Being part of the draft felt great, exciting and surrounded by so many other draftees waiting for their name to be called. Having narrowly missed out on the fantasy draft, I hadn't high hopes that I was going to go in the first few rounds. So, I sat back, cheered and congratulated those who were being picked. There were a few teams who had expressed their interest in potentially drafting me; and most of them were expansion teams. Whilst it would have seemed bad that I didn't have a set destination in mind, I had my top three.

Rounds 1 through 4 came and went. Nothing yet, but I was hearing names that I had recognized being called out.

Perhaps in round 5 would prove more fruitful; and so it did.

Pick #57OA of the fifth round.

I was relieved even though it was lower down than I expected, and probably couldn't stop the smile on my face. I was very happy with the draft to the Krakens. My little brother certainly was very excited to hear that he was going to be able to wear an orange jersey.

Having flown from my hometown, I was exhausted as I made it to the locker room to be welcomed into a great fold of people and some familiar faces; both those who I had spoken to before the draft and some of the new draftees. Jet lag was setting in and with a quick call back home, I set off to bed, hoping that I would make the Krakens proud with their pick.