Claimed: A Way Too Early S57 Mock Draft

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

 

I think this upcoming Season 57 draft has the potential to be super interesting, but not for the common “so many active players” reason. To me, the main reason to be excited about upcoming draft is all about fit.

 

By this point, many teams have some sort of semblance where they’re going, and are some sort of way along the path to rebuilding. There are no Cologne-esque blank slates here; even New York has an incoming goalie that robs them of that need, and Stockholm isn’t likely to invest in a highly drafted defenseman with Abbott in town.

 

Plus, with so many of the GMs and draftees alike being established entities in the VHL, the best player available may not be a fit for cultural reasons. Chase Keller’s agent has been outspoken about playing for new franchises. Boner’s agent was a Vasteras lifer and may not like the franchise’s new location. Ko Kane and Launchpad McQuack may be off some boards due to past actions. And Norris Kensington is himself a general manager.

 

It’s probably too early to assess the first round, but that’s what makes it fun. Here’s an early best guess, with the picks in order of current record.

 

 1. New York Americans – C Chase Keller

If Cologne were to win the lottery, then I wouldn’t expect Keller here. If Stockholm were to win, then I’d give Keller a 50/50 shot. Any other team, though, and I think the franchise center is a no brainer, and I imagine he’d certainly want to play for the franchise.

 

 2. Stockholm Vikings – G Norris Kensington

If Bushito thinks he can outearn everybody else in TPE, then why not double down and have both players on the same team? If he’s able to pick up Kensington in the draft – and it could be easy, if other GMs stay away in fear he’d focus on the other player – then having Abbott (or a recreate) and Kensington as two pillars moving forward makes a lot of sense.

 

 3. Cologne Express – LW Phil Bennington

This is where the fit begins to come into play. Even with right winger Birkir Hólm Guðnason in play, I believe that Cologne would like to pair him with another offensive weapon rather than go defense here. Plus, especially given the perception that some have of the Cologne franchise, the GM would be well served to bring a big, well-liked name into the fold. Bennington serves both purposes.

 

 4. Calgary Express – G Shawn Brodeur

About 24 hours ago, I would have put Jeff Gow here. Now, though, I think a GM comes in and wants to blow up the operation, and probably the first piece to go would be Jacob. That means a replacement franchise goalie would make a whole lot of sense, and Brodeur more than fits the bill.

 

 5. Seattle Bears – D Boner

Especially given the team’s surprising playoff run this season, I would expect Seattle to have an extremely busy offseason. Goalie Key Perought seems to be back to activity, but if something happens, Brodeur or a trade (Jacob? Mist4ke?) could be in play. Defense is another obvious hole with Fowll gone missing, and in this scenario, they have their pick of the bunch. Boner is excellent value at 5.

 

 6. Riga Reign (via Helsinki) – D Casey Jones

The Reign went for it all this past offseason, trading the third overall pick and bringing in a host of former Americans. But even so, the blue line doesn’t have much depth, especially given Digital’s pending retirement. Drafting Jones and pairing him with Bogdanovic would give them a stout blue line to continue this run for a few more years, it’s almost a no brainer.

 

 7. Toronto Legion – D Keaton Louth

To me, this would be one of the more interesting questions of the first round. The Legion have defensive depth, but Lane will likely be viewed as a bust and Ky is rather unpredictable. They also have their first line set in stone moving forward, but second liners Doughty and AK47 are at retirement. Ultimately, I have them taking Louth’s high upside to pair with Sokolov sooner rather than later, but Gow’s tempting.

 

 8. New York Americans (via Riga) - LW Jeff Gow

If you’re going to be building a team essentially from scratch, there are worse ways to do it than pairing up two former VHL GMs on the first line. Gow has looked engaged in this go-around, and being part of an up-and-coming New York team would give him more incentive to continue to be so.

 

 9. Cologne Express (via Davos) – D Mats Johnsson

Another reason it makes sense for Cologne to pass on a defenseman early in the first round? Because they’ll likely be able to pick up a good one with the Davos pick as well. Seeing Cologne double down on the Robbie strategy with Ko Kane would be extremely intriguing, but my guess is that they hedge their bets and take the safer Johnsson here to pair with Matthieu Bourdon.

 

 10. Quebec City Meute – C Launchpad McQuack

There are some teams where I wouldn’t even put McQuack on my board, but Quebec City isn’t one of them. Especially given the franchise’s winning ways and the respect afforded the GM, the boom-or-bust McQuack could thrive here. Plus, it would be a good fit for the team’s second line that is seeing Maximoff retire and Locke stop coming to practice.

 

Edited September 1, 2017 by CowboyinAmerica

[Beaviss 4,957]

Great article! Sad I'm not higher(Keaton Louth) but I'll take 7th overall.

 

What would be really interesting would be a 2nd round mock draft. There's so much depth this draft year that's where it would get really interesting.

[Kendrick 4,741]

Poor Phil!

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

30 minutes ago, Beaviss said:

Great article! Sad I'm not higher(Keaton Louth) but I'll take 7th overall.

 

What would be really interesting would be a 2nd round mock draft. There's so much depth this draft year that's where it would get really interesting.

 

An idea for me next week perhaps 

[Da Trifecta 1,896]

I wanna be in the second round though

[STZ 5,358]

Great article.. I think this draft is gonna get crazy..