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vbottas17 · 09-02-2022, 01:57 AM

Nevada Battleborn forward Alexi Piastri was the 19th overall pick and the fourth player selected by the Minnesota Monarchs in the first round of the S67 SHL Draft

"With the First overall selection in the S67 SHL Draft, the Minnesota Monarchs are proud to select, from the Quebec City Citadelles, Defenseman Nevek Kove!"

The building erupts in cheers and the spotlight finds Kove in the crowd. Kove is bombarded with congratulations as the Citadelles star and newest member of the 1st overall club trys to make it to the stage.

Welp, the worst kept secret heading into the draft is official now, Alexi Piastri thinks to himself as he stands and applauds for Kove. Might as well get comfortable, I think I may be sitting here for a while tonight

The next picks are announced, one after another. Piastri is not expecting to hear his name in the first handful of picks so there's not a lot of suspense or nerves for him yet. The Panthers trade up for the fourth overall pick which intrigues Piastri. Los Angeles is one of the teams that Piastri has been in contact with recently and they still own the sixteenth overall pick. Piastri doesn't expect to be taken this high though and the Panthers end up selecting goaltender to center convert, Adam Prpich.

"With the eighth overall selection in the draft, the Philadelphia Forge select from the Vancouver Whalers, Defenseman, Antonio Flusso!"

Wow, would have been great to go to Philadelphia, thought Piastri, You can't blame them for selecting Antonio though, he's going to be a nightmare to play against. Who knows, maybe I'll fall to their second round pick

"With the ninth overall selection, the Winnipeg Aurora select, from the Nevada Battleborn.. Piastri instantly feels a wave of excitement rush through his body, or maybe it's nervousness, or maybe it's a combination of both.. Center, Paul Peterson!!"

"Let's Go Paul!!" Piastri yells from across the draft room,
Wow it would have been super cool to join that team but I can't be upset right now, Paul is a hell of a teammate and I'm glad that he's joining a great organization Piastri thinks to himself.

Fast forward to the eleventh pick and the Minnesota Monarchs are on the clock. Minnesota is fresh in Piastri's thoughts, This could be an interesting spot, I was just talking with one of their lead scouts outside of the hotel, funny because I haven't heard anything from them until today...you never know though, maybe they have more interest than I know about.

"The Minnesota Monarchs are proud to select, from the Regina Elk, Defenseman, Brendon Laroux!!!"

Piastri stands up and claps, Laroux is seated just a group over from him,
"That a boy Brendan, you deserve it! Piastri says as he gives Brendan a shoulder tap as he walks by.
Brendon's always seemed like he would be a great teammate, have to be happy for the guy., wow Minnesota has already added Kove and Laroux tonight.. who knows maybe I'll keep falling and they'll end up being my teammates. Piastri thinks to himself.

Piastri's anxiety levels are starting to pick up. He's talked to nearly all of the teams with picks upcoming in the draft and believes that he's had good interviews with them.

Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Texas, Los Angeles, my name could be called anytime now! Piastri's thoughts race.

Baltimore passes on him, Tampa Bay passes, Texas ends up trading down, and Tampa Bay passes again.
The Los Angeles Panthers are on the clock, Piastri looks down at his phone,

This is it, The Panthers have shown genuine interest and I always felt like I would be a good fit with the Panthers. My agent has a lot of history dealing with the Los Angeles, maybe that will be the deciding factor.. this is going to be awesome! I can even travel from Las Vegas to Los Angeles easily and watch my future teammates in action! Piastri can barely contain his excitement and has already started envisioning life as a member of the Panthers.

"We have a trade to announce"

Piastri's shoulders noticeably slump down

"The Los Angeles Panthers trade the sixteenth overall selection to the Tampa Bay Barracuda for Toronto's S68 first round selection."

Piastri can't contain his disappointment. The camera crew catches him with his head in his hands. it looks like he's starting to become anguished by slipping in the draft. I mean he had just played an important role on a championship winning team and had been rated as the best rookie statistically in the entire SMJHL... He came over from Australia, with very little previous exposure to highly competitive hockey, and worked his ass off all season to improve his game.. What more could he have done to prove that he was a high level SHL prospect? Was it his Birthplace and background? Was he getting the Anze Kopitar treatment? Hell even Kopi went 11th overall..

o.k focus Alexi, maybe Tampa Bay is trading for this pick to select you, they seemed pretty interested just a couple of days ago..

"With the sixteenth overall selection, the Tampa Bay Barracuda select from the Anchorage Armada, Connor McKiel"

This is fucking bullshit!!! Piastri has to think for a sec and make sure he didn't say that out loud,
There's no way in hell that guy is better than me! Wow Tampa Bay had 3 chances to select me and they passed all 3 times, I'm going to remember this night everytime we suit up against them.

Minnesota is back on the clock,

"The Minnesota Monarchs select from the Newfoundland Berserkers, Brennan Kennedy III!"

This one I can understand, Kennedy is a great talent from a rich hockey bloodline, no doubt he will be a star one day The Cameras are starting to zoom to Piastri shortly after every pick is announced. He sits quietly and trys not to show too much emotion as his wait to be drafted continues.

Did Texas think I may slide a bit when they traded down?
Nope, Texas selects Maine Timber forward Pawter Meowski.

"Alright Pawter, congratulations!"

Piastri gives Meowski a high paw, Pawter was one of the SMJHL players that Piastri got to know well before the SMJHL draft and you could tell he was genuinely happy to see him selected.

The Minnesota Monarchs were now back on the clock for the 4th time in the first 19 picks.

Well hell, Tampa's already passed on me 3 times, Texas has effectively passed on me 3 times, Los Angeles would rather not draft anybody and traded out of a spot where they could have taken me, How about Minnesota decides to pass on me for a 4th time now?
Maybe I really will fall out of the first round and end up in Philadelphia after all
Piastri lets out a slight smile providing himself with some comedic relief

"With the nineteenth selection in the S67 SHL Draft, the Minnesota Monarchs select, from the Nevada Battleborn, forward, Alexi Piastri!"

It takes Piastri a second to realize what has just happened. A second later it hits him and he feels a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. Piastri smiles and hugs his family. His parents are there with him from Australia and he shares high fives, congratulations, and thanks yous with the players sitting near him at the draft.
Piastri smiles on the stage while the commentators talk about formula 1.

Wow I've made it, I'm a first round draft pick in the SHL! Piastri thinks to himself about different parts of his journey that have got him to this point in his hockey career. He thinks about his teammates in Nevada.
Maybe this is the best situation for me anyways, my linemate in Nevada Dominik Froste is a Monarchs draft pick and they were able to draft three other excellent players before they selected me. Maybe this is the way it was all supposed to shake out. I'm going to have to make a few of those teams regret not taking me though.

Kove, Laroux, Kennedy, & Piastri are able to get to know each other a bit and end up doing some media stuff for the draft. Kove is the main attraction for the media of course, but don't sleep on the Monarchs draft class as a whole. This could end up being the type of draft that in the not too distant future, puts a team in prime position to reach elite status and contend for years to come.