04-12-2021, 09:48 PM(This post was last modified: 04-13-2021, 04:55 PM by bluesfan55.)
hello SHL, it's me, everyone's favorite mediocre player/anchorage coach bluesfan55. i figured with the recent announcement of another expansion, it would be fun to draw up some really early expansion lists. so let's get into it, shall we? (just wanna mention that i mean no disrespect or insult to those who are projected to be left exposed; this also has GMs protected which i'm unsure is actually the case so if it is let me know)
Atlanta Inferno
F - Patric Twist
F - Eko van Otter
F - Guy Zheng
F - Dick Clapper
F - Pablo Salvatici
F - Stan Q. Next
F - Simon Takshak
D - Simon LeBlanc
D - Michael Withecheck
D - Rex Kirkby
D - Dominic Montgomery
G - Samat Beibitzhanov
My Projected Picks: Carlos Brown, Josh Dolphin
The Atlanta Inferno are a weird team that's both aging yet young. It's obvious that they're going to protect their young studs like Withecheck, Twist, Next, Takshak, and Pablo Salvatici (who's anticipated to be called up). Older, more experienced skaters like Kirkby, Montgomery, LeBlanc (alarmingly an old defensive corps, although they have Thornsen, O'Duck, and Angus McFife btw in the wings), and Clapper will be protected as well. This leaves Manuel Gotze, Mike Hroch, Josh Dolphin, and Carlos Brown unprotected. Gotze will probably be retired by next season, so it comes down to the other three. I'd take Brown due to his decent TPE numbers and build, and Dolphin due to his youth (S56 player).
Baltimore Platoon
F - Karl Krashwagen
F - Ethan Duncan
F - Nat Emerson
F - Patrick Shepherd
F - Lord Raiden
F - Daniil Nikiforov
F - Lucas Johansson
D - Zebulon Leavitt
D - Valentin Kalashnikov
D - Tanjiro Kamado
D - Teddy Murphy
G - Luca Del Vecchio
My Projected Picks: Rob Wright, Damien Vertigo
The Platoon are interesting with their possible protections. The forward group is solid and all pre-regression bar Emerson at this point in time (although Krash will be regressing by S60). The defense is much the same except no players are regressing. BAP is going to end up losing two younger players in the expansion draft, and I think it'll be center Rob Wright and goaltender Damien Vertigo, selected over Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette and Adam Friedland. Wright is a decent player to build your team around in the future and Vertigo can possibly slide into the starting role (or maybe as a good active backup/1B in a tandem).
Buffalo Stampede
F - Bobby Sharp
F - Monkey D. Luffy
F - Matt Kholin
F - Aron Hernadivic
F - Jaska Seppala
F - Steve Harrington
F - Alexander Roach
D - Alex Selich
D - Nicholas Owens
D - Augustus Wang
D - Emilia Bergman
G - Elizabeth Doyle
My Projected Picks: Aumy Jr, Chimkin Wing
Buffalo's youth revolution is seemingly in full force, with players like Steve Harrington, Alexander Roach, and Emilia Bergman propping up the experienced Augustus Wang, Alex Selich, Bobby Sharp, and Monkey D. Luffy. Goaltending is set with Elizabeth Doyle. The fourth defensive protection spot is a toss-up between Aumy Jr and Emilia Bergman; I went with the latter due to her slightly higher TPE total which leaves Aumy Jr to be a likely selection. The other one figures to be Chimkin Wing, who'll be young and around 1000 TPE at the time of the draft.
Calgary Dragons
F - Luukas Lilja
F - Mats Marner
F - Steven Moyer
F - Joseph Weston
F - Esa Parmborg
F - Boris Poroshenko
F - Barry Batsbak
D - Sachimo Zoidberg III
D - Chris Goodname
D - Kaspars Claude
D - Brennan Kennedy Jr
G - Cale Amundsen
My Projected Picks: Zdenko Beranek, Maxime Bouchard
Calgary is interesting as they begin to slowly turn towards the youth. As such, their main young guys are easily protected. The toughest call for me was protecting Moyer over Bouchard (Moyer gets the nod because he's actually fighting off regression), and Beranek seems to maybe be the odd one out of the young forwards as Calgary may want to keep Batsbak and Poroshenko over him.
Chicago Syndicate
F - Jean-Uthred Ragnarsson-Tremblay
F - Ryuuji Minamino
F - Ryan Shepard
F - Nick Connolly
F - Lallo Selman
F - Gunnar Soderberg
F - Martijn Westbroek
D - Corey Kennedy
D - Akira Ren
D - Parker Smeb
D - Disisde Dayudie
G - Mat Smith
My Projected Picks: Jules Watt, Lassi Suhonen
Chicago won the cup in S57. Now, I think they're firmly the fourth-best team in the Great Lakes. Sure, they'll be competitive, but with a mainly aging squad and a lack of youth and prospects (which seems to be rectified now), the Syndicate are slowly moving towards a retool. Outside of their big pieces there's not much for the future expansion GMs to take; the best options are regressing defenseman Jules Watt and decent-earning center Lassi Suhonen (although, I can see Chicago possibly protecting him over the inactive, regressing Lallo Selman).
Edmonton Blizzard
F - KnockedOut ByOvechkin
F - Kyle Sutton
F - Daniel Laforest
F - William Hartmann
F - Jean-Paul Boivin
F - Jon Forty-One
F - Julio Tokolosh
D - Johnny Shuffleboard
D - Conor Tanner
D - Karlstrasse Scholz
D - Axel Foley
G - Tyler Ward
My Projected Picks: Erben Kasius, Tony Pepperoni
After the budget fiasco, Edmonton has fully embraced their young guns (Foley, Ramsey, Sutton, Laforest) and acquired some more (Shuffleboard, KOBO). This might bode well for them as their older players slowly age out. Erben Kasius may be the odd man out on the defense, and with Scholz still at 1900+ TPE and Shuffleboard earning better (and younger), I can see him getting selected. Forward wise, I'm going to throw out Tony Pepperoni due to him being the oldest player there. In fact, I think Tommy is going to get one of the GM slots so he'd be an autopick. Goaltending is interesting though, as Scoochie Stratton will be a free agent by S60. Is the plan to protect Tyler Ward over him? Maybe. I think they'll keep him and expose Stratton.
Hamilton Steelhawks
F - Aaron Wilson
F - Mitchell van der Heijden
F - Theo Morgan
F - Rikard Hammarberg
F - Rotticus Scott
F - Devin Basher
F - Elijah Jones
D - Evangelos Giannopoulos
D - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Jr.
D - Samuel Michaud
D - Hugh Jazz
G - A Jobin
My Projected Picks: Guy O'Shea (sadge), Bork Lazer (also sadge)
The expansion GMs are going to be salivating when looking at Hamilton's unprotected list. The Steelhawks have a lot of good young players and a few may be left exposed. Forward wise, I think Skao Anazibf may be the odd man out (Wilson/Morgan/Jones are actively fighting regression while Basher/Scott/Hammarberg/MvdH are still earning), but the defense will be more intruiging as I project the crodie Evangelos Giannopoulos to be protected as an S56 player who should be near 1.2k over the older Bork Lazer and Guy O'Shea, both of whom are great players. That's going to be a tough call for Hallsy and mills, and both Lazer and O'Shea should be selected due to their sheer talent.
Los Angeles Panthers
F - Jimmy Slothface
F - Jimmy Wagner
F - Austin Roenick
F - Barrett Blackwood
F - Vorian Atreides
F - John Donair
F - Grape Fruit
D - Jonas Kahnwald
D - Elias Kierkegaard
D - Mathias Seger
D - Keith Lee
G - Knox Booth
My Projected Picks: TURG TURG, Sean Gatez
Los Angeles is in an interesting spot. I believe that there's a chance Fox retires soon (something I heard through the grapevine but not 100% nailed on), so Fuzz won't protect himself and therefore keep most of the youth movement there. Trading for Austin Roenick means that he should be protected, leaving both TURG TURG and Philipp Winter (if not retired) available; for me, that's a no doubter as I'd add TURG MAN STRONK to my lineup. The defense is interesting as Keith Lee switches to the blueline, and with their current lineup bolstered by the surprising acquisition of Mathias Seger from Minnesota, this leaves a quandry: will all three of Sean Gatez, Jari Heikkinen, and Jimmy Jimmy be left unprotected? I certainly think so, and with Gatez the best prospect out of all three, he's my pick.
Manhattan Rage
F - Ola Wagstrom
F - David Kastrba
F - Rocco Berni
F - Guy LeGrande
F - Jax Aittokallio
F - Luca Veccelli
F - Luke Thomason
D - Andrej Doskocil
D - Jukka Timonen
D - Jack Klompus
D - Oliver Cleary
G - Name Redacted
My Projected Picks: Jed Mosley Jr, Matty Sandeen
Oh, Manhattan. Still the crop of the Atlantic, but that is a heavily aging core with prospects in the pipeline but not ready. As such, IA forwards will be protected like Berni and Veccelli, leaving the GMs with 2 defensemen to take, as the Rage boast a strong blueline. Jed Mosley Jr and Matty Sandeen might be the odd ones out, although a hypothetical situation where Sandeen is protected over Oliver Cleary is intruiging. However, I can see the Rage keeping Cleary and losing out on Sandeen and Mosley.
Minnesota Monarchs
F - Cal Labovitch
F - Asclepius Perseus Flitterwind
F - Kynwyl Pearce
F - Rock Strongo
F - Phineas Gold
F - Mika Mayfield
F - Rikki Petrov
D - Collin Gibbles
D - Arsene Leclerc
D - Slimey Snail
D - Tony Ford
G - Markus Tegernako
My Projected Picks: Hugo Gronroos, Alex Marshall
Minnesota is in an interesting spot where they've got a dynamite forward group that's been bolstered by the acquisition of Phineas Gold but a weaker back end that should be strengthened by Collin Gibbles switching positions. However, the D is weak enough where IA Slimey Snail should get protected. Goaltender Hugo Gronroos looks likely to be one of the players selected as a backup goalie similar to Damien Vertigo, and Alex Marshall is an almost-1k player who the GMs can use in a depth role or try to bring back.
New England Wolfpack
F - Bàs O'Bigbers
F - Ethan Price
F - Jonathan Granstrom
F - Jakub Bruchevski
F - Slap McShotty
F - Gudmundur Kristjansson
F - Calvin Hobbes
D - FR Finn Rhys
D - Alexander Oscarsson
D - Sven Yxskaft
D - Teylora Petrov
G - Frans Eller
My Projected Picks: Leonids Balzams, Alexis Vermette
New England could be a rising power in the Atlantic but expansion hits them hard. They've got a nice young forward group buoyed by veteran steel in Bruchevski and McShotty, and the blueline is strong as well with the acquisition of FR Finn-Rhys. The strength of both groups leads me to believe that defenseman Leonids Balzams and winger Alexis Vermette will be selected as active, younger users nearing or at 1k TPE. There's an off chance that a GM could take winger Adrian Ayers, but his build is not that good and would need to be heavily sheltered (Clean is also available, but realistically it's between the two young guys in Vermette and Ayers) so I can see GMs eschewing that for the two-way play of Vermette.
New Orleans Specters
F - Xavier Doom
F - Valtterri Kauppinen
F - Slava Petrov
F - SLATT Potts
F - Oliver Cloutier
F - Cian McFelter
F - Vlastislav Malik
D - Robert Feltersnatch
D - Conner Hutton
D - Lyle Odelein III
D - Vili Tugatugaboatu
G - Jon St. Arkz
My Projected Picks: Olli Saarinen Jr, Mack Daddy
New Orleans is balls-deep in their rebuild, but the future's looking good as my protection list shows. This season's call up group (including three new players in Kauppinen, Tugatugaboatu, and Petrov), as well as their Kelowna boys (plus Jon St. Arkz, who'll waltz right into their starting spot) who make their debuts next season dominate this list. Mack Daddy is inactive, but still relatively young and close to 1k so he can fill an easy depth role. Olli Saarinen Jr may lose his starting spot to St. Arkz, but should be selected as a spot starter or maybe compliment to Gronroos or Vertigo.
San Francisco Pride
F - Sven Svenson
F - Henrik Lekberg Osterman
F - Yngve Simonsson
F - Daedalus James
F - Kev Kevens
F - Walton Stromberg
F - Patrik Money
D - Alex Petrenko
D - Rikard Bjerg
D - Ruggs McOoooh
D - Nathan Thomas
G - Nicolae Antonescu
My Projected Picks: Fleetway Super Sonic, Jarmo Kekalainen
San Francisco is in the New England boat, where they've got a lot of young, active skaters but not enough spots to keep all of them. They've got a lot of S57 players in the pipeline, with Kekalainen and Petrov likely to be unprotected as the Pride keep Daedalus James and Patrik Money over them. Kekalainen, as the more active/higher TPE player, seems to be one of the picks. Defense is interesting too, as they have Gregory Goode and Bjorn Jakobsen both auto protected which likely saves Nathan Thomas's bacon. This also hands Ruggs McOoooh, a likely callup next season, a protection spot as well. With those players protected, Fleetway Super Sonic stands out as a slow earning yet active option that should be selected.
Seattle Argonauts
F - Michael Scarn
F - Reid Sutherland
F - William Salming
F - Juni Panda
F - Vaseline Podcalzone (beeg yoshi)
F - Kriss Darzins
F - Jack Kanoff
D - Abel Skinner
D - Gabriel fucking Johnson
D - Cassius Darrow
D - Dee Centerman IV
G - Yanno Rosejac
My Projected Picks: Ren-Eklemichi Shimizu-Okoli, Bo Kane
This is where my hot take pick comes in. Seattle's forward group is strong as they have a nice blend of experience (FA signing Michael Scarn, Jack Kanoff, Reid Sutherland) and youth (Salming, the newly acquired Juni Panda, and beeg yoshi). The defense is relatively strong with Skinner and Zizagooney decent compliments to their top pair of Darrow and scrub Gabriel Johnson. My surprising choice here is to protect Juni Panda over Bo Kane. Juni brings a good locker room presence, which I feel the Seattle GMs may value more over the regressing yet strong earning Kane. As such, Kane is an easy pick. This leaves Sabo Tage or Ren-Eklemichi Shimizu-Okoli as players who could be picked, and RESO, as a younger, active option, should be that pick. Goaltending could be worth a shout, as the team recently acquired Peter Ramsey to go with Thor Odinson as a decent young tandem, but both aren't as good as hot prospect Yanno Rosejac and will be left unprotected and maybe picked but there are better options.
Tampa Bay Barracuda
F - James Ronlain
F - Dwight Knight
F - Michael Fitted
F - Tom Fiddler
F - Vladmir Petrov
F - Aleksander Kozlov
F - Zoltan Topalo
D - Joorgustrad DuBolk
D - Ambacas Cuddles
D - Igor Victory
D - Colin Lambert
G - Phillip Weaver
My Projected Picks: Panda Panico, Jakob Hamr
Tampa's had to let go of some real good active players as of late (Kauppinen, TURG, KOBO) and it looks like the same may happen with this draft. They're protecting a full group of actives and good earners, and the forward group especially looks strong. Panda Panico and Justin Keahi are left unprotected by me as I think keeping the younger Vlad Petrov and Aleksander Kozlov is a priority; it's a real tossup since both are good young players who can fill a 2nd line spot easily but I'm going with Panico. Defensively, the Cuda look strong as well, with Jakob Hamr and Ewulf Jericson left unprotected. I would take the shot blocking maestro that is Hamr; Jericson may be younger but I like Hamr more as a tough DFD.
Texas Renegades
F - Kaarlo Kekkonen
F - Theo Kondos
F - Alexander Wachter
F - Lemo Pihl
F - Burlok Sulfurgold
F - Edward Williams
F - Andreas Kvalheim
D - Joseph Fantobens
D - Mikkel Asmus Sondergaard
D - Bjorn Leppanen
D - Adam Scianna
G - Cilian Kavanagh
My Projected Picks: Eric Hudson, Josef Kubinec
The reigning President's Trophy winners are set to be hit hard due to their insane forward depth. Their top 9 is arguably one of the best in the league from Pihl to Kvalheim, but this leaves two forwards likely to be selected. I think Pihl will get a protection slot over one of Hudson and Kubinec due to his youth, and both Hudson and Kubinec look like they could get picked (I have them both selected, one as a top-tier sniper and the other as a top-tier playmaker). Noah Brusky, a capable top 4 blueliner, is also likely to be left unprotected but I think they'll probably lose the forwards.
Toronto North Stars
F - Mika Kandinsky
F - Bobby Lane
F - Rhys Pritchard
F - Liam Slate
F - Ryu Jones
F - Danny Marston
F - Ruslan Zaporozhets
D - Luffy Richard
D - Ursin Zimmermann
D - Adam Barron
D - Ryosuke Sato
G - Harry Carpet
My Projected Picks: Delver Fudgeson, Taylor Johansson
The nascent Toronto North Stars will also lose two really decent players in this expansion draft. They've done a great job of building up, and their defense is especially strong, and with Axel Meszaros (god he sucks) retiring, this leaves Luffy Richard (great LR guy) as the fourth defenseman protected; with vet Delver Fudgeson available I'd take him. The forward group is really good too, with Taylor Johansson and First-Name Last-Name left unprotected. Johansson is younger and should be really good at the time of expansion (so is FNLN, but he's about to regress), so I'd go with him.
Winnipeg Aurora
F - Nick Brain
F - Commander Shepard
F - Zakkira Diporov
F - Calogero Crudelli
F - Goku Muerto
F - Jason Desrouleaux
F - Dwayne Gretzky
D - Jasper Maximov
D - Magnus Liljestrom
D - Pojo Biscuit
D - Sarah Burke
G - Strom Chamberlain
My Projected Picks: Jst Maro, Adrik Baranov
The Aurora's forward group is interesting as a young yet not really well-earning group. It's not the most inspiring but I can see both Zelma Zuntnere and Jst Maro left open; Maro would be the pick for me as a younger player. The defense is both young and good, as the 4 players protected are all young max earners. This leaves Adrik Baranov open to be picked, and that's a no brainer for me as a good blueliner with time on his side.
And that wraps it up. Could I be talking out of my ass? Maybe. I honestly tried my best with this and a shit ton can (and let's face it, will) change within the next two seasons. But as of now, this is what I really think the expansion draft could look like.
ty to @High Stick King @EvilAllBran and @Ragnar for the sigs
"Bring back Pingy Pingu Lunga Gumba esq. And I mean bring him all the way back. I want every thread on this forum that involves even a modicum of salt to get razed to the ground by our most notorious shitposting penguin. I want every thunderdome to drown in ABAGABA spam and a signature that doesn't end. I want the userbase of this fine league to cower in terror, slinking about the forums and making as little noise as possible for fear of attracting the Shitpost Slenderman. When some poor immigrant from the NFL sim blunders into the forum and makes an angry post about how his player slipped to the early second round despite having done ALL the rookie tasks(!), let the veteran survivalists stare in horror and pity while the newbie rages. They will know it is only a matter of time before @Pingy Pingu descends upon his post like a ravening wolf and obliterates his tread, reducing it to a radioactive waste-dump of unintelligible spam. They will not interfere, for Pingy is our immune system. Because he can take it. Our Dark Knight of Shitposting"
Sig credit to @WannabeFinn @JSS @Mordaciious @Mayuu @TommySalami
Falcons banner credit to @karey
bluesfan55
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