The 2 most recent SHL teams have now played 1 season, and after taking their lessons in that season, have made their offseason changes. For expansion teams, that can generally come with a lot of changes, as your first season is based a lot on just what you get given from other teams. This is their first offseason where they could come in like every other team. They have prospects, their team needs and identity are already defined.

There was only 2 changes to the active roster for the Forge, and a couple of position changes.

The 2 big changes were to rejig their lineup down the middle, as their bring in 2 new centremen, in legend Luke Thomason, and youngster Ric Charlesworth. Thomason will replace Alexis Vermette on the 2nd line, and Charlesworth will come in to the 3rd line, pushing Frederick Wanesly over to the left wing. That switch pushed Tres Sombreros off the lineup completely. Justin Keahi and TURG TURG both remained on the roster, but they have been swapped on the wings, both switching sides. As well, Rintarou Okabe is now listed as a left defenseman, which does put the Forge with 4 LDs and 2 RDs, compared to having 3 and 3 last season. Someone will still have to play on the right side, so that's an interesting listing on their roster during the preseason.

The big offseason move of course is the draft. The Forge, thanks to no history of a season, had odds equal to the 3rd last place team in S60, and ended up picking 5th. In S61, they had their 1st season under their belt to give them a spot in the draft - without a lottery. Without expansion, only the top 4 picks were a part of the lottery (compared to 8 during the expansion season) so the Forge settled for staying at 7th pick. They did at least also hold the 13th pick from Edmonton, but didn't pick again until 47th.

Their first choice was talented German defender Hans Graf, who was strong for the Raptors last season, and will get a great opportunity in a leading role in S61. Graf is a solid 2 way defenseman, he will need to work on his skating, but it was a great selection by the Forge to bolster their defense for the future. Their other 1st round pick went towards selecting Connor Snooks. Snooks is a winger who struggled mightily for the Battleborn in S60, but will get to take a more prominent role this season, and the Forge are certainly hoping to see much more development this season. The last pick for the Forge in the draft was spent on Jeff Hopkins, way down at #47. It's a good gamble that late, as there's some potnetial there despite some slow development so far. Hopkins was decent last season for Quebec in less than 10 minutes of ice time per game. Hopkins is getting a much better opportunity by the looks of things this season, so we'll see if development picks up soon.

All things considered, a somewhat surprisingly small number of changes for the Forge. Bringing in Thomason is a big move for name recognition alone, but otherwise the roster isn't going to look a whole lot different just yet.

https://www.twitch.tv/symmetrikal

Christian Kinsinger || D || Winnipeg Aurora || 2042 Peak TPE ||
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 212 lbs

Luca Veccelli || C || Retired || 1093 Peak TPE ||
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 208 lbs

Chris York || RW || Retired || 1817 Peak TPE || HOF ||
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 184 lbs

Prince George Firebirds GM (S34-S36)
Toronto North Stars GM (S37-S43)

Approved!

+5 TPE @Symmetrik