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TheOPSquid · 01-30-2024, 01:27 PM

The Seattle Argonauts have been in a rebuild the past couple seasons, finishing in the bottom of the league a few times as they accrue a ton of draft picks to help the team build for the future. With only 2 players being drafted from the Season 70-73 drafts remaining active, the Argonauts added 4 players in the Season 74 draft and an astounding 8 players in this past Season 75 draft. With a thin prospect pool, having an extremely strong SHL Entry draft this season was important. Seattle did not disappoint, adding 8 prospects to their current rebuild for a great injection of life to the locker room and the future of the franchise.

With a deep pool of prospects all playing well in the SMJHL, it was inevitable that the majority of them would be selected to represent their countries on the international stage. 11 of the 13 prospects were picked to play for their national teams, with only two players being overlooked in their first year eligible: Eric Vanderberg Jr and James Madison.
The Future Argonauts were making their marks all over the tournament in this season's World Junior Championships. With only Team World and the British Isles not having a Seattle prospect, Seattle was well represented in this tournament.

Groaty Bronson and Warwick Windsor held down the back end for Team Canada Black. Groaty Bronson was able to put up 2 assists in the tournament and led the team with 19 takeaways, 10 more than the closest player on the squad. Warwick Windsor was making his presence known to his opponents, establishing a physical presence with his team leading 31 hits. Both defenders averaged over two minutes on the penalty kill and were laying their bodies on the line blocking shots. Unfortunately Team Canada Black ended up finishing 9th and were not able to move onto the knockout rounds. Groaty Bronson and Warwick Windsor each displayed their defensive proficiencies in the tournament and showed why they would make an impact at the SHL level.

Team Canada Red had Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean, Seattle's 5th pick in the Season 75 Entry Draft at 29th Overall. Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean had an impressive tournament this season, putting up 8 goals and 8 assists for 16 points in 12 games. Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean not only had probably the longest name in the tournament, but also finished second in scoring in the entire tournament. Averaging only 1 minute of powerplay time and playing on the second line, Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean had 2 game winning goals in the round robin. Canada Red was a strong team in the round robin, finishing decisively in first place with 9 wins and 27 points in 12 games, leading the second place British Isles by 6 points. Team Canada Red were unfortunately ousted from the tournament in the first round, but Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean was responsible for 2 of their goals in the 6-3 loss to Rhine. Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean demonstrated his ability to perform and his clutch factor in this tournament with the two game winning goals, Seattle will be thrilled when he makes it to the SHL.

Team USA Blue had a lone representative from the Argonauts prospect pool, with Newton "Lizard" Campbell being a top 4 staple on the right side for the squad. Known for his defensive capabilities, Campbell demonstrated an offensive touch in this tournament. Putting up a goal and 4 assists in twelve games, Newton showcased his offensive potential for the squad to go along with his defensive stats. Newton Campbell laid his body on the line with 18 blocked shots in the round robin, and 2 blocks in the one game in the knockout round as well another assist. Team USA Blue had a run-in with Team ICE in the knockout round, resulting in an overtime loss for the United States and their elimination from the tournament.

Team USA White was a strong team throughout the tournament, finishing third overall just 1 point ahead of their Team USA Blue counterparts. Seattle prospect Shadow Fenix was the first line center for them, continuing his regular season excellence into the World Juniors tournament. Shadow Fenix was excellent for the States, putting up 13 points in 12 games with 10 assists. Shadow was solid at both ends of the ice throughout the tournament, putting up 11 takeaways, 18 hits and averaging close to 3 minutes on the penalty kill per game. Known for putting up a ton of shorthanded points in the SMJHL with 14 shorthanded points this past season, Fenix would add yet another shorthanded assist in the tournament. Team USA White was matched up against Norden in the knockout round but after a 4 goal first period by Norden, the USA would lose this one 5-2.

Henri Losanov was the only Seattle prospect on Team Rhine this tournament, and started off as the backup goaltender in the round robin, before starting all 3 knockout games for Rhine. Losanov was good in the round robin, facing off and falling to Team World twice by scores 7-3 and 5-4. But beating them in their 3rd matchup of the tournament 5-2 after Losanov would face 40 shots and post a 38 save, .950 save percentage game to earn the first start in the knockout round. Rhine would go on to eliminate Canada Red and fellow Seattle prospect Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean in the first round of the knockouts, with Losanov putting up 35 saves on 38 shots in a 6-3 win to push them into the second round. Rhine would match up against Team ICE in the second round of knockouts, but ICE would dominate this one and score 6 goals as Losanov faced 47 shots and ended with a .870 save percentage. Rhine would go on to the bronze medal game and fall to UCORCAL with Losanov posting a .850 save percentage with 33 shots against. Losanov is Seattle's only goalie prospect with Sith Happens jumping to the SHL this season but being inactive currently and current starter Willie Miller being in regression, the net should be Losanov's by the time they jump to the SHL.

UCORCAL had two Seattle prospects this tournament, with Rence Sykut and Squidwardo Tentacles. Rence Sykut is the lone Season 75 prospect that is currently active and had a great regular season and tournament. Sykut had a 54 assist season with 81 points and continued his play with 5 assists and 2 goals in the round robin. Tentacles was decent in the round robin as well, putting up 8 points with 4 goals but only 11 hits in 12 games after producing 187 hits in the regular season. The United Countries of Russia, Czechia and Latvia finished the round robin with 17 points and 5 wins and a spot in the knockout stage. UCORCAL would face off against the British Isles in a back and forth game, with Rence Sykut putting up 2 points, scoring the game winning goal on the powerplay with only 15 seconds left in the third period and adding an assist. Going up against Norden in the second round of the tournament saw UCORCAL go up 3-1 entering the third period, but Norden would go on to force overtime and ultimately scored in overtime to send UCORCAL to the bronze medal game. Sykut and Tentacles would go on to face off against Team Rhine in the Bronze Medal game, UCORCAL would go down 2-0 early, before scoring 5 straight to win 5-2. Sykut would pick up an assist on the game tying goal before a rally of scoring would push UCORCAL to the win. Sykut is in his last year of the SMJHL before making the jump to the SHL and gaining a roster spot as one of the first players from the rebuild.

Team ICE had Seattle's two earliest picks of the Season 75 draft, in which they acquired Pinli Switchbang at 3rd overall and Olivija Agate at 9th overall. Team ICE finished tied for 4th in the round robin with Norden and USA Blue with 19 points and 5 wins. Olivija Agate had a solid tournament showcasing offense from the back end, picking up 8 assists in the 12 round robin games with minimal powerplay time. Pinli Switchbang was firing the puck with an astounding 37% shooting percentage, burying the biscuit 6 times in that 12 game span and picking up 8 points. A 53% faceoff percentage in the round robin was solid for the rookie center playing 4th line minutes on the squad, contributing to the team's overall 54.0% faceoff win percentage. A close game in the knockout stage against Team USA Blue would see ICE score a goal 3 minutes into overtime while on the powerplay and push to face against Rhine in the second round. A dominant 6-3 win over Rhine would see both Seattle prospects combine for the opening goal just a minute and 45 seconds into the first period, after Switchbang was kicked out of the draw. Baardsen would tie up on the dot with Switchbang retrieving the puck and dishing it back door to Agate for an easy tap in. Agate would be named the first star of the game, after putting up 1 takeaway, 1 hit, and 1 block to go along with the goal. A defensive battle in the finals would see Agate put up 2 takeaways and a blocked shot, but Team ICE would be shutout in the gold medal game and take home silver. A tournament for both rookies would see them walk away with silver medals for their efforts, Switchbang earning it in his first tournament and Agate earning it in her second. Showcasing their abilities to buy into a system and contribute on both ends of the ice, Seattle should be excited by these two recent draft picks.

The last team to feature a Seattle prospect was Team Norden, with Season 74 3rd overall pick Will Tomlander playing a shutdown role for the squad.Will would put up a team high 7 goals in the round robin, while being tied for second in points (10) and plus minus (+8). Averaging 45 seconds on the powerplay with 13 minutes average time on ice, Tomlander produced at a high rate with his limited role. Team Norden would finish tied with USA Blue and Team ICE for 4th in the round robin with 19 points. Matching them up against Team USA White in round 1, in which a 4 goal first period would lock the game up early for Norden as they shifted their focus on shutting down the USA's offense for the rest of the game. After securing the 5-2 win over USA White, Norden would move on to face UCORCAL in round 2. In the matchup UCORCAL would go up 3-1 early, but a comeback would be sparked by Tomlander's physical play. Laying the body in the second half of the game, Tomlander's five hits would help push Norden forward for the eventual game tying goal and subsequent overtime winning goal. The gold medal game would be between Team ICE and Team NORDEN, in a tight defensive game. Coming down to the third period, Norden would score the lone goal in order to clutch up the gold medal. Tomlander would be held scoreless in the medal game but added 3 shots and 1 hit as he would be the lone Seattle prospect to take home a gold medal. Tomlander had a winning season, as he would win the Four Star Cup with Detroit and add a gold medal to the season as well. All while playing with the same linemates for both teams, Kenny Omega and Emil Karlsson. Tomlander has already shown he can win and play well within whatever system the team establishes and looks to be a great prospect that Seattle will be looking forward to having play for them.

Seattle has a deep prospect pool that has been built heavily over the past 3 seasons and will look to build through the draft with multiple picks in the upcoming Season 76 SHL Draft. Multiple prospects won medals at the World Junior Championships this season and we could possibly see a repeat of this at the next World Juniors due to the amount of nations this prospect pool can represent. With a most of the prospects on the way to the SHL in the next few seasons, the Argonauts future is bright.

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