Season 67 Draft Recap | North American Conference

[Sullvino 289]

Season 67 Draft Recap

Part 1: North American Conference

 

The Season 67 Draft was one of many emotions and storylines. Lincoln Tate going #1, ACL TEAR falling, Seattle owning the draft. The list goes on. This VSN article will take a deep dive into the exciting S67 VHL draft that took place last night. Specifically, I will walk through each teams draft in the North American Conference. Part 2 will come over the next couple days from @Matt_O

 

 

 New York Americans

 

1st Round | 10th Overall – Boris the Forest, Center

2nd Round | 12th Overall – ACL TEAR, Winger

3rd Round | 27th Overall – RJ Lloris, Winger

4th Round | 34th Overall – Thorvald Gunnarsson, Goalie 

4th Round | 35th Overall – Banko Mulleto, Defense

4th Round | 39th Overall – Danny DeYeeto, Defense

 

The New York Americans and first year General Manager, Esso, held six total picks in the S67 VHL Entry Draft. They did a good job of adding to their prospect pool and organizational depth with these six picks. There first pick, Boris the Forest had a very solid year for Mexico City in the VHLM and will certainly be one of the centers of the future for the Americans. He'll likely step right into the VHL for the Americans in a Top-6 role and could product immediately.  ACL TEAR, after much debate as to where he would go in this draft, fell to 12th overall. We had him previously mocked to 6th overall, but acknowledged there may be some question marks surrounding TEAR given the style of player he is. Regardless, snagging TEAR 12th overall is definitely a value pick for New York and a player that will have an immediate impact for the Americans when the season starts. The mid-rounds saw the Americans snatch up winger RJ Lloris, goalie Thorvald Gunnarsson and defensemen Banko Mulleto/Danny DeYeeto. With these picks, you never know how they will pan out, but the Americans picked up a handful of upside prospects that they can sit on to develop in the VHLM. Overall - a rock solid draft for Esso and the New York Americans. 

 

Best  Value Pick for New York: ACL TEAR at 12th Overall

 

 

 

 Seattle Bears

 

1st Round | 2nd Overall – Rayz Funk, Goalie

1st Round | 5th Overall – Hulk Hogan, Defense

1st Round | 7th Overall – Acyd Burn, Winger

2nd Round | 11th Overall – Boone Jenton, Defense

2nd Round | 13th Overall – Scott Greene, Center

2nd Round | 15th Overall – Henrik Zoiderberg, Winger

2nd  Round | 16th Overall – Berocka Sundqvist, Winger

2nd Round | 20th Overall – Kefka Palazzo, Defense

4th Round | 31st Overall – Kevin Low, Defense

5th Round | 41st Overall – Kenji Hachimura, Winger

6th Round | 51st Overall – Antonio Gonzalez, Winger

 

Where do I start with this Seattle draft. To summarize, the Bears held eleven total draft picks and an astounding eight in the first two rounds. When they traded away their veteran star power for draft capital, they were banking on hitting a home run in this draft and they did just that. We heard a lot of “Seattle clearly won the draft” narrative on draft night. Clearly when a team holds eight of the first twenty picks they will inherently “win” a draft. However, when you look down their draft, it’s more about the quality of players they picked up with all of their picks. No surprise to anyone, the Bears went with franchise goalie Rayz Funk second overall and subsequently traded away Clayton Park. Funk is probably the best player in this draft class and will undoubtedly provide the Bears with steady goaltending for years to come. When Hulk Hogan began to slip a bit in the draft, the Bears salivated and snatched him up at number 5 overall. Hogan was seen as a potential first overall pick by many around the league, but Lincoln Tate stole the show. Hogan will be a game-changing two way defenseman for the Bears. Their final first round pick was winger Acyd Burn, who has really burst onto the scene in recent weeks. He had 81 points for Halifax in the VHLM this season and projects as a high-scoring winger in the VHL. Seventh overall may seem like a bit of a reach for Burn, but he definitely is a dynamic prospect to add to the cupboard. The Bears then went on to make five picks in the second round: Jenton, Greene, Zoiderberg, Sundqvist, Palazzo. I love all of these picks for the Bears here. I mocked Jenton to Seattle in the first round, I think him and Hogan can be one of the best pairings in the league in a few years. Greene and Zoiderberg are great picks in the mid-second and recent first overall pick in the VHLM, Berocka Sundqvist, is one of the bigger sleepers in this class. Kefka Palazzo at 20 is also one to bookmark, many around the league believe he has the potential to really turn the corner in the coming seasons. In the later rounds, the Bears added defenseman Kevin Low and wingers Kenji Hachimura and Antonio Gonzalez. We’ll wait and see on these late rounders, but I wouldn’t sleep on Hachimura turning into something. Overall, the Bears completed what they set out to do: dominate the Season 67 Draft.

 

Best Value Pick for Seattle: Hulk Hogan at 5th Overall

 

 

  Vancouver Wolves  

 

1st Round | 8th Overall – Michael Gary Scott, Center

2nd Round | 19th Overall – Greg Eagles, Goalie

3rd Round | 29th Overall – Khalabib Stiopic, Defense

4th Round | 33rd Overall – Charles Drumm, Defense

4th Round | 36th Overall – Erik Draven, Winger

5th Round | 49th Overall – Tormund Giantsbane, Winger
6th Round | 59th Overall – Andrei Mikhailov, Winger

 

The Vancouver Wolves put together a strong S66 VHL campaign and looked to bolster its roster and prospect pool with an equally strong draft class. The Wolves held seven picks in this draft, headlined by center Michael Gary Scott, who was drafted with the eighth overall pick. Scott played for the Mexico City Kings in the VHLM and put up a strong season with 42 goals and 42 assists in 72 games played. He is an all around center iceman; he can score, skate and is responsible defensively. Everything you ask for in a franchise center. In the second round, the Wolves addressed the goalie position and took Greg Eagles who was the clear best goalie available at this pick. In his post-draft press conference on the VSN, the Wolves General Manager emphasized that he had a strong priority on adding a good goalie through this draft. Eagles was the third goalie taken after Funk and Johnson both went in the Top-6 picks, but he has the potential to be the top goalie in the class. In the third round, Vancouver went with defenseman Khalabib Stiopic of the Houston Bulls. The 6’0 185 pound defenseman plays a two-way style, but projects as more of an offensive puck-mover in the VHL. Stiopic is a developmental pick here in the third round, he will report to the Houston Bulls in the VHLM next season and continue to develop his game. The Wolves can afford to be patient with him. In the fourth round, the Wolves went with defenseman Charles Drumm (drafted to Minnesota Storm) and winger Erik Draven (drafted to Yukon Rush). Like Stiopic, both of these players are very raw and will need some VHLM seasoning before they can make a true impact. However, both players do appear to have decent upside as they have been training pretty regularly in the weeks leading up to the draft. The Wolves rounded out their class with Tormund Giantsbane and a ceremonial pick in Andre Mikhailov who recently had to retire due to back injuries. Overall, a very solid draft class with top end talent in Scott and Eagles and a group of younger developmental picks.

 

Best Value Pick for Vancouver: Greg Eagles at 19th Overall  

 

 

 Calgary Wranglers

The Calgary Wranglers held zero pick in the Season 67 VHL Entry Draft. This was a combination of previous trades and draft-day trades that converted their S67 picks into S68 picks. Therefore, we have nothing to recap here.

 

Toronto Legion 

No picks in the Season 67 Draft, all traded away in a series of previous trades for veterans. Nothing to recap here

Edited July 4, 2019 by Sullvino

[Motzaburger 1,590]

24 minutes ago, Sullvino said:

Everything you ask for in a franchise center.

Speaks for itself

[Beaviss 4,949]

19 minutes ago, Motzaburger said:

Speaks for itself

 

[Berocka 2,186]

@Sullvino Thank you for the nice mention again.

[Matt_O 896]

16 minutes ago, HulkHogan said:

I will climax the day somebody calls me a defensive defensemen

dropping 94 points doesn't help your case

 

[chillzone 231]

dope stuff man