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Operation Ivy · 05-01-2023, 09:42 PM

The Texas Renegades may be a team to watch for in the coming seasons. After making the playoffs as a lower seed in back to back seasons, this young group has their sights set on even bigger things in the near future. It’s never an easy path to win the cup in the SHL, but as any successful franchise will tell you, it all starts with successful draft picks who will become the household names to hoist the cup.

Today we are going to take a look at some of those recent draft picks that are currently in the Texas system, and where they stand following SHL Season 70. Some are about to put on the Renegades uniform for the first time in Season 71, while others are still one or two seasons away. We will take a look at where the player was selected, their current TPE, and their stats from the most recent SMJHL season. All total TPE numbers listed below are as of 5/1/23.

Season 68 Class

Season 68 could be seen as the start of a new era for the Texas Renegades. Management realized that it was time to establish a new culture, and they made sure that they selected players who embodied the traits that Texas wanted to build around. Below, we take a look at the three players selected by Texas in the Season 68 SHL Entry Draft.

Name: Chris Valentine
Position: Defense
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 16
Total TPE: 876
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 6, A 21, PTS 27, +/- 16, BS 159, HIT 96

Starting off our group of graduates is Chris Valentine of the Great Falls Grizzlies. Valentine has been a rock for the Grizzlies in his four seasons there. Since he joined, Valentine has been able to solidify himself as one of the top defensive defensemen in the junior league. In total, Valentine blocked 644 shots in his junior career. Chris Valentine has done about all he can do at the SMJHL level. The Texas Renegades will certainly find immediate use for Valentine’s incredible defensive instincts and shot blocking capabilities. On top of his excellent play, Valentine has been one of his draft class’ top earners. Expect Valentine to be an immediate contributor on the second/third line of defense for Texas. Valentine is exactly the type of player that a team will need to make a deep run in the postseason for years to come.

Name: Marton Diehm
Position: Left Wing / Center
Drafted: Round 2, Pick 24
Total TPE: 833
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 34, A 22, PTS 56, +/- 11, FO% 55.8%, HIT 75

Drafted as a winger, Marton Diehm has spent the last couple seasons in Carolina as a center and the results have shown. This past season, Diehm set a career high in points with 56. The goal scoring was evident too, as he also set a personal best in the scoring category with 34 goals. An all around talent, Diehm has provent that he can be counted on to win faceoffs while also finding the back of the net when needed. Given the age of some Texas forward, Diehm’s style of play is exactly what Texas needs. As a high TPE earner and a good amount to unbank upon graduation, expect Diehm to be a big time scorer for Texas in his rookie year and many of the years following.

Name: Sea Jebus
Position: Goalie
Drafted: Round 3, Pick 50
Total TPE: 540 TPE
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 34, W 18, L 14, OTL 2, GAA 2.78, SV% .905, SO 3

A late round pick in S68, goaltender Sea Jebus has continued to be a steady earner and player for the Kelowna Knights. This past season in Kelowna, Jebus played the goalie position in over half of Kelowna’s games and saw some good success overall. Now approaching graduation from the SMJHL, Jebus will start his SHL career as a backup for a Texas team that has a clear #1 in net. Given that Jebus has continued to bank TPE and play solid in the SMJHL, Texas might have a reliable backup on their hands for the foreseeable future.

Season 69 Class

If the Season 68 class started the new era for Texas, Season 69 may have put the bow on it. In the Season 69 SHL Entry Draft, Texas did all they could to select the players they wanted, and we saw a few draft night trades that netted them a new crop of prospects. In total, 7 players were selected by Texas and below we take a look at the 6 who are still prospects in the Renegades system.

Name: Tiberius Kane
Position: Left Wing
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 14
Total TPE: 577
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 15, A 49, PTS 64, +/- 3, HIT 200

With their first pick at #14 in the S69 SHL Entry Draft, the Renegades selected winger Tiberius Kane. Kane projects as an offense-first winger, who possesses an ability to find the open man while also being able to finish and score. With good physical skills, Kane proved this season in the SHL that he could be a force all over as he was just under a point per game player, and also registered 200 hits. Kane has certainly lived up to Texas’ high expectations they had when drafting him, as he has just about proven all he can at the SMJHL level. Kane has also been a good earner, and should be able to make an immediate offensive impact when called up on the season after next. Already a fan favorite, expect Texas to sell their fair share of Kane jerseys going forward.

Name: Jack McCarthy
Position: Defense
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 15
Total TPE: 621
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 6, A 22, PTS 28, +/- -3, HIT 83, BS 165

One pick after drafting Kane, the Renegades traded up and selected defenseman Jack McCarthy. Projected as a two way defenseman, McCarthy paced all Regina defenseman in points with 28 this past season. He also set a new personal best in blocked shots with 165 to round out his game on the defensive side. Expectations for McCarthy were high when Texas traded up to draft him, and with a good amount of TPE currently banked, it looks like McCarthy will be ready when he gets the call to the big leagues following next season.

Name: James Dion
Position: Center
Drafted: Round 1, Pick 20
Total TPE: 642
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 37, A 37, PTS 74, +/- 11, FO% 57.6%, HIT 105

With their third and final pick in round 1, the Texas Renegades selected center James Dion. Simply put, Dion is turning out to be an absolute steal at pick #20. Dion has always been known to let his play do the talking, and he has done nothing but impress throughout his junior career. In Season 70, Dion put up 74 points in 66 games for Great Falls, proving that he does not have much else to prove in the SMJHL. What really stands out about Dion though is his TPE earning, as he ranks in the upper echelon of his class despite being taken at the 20th pick. Texas has to be thrilled with the return on investment they have gotten on James Dion, and he will surely carve out a franchise spot sooner rather than later.

Name: Patrice Bergeron
Position: Center
Drafted: Round 2, Pick 26
Total TPE: 533
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 30, A 41, PTS 71, +/- 38, FO% 58.9%, HIT 114

Texas used their lone 2nd round pick on Patrice Bergeron, a name familiar to NHL fans everywhere. It was no secret that the SHL’s version of Bergeron wanted to model his game after the future hall of famer. So far, Bergeron seems to be on that track as he enjoyed his best success to date by going over a point per game in SMJHL Season 70. On top of that, Bergeron was an impressive +38 for a strong Maine team, proving that he can contribute at both ends of the ice. Bergeron has been a good TPE earner, especially for a 2nd round pick, and if he keeps on this track he should ultimately be a go-to player in Texas’ top 6 or top 9, while logging minutes on the penalty kill with his face-off skill and defensive ability.

Name: Ryan McKennedy
Position: Center
Drafted: Round 3, Pick 46
Total TPE: 363
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 36, A 29, PTS 65, +/- 32, FO% 54.5%, HIT 65

In the third round, Texas used their pick on forward Ryan McKennedy. At this point in the draft, Texas was looking to gather some depth and for a while it looked like they may have found a steal in McKennedy. Unfortunately since that night, McKennedy appears to have gone inactive and no longer updating. Still, McKennedy put up some numbers for Newfoundland, going just under a point per game while registering an impressive 36 goals. At this point, McKennedy projects as a depth forward for Texas. If McKennedy can get back to updating in the future, this could be a player that ends up playing a role in future success of the team.

Name: Happy Gilmore
Position: Left Wing
Drafted: Round 4, Pick 66
Total TPE: 271
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 24, A 20, PTS 44, +/- 4, HIT 145

One of six players selected in the fourth round of the S70 SHL draft, Happy Gilmore was someone that Texas was hoping could be a low-key draft night success. As a movie star in the movie sharing the same name, Happy Gilmore got a roar from the crowd when his name was selected and he tried to fight a guy with his skate. Since that night, Gilmore has proven to be a solid player in the SMJHL as more of a power forward type, capable of laying big hits while still showing up in the score sheet each night. Gilmore appears to be semi-active at this point, and the TPE earning isn’t as high as some of his classmates. Still, Gilmore has another season to grow in the SMJHL and if he continues to update on a semi-regular basis, he could be the lower line player that Texas will need some day.

Season 70 Class

While the Season 68 and Season 69 drafts were extremely busy for Texas, Season 70 was far more quiet as the team had far fewer picks to work with. They only selected one player in round 3, and below we look at the report for that lone selected player.

Name: Stumptavian Roboclick
Position: Defense
Drafted: Round 3, Pick 48
Total TPE: 197
S70 SMJHL Stats: GP 66, G 10, A 14, PTS 24, +/- -48, BS 72, HIT 112

It was a long night for Roboclick as he waited to hear his name called. Finally, in the third and last round of the draft, the Texas Renegades called his name. With their only pick in this draft, Texas was hoping to find a potential gem in Roboclick. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that will be the case with the young defenseman. On the ice, Roboclick tallied an impressive 10 goals from the blue line. Other than that, the -48 was a troubling sign. At this point, Roboclick looks to be completely inactive and barring an unexpected change there, it looks like Roboclick will be a career minor leaguer and future cut for Texas.

That concludes our current look into the prospect pool of the Texas Renegades. With some upcoming SMJHL graduates joining an already budding core in Texas, as well as some members of the Season 69 class following not too far behind, this could be the start of something special for Texas. Longtime fans of the Texas Renegades have been itching for their historic franchise to return to glory, and those in and around the organization are hoping that the names mentioned above will be the ones that might start a new championship era in Texas.