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Where Do the Goalies Go in the Draft?


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As the off-season quickly approaches, draft hype rises. The lottery took place earlier today, which solidifies most of the draft order. We now just await the conclusion of the VHL finals, which could be over as early as today, with Malmo leading the series 3-1 games over the Bears. With that holding such little bearing on how things will go, now seems like a prime time to start discussing some of the top draft stories; in particular, I'm going to be discussing the goalie talent in the draft, and where I think they might end up. Let's get things started with a quick recap of the lottery, in which one team took a particularly big loss that could end up making a big impact.

 

Disclaimer: my draft coverage last season ended up being very incorrect, so I'm probably wrong with literally everything I write in this article.

 

Lottery Woes for Toronto
The Legion came into the lottery in the first and third positions, having acquired Moscow's pick earlier this season as well as holding on to their own. Despite the odds being in their favor, the Titans won the first overall pick, pushing the Toronto first down to second. To make matters worse, Moscow's pick fell to fourth overall when New York jumped up two spots. As much as Toronto having two picks each drop a spot, I think New York moving up from fifth to third is as big of a development from the lottery. The Americans are a franchise that have been struggling, and they will take any win that they can get at this point.

 

Is Booberry Number One?

Xavier Booberry. Oskar Lindbergh. David Davis. This draft has three first round talents at goaltender. The Red Menace is also in there as a mid-to-late second round pick for a team that is looking more for a project goalie. A lot of teams are actually going to be in need of goalies in the coming seasons, including most teams that are currently in a rebuild. With the Season 81 draft very low on goalie talent thus far, now might be the time to go and get your guy.

 

Booberry is arguably the most talented player in the draft, and with both Helsinki and Toronto in need of a starter of the future, perhaps he is the prize that the Titans won in the draft lottery. However, Helsinki also picks 11th, while Toronto has number ten in addition to two and four. Both of these teams could potentially take the risk that they could get one of the others later on. It would be hard to see Booberry possibly falling past third, but ultimately I do think the Titans secure the best player in the draft with the first pick, and I think this is the quickest path back to relevance for them.

 

The Dominoes Fall

After Booberry goes, Toronto will be in an awkward spot. I do think they'll want to get a goalie in this draft, but if they like Red Menace as a prospect, Lindbergh falls past them; if they don't, I think they need to take Lindbergh at four. While I don't believe New York would take a goalie not named Booberry at three, London at five or Prague at seven are potential destinations for Lindbergh. As for Davis, I do believe he will end up in Los Angeles one way or another. If the Stars have to trade up past Toronto to get him, I think they would do it.

 

All things considered, my inclination is to believe that Lindbergh will end up in Prague. London would likely only take him if they deal Tater Tot (with Riga as the most likely trading partner), but I think the Phantoms will want him if he's available. After that, I think Josh will make sure to acquire Davis, securing a starting goalie who will likely play out his career with the team. Toronto, with one of their seven second round picks, will take the low-risk chance on Red Menace.

 

 

673 words

 

 

@CowboyinAmerica @Doomsday @Josh @NickSunderbruch

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8 hours ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

Really liked it, obviously super curious myself. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some trades either - particularly LA as you mentioned, don't think Davis is falling that far based on TPE.

I agree that LA will probably have to trade up to get him, and personally I think a GM should try to get their own player if they can do so reasonably. That's a guaranteed career player. Not that I mindthe change that GM players don't have to be on their team, but it'd be my preference for sure. 

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I really liked this article. Your analisys is clear and informative, easy to follow even for a newbie like myself. The topic is interesting and not something you see every day. Great job on the media spot man, I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your work!

10/10

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Review:  Always fun to speculate about the draft and focusing just on goalies is a nice angle.  I must not have been paying good enough attention as I thought that goalies always fell a bit in the draft, but that could just be very dependent on how desperate the need is at any one time.  Anyway, these things tend to be hard to predict, but I felt the analysis was sound and the article was very clearly written.  9/10

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Review: Goalies often don't get talked about enough when it comes to draft and the importance of the position. Its nice to see a little more in-depth look at where they go but the position isn't as needed as all the others so they generally drop into the late first and early 2nd. Which is kind of realistic to the NHL also. Good read and good structure. 9/10

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Very interesting, seems to be a very deep draft for goalies, or at least for top goaltending. I believe including deeper second round picks or potentially third rounds could make a much better argument about the vast amount of goaltending. The theory that some of these top goalies could drop due to the increase numbers of goaltending this year is interesting, but who knows, with the lack of goaltending next year, like you said, could stir thing for teams planning ahead. I really enjoyed this article, but I like draft talk, I find it interesting 9/10.

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Review

While you may have had some woes with your prior media spots, your prediction of Xavier Booberry at #1 was spot-on. It was definitely a bold prediction - it's not often that we see goalies go until a run starts on them based on historical data - but you also astutely pointed out Prague's need for a goalie, as well as an absolute demand for Toronto at goalie in order to return to relevance. All three teams took goalies in the first 7 picks, and you correctly guessed Menace would go in the second round (though admittedly not to Toronto, who'd already acquired a goalie). I think I consider this a clear victory despite slightly different locations than anticipated. Nice work.

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Very nice article! Well structured, good use of paragraphing and subtitling. I didn't even know there were that many goaltending talents! Also funny to see that New York moves up two spots and then trades the pick away 🤣 All in all good article but could have tagged the players next to their player names for easier recognition. 10/10

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Yeah this draft was goalie or bust for me - was obviously hoping to bring @Doomsday back to the fold, but honestly, there are very few people in the league more vital to how the place runs than @Josh and so the pick is about as safe as can be, in terms of active vs. inactive anyway. If Josh isn't here, the league quickly falls into a panic, the man is vital and so I'm definitely happy to bring him in. Still not 100% sure about whether he'll want to make his way to LA eventually but we have 3 seasons to sort that out. 

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