Claimed: Yet Another Mock Draft

[solas 1,952]

S54 Mock Draft

 

1)  Toronto Legion - Torstein Ironside, Goalie
I’ve seen a few mock drafts where Toronto takes Fook Yu or Markus King here, and DollarAndADream presumably makes his next player his designated GM player.  I personally don’t see that happening, and here’s why: I don’t think either of those players are exceedingly better options than Ironside - at least not enough to justify the risk.  King currently has 235 TPE, Yu has 212.  Ironside has 200.  Although Fong and Kendrick are great members who contribute to the league, there’s no guarantee that they’ll stay with the team for their entire career.  If DaaD stays as GM for a long enough time, there’s not really much question as to whether or not Ironside will be on the team.  Not to mention using your second player as a GM player is risky - he might not be earning the same level of TPE with both players.  The goalie position can be a crapshoot, so I’d go for promised stability here like the majority of mock drafts seem to be suggesting.

 

2)  HC Davos Dynamo - Fook Yu, Center
Pretty simple here, unless I’m completely oblivious.  Davos already has its franchise goalie in mist4ke, and Fook Yu is the best non-goalie available in the draft.  A #1 center is a pretty important position to have, and if new GM Smarch wants to solidify the future of the team, then this isn’t too bad of a place to start.  Fong is one of the most reliable members in the league, so even if Fook Yu isn’t a superstar he’ll still likely be a solid player and a good player to build a team around.  Yu could form a good combination with S55 draftee Rusty Trombone, Smarch’s GM player.

 

3)  Helsinki Titans - Hudson Abbott, Defense
Astrid Moon had a pretty rough Season 53, sure.  But Helsinki seems to still hold faith in him as a starting goalie.  Besides, if they were looking to find a starter to help them compete right away, I don’t think the draft would be the way to do that.  Why not look in the trade market if you want a replacement?  Sure, King could be better in the long term, but in the short term there’s not enough of a difference between the two to justify passing up a solid prospect like Abbott.  I nearly put Fedorov here, but Abbott’s quick TPE gains are hard to ignore - especially for a competing team like Helsinki that will be in cup contention in the next few seasons.

 

4)  Riga Reign - Markus King, Goalie
Even if Kendrick may not be interested in going back to Riga, King is too good of an option to pass up at #4.  The Reign could use a young goalie to start their rebuild, and picking up possibly the best player in the draft with this pick is great value.  No other player that would hypothetically be available at this point is a franchise player quite like King.  And even if King doesn’t end up playing for Riga, he could certainly get some good value in the trade market.

 

5)  Quebec City Meute - Aleksei Fedorov, Defense
Quebec could go for another forward in Gretzky with this spot, but with Locke-Müller-Gaudette as their top line of the future, I think the Meute will look for a defensive partner for captain Fabio Jokinen.  Fedorov isn’t a bad pick at all here.  I’ve seen him go lower in other mock drafts, but TPE-wise he’s the best player available and defense is a good position for the Meute to go with here.

 

6)  Stockholm Vikings - Shawn Gretzky, Center
With both LeAndre St. Pierre and World B. Free retiring, Stockholm could use a defenseman to help out Lee King Snatch and Tobias Klingberg, but with the top two defensemen in the draft now gone the Vikings go best pick available and take Shawn Gretzky.  Since Stockholm will still be competing for a cup next season, Gretzky can help provide some forward depth in the short term now that Muller, Maverick, and Undertaker are all retiring.  Long-term, he has potential to turn into a very solid player based on TheLastOlympian’s TPE earning with Muller.

 

7)  Helsinki Titans - Rudolph Schmeckeldorf, Left Wing
Pretty self-explanatory here.  Corco has proven activity and has the most TPE of any non-goalie available at this point.  If Helsinki passes on Markus King at #3 like I think they will, they’ll have no reason to take Veron von Axelberry here.  Schmeckeldorf will add a playmaking aspect to Helsinki’s young forward group along with Franchise Cornerstone, Sami Zayn, and Daryl Dortch.  

 

8)  Quebec City Meute - Takashi Fujimoto, Right Wing
Same thing again here.  HFD is an active member, a solid TPE earner, and another great addition to Quebec’s young core.  The Meute could have an eye towards competing in the North American Conference, but it never hurts to add another good young forward.  Fujimoto has potential to be a great scorer.

 

9)  New York Americans - Vernon von Axelberry, Goalie
Obviously it wouldn’t be surprising if Devise trades this pick.  I’ll say New York drafts and trades Axelberry - maybe to Riga if they finish the draft without a goalie for one reason or another - but if someone trades into this spot it’ll probably be the same player selected.  Axelberry is easily the best player available right now regardless of position, and he could pull a decent price in the trade market since New York won’t have any need for a young goalie.

 

10)  Calgary Wranglers - Verner Reinholdt, Right Wing
No reason not to go with Reinholdt here.  Another solid prospect, and it never hurts to add a prominent member to a young, rebuilding team.  Calgary will likely continue to rebuild in S54, so I imagine they’ll just keep picking up prospects where they can for the time being.

 

@Higgins TPE pls

[Higgins 3,618]

Vernon movin on up

 

+3 uncapped TPE

[BluObieZ 1,125]

Move me down. I want out of this silly 1st round. I want to be highlight of another round. Draft me in the 3rd. Make it a storyline. I challenge every Gm to not draft me till the last oh... 2 picks in the whole draft. It will make for great trade talks and add excitement to the draft