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JNH · 08-11-2015, 08:33 PM

<div align="center">Toronto's Future</div>

Coming into the Season 25 SHL Entry Draft, hailed as one of the strongest and deepest in recent years, Toronto looked to be well position. Considered to be a playoff team, the North Stars still held one of the deepest pick pools among the teams in the league. Management worked hard in the lead up to the draft in order to identify areas of need and exactly which picks would be used to address it. 1 first round pick, 2 second round picks, 2 third round picks and 3 fourth round picks left Toronto in a position to fill needs and add some active prospects to the roster.

Deciding that they only wanted to pick 3 or 4 prospects and that the biggest area of need was on defense, the North Stars addressed this early on. Hours before the draft, Toronto moved 21st and 30th overall to Minnesota in exchange for 800 TPE defenseman Ryan Sullivan. This was a move meant to solidify their top 4 following the retirement of Azriel Stryfe, Darian Scherbluk's long time defense partner.

Toronto then during the early stages of the draft dealt 7th and 24th overall to the Edmonton Blizzard for the 13th and 16th overall selections in the draft. For a team with a strong prospect base, it was a move to solidfy their prospect group and ensure that they'd still grab 2 top prospects after the deal with Minnesota.

With their first selection in the draft, 13th overall, Toronto looked to a prospect that they were high on earlier in the season. Looking to once again work on the defensive weakness, the North Stars drafted Cynthia Taylor from the Prince George Firebirds. One of the top defensemen in the draft, Taylor looks to develop into a future top 4 player for Toronto and will play a big role in the future. Today, Toronto is pleased to announce that it has locked up Cynthia for the next 3 seasons. We're really excited to track her progression and watch as she ascends to stardom.

S25: 3M + 500k MGMT
S26: 2.5M
S27: 2.5M

Stars

Stars watched as the Wolfpack picked 15th overall and then moved back up to the podium in order to select again. Having acquired their top defensive prospect, they looked to BPA and one name stuck out, one that had appeared a couple times already this season in Toronto LR as talk was positive about him. An extremely underrated player, the North Stars couldn't stop grinning as they stole Adam Falk of the Montreal Impact at 16th overall. Toronto has also come to terms with Adam Falk on a 3 year entry level contract and hope that he'll reach his projection of becoming a strong top 6 forward.

S25: 2.5M + 500k MGMT
S26: $2,750,000
S27: $2,750,000

Stars

Toronto then sat for 18 picks as names flew off the board, ones highly touted by the organization and a couple surprises to see go that early. When their pick at 35th overall closed in, they identified a player in the TPE rankings that they deemed to be ahead of his class at this point. To ensure they got him, they dealt up a pick from 35th overall to 34th with Manhattan and threw in a late 4th. With the newly acquired pick, they selected John Wick from the St. Louis Scarecrows. At 250 TPE, he'd be an easy 2nd round pick in most drafts, so mid-third is a great bang for your buck pick and should develop well if given the right role.

S25: 2.5M
S26: 2.5M
S27: 2.5M

Stars

Finally, Toronto closed the draft with two picks in the fourth. One, Stefan Nussbaumer of the Vancouver Whalers has yet to return but there was a pleasant surprise with the other pick. Toronto selected Hugh Johnson of the Kelowna Knights and he returned to the site almost immediately. Contract negotiations were smooth and if he stays active this year, he could easily be known as the steal of the S25 SHL Entry Draft.

S25: 2M

Stars

It was a successful day for the North Stars franchise with all needs being addressed and Toronto adding 4 more active prospects to a pipeline that already includes Nick Leier, Beau Ballard, Shea Robinson and Lee Bowden. We look forward to seeing these players flourish first in juniors and then come into their own with the big club in the blue & white.

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