What if McCloud wasn’t drafted by Riga?

[Hoopydog 195]

 

Introduction

 

So, in this reality Artair McCloud was drafted 28^th Overall in the S75 VHL draft by the Riga Reign but what if he wasn’t? In the S75 post draft rankings McCloud currently sits 20^th, 8 places higher than he was initially drafted, so what would his career look like if he was picked higher up in the draft?

 

So, let’s go through the teams that he could’ve potentially landed on and see what that could’ve meant for his career…

 

After writing this piece, it seems like a lot of the alternate scenarios involve McCloud most likely ending up on Calgary so I added in the Calgary counter to help keep track of the number of times I could’ve ended up on Calgary.

 

New York Americans

 

First up on the list are the New York Americans who had the 20^th and 22^nd overall pick in the draft, with which they drafted defenseman Cowboy Prout and Shawn Andrei Zyuzin. Prout was a great pick by Esso to help bolster New York’s defence but Zyuzin was a total bust, currently sitting 66^th in the post draft rankings, 44 places below where he was taken. Both players were traded, on separate occasions, to the Calgary Wranglers so we could assume that McCloud could’ve been traded to the Wranglers as well.

 

His rookie year might have looked a bit better on the Americans as well, as he might have received a bit more ice-time playing on a roster that was not as deep although he would not have had his first taste of the playoffs but he would’ve gotten to play in the lottery tournament.

 

As of right now, he would be playing top-line minutes on the Calgary Wranglers (if NY still decided to trade him) being the second best forward on that roster behind Luke Thornton. Calgary seems like it a place that McCloud could find himself enjoying playing for, they are in a rebuilding stage with a new general manager in Ricer (Calgary counter = 1). It is also a place where he could really make a name for himself in the league. It’s also worth noting that New York were the first team to reach out and interview McCloud ahead of the draft.

 

Vancouver Wolves

 

Next up are the Vancouver Wolves who had the had the 23^rd overall pick in the draft and with that pick they drafted Sheldon Juniper, a former Vegas teammate of McCloud. Juniper currently sits 26^th in the post draft rankings, just 3 places below where he was taken, so I would say this was a solid pick from Vancouver. Juniper was traded to Calgary, so once again, I would be very likely that McCloud would have also ended up on the Wranglers, given the nature of the Wolves roster at that time. They were stacked an going for a cup.

 

He probably would’ve put up similar numbers in his rookie season, as he would’ve received a similar amount of ice time as he did on Riga. If he managed to keep his place on the roster then he would’ve have had a deeper run in the playoffs as Vancouver made it past the D.C. Dragons in the first round of the playoffs but were then swept by eventual Cup Champions Chicago in the next round.

 

Had he not managed to retain his place on the roster he would be on the wranglers as juniper was traded to them (Calgary counter = 2) but we have already covered that scenario in the section above. Although, funnily enough, the 23^rd overall pick that Vancouver had, was originally owned by Calgary so, there is another scenario in which McCloud could’ve ended up on the wranglers (Calgary counter = 3).

 

D.C. Dragons

 

The last team that might’ve drafted McCloud would have been the D.C. Dragons. They had the 25^th overall pick in the draft and with that pick they drafted Ove Drydahl. In the post draft rankings, Drydahl sits 27^th, two places below where he was drafted so a good pick from the dragons and he is still on the team at this point in time.

 

The D.C. roster was going under a retool when Artair was drafted, they had a flashy forward line but some of their 2^nd line and depth forward were aging so McCloud would’ve been a good fit for that role. His rookie year, again like the one he had on Riga, due to the state that the forward core of the roster was in. He would have also have has that playoff experience with the dragons but it would have been swift as they were knocked out by the Vancouver Wolves.

 

This season however, his season could’ve been interesting in D.C. Similar to Riga, they are a team who are performing worse than they should be, given the roster they have. With McCloud on their team, D.C. would have 2 solid, complete forward lines and it would certainly increase their chances of making the playoffs. The dragons would’ve been a good fit for him, not only for now but for the future too.

 

Outro

 

So, there is a brief over view of what McClouds career could’ve looked like if he wasn’t drafted by the Riga Reign. Even though I am really happy being apart of the Reign, It is really interesting to have a look at how my career could’ve panned out, even if most of those scenarios would have had me playing on the Calgary Wranglers.

 

There were some teams that had picks above where McCloud was taken, like Chicago who had the 21^st overall pick and the Prague Phantoms who has the 24^th overall pick, but they never reached out before the draft to interview me so I never considered them possible options, as they never registered any interest in me in the first place. Also the likes of the 27^th and 28^th overall picks, which Riga owned but were originally owned by the Seattle Bears and the Moscow Menace respectively.

 

Thank you for tuning in to find out where McCloud could’ve ended up had he not got drafted by Riga.

 

1018 words 

Claiming for weeks 12th - 18th & 19th - 25th April

Edited April 13, 2021 by Hoopydog
Had to add claiming info at the bottom

[Hoopydog 195]

Claiming Week 2/2