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JayWhy · 07-10-2018, 12:17 AM

POST-DRAFT ANALYSIS: MONTREAL MILITIA

On The Athletic prior to the SMJHL Draft, we posted an analysis of each team's major needs and focused on their potential draft strategies. Now that we've made it through the hectic day where lives are changed, we get to take a look back and focus on the future of each of these franchises. Over the course of the next few days, we'll be looking at each team individually that we profiled before en masse to get a better idea of them as a team.

Of course, we'll be going in reverse order of our list from earlier this week. We've already begun with the Kelowna Knights earlier today. Now we're going to take a look at their opponents in the Four Star Cup Finals -- the Montreal Militia.

THE DRAFT

13 -- Pavel Pivonka, RW
17 -- Kevin Kazarian, C
20 -- Vital Kravtsov, C
27 -- Veikka Toivanen, D
29 -- Mason Hudson, LW
35 -- Petr Vrana, G
43 -- Marco Raanteli, D
51 -- Jeff Brogen, LW
59 -- Rasmus Rasmus, D
67 -- Stephen Wormster, D
75 -- Christian Walker, RW

NEEDS: Starting Goaltender, Future Replacements for Defense, Improvements at Center

The Militia very much differed from Kelowna in their strategies here, as while Kelowna ended up making fewer picks than they started with, Montreal completed the draft standing pat. This would be considered a success widely, as they made 11 picks and accumulated a large number of high-ceiling players. Specifically, they attacked their need head on by making the first goaltender selection of the draft early on at pick 35 – still granting our prediction there wouldn't be a goaltender picked in the top-30, though destroying our hedge bet that they may select one at 27 or 29 – as well as grabbing center depth and defensive depth early on.

A true mark to the Montreal draft strategy appears to be in players who have connections to former players and agents. In this case, they drafted Pavel Pivonka with their first selection, a relative to Michael Pivonka. They also then doubled down shortly thereafter with Kevin Kazarian, who has a connection to the player agent for Manhattan Rage wing Harry Hans. Pivonka will be stepping into a wing role with high expectations as Rafe Ulrich and Daniel Daniil the previous two seasons have come in and immediately worked into the top-8 of their respective draft classes. Kazarian and Kravtsov are stepping into a competitive role where Crystal Roy and Cody Johansen currently fill the top-6 roles but are easily obtainable positions that we expect these two to fill by season's end.

Veikka Toivanen and Marco Raanteli both step immediately into a defense that has positions to fight for, especially after the graduation of Ensio Kalju to the SHL, and will be expected to compete for top-four playing time out the gate. Unlikely to get it immediately, whoever shows commitment early can be expected to make a major jump early in the season – likely even within the first week. To highlight this, let's look at the roster and a small prediction for the coming season.

THE ROSTER

CENTERS: Crystal Roy (241 TPE – S40); Cody Johansen (293 TPE – S41); Vlasimil Volf (162 TPE – S42); Ryan Peters (178 TPE – S42); Kevin Kazarian (207 TPE – S43); Vital Kravtsov (190 TPE – S43)

LEFT WING: Daniel Daniil (361 TPE – S41); Joey Treadway (155 TPE – S42); Rafe Ulrich (275 TPE – S42); Mason Hudson (204 TPE – S43); Jeff Brogen (201 TPE – S43)

RIGHT WING: Radovan Hudec (422 TPE – S40); Piotr Czerkawski (417 TPE – S41); Rahotep Tutankhamun (311 TPE – S41); DabCity Savage (285 TPE – S41); Pavel Pivonka (202 TPE – S43); Christian Walker (155 TPE – S43)

DEFENSE: Grease LaRoache (250 TPE – S39); Rocky Park (179 TPE – S39); Viktor Valentine (363 TPE – S40); Charlie Shieck (269 TPE – S42); Harvey Danger (242 TPE – S42); Veikka Toivanen (177 TPE – S43); Marco Raanteli (186 TPE – S43); Rasmus Rasmus (155 TPE – S43); Stephen Wormster (155 TPE – S43)

GOALTENDERS: Khalil Anthony (155 TPE – S41); Petr Vrana (182 TPE – S43)

NAME = Player in Last Season of Eligibility
NAME = Rookie Player

Let's address the elephant in the room here – it is very much difficult, if not poor planning, to entrust your organization into the hands of a rookie goaltender. Nonetheless, Vrana is a capable prospect to entrust it to. As long as he continues to develop between the ears, his physical development has already matured to a point that he'll be successful. Maintaining his mental growth, he'll learn how to better use his body and become a true force on the back of what is already a stellar and stacked team in Montreal.

Looking at the roster, they are stocked full with great players in great positions. From Harvey Danger on defense to Rafe Ulrich and Piotr Czerkawski at forward. There are 9 defensemen listed here, so expect some movement to be made there, however the team is very obviously built as a contender both for the present and the long-term with a successful draft. Kazarian, Pivonka and Hudson appear to all be game ready, and Kazarian seems to be in line to surpass Roy quickly this season. Kravtsov may take a little longer, but in the meantime will be working alongside fantastic and knowledgeable linemates line DabCity Savage or Rahotep Tutankhamun. At The Athletic, we fully believe Montreal is on a steady upswing that could keep them a top team in the SMJHL for the foreseeable future.

Entering S42, I would expect Montreal to be a top-two team in the league and would not be shocked to see them go heavily into support defense early on before finding their rhythm offensively and letting it rip once Vrana becomes a more trustworthy backstop. They made an obvious upgrade on their biggest weakness, and gave themselves fantastic depth at just about every position with well-timed and smart picks to fill out the team long-term. There is nothing not to like about this team's draft and their employment of their strategy to fulfill their needs. With Kazarian a likely number-one center, Kravtsov within the same range and a lot of high-quality players around, the Militia have been spectacular in just about every way.

That concludes our latest post-draft look-in. Check back tomorrow for more coverage as we review the third and final team on our list who failed to have a first round pick going into the day -- though a fourth team did make a move that we'll discuss later – in the Detroit Falcons!

Quote:Word Count: 1073. Step 2 of Double Pay Week, team by team reviews. 2/8 down.

Just like with Kelowna's, don't take anything too seriously, just trying to keep it realistic.

An old man's dream ended. A young man's vision of the future opened wide. Young men have visions, old men have dreams. But the place for old men to dream is beside the fire.

Thanks to Jackson, Copenhagen, and Harry Hans!

GOING DOWN IN STYLE. TOAST4LYFE

Leoben · 07-10-2018, 12:42 AM

Great stuff.

Keygan · 07-10-2018, 01:17 AM

Appreciate the kind words @JayWhy I have to give huge credits to my coGM @ErM for some fantastic scouting this draft that netted us such high ceiling players.