04-22-2023, 01:26 PM(This post was last modified: 04-23-2023, 12:44 PM by CptSquall. Edited 1 time in total.)
In this deep dive we are going to take an in depth look at the rising stars of the Vancouver Whalers season 70 draft class. Before the season started the Whalers were widely overlooked by the majority of the league, finishing dead last in average total points earned no one expected much from them this season however with the help of outstanding scouting from their general managers and a dedicated young talent pool the Vancouver Whalers were able to fight their way to a 33-28-5 season which was good enough for them to earn seventh in the SMJHL standings and a playoff spot.
With the first overall pick the Whalers selected Bob Wehadababyitsaboy. Bob had a very good first season which Vancouver fans are definitely happy about, while he is not the most offensive player he still ended the season with 6 goals and 23 assists for 29 points. Wehadababyitsaboy is a classic shut down defenseman who truly impacts the game with his defensive ability. Bob led the league in takeaways for the majority of the season and ended with 85 takeaways and only 16 giveaways, he also had 79 shots blocked and 111 hits which makes him one of the most dominant defensive forces in the league.
With the 17th overall pick the whalers selected another defenseman in Bellamy Blake. The Whalers were obviously trying to strengthen their D core in this draft and it definitely worked. Blake is an outstanding two way defenseman. He finished the season with 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points but also had 82 takeaways which makes him a threat on both sides of the puck. Blake quarterbacked the Whaler powerplay which were successful 18.7 percent of the time. One of the most impressive things about Blake is that he is a leader in rookie TPE with 282 earned which makes him a very interesting player to keep an eye on in the coming years.
With the 31st pick the Whalers selected Inactive Forever. Forever has been one of the most impressive players in this draft class and has proved himself as a favorite in the Rookie of the Year voting. With 27 goals 37 assists and 64 points Forever had shown the offense of the Whalers is in good hands for the coming years. Forever has also shown that he plays bigger than his 5 foot 7 frame because he had 185 hits this season.
Johnny FourStar was selected with the 37th pick in the draft and this is where the Vancouver scouting really shows their scouting expertise. Fourstar was another powerhouse offensively for the Whalers amounting 18 goals and 37 assists for 55 points which is impressive because he averaged under 19 minutes on the ice per game and only had 4 powerplay assists all season. Fourstar also proved himself capable in the defensive zone where he had 182 hits and 43 blocked shots as well as a plus minus of 10 which is good enough for the second highest on this talented whaler squad.
With the 59th pick the draft the Whalers selected Larry Johnson The 3rd. While Johnson may have been overlooked by some of the other big names in the draft he had done very well this season. Johnson amounted a respectable 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points on the season with only just over 17 minutes of ice time per game. Johnson also had an impressive 56.1 percent faceoff win percentage which makes him a reliable player to have on the ice
Overall the Vancouver Whalers have a very talented and committed draft class which makes them a very interesting team to keep an eye on in the future.
Hungy Fella
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