an elite puck moving defensemen who will be trusted to drive the offence forward and take some risks while Sato is able to clear up the garbage. He could absolutely develop that defensive game also but that is something we'll need to see in the future. The Falcons weren't a good team this season and that probably plays a factor in how Giannopoulos did. Their top point producer only had 37 points and when the top of your roster isn't producing, it becomes harder for the role players to produce also. He seemed to be a victim of circumstance. Give the man more powerplay time and start replacing departing player's ice time with Giannopoulos and he will absolutely start showing that offensive game.

He reminds me a ton of Morgan Rielly in that aspect. Maybe like Morgan Rielly if he wasn't paired with Cody Ceci and if he was actually paired with someone like Alex Pietrangelo. A fantastic player who can move the puck and hold his own but is able to play off the leash a little bit because he has a partner he can trust. This is a huge boon for the North Stars and pushes their rebuild, which is inching closer to the end forward.

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Number Three: Rock Strongo – Left Wing – Colorado Raptors -> Minnesota Monarchs
S55: GP: 50 | G: 14 | A: 18 | P: 32 | 10 | H: 19 | SB: 8
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 7h overall to Colorado
NHL Comparison: Auston Matthews

I'm a very old member of the SHL, being around since S9. For me, seeing Leafs on any team other than Winnipeg is very weird for me. When I got back from inactivity, I saw that Leafs was on Edmonton and I kind of just ignored it. If I don't pay any attention to his player, I won't remember he's on Edmonton and I can live in a fantasy where he is a Jet. Now, 10 seasons later, I am writing an article where I will finally need to accept that Leafs can play for different teams. What can I say about Leafs that hasn't been said in the past? Leafs is an absolute beauty of an SHL member and he's a huge positive wherever he goes. Minnesota probably pushed their rebuild up by a few seasons because they are going to be a free agent destination with Leafs around.

Now lets get to his player Rock Strongo. Once again, Leafs names a player after a Simpsons reference and I am nothing but smiles every time I see this name around. Strongo is a player that absolutely showed up this season and I am here for it. I previously said that Kozlov had an amazing season, putting up 18 points while playing 10 minutes a night. Strongo only averaged 15 minutes on a strong Raptors roster and still managed an absolutely dynamite season for the Raptors. 14 goals, 18 assists, 32 points is a huge. Strongo came in and looked like a star from the get go and based on that production, you wonder if he could get called up to the bigs by a team and have a strong season. Maybe if a contending team was able to pick up Strongo and would rather than updating player than an inactive they might take a risk. Minnesota and Strongo is the perfect pairing. Much like Rocco Berni and Jack Klompus before him, who are two players Minnesota absolutely could have given top 6 and top 4 spots this season respectively, they were afforded the opportunity to stew in the minors and continue to develop. Strongo is going to be afforded the same opportunities that those players had. Expect Strong in the next two seasons to be in MVP contention as he moves up the Raptors lineup.

If I had to compare Strong, funny enough, I would compare him to his render. Auston Matthews was a huge scorer at this age group before he was drafted but kind of had the expectation that he would be a two-way, Jonathan Toews type player at the NHL level. Strongo based on his build right now looks like a two-way second line guy but I think we're going to see him push to being a goal-scoring, first line centre who can be flanked by a passer on his wing. 

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Number Four: Calvin Hobbes – Right Wing – Maine Timber -> New England Wolfpack
S55: GP: 50 | G: 4 | A: 11 | P: 15 | -3 | H: 16 | SB: 8
SMJHL Draft Position: Second round, 14th overall to Maine
NHL Comparison: Mat Barzel

The first major mover in the draft and the first non-recreate to be drafted. Hobbes came into the SMJHL draft with a bit of hype, going 14th overall to the Maine Timber but absolutely blew the lid off to go 4th to the New England Wolfpack in the SHL draft. That is absolutely huge and shows that the Wolfpack have a ton of faith in a younger member. Hobbes is a smart money earner. With 15M in the bank he may not have the huge amount that others have but rather he focuses on using media to his advantage. He has done multiple articles in each of the 2x media periods he has been around and that still allows him to buy his equipment and training. Will he pick up jobs in the future? Maybe he will. He looks to be a top earner now and in the future and with a team like New England that is reloading like the Pack, he has an opportunity to get into a great spot where he has time to build his way.

Calvin Hobbes kind of has a build I like to think of as a “newer member” build. I personally find recreates always start with builds that are a bit more balanced. Strongo for example has a bit more TPE put in defensive stats as well as his offensive stats. Hobbes on the other hand is a pure offensive player. He already has high puckhandling, passing, offensive read and getting open while his defensive stats are a little lower minus faceoffs. This bodes well for him in the future. In the real world, it is easier to teach defence than offence and I think that is what we're seeing with Hobbes. He didn't put up a huge amount of points coming out of his first season but I think we're seeing kind of the same thing we saw with Kozlov. He only played 9 minutes a night so he did not get the time to really prove himself. He was asked to play an energy role and he did that to perfection with the Timber. Once he gets a chance to replace Stromberg and Hammerberg, he's going to break out and he the next great Timber.

I see Hobbes are a Mat Barzel type. He obviously has the ability to break out and be a huge star, sort of like Barzel did in his first season with the Doug Weight coached Islanders. The issue is he is currently in a role that is forcing him to play a bit out of his comfort zone like with the Trotz coached Islanders. Once he isn't relied upon to play more defensively, he's going to absolutely explode.

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Number Five: Grandmaster Funk – Left Defence – Nevada Battleborn -> New England Wolfpack
S55: GP: 50 | G: 3 | A: 6 | P: 9 | -20 | H: 55 | SB: 88
SMJHL Draft Position: Fifth round, 56th overall to Nevada
NHL Comparison: Jared Spurgeon

If you don't want spoilers, don't read the next few lines that I've written. Grandmaster Funk was the biggest riser we're going to see in round one. While the majority, maybe even all of the 18 players drafted in round one we're drafted in the first two rounds, Funk went an impressive 51 picks before he went in the SMJHL draft. That alone is a giant testament to Funk. Funk has come in and been a contributing media member much like Hobbes, even looking to launch a podcast in the next little while named the Funkcast. That's going to be a massive money maker for him if he chooses to make it a regular occurrence and should help bring him into profitability even if he doesn't decide to pick up a ton of site jobs. Funk is already in line with the other top earners in his draft class and I really don't see why he won't be in the future. He has a great support system as a young defender in New England with the ability to learn under both Montgomery and Morgan. Once those two start to move on to the later stages of their SHL careers, Funk looks to be the biggest left defender on the New England blueline right beside both James LeBlond and Matthew Sawful. A great problem to have.

As a player, Funk looks to be starting to move towards making a two-way superstar. Right now he is a bit hard to judge. With the prospects we've already looked at, they were a bit held back because their teams were stronger, meaning they had lower point totals minus Strongo. Funk is a little bit different. Funk played for the expansion Nevada Battleborn and to be nice....they weren't great. This obviously affected Funk a little bit. The top scoring players on the team only scored in the mid 20s. They weren't a huge offensive producer and Funk was a victim of that. If he were on a better team, he likely would've been able to show his offensive chops. His defensive game already showed up with 88 shot blocks so we know he's able to do that. Hopefully as the young core of the Battleborn develops, he can start putting up a higher point total.

His NHL comparison is Jared Spurgeon. Though Spurgeon might be a little better of a puck mover and Funk is a bigger player, he has a similar style to Funk. Both players aren't exactly elite at one thing but their package together is what makes them so valuable. You can play them on the first pairing, the powerplay or the penalty kill and they won't look out of place.

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Number Six: Vladmir Petrov – Center – Anchorage Armada -> Tampa Bay Barracuda
S55: GP: 50 | G: 8 | A: 10 | P: 18 | 5 | H: 49 | SB: 13
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 10th overall to Anchorage
NHL Comparison: Corey Perry

Before the SMJHL draft, the Petrovs were all the hype in the SHL. A group of recreates that decide to all portray happens every few seasons and doesn't exactly come as a surprise. This one felt different though. Former members coming back to recreate as well as a few members that have been quiet but had good players. In the end though, the Petrovs didn't exactly fully pan out. The first Petrov off the board in the SHL draft is Vladmir. Vladmir was created by Muford. After retiring his goaltender Tommy Tuck, Muford went completely different creating a forward. Based on past reputation, Vladmir might be the safest of all Petrovs. Tommy Tuck was a fantastic goaltender for the Blizzard and there is no reason to think Muford can't do it again. Thankfully he goes to a situation where much like Kozlov he can develop at his own pace. Tampa Bay as previously mentioned is just stacked with fantastic prospects and there is no reason to think Petrov won't thrive in this situation. Muford is going to be able to adjust to a completely different position while either fighting for Kozlov for the 1C spot or fighting with the crazy amount of wing sports for top line. A perfect situation to allow a player to adjust.

Petrov as a player is an interesting case. Vladmir is huge, like really huge. Standing at 6'6” and weighing in at 265 pounds is the Russian forward. You kind of instantly expect a player that big to be a huge bruiser but he really wasn't in his limited time. The Armada played him about 12 minutes a night but also gave him powerplay time, likely sticking his massive frame in front of the net to deflect some pucks in. He showed that he has a little game there also putting up 18 points. It will be interesting to see what way he goes with his development. He's never going to be a speedster but he will always be able to use his size to keep forward movement of the puck. With more ice time, I expect him to put up more points and more hits as he figures out the player he is. He has extremely balanced offensive instincts so I don't think we'll see him specialize in one aspect of the game. He will be as good at the blueline as he is in the blue paint.

As a comparison to an NHL player, I've had a bit of a problem figuring out who Petrov might be. There are a lack of massive players who are offensively as good as they are big. I thought maybe Dustin Byfuglien but he really didn't spend much of his career as a winger. I settled on Corey Perry though. Perry was a player you could trust to put you a goal or fight for some energy. I think this will eventually be the role he will play in Tampa.

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Number Seven: Yngve Simonsson – Left Wing – Detroit Falcons -> San Francisco Pride
S55: GP: 50 | G: 6 | A: 10 | P: 16 | -9 | H: 25 | SB: 54
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 11th overall to Detroit
NHL Comparison: Johnny Gaudreau

JP is the worst. End segment.

Seriously though, JumpierPegasus is someone I've had a ton of exposure to over the years and he's someone I'm very glad is still around. JP as a member has done it all. He's been a commissioner, a general member and an expansion general manager at that. Funny enough with this draft pick, JP was brought back to where it all started. Previously the San Francisco Pride were the Portland Admirals which was JP's expansion team back in S25. Now he's coming back as a more mature, much more handsome, probably not as good SHL player. This obviously was a smart move by the San Fran general managers as JP has special ties to this team. They may have had trouble in recent seasons with bad contracts, Grape leaving and the backup goaltending issues but bringing in a person like JP will help turn this around big time. But seriously, everything I said was a lie.

With Yngve Simonsson, JP is trying to make a player that frustrates the hell out of me every time I have to write his first player. Simonsson looks like he will eventually be a pass first option for the Pride. His shooting statistics aren't great but his passing more than makes up for that. An shooting accuracy of 9 and a shooting range at 7 is made up for by passing of 12 and puckhandling of 11. Simonsson is going to eventually develop into the sort of playing who wants the puck on his stick when moving up the ice and only wants to give it up with a sniper is ready to put one in. Clearly, he had the trust of his team. Simonsson was a victim of Detroit's lack of offensive spark this season and only managed 16 points while playing 14 minutes a night. If Detroit can bring in some goal scorers to play on his line, we'll see Simonsson turn that around I'm sure. He did pot 6 goals but that just isn't his game right now.

As an NHL comparison, he strikes me as a Johnny Gaudreau type. A smaller playmaker, Gaudreau is always looking for 30 goal scorers Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan every time he is on the ice. The same can almost be said for Simonsson. He is just looking for a Lindholm and a Monahan who just aren't currently there as Detroit rebuilds with Nour at the helm.

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Number Eight: Jonas Kahnwald – Right Defence – Newfoundland Berserkers -> Los Angeles Panthers
S55: GP: 50 | G: 6 | A: 9 | P: 15 | 19 | H: 31 | SB: 5
SMJHL Draft Position: Second round, 11th overall to Newfoundland
NHL Comparison: Samuel Girard

This is pick and a team I'm sure a lot of people are interested in solely due to my exit from the Panthers earlier in the month. Honestly, I feel like the Panthers got dealt a bad hand. I knew that Wasty and Mook were uninterested in GMing a while ago but due to some disagreements, both were gone from their respective decisions only days before the draft. Sve7en was forced to take the reigns as intern GM and I think he nailed this pick. I personally don't know a ton about Festinator but from what I hear from my friends in Newfoundland he's a great addition to the locker room. This is exactly the type of player Los Angeles needs right now. Losing both general managers, Oliver Cleary and Elijah Jones is tough while not having a general manager made free agency impossible. They bring in a newer member to shake the LA is only for recreates mentality while truly trying to usher in a new era.

Jonas Kahnwald the player was great in his role for Newfoundland. In reality, he wasn't going to play much on this stacked defensive core and it almost worked in his favour. He put up 15 points with 14 minutes of time plus almost no special teams play. Newfoundland did not need him to be anything special and he still came out strong in his rookie season. Based on where he is now, he's going to be the Klompus replacement over the next few seasons. A steady, reliable two-way defensemen who can either be a complimentary piece or can be the driver if he needs to be. Newfoundland still looks to be in a good position over the next few seasons so maybe we see a second Four Stars Cup in the near future.

As a comparison, Samuel Girard really sticks out. Girard is on the smaller end also being under 6'0” but provides Colorado with all the steadies of a 6'2” defender. Kahnwald feels very much like this for the Berserkers.

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Number Nine: Jaspar Maximov – Left Defence – Quebec City Citadelles -> Winnipeg Jets
S55: GP: 50 | G: 6 | A: 12 | P: 18 | -30 | H: 24 | SB: 26
SMJHL Draft Position: Second round, 20th overall to Quebec City
NHL Comparison: Marc-Édouard Vlasic

An already re-create heavy draft gets even heavier with this pick. As of the first nine picks, only 3 of nine picks are new players. This is extremely odd for a league that preaches newer members over recreates, which is a reputation I truly think is deserved. Based on past players though, I see no reason to really worry about taking Enigmatic's new player Jaspar Maximov at 9. Enigmatic came back from what seemed to be a spell of inactivity before the S55 SMJHL draft with this player and Quebec City trusted them enough to select them in the second round. So far for them, this has paid off. Surprisingly enough Maximov is the first Citadelle taken off the board at 9 but with a player that should be maxed out looks to be a major part of the defensive core going forward.

Citadelle players kind of existed in a weird spot where the team wasn't as bad as Nevada and had some point producers so they were able to actually put up more points but they team still wasn't great so they got absolutely shelled. This shows in Maximov's actually pretty good offensive numbers, with 18 points, but their horrible advanced stats and defensive numbers. Still though, you can't fault Maximov in this situation. Maximov projects to be a smooth skating defensemen who will be able to skate with the puck and cycle back when needed. Right now they aren't fantastic in eithr the offensive or defensive zone but have enough speed to get back and make things look a lot better than they might have been. For the Winnipeg Jets, this looks to be a great fit. They currently have offensive defensemen Magnus Liljestrom putting up rookie of the year quality numbers and being able to eventually be paired with a player like Maximov would allow Liljestrom to become more of a 4th forward while Maximov can recover when need be.

Right now, Maximov reminds me of a younger Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Vlasic nowadays isn't anything to write home about and is actively one of the worst contracts in the league. In his prime though, he was a smooth-skating defensive defensemen who didn't wow you with hits but instead quietly led with his positioning. I feel like Maximov is going to have the same sort of trajectory.

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Number Ten: Sarah Burke – Right Defence – Vancouver Whalers -> Hamilton Steelhawks
S55: GP: 50 | G: 4 | A: 9 | P: 13 | 4 | H: 36 | SB: 35
SMJHL Draft Position: Second round, 13th overall to Vancouver
NHL Comparison: Christopher Tanev

We close out the top ten of the draft with another defensemen and another new member. That brings us to 4 new members total in the top ten. Sarah Burke seems to be going about business a little quieter but when she brings out media, you want to pay attention. Earlier in the season she took it upon herself to do a history of SMJHL names article and I'm really hoping she will do the same for the SHL. For a newer member to take the time to research 55 seasons of history is pretty cool honestly and shows great drive for the league. Obviously Hamilton saw something in her and made her a top ten pick. Hamilton is a great landing spot because they are willing to do what it takes to keep their team competitive. Look no further than this off-season adding in both Michael Scarn and Theo Morgan. At the very least you know Hamilton is going to have success.

Though the players in front of her were focusing more on offence and skating while creating their defenders, Burke was kind of going in the opposite direction at least to start. She doesn't have as much speed as Giannopoulos, Funk or Maximov but she makes up for it in punishing defensive abilities. In a bit of a surprise move based on the way the rest of the non-expansion team prospects were deployed, Burke was playing about 16 minutes a night for the Whalers and absolutely did not look out of place. She managed 35 shot blocks and was also physical. She did produce some offence so maybe we see an improvement there but we would have go see how she progresses with her build. For now though, Hamilton has a trustworthy defensive player that they could call up in a season's time if they need a fill-in.

Burke is currently a Christopher Tanev type. Tanev isn't an outstanding offensive player, averaging about 15 points a season but is relied upon due to his excellent defensive skills. Vancouver using him as a minute muncher and a successful one at that. Burke played much of the same style this season. Vancouver knew they could use her for 16 minutes and they wouldn't have to worry about pucks going into their own net while she was on the ice.

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Number Eleven: Slava Petrov – Left Wing – Anchorage Armada -> Texas Renegades
S55: GP: 50 | G: 4 | A: 14 | P: 18 | 8 | H: 22 | SB: 15
SMJHL Draft Position: Second round, 16th overall to Anchorage
NHL Comparison: Mats Zuccarello

As previously mentioned, the Petrov clan was a bit different in the sense that it was a lot of quieter members and recreates who came back after a long time away. Slava Petrov is the second. Back in mind-2019, ckroyal left the SHL after retiring his player Cory Knouse. A high TPE player in his day, Petrov is clearly trustworthy when he is motivated to be a top player. The issue is that after coming back from a long absence it can be hard to judge how a recreate will do. This caused a slam dunk pick to drop a little bit in the SMJHL draft. He moved up in the SHL draft, moving up 5 spots to land in a perfect situation in Texas. The Renegades are hot off a playoff berth for the first time in 8 seasons and are on the rise with a young roster. Texas is going to continue trying to find younger talent to replace older talent in a bid to stay a competitive team. This even happened this season losing Manual Gotze and Piotr Czerkawski to expansion and Manhattan respectively. Petrov will take a few seasons to get to the SHL but he has a spot when he wants it and has superstar potential.

Slava Petrov walked into a great situation in Anchorage and looked impressive this season while the Armada finished first in the West. Petrov played about 11 minutes a night and finished with 18 points. His 4 goals are indicative of his play style. Petrov is developing into a pure playmaker who is able to pass the puck with the best of him. The expectation in the SHL won't be for Petrov to put up 30 goals but 40 assists a season for the Renegades. If the Renegades can bring in a good goal scoring centre, we could see an absolutely deadly pairing in the future. His defensive game is almost no where to be found right now but no team is ever going to rely on him for that kind of game. A team is going to play him on the top two lines with the expectation that he won't be in the defensive zone. If his offensive game doesn't translate to the SHL, this could spell issues.

Petrov looks to me like a Mats Zuccarello type. While Zucc might be a bit better defensively than Petrov, they both fill that playmaking winger role and they do it to perfection. You add a goal scorer to their line and you know magic will be made.

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Number Twelve: KnockedOut ByOvechkin – Right Wing – Vancouver Whalers -> Tampa Bay Barracuda
S55: GP: 50 | G: 4 | A: 4 | P: 8 | 0 | H: 24 | SB: 57
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 12th overall to Vancouver
NHL Comparison: Andrew Cogliano

I'm going to be completely honest: when I saw the name KnockedOut ByOvevhkin, I figured we were going to get a tough, bruising player that would be the perfect fit on the Barracuda while guys like Petrov and Kozlov are able to shore up the top six. Boy was I ever wrong. After very little research I was able to figure out that it seems to be on a joke on Andrei Svechnikov in the 2019 NHL playoffs getting well.....knocked out by Ovechkin. KnockedOut seems to be a good earner as a newer member with timely media to help pay for training. As mentioned previously, Tampa is the perfect place right now for newer members to come in and become major players while learning from some of the best veterans. It seems like this was the perfect spot for KnockedOut.

KnockedOut had a bit of an interesting season for the Whalers. He wasn't exactly a standout rookie only putting up 8 points. He also wasn't really given the chance to be a standout player either. Only 8 minutes of ice time from the Whalers meant he was getting a lot of the dirty work and that shows in his shot blocks. I bet if I looked further I would see a lot of defensive zone starts from KnockedOut. Build wise he is a very balanced offensive player, with at least 11 in each stat and a very balanced defensive player with a 9 at least in each stat. He looks like the perfect two-way player for a team like Tampa who could play as a glue guy on any line while dominating on the penalty kill. He is exactly what Tampa will need with the amount of skilled guys they current already have.

This is going to be a bit weird of a comparison but right now I see a lot of Andrew Cogliano in KnockedOut. Cogliano isn't a standout player in any facet of the game but he is a reliable third line guy who can fill in on your power play or lead your penalty kill. He should find a role on any team once he moves up.

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Number Thirteen: Sachimo Zoidberg III – Left Defence – Nevada Battleborn -> Calgary Dragons
S55: GP: 50 | G: 5 | A: 14 | P: 19 | -39 | H: 41 | SB: 127
SMJHL Draft Position: Fourth round, 44th overall to Nevada
NHL Comparison: Quinn Hughes

This is one of those picks you look at when it is made and you feel absolutely stupid that you didn't put two and two together on your mock draft. Hindsight is 20/20 and it was obvious that Calgary was going to bring back a Dragons legend into the fold when they got the chance. Calgary is one of two teams in the SHL who seems to value recreates over newer players, the other being Los Angeles and it comes as no surprise that Jala is back. Jala created an absolutely fantastic defender in the S20 draft in Sachimo Zoidberg the 1st and had a ton of personal success in the SHL at the time. He just came back from a spell of inactivity and oddly enough did not recreate as a Petrov (kidding) but instead continued the lineage. In the SMJHL draft you can see teams were a bit weary of Zoidberg because he fell and he fell far. I'm not sure what his history was like between S30 and S47 since I was mostly inactive but a lot of that could've been due to people not knowing his first player. He's a top earner in this draft and I see no reason why he won't be in the future if he is motivated. I'm sure getting drafted to Calgary was his goal and I'm sure it will motivate him to eventually replacement Brennan Kennedy Jr as Calgary's number one defender.

As a player, Zoidberg really seems to be working towards creating a pass first defender. His overall offensive skills were good but his passing has pulled away a bit with a 13 compared to 11 for most other statistics. He's also a pretty quick defender and can really hold his own. He wants to find that streaking forward and is okay with moving the puck up if need be. Zoidberg is another defender from the S55 Battleborn defence and its hard to argue that he wasn't their number one guy. 22 minutes of time on ice, 3 minutes of power play time. He was used and was used a lot. Unfortunately the team wasn't great and he was shelled which can be seen in his 127 shot blocks and bad advanced stats. That wasn't Zoidberg's fault though and that will improve as the team around him improves. I'd love to see when Zoidberg can do with 3 seasons of junior but I wouldn't be surprised to see an early call-up for Zoidberg if Calgary feels like he can produce in the bigs.

For a comparison, it is hard to go with anyone but Quinn Hughes right now. Both are smooth-skating puck movers who can move the puck if need be or do it all themselves. I think we'll see more Quinn Hughes style seasons from Zoidberg when Nevada is able to supplement him with more talent up front. Until then though Zoidberg is a ton of fun to watch for fans of the Battleborn.

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Number Fourteen: Teylora Petrov – Left Defence – Quebec City Citadelles -> New England Wolfpack
S55: GP: 50 | G: 4 | A: 11 | P: 14 | -14 | H: 8 | SB: 49
SMJHL Draft Position: Second round, 24th overall to Quebec City
NHL Comparison: Josh Manson

Much like JP at number seven, Panda is another member I've spent a lot of time with in the SHL. Panda and I were both on Edmonton in the S10s and S20s, winning two cups together in S15 and S16. So when I heard Panda was coming back to the league from inactivity to recreate, I was very excited. Like two players we've seen before, Teylora Petrov is part of the Petrov clan and the third one drafted in the first round. Though they may not have had the biggest impact, it is hard to deny how successful they've become owning 20% of the top fifteen players. Panda is on his way to New England with both Grandmaster Funk and Calvin Hobbes. It is hard to imagine a future where Petrov and Funk aren't the Montgomery and Morgan of the future. Two top pairing guys just dominating the East together.

Though we've seen a few offensive defensemen, puck movers and two-way guys, Teylora Petrov is a throwback. He's a punishing defensive defensemen who doesn't look like he's going to wow you at all with his offensive game. He's a total stay at home guy you don't often see as much anymore with leagues starting to move towards players who can move the puck and skate. He's going to come in, throw a hit, block a shot, punch a dude and get back to the bench before he runs out of energy. He came in as a second pairing guy for the expansion Citadelles and did not look out of place. He put up some offence this season but I really don't see that as his game in the future unless he puts some serious work into his offensive stats. His defensive stats are already starting to break away and I can truly see how continuing to move that way.

For an NHL comparison, Petrov reminds me a ton of Josh Manson. Manson is never going to wow you with his offensive skills but he's going to punish you defensively while munching minutes on the backend.

Panda, I just want to say that I love and miss you. If I had a first round draft pick, you would be my first round draft pick.

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Number Fifteen: Dee Centerman IV – Center – Vancouver Whalers -> Seattle Argonauts
S55: GP: 50 | G: 2 | A: 9 | P: 11 | 4 | H: 52 | SB: 28
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 8th overall to Vancouver
NHL Comparison: Jay Beagle

Another pick, another re-create. This one comes from Grok, the former Cedric Robinson. Grok has had a big week. Not only did he become the first ever draft pick of the expansion Seattle Argonauts but he also became the first ever co general manager of the Argonauts. So really, he just had a massive week of firsts. I hadn't previously interacted at all with Grok before he joined Seattle but he seems like a fantastic person and a great locker room leader. Obviously Tig must have trusted him a ton because he promoted him almost instantly. That makes me wonder if he was the only applicant though and Tig did not have another choice. But in all seriousness, this was a great draft pick and a great choice as management.

Dee Centerman IV really confuses me as a player. When you look at his build, it is extremely obvious what Centerman IV is going for. He wants to be the quintessential bottom line grinder who will win you face-offs, kill your penalties and chip in a goal or two. His season for the Whalers was super indicative of this. He played 16 minutes a night, meaning he was probably third line centre but output was no where close to Strongo with only 11 points and 2 goals. Though, he was punishing others with his 52 hits. I think had he been drafted to a more established team, he might continue with this specialized role and maybe he still does. Tig could employ him to play against top lines and shut them down. His 13 defensive read and 12 face offs would absolutely allow him to do that. I wonder now if he tries to start becoming Seattle's number one centre though. He would absolutely need to start updating his offence if he wants to do this though. He only has two stats over ten with one being puck handling at 11 and the other being offensive read at 10. I don't think it is impossible though and to be completely honest, this is the pick I'm most interested in the future. This pick could single handedly prompt me to do a look back in 5 seasons.

For a comparison, I had to scrape bottom sixes to find the perfect role player. I think Jay Beagle is that though. A 4th line centre who can be trusted to do it all for you, no one will ever trust him in the dying moments of the game. When you see a top line come on though, Beagle isn't going to be too far away.

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Number Sixteen: Vili Afalava – Right Defence – Nevada Battleborn -> Los Angeles Panthers
S55: GP: 50 | G: 3 | A: 6 | P: 9 | -29 | H: 101 | SB: 95
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 4th overall to Nevada
NHL Comparison: Jonas Brodin

If Sachimo Zoidberg III was the most obvious pick I should have had, this was the mock draft pick everyone should have changed 16 to (in all fairness, I did not). It is absolutely no surprise that Wasty is going back to LA even with everything going on in the past week. With the sudden departure of Mook as co general manager, Wasty quit hours later. Even though this was a pick that may have been a bit from left field, the feeling around the league was that this was going to happen sooner than later. I do respect Wasty for going about it this way though instead of quitting after being drafted in the general manager role and causing a potential shitstorm. Could LA have passed on Wasty? Absolutely and this would have truly signalled that LA was going to be a different team in the future. Why would you do that though? If you whiff on a pick here, you get blamed for not taking the safe pick. Wasty will create a good player and will contribute for seasons to come. This is a good, safe pick for LA.

Obviously with me being in LA last season, I do have a bit of an inside track on Vili Afalava. The plan for this player was to be a pure defensive defensemen and this is exactly what Los Angeles needs right now. Players like Dayudie, Bathory and Ford are all offensive inclined defenders while LA doesn't really have anyone who can munch minutes with Oliver Cleary leaving to Manhattan. I don't exactly know when Afalava will be called up to the bigs to fill this role now that Wasty isn't GM. The new GM may choose to leave him in the minors for a full term or Wasty could ask to be moved up earlier. It is hard to say. His season with Nevada is reflective of his build. Afalava has 5 in the majority of offensive skills and with only 9 points, this makes sense. His bread and butter is his defensive game and that is clear with 101 hits and 95 shot blocks.

The player I can see being built here is Jonas Brodin. Not exactly a guy you lean on offensively but rather you throw him out to absolutely shut down the other team albeit quietly. You can pair Brodin with a puck mover and take the leash off because you know the other team will be shut down.

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Number Seventeen: Phillip Weaver – Goaltender – Nevada Battleborn -> Tampa Bay Barracuda
S55: GP: 38 | W: 8 | L: 28 | OTL: 2 | GAA: 4.13 | Sv%: .902 | SO: 1
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 9th overall to Nevada
NHL Comparison: Henrik Lundqvist

The first, and only goalie taken in the first round, has in many ways completed the rebuild for the Barracuda. Obviously Tampa Bay is still a few seasons away from being a true playoff contender but they are finally on the right track. They've got forwards, they've got defenders and now they've got their goaltender. Phillip Weaver looks to be the goaltender of the future for the Barracuda. You almost wonder if going so recreate heavy was part of the plan for Tampa Bay here. There is going to be a ton of pressure for Weaver to come in and be the guy and he's going to be given a support system who will help him develop and take this expectations in stride. A great pick for Tampa in the first that could eventually pay dividends.

Weaver played for the expansion Battleborn and honestly his season wasn't too bad. The 4.13 goals against average looks really bad in a vacuum but when you consider that he put up a .902%, he did okay. The young goaltender got absolutely shelled and stood on his head. Much like a few of the Battleborn picked ahead of him, he's going to be able to grow with the roster. As his defenders improve  he'll be getting less rubber and his statistics will go up. This is good preparation for the goaltender for when he gets called up to Tampa Bay. The first few seasons as the team adjusts to the SHL are going to be rough and not unlike what he faced this season.

As a comparison, this could be big shoes to fill but I see a lot of Henrik Lundqvist in his game. The King styled his game around staying deeper in the net and trying to absorb everything that comes to him and Weaver's positioning and rebound stats make me think this will be his game in the future. Make sure he can see the shot and make sure he doesn't give up the second chance.

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Number Eighteen: Zdenko Beranek – Right Wing – Quebec City Citadelles -> Seattle Argonauts
S55: GP: 50 | G: 6 | A: 15 | P: 21 | -22 | H: 22 | SB: 44
SMJHL Draft Position: First round, 1st  overall to Quebec City
NHL Comparison: Travis Konecny

The last pick of the draft is another recreate in what turned out to be a very recreate heavy first round. This one comes from longtime SHLer ztevans in Zdenko Beranek. A recreate with a former Hall of Famer in Zach Evans in his past, he is an absolute steal at 18. He's got a massive bank account which will allow him to coast for most of his career and live off of contract money so he's an easy bet for one of the higher TPE counts in the draft. I've been in an LR a few times with Beranek and he's always a pleasure to have around. A great pick for the expansion Argonauts to build their team around.

Zdenko Beranek went from an expansion team to an expansion team. The Quebec City Citadelles made Beranek their first pick ever by drafting him 1st overall in the S55 SMJHL draft. Coming in with huge expectations and huge fanfare, Beranek did not disappoint. In 14 minutes of ice time, he managed to put up 21 points and looks to be an early prediction for most improved player next season. He's going to be a pure offensive threat. He showed off more of his playmaking this season but I expect those numbers to balance out as he moves up the lineup. He looks like he's going to be a steady winger for many seasons on the Seattle wing, hopefully beside a Bo Kane. He's never going to amaze you defensively but his production should make up for that.

Beranek reminds me a ton of Travis Konecny. He's a fantastic offensive threat who can beat you in almost any way in the offensive zone. I feel like that will be Beranek's role in the future. He might score a goal but he's also just as likely to throw a one time pass to the open player.

Edit:

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While I was writing this article, a trade involving 2 first round draft picks took place. The Toronto North Stars sent defensemen and second overall pick Evangelos Giannopoulos to the Hamilton Steelhawks for defensemen and tenth overall pick Sarah Burke. This just looks like a trade due to circumstances more than anything. Both are pretty similar prospects even if 8 picks are between them. I imagine that JSS wanted to go to Hamilton to be with his former teammates so Toronto decided to move him for a player of the same age. A big trade for this draft but overall I think it will be beneficial to both teams.

If I had to pick a winner in this draft, I think it is pretty obvious. The Manhattan Rage had a great draft. They got that really good player with that pick and my god that was a home run.

In reality though, it is hard to pick a better draft than what the Barracuda got. They managed to grab Kozlov, Vladmir Petrov, ByOvechkin and Weaver in an absolute haul. Each of these players look to be locks in the future and this is the kind of draft that will easily turn your rebuild around. It is also hard to argue with their sheer amount of picks. New England also gets a nod here and I really do this you could easily call them the best draft.

I also liked Minnesota's draft. Rock Strongo is a home run pick and should be the number one guy for them in short order. Obviously they didn't have the depth of picks other teams had but sometimes if you hit on the best player it is hard to argue that you had the best draft.

Will I return to this draft in the future? Maybe I will. I think it was kind of fun to look at as a recreate since so many guys I actually know were drafted high. Sometimes I can get a bit lost looking at prospects when the majority of them are newer guys solely because I just don't have the opportunity to interact with them as much as I had with older players. So being able to see guys like JP and Panda go, as well as Evans was awesome.

I truly think the crop of new players is also very strong. A lot of players were able to work themselves into similar bank accounts and similar TPE accounts as the recreates which I think says a lot more about the newer members. They seem to all have strong work ethic and with rebuilding and reloading teams dominating the first round, they'll have the opportunity to prove themselves in big ways. I'm very excited for the future of the S56 draft class.

Code:
Words: 9055 on SHL counter
2x draft media

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#2

Cash money brother

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#3

snubbed for not making it to 20 to talk about me

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#4

very nice.

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#5

Impressive article buster. Looking like the young buster I grew to hate back in the day

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#6

should've done it to 19. smh

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#7

Great read!

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credit to amazing @Carpy48, @Ragnar @sköldpaddor, @the_paytonium & @sulovilen !
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#8

Hi @Buster

You really nailed my part and thank you for the kind words my dude

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