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Tampa Bay Barracuda Draft Review
#1

With 5 picks in the first round of the S47 SHL Entry Draft, the Barracuda had their hands full. With many top prospects to select from, and holes all over the lineup, GM Flacko Lagerfield needed to make sure that this draft would set this team up for the future, with a solid, loyal core that will hopefully bring Tampa Bay to a top spot in the league. After watching his former team; the Buffalo Stampede win a Challenge Cup without his efforts, Lagerfield was determined to turn the ship around.

2nd OA - Gunnar Soderberg

With the first selection in the draft for the Barracuda, GM Lagerfield decided to select Gunnar Soderberg, a playmaker out of Kelowna, fresh off a Four Star Cup loss in his first season. Soderberg brings a tremendous talent to the Barrucuda, and when he decides to make the jump to the SHL he will be a prominent player - that is if he keeps up with his intense training regime. Soderberg had a quiet rookie season in Kelowna, playing behind a large group of top guns, as he amassed 3 goals and 7 assists on the season, but was a -5 on the season. He did only play 455 minutes the entire regular season (~9.1 MPG), so he has a lot of room to grow in his current position. Soderberg is also going to be capped to start the season, and should have a great sophomore year with the Knights.

5th OA - Epsen Knutsen Jr.

With their second pick in the draft, the Barracuda selected Epsen Knutsen Jr, another playmaking centre from the Detroit Falcons - a SMJHL team that has strong ties to current GM Lagerfield, as he played out his junior career there. Knutsen had a great rookie season with the Falcons, putting up 4 goals and 17 assists for 21 points on the year. His true playmaking ability was on display the entire season, and he also will be capped to start the year down in Detroit, further building on what was a great rookie year. Knutsen played roughly ~5 MPG more than Soderberg, but these two individuals will be the playmakers of the future for the Barracuda.

8th OA - Cullen Gray

With their third pick in the draft, the Barracuda selected Cullen Gray, a sniping winger from the Vancouver Whalers, another talented organization. Gray had an amazing rookie season with the Whalers, putting up 13 goals, and 22 assists for 35 points, playing ~17 MPG for the organization. His ability to find seams in the offensive zone and pick his spots in the net will be a huge weapon for the Barracuda, especially when paired with both Knutsen and Soderberg in the future. Gray will also be capped to start S47 in the SMJHL, and will build upon a tremendous rookie season, where we might see him break the 50 point plateau.

13th OA - Austin Roenick

With their fourth pick in the draft, the Barracuda selected Austin Roenick, another sniping winger from the Lethbridge (boo) Lions. Much like Gray, Roenick found a lot of success in the SMJHL with the Lions, putting up 14 points and 16 assists for 30 points on the season, while playing ~19 MPG. The most out of all the Barracuda draftees thus far. Roenick has a lot of potential, as his agent has produced a few quality players such as recent Challenge Cup Champion Leafer Rielly, and with his mentorship, can train Roenick to be an even better player. With Roenick expected to be capped by the start of the season, the Barracuda are already assembling a star group of forwards for the future, but with many defenseman left on the board, and a dire need for help on the backend, will these moves pay off in the long run?

14th OA - Akashi SixNine

With their fifth pick in the draft, the Barracuda selected Akashi SixNine, a defensive defenseman from the Colorado Raptors. SixNine loves to play the body in any game that the Raptors played this season, and the only thing he likes more than punishing players like Martjin Westbroek into the ice, is blocking shots like no tomorrow. On a rebuilding Raptors team, SixNine put up 3 goals, and 11 assists for 14 points in his rookie year, alongside, 82 hits and 37 shots blocked. He also led his team in penalty minutes with 81, which got the attention of his Raptors coaches who want him to be more disciplined this year. SixNine fell quite significantly from the start of the season in terms of draft class TPE, especially with have 3 more weeks of training available to him through joining early. However, his agent had had success training players whom have fell in the draft and creating superstars with them, so see SixNine develop into a sturdy top 2 defenseman for the Barracuda in the future, as he is also going to be starting the season capped.

24th OA - Miikka Salo

With their final pick in the draft, the Barracuda selected Miikka Salo, a two way defenseman from the Detroit Falcons. While Salo has significantly less TPE than the rest of the Barracuda selected, he will be a solid force on the backend for the Barracuda in the future. He was a solid player for the Falcons putting up 2 goals and 12 assists, while being a +7 on the season, playing ~18 MPG. A potential duo of SixNine and Salo in the future would be a solid pairing for the team, however, a big concern going forward will need to be adding more depth to the defence corps. Salo should have a few more seasons in the SMJHL with the Falcons left in him before he makes the jump to the big league teams.

Through the six picks the Barracuda had in the draft, GM Flacko Lagerfield chose 4 solid forwards while addressing a major need in the forward group, as currently 7/14 of the forwards are inactive players. In a few seasons, the goal is to have a fully active team on both the front and backend to eventually turn this team into one of the strongest teams in the league on paper, but knowing Simon T (unless we switch sims) anything can happen in the sim.

(2x media for draft stuff)

Akashi SixNine Jr. Updates

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#2

tampa looking good Barracuda

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#3

happy birthday 44

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#4

Barracuda Barracuda Barracuda

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#5

The players Tampa wasn't able to draft you can count on one hand.

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Barracuda Germany Scarecrows Knights


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S50 Challenge Cup Finals Game 7
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