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JayWhy · 08-25-2021, 01:44 PM

This season is a unique one, though you wouldn’t really think it lately. We had an expansion, and that is actually a very rare sight to see. Lately, it’s been pretty common, sure. But ultimately, it is a surprise to see come along. What I plan on doing is looking at my expected pick and what I would have done, and compare it to what actually happened in the draft.

Starting, of course, at the first pick which was Ricky McDangle of Colorado. I understand the reason, Great Falls made a side deal with Colorado that ultimately would send back McDangle to them for Fedor Sotakov and a ton of late round picks in the present draft. While those picks may not yield active players, Great Falls needs bodies and so it makes sense to try to do. I am confused by the deal as I can’t imagine Sotakov was protected so why not make a deal just to take Sotakov and cut out the middle-man aspect. I also think it’s odd for Great Falls to send a pick back. When I did my review, I said to take Kekkonen, Nishimori or Nystrom personally. Though, I don’t know what their protection list was as I had McDangle as a protected player. I think if getting a deal, I would go for Leon Schweingruber, but they went a different route and that’s fair enough.

The next pick, from Carolina, is a fascinating one to me. I didn’t see Daud Ramza being exposed in this one, and he was the selection. I opted for Granny PanPan personally, and I still think that would be the best option. There weren’t many defensemen available in this draft, and between the one season send-down forward and the one-season send down defenseman, I would go for the defenseman.

We then have a pick from Vancouver, which was Barry B. Benson. I didn’t have him being exposed, I assumed they would hold on to somebody with a longer send-down window and move on from someone that is a one-season send down. This was one of the best picks in this draft easily, and is great work by Regina.

In Anaheim, I had them taking Matej Winters mostly because I couldn’t foresee the firesale coming and I assumed they would extend their window by holding on to a player in Arturs Tumovs that would likely be a two-season send-down instead of a one-season send-down. This was a very smart pick in Great Falls, as they get a good user and pick up a rare defenseman in this draft.

They then went to Maine and took Janne Virtanen. I was critical of this already in my review. I cannot see a way for this to be a wise pick, he’s a one-season send down with Minnesota very likely calling him up after bringing up Aleksandrs Balcers this season. When I know Alexis Paquette was available and is a long-term option who will at least give you another three-seasons, it seems wild to me to think you would limit yourself to one season of benefits from this pick.

Next was Newfoundland, where Robert E. O. Speedwagon went and while he’s a one-season send-down, there was not much from Newfoundland to take. I had Speedwagon as somebody being protected on my board, leaving on Evgeni Petrov as a viable option. Instead Regina makes another very smart pick, getting a great user and leader for the locker room similar to their first pick with Ramza. While I disagreed before, this is at least a big locker room add.

Regina then went for Quebec City where they took up Hail Bingus. I saw two routes this could’ve gone, taking a S61 player or a S60 player, and either way you’re likely to see at least three-seasons from them. This one is a bit lower TPE, but is a basically guaranteed player for a long time. This was a smart move for Regina, pick up someone you know will be on the roster for a while to fill it out.

Great Falls then grabbed a player from St. Louis and … I can’t see a way to assess this pick well either. I saw that they were likely taking a S58 player, but to take Daryl Urquhart who is active but was guaranteed to be getting called up by Seattle and I believe already had been before the expansion draft, I can’t fathom. Urquhart is active, and it’s highly unlikely an active would make it through waivers, and Geekusoid is a former SHL GM and so should be aware of the waiver system to know this would happen. This feels like a wasted pick when Hunter Sharpe could’ve been a fine option that is similarly S58 but would at least give a full season. Another point of discussion is taking someone who is guaranteed at most only one season before taking others that could give you more time and activity.

They jumped from there to Anchorage, taking Janis Lux. I saw Lux as an option, but I saw it as one that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. I was very critical here as well, as Lux is most likely a one-season send down in my estimation. Meanwhile, Benjamin Jansson should have been available and while only at 250 TPE, they’re guaranteed to be down for another 3 seasons and so you give yourself a good depth option there. This made little to no sense to me.

Regina comes back for their last two picks and takes Sam Siege from Nevada. I had him as protected from Nevada, so this surprised me, but I guess they opted to protect Larkin-Conway and Harrier both instead. Siege is a fantastic locker room addition, and so once again Regina makes a great pick and smart pick for building a great culture in their first season, knowing they can’t compete.

They also picked another S61 in Albert Luck here. Luck comes from Detroit, and I think I had him protected but I can see why he ultimately was available. This is a fine pick, he won’t be much of anything for the team but in a draft where four defensemen were picked, they needed to at least get one and this was the only one they got. I think they needed to go harder on defense, but I get the choices and think this one is a good move for line-up depth.

Finally Great Falls only has Kelowna to select from, and it was an interesting choice again. They take another one season player in Gerry Atrick, who I know went through waivers and has made it down, which is great for them. However, it’s a one season player and I assume Adriano Donini was available. While Atrick is a 425 player and Donini is just 224, he is going to be on the team for another four seasons and would be a great pick up for defensive depth to have. Granted, they got three defensemen in this draft, so I can understand relying on going to the Entry Draft with half the defense already filled.

In all, I think Regina had a fantastic draft and Great Falls had a questionable one. A lot of their choices were odd to me, but that’s from an outsider view. They may have had different information than I did, and worked from there. The protection lists were obviously different from my estimations. I think this was a fun time, and we’ll see where it goes from here.

An old man's dream ended. A young man's vision of the future opened wide. Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire.

Thanks to Jackson, Copenhagen, and Harry Hans!

GOING DOWN IN STYLE. TOAST4LYFE

**leafs1997** · 08-25-2021, 11:33 PM

@JayWhy GRADED! +5 TPE

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