A. Crosby's Titan and Viking drafts

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Earlier this week, Alexandre Crosby was drafted into the VHL by the Helsinki Titans and the next night, he was drafted into the VHLE by the Stockholm Vikings.  He was not the only player drafted by each of those and below is a recap of each team’s draft and the potential teammates Crosby will have this upcoming season in the VHLE and in the future in the VHL.

 

Helsinki Titans

 

VHL Draft #1 overall pick – D YaBoi Oven – Oven was the overall number one consensus pick and for good reason as his TPE was head and shoulders above everyone else’s.  He turned in quite a season from the blue line for Ottawa this past season with 10 goals and 31 assists for 41 points to go along with 163 hits and 122 shot blocks.  7 of his 10 goals were on the power play and he even scored one shorthanded goal.  He should be a stud on the blue line that the Titans can build around for seasons to come.

 

Oven with one of his many hits on the season

 

VHL Draft #16 overall pick – C Bruise Banner – Banner comes from the same Ottawa VHLM team as Oven does and scored 25 goals and 23 assists on the season with 128 hits and 237 shots.  With Dixon getting close to retirement, Banner will be called upon to be one of the centers of the future for the Titans and the eventual #1 center.

 

VHL Draft #17 overall pick – W Alexandre Crosby – Crosby only played 38 games for Miami in the VHLM and scored 20 goals and had 41 points and turned around another 10 points in 6 games in the playoffs against the #1 seed.  Crosby will spend a season in the VHLE to hone his skills like Banner will and will come into the VHL with a little chip on his shoulder as he was passed over by some teams late in the first round. 

 

Crosby carrying the puck into the offense zone for the Miami Mauraders in S89

 

VHL Draft #23 overall pick – D Tommy Sleeves – Another draft pick from Ottawa, Sleeves had 45 points on the season with 10 of those finding the back of the net.  Sleeves will provide solid 2-way play for the Titans and could possibly see #1 dman pairing with Oven before its all said and done.  He also had 178 hits and 136 shot blocks.  All 4 of these picks should make the jump to the pros within the next couple of seasons and will provide a solid foundation for the Titans

 

VHL Draft 3^rd / 4^th rounds – W Barry McOckiner and W Gremlis Lielais – both of these players turned in solid seasons in the “M” with McOckiner getting 52 points and Lielais having 43.  Both players could turn out to be steals from the later rounds in the draft and provide some solid depth on the Titans in a few seasons as long as they continue to update.

 

Stockholm Vikings

 

The Vikings had 4 picks in the top 11 to restock the team and with the #3 overall pick, the Vikings selected goaltender Ryan Artyomov who will step right into the #1 goalie role with the team.  Up next at the #8 pick was defensemen Tommy Sleeves who will step right in and provide some depth along the blueline.  With the 10^th pick in the “E” draft, the Vikings selected winger, Maxim Anisimov.  Anisimov had a near 90 point season in the “M” with 39 goals and will probably jump right onto the first line to provide some scoring for the team.  And the last of those 4 picks at the #11 spot was another defensemen in O.S. Canut du Bocage who will also see some significant minutes along the blueline.

 

In round 4, the Vikings selected winger Alexander Crosby who will provide some depth on the second line while working on his two-way game for the team.  And then in the later rounds of the draft, the Vikings selected 3 wingers and a defensemen, all of whom for now will sit on the team’s depth chart.