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Symmetrik · 08-28-2021, 10:34 PM

We saw earlier that the Forge made only a few changes to their roster after their first full season. On the back of a mediocre season, the missed out on the draft lottery after picking 7th in their first draft. Now we can take a look at the other side of the coin, and see how the Montreal Patriotes fared, and if things are much different for them.

The Patriotes finished 5th from last, but unlike the Forge they fell into the bottom 2 team in the Eastern Conference, and so they found themselves in the draft lottery, and wound up with the 3rd overall pick.

Before we cover how Montreal fared in the draft, we'll look at how they made changes to their active roster. The smallest of the changes that came this offseason was a change behind the defense door, as the Patriotes swapped out backup goalie Steven Vassallo for Richard Majors. What would by most people probably be considered a downgrade probably won't have much of an effect on the team, as White Goodman gets the nod in goal most nights. Much like the Forge, the Patriotes are going to be bringing back the same 6 defensemen that walked the blueline last season. Also like the Forge, the Patriotes have listed Tony Ford as a left defenseman, giving them 4 LDs and only 2 RDs, when last season they were listed as 3 on each side. The only other 2 roster changes came from the forward group, dropping both Bobby Sharp and Henrik Lundqvist Jr. This was a very interesting move, as Sharp was a top center, and they didn't bring in anyone to replace him, really. What was a decent looking lineup down the middle has been significantly weakened, and now only boasts 2 natural centers, compared to 3 last season as well as some wingers who were strong on the dot. Now their depth in the faceoff circle is extremely weak and they likely are moving 2 wingers to center. One of those is offseason addition Mack Daddy, a natural winger who will probably be pushed by the Patriotes to start at C. They also added Nick Connolly, a solid winger who should be able to exceed Lundqvist Jr.'s contributions. The team's talent down the middle is seriously diluted, and losing Bobby Sharp is a massive blow to this team.

On the bright side for Montreal, they selected 3rd in the draft, and picked up the exciting Leons Breidis from Kelowna. Breidis didn't excel in his season in Kelowna, but showed promise and is the leading face of one of the most exciting defenses in the SMJHL. He took on a lot of responsibility as an SMJHL rookie and that may have been overwhelming, but with a season under his belt expect him to show a lot more development this season. They didn't pick again until 31, where they selected Samuel Kjellsson. What will quite possibly become quite the steal, the Patriotes added another defenseman, and one who had a great first season in Quebec while logging a lot of minutes. The French pipeline certainly gave Patriotes scouts a lot of looks at him. They had another 2nd round pick, at 39th, where they selected a goaltender, Meeka Keprosoft. Goalie prospects can be hard to predict, but Keprosoft go a good chance in Carolina, getting an even split of the games. Given they've had 2 different backups in 2 seasons, maybe Keprosoft can help form a stable duo in Montreal for the future. The Patriotes had 2 more picks in the 3rd round, back to back. Jalal ad-Din Afinogenov and Scott Thorn, and they might very well turn out to be home runs. Thorn has shown a ton of development, off the ice, but on it the results aren't there. Last season was a struggle in a lower role in the lineup, and preseason was a mess for Thorn in Kelowna. Afinogenov on the other hand, showed promise on the ice, but less so off of it. Top 5 in scoring on Nevada, he was traded to Anchorage in the offseason and has a pretty limited role there so far.

Some important changes came down to the active roster in Montreal, so we'll have to see how things fare going into their sophomore season. I wonder if they might struggle to make progress this season. A stellar draft though has them looking pretty strong for the future.

monochroma · 08-30-2021, 12:58 PM

god damnit that's noT HOW MY NAME IS SPELLED

**leafs1997** · 08-30-2021, 06:02 PM

@Symmetrik GRADED! +5 TPE

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