WHL (World Hockey League) - Settings / Inaug.Draft / Discussion

[Pengwin7]

I just wrote this one into a rule set on the Fantrax page.

Teams will have 10 rounds of draft picks to use... or trade... if they want.

The first draft will be for JR prospects. It will start about July 20th. Those will be considered 1st-5th round picks (when trading).
Each team will place exactly 5 JR players on their junior squad. If they want they can keep more JR players... and just push them to the PRO squad for the prospect draft.
After 5 rounds, each year, the prospect draft will be done.
These are "Junior Eligible" players. For 2016, they will mostly be 2016 entry draft players because our prospect pool is mostly dried up.

We'll do the draft in a LIVE "Slow Draft" each year, just like we did for the inaugural draft.
After the 5 rounds... we'll put the live draft into "sleep mode".

The second draft will be a PRO-replacement draft. It will start about Sept 20th. Those will be considered 6th-10th round picks (when trading).
Teams can take PRO or JR players in that draft - whatever they want to place on their PRO roster... of course, there is a rule that the 19 starting slots have to be players on NHL PRO teams.


This is how it will work.
Rule might be slightly modified.

Short version:
Yes, there will be two drafts each summer.
And if a team wants to trade their future year PROSPECT DRAFT PICKS (July), those are called Rounds 1-5.
If a team wants to trade their future year PRO-REPLACEMENT DRAFT PICKS (September), those are called Rounds 6-10.

[havanablast21]

Tryin to find a draft results/recap page on fantrax. Must be one right? Where should I be looking?

[JagrBomb]

Tryin to find a draft results/recap page on fantrax. Must be one right? Where should I be looking?

Other -> draft results

[rainydrinkwater]

Sounds good. Thanks Peng. In that case, CSKA is willing to part with the top 5 picks (prospect) next year, along with other futures for current roster upgrades. (maybe I look for mid tier starting goalie comrades )

[havanablast21]

Alrighty... let's see if I can break mine down as you all have, although I have to admit, this self audit process I find quite intimidating as I fully expect a few "WTF" moments.

Round 1: D-Erik Karlsson With the 16th pick, I quickly learned what it felt to be in Mediocre land. Just outside the top half of the draft with most of the Elite Forward talent scooped up, I turned my attention to the Guy often dubbed "The Crosby Of the Blue Line. If I couldn't score a top 5 - 7 Forward, may as well grab argueably the best damn D out there. And at pick 16, I considered this a no brainer and a steal!

Round 2: G Devin Dubnyk Having to wait or my 2nd pick was just as long as my 1st, 1 more in fact, and I couldn't believe how painful the process was. in the following 17 picks, I saw a few more goalies go and knew given my usual "bondonesque" karma, I had better set my Goalie now... but who... (off to the Dobber Guide I go... just in time btw) and I decide to take a flyer on the most highly hyped goalie in Dobber Nation next to Price and Holtby... Mr. Dubnyk. Recognizing this pick was definitely as big a Boom/Bust pick as there is out there for 2015/2016. But at least I have my #1

Round 3: LW - J. Drouin If I though the past 2 in 33 picks were painful, Holy Crap did I start to stress seeing the talent disappear until my 3rd pick # 64. At this point I knew I needed to decide which way my team was going to go, and for me, grabbing the #1 rated prospect prior to the inclusion of the 2015 draft class made most sense. As I have been trying to acquire young Drouin for the past 4 months in my other Hockey League, I was quite happy to be able to select him so easily at this point. Youth it is!

Round 4: RW - N. Yakupov As a self loathing Leaf Fan with my Girl Friend Team in Edmonton (my gawd… I’m sad), I decided to jump in on a bit of the Edmonton action. As my #2 pick was essentially Boom/Bust, why the hell not go for another Boom/Bust pick in Edmonton. With the Addition of McSavior in the Copper and Blue, Former #1 Yakupov was rumored to be the beneficiary of a line mate improvement. Be it McD or RNH, I figured I’d rather take a chance on the young sniper than watch him flourish on another team’s roster. Excited for a break out, and prepared for disappointment I committed to drafting Yak, hoping I wouldn’t’ end up Yaking as a result of this draft.

Round 5: C - Ryan KeslerAt this stage, I was trying to fill out some BPA’s in each of my mandatory positions. Kesler was a no brainer pick for me. New to the whole Salary cap and some of the additional stats (hits/blks etc), he seemed to be the best Center player for me. As I’m also partial to the Ducks, this pick was rather easy.

Round 6: G - J. Gibson I had 2 young goalies In my Crosshairs and figured I had time to grab either in a few rounds, but that evidently was not the case I came back to review my queue and notices Vasilevskiy had gone a coupld rounds ealier! WHAAAA?? Dam you Ginfuzz! Yes I said Fuzz.  So if I wanted to get in on the Young Goalie insurance to my boom bust Duby… Gibson was my guy knowing full well I likely wouldn’t be able to ice him until 2016/2017… but atleast I had my now and my future set in net. On to Round 7… (Pretty smooth so far, I wonder what crazy thing I could do now?)

Round 7: RW - Chris Stewart In what could be coined the first “What just happened” pick of the draft, ole Havana Blast was thought to have dipped one to many times into the “jose cuervo” when he seemed to get stuck on the Ducks Roster page after having landed Gibson (admittedly… I was celebrating the Gibson acquisition). Hmmm. Dobber seems to think that Stewy is the best fit next to the big 2… We’ve seen him do it in Colorado where he was dubbed Iginila 2.0 (glazing over the St.Louis, Buffalo, Minne…. Etc time)… I’m going to call bounce back on Stewart. (all well and good… but in the 7th Havana? Maybe I should take Zetterberg ( no stewart), or Datsyuk, (No Stewart), or even Mantha (NO Stewart) oh…Jumbo Jo is available… and with that, from the seats of the “Rogers Center”… few big beers already down during David Price’s debut with the jays, I shout out to a few fellow jays fans and the decision is made… Take Jumbo Jo …NO CHRIS STEWART!! DONE! ... the inaudible sounds of eyes blinking and furrowed brows was deafening. Yup… I DID just do that! (Gently shut off my phone and went back to watching Price dominate). Gulp!

Round 8: W K. Fiala Keeping with my Youth strategy, but quickly starting to see some balance happening as well, I went back to my queue of prospects... really wanted Ehlers, but Had Fiala ranked fairly high as well... I've liked watching the Pred's commitment to development of their youth and in the wake of Forsberg's success...This pick just made me happy!

Round 9: CVal Fippula With well over 200 players picked, we’re now in the top 300 list… referring back to Dobber’s plethora of tools, and slowing coming gaining a little more comfort in paying attention to FOW (also new to me), Seems to me that Filly will be stapled to Stammer again as it allows Stamkos to play the wing more. I’ve always admired the fair haired Filpulla in Detriot and last year especially in TB… This was my #2 Center. I like it. DRAFTED!

Round 10: LW Benoit Pouliot Time to add some balance to my LW. As I said before... Quazi Oilers fan here... With the studs all but gone now, May as well get the next best thing and with the same strategy as my Yak pick, Pouliot added some affordable experienced youth on my LW which was already young with Drouin. Ok... if he does what he did last year? Servicable, if he meshes even more with some of those stars in the making...SCORE! Wow... top 10 down. Don't LOVE my roster but definitely like many of my players.

Round 11: D. HanifinBack to expanding my youth. And this pick was sure to haunt me because, admittedly, I’m one of the guys who can never seem to spell this kids name right. Atleast with him on my team… hopefully it’ll become a little easier. Given the hype surrounding this D, it reminded me very much of the Hype surrounding Ekblad last year. Take McDavid and Eichel away, there was just as many experts grouping Hanifin with Marner and Strome. What the hell. If Hanifin can be mentioned in the same breath as Ekblad, he’s probably a darn good pick at 11 so long as I can be patient. DRAFTED (followed by a few groans from others who were eagerly watching him fall).

Round 12: D Zach Boogosian I recognized the need to start filling out my D at this point and one of the Best D available who I felt was starting the season in a VERY good position was the oft injured BOGO. Definitely a risky pick as he has yet to really develop into what he was expected to in Winnipeg, but I really like his opportunity on that Young Buffalo team and fingers crossed he IS the PPQB and manages to stay healthy and continues to grow with that young talent (Eichel et al). Not a bad #2 behind Karlsson.

Round 13: RW Plotnikov While Bogo could have been considered a Boom/Bust pick, I really felt good about drafting him... so much so that I though I'd continue to walk the Line of Risk. Rumored to be a heir apparent to a top 6 gig left of Crosby or Malkin, I thought it Prudent to take the chance the FA signing. It may not pan out but if it does, it really changes the face of my team. (Yak, Pouliot, Bogo, and now Plot... if the stars align and Drouin figures things out, this team of mine starts to move up in the Power Rankings... lots of If's and Buts... but I happen to enjoy Candy and Nuts Next

Round 14: G - K. Ramo Having scanned some of my opponents teams and seeing a few lacking ANY goalie depth, I saw Ramo as not only the best available Back up to Dubnyk, but also a player that may have some trade value in the near future, especially if he bumps Hiller from the No Very Stable #1 seat in Calgary. Prudent pick. Goaltending seems Good and ready to compete with even the yet to be determined BEST teams in the WHL.

Round 15: Oscar Klefbom A bit of a homer pick, Nurse had already gone, as did Sekara (I believe) and I enjoyed watching Oscar develop last year having waited on his arrival the year before. This pick just felt good and helped fill out my D.

Round 16: LW Beau BennettBack to another risky pick. Seem to be enjoying taking a chance on all these kids who a) have failed to hit their potential or b) who’s careers had been stunted due to injury. Well hell…why not combine both. Another “If he’d only stay healthy and hit his potential…we’re talking Extremely Talented winger… I’m thinking Anders Lee here (not sure why, but that’s what sprung to mind). DRAFTED. I guess we’ll see.

Round 17: Marcus Foligno Half way there... so now who? I went back to the Prospect and Dobber guides of 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and this year and tried to find trends of Keeper Investments. While I didn’t expect Marcus to follow in Nick’s footsteps, I saw his name more than once in the previous years as a keeper / sleeper suggestion, and given the burst of talent being added to Buffalo… This pick seemed rather neutral with potential. DRAFTED!


(POST IS GETTING TOO LONG... Make this a 2 parter.)

- - - Updated - - -

Wow...I'm long winded... Part 2 coming next.

[havanablast21]

Part 2...

Round 18: W - J. Lupol I watched several players fall so far including Lupol and most notedly Nick Foligno and figured if Lupol was there by the time my pick came around, he would be pretty decent value in the 18th round, just past the half way mark. I made this pick with the expectation that he’d be moved as some point soon and potential land in a far more favorable spot. Can’t be much worse than where he currently is. DRAFTED!

Round 19 - B. Orpik Time for another D to essentially fill out my entire D core. Matched a few against each other and compared the stats I wasn't as used to (Blk/hits etc) and felt this pick to be fairly low risk and would allow for experienced depth if I had to wait on a Hanifin to hit he SHow.

Round 20: C Shawn Matthias Ok… now 20 Rounds deep, 480+ players and starting to feel like I’ve swam a little far from shore (the deepest draft I’ve been in was 12 teams 25 players. 180 skaters beyond that right now. It’s gunna take some help. Back to the dobber guides of the past 3 years. Hmmm… Matthais was very highly regarded a couple years ago… failed to hit potential in Florida, same in Vancover… 3 times a charm? What the hell… DRAFTED!

Round 21: J. Brodin Need 1 more D at this point and Brodin’s name kept popping off the page at me. I remember his name being dropped as a sleeper last year and it really never happened. However, he also battled injury. Read a few different profiles on Brodin and liked his physical game and offensive potential. Often paired up with Suter… Me thinks he’s as good as anyone at this point, and may actually be better… what the hell.

Round 22: L. Komarov Ok... enough stat tracking... who's someone I enjoyed watching last year that was still available... Hmmm. While I was cursing those leafs much of the time last year, I did thoroughly enjoy watching the games and play of both Komarov and Waiver Steal (IMO) Richard Panik. Both physical with some offensive punch... but which one to take? Komo seemed to jump up to the top 6 more often than Panik...Komo it is.

Round 23: G - J. Marksrom Having scanned the goalie market once more, talking at great lengths with Greztky's Mullet (Eric) Markstrom was yet another uberly hyped prospect that had failed to his potential. (Dubnyk kinda was too but look what happened when he landed in "the right spot". Once called "the best goalie NOT playing in the NHL" ... AHL Dominant... May as well do my part in cornering the Goalie market a bit further... Draft wait and watch as Markstrom gets his 2nd shot to be the #2 in the NHL. Hopefully he makes the best of the opportunity.

Round 24: RW, R Panik... Hmmm ... Panik is still around. Considered him 48 picks ago. Ok.. Thank you very much. I see most leaf players as assets with potential as Not many would be considered untouchable. Maybe they get moved and get better, but if they stay.. They are depth players for me.

Round 25: Dillon One last Depth Defender to be added. Liked Dillon's physical stats from the past couple years and actually thought he would have gone a bit sooner. DRAFTED!

Round 26: Steve Moses Down To the final 10 picks. And at this point, I’m really just building my Farm System which is going to be like tossing darts. And I’m a terrible Dart player. SO I heavily relied on my Dobber Tools for research and decided to focus on highly regarded Prospects with a boom/bust haze around them. Seems to be the flavor of my team. BOOM / BUST. When you’re drafting in the middle… it’s hard to fall one way or the other… so I begin to understand that much of my team’s success is going to rely on a balance of experienced depth and RISKY Potential. As if teetering on a fence… Seems my team can go either way. So … Welcome Moses… lets see what you can do.

Rounds 27- 31, Nick Spalling, Brendan Gaunce, Xavier Ouellet, Luke Glendening, Klas Dahlbeck... all just darts tossed following some quick research. Thank GOd for Dobber's Tools (ALL OF THEM)

Round 32 G - K. Gudlevkis Missed out on Vas... but all this trade talk means 1 of those two (Bishop/Vas) is gone in the next couple years... which means this kid may one day see his chance. And he impressed me so much playing for his home country making save after save in the Worlds... he's worth a spot in my farm system.

Round 33 and 34 ... Soshnikov and Bailey A couple more Leaf Prospects with potential...

FINAL ROUND 35 - Kosmachuck For those of you who don't know me or where I'm From... I follow the Guelph Storm Religiously Here... I have to when my NHL teams are Leafs and Oilers. KosiWas so much fun to watch in his junior years in Guelph and while he’s failed to live up to his potential in Winnipeg, I just have to believe that he’s gunna figure things out and one day find his way to the show! This was quite simply a homer pick that will motivate me to watch him development.
And with that… I returned to the world of work, marriage and child rearing.

Thanks so much Peng for organizing this and for all the help the rest of you lended me through this process. A fantasy enthusiast, I’ve never strayed far from Yahoo and old standard cats. So this has been quite an experience for me. But given my wife kinda bought into it and kept up to date with my draft (oftening helping me out by reminding me to check in and being a sounding board for some picks… SHE TOO…watches the hockey) it was a couple weeks of sheer Hockey enjoyment for me.

Can’t wait to see how “Havana Boom/Bust Blast” Fairs!

GO STORM!

[GinFizz]

quick question regarding the rosters... I am sure this has been mentioned before, heck, probably many of times but... The reserve players (aka the "bench") also need to be PRO players, correct? In another words, I can not have minor players riding my bench, they would need to be in the "minors" of which I am only allowed to have 10.

Am I correct?

[JagrBomb]

quick question regarding the rosters... I am sure this has been mentioned before, heck, probably many of times but... The reserve players (aka the "bench") also need to be PRO players, correct? In another words, I can not have minor players riding my bench, they would need to be in the "minors" of which I am only allowed to have 10.

Am I correct?

active NHLers on your PRO roster. you cant just fill your active roster with JR/overseas players, not fair to teams rebuilding if there are other teams playing much less NHL players than anyone else.

[GinFizz]

Understood. I guess my question is with the terminology of the phrase "reserve". I guess reserve is still part of my PRO team... Correct?

[JagrBomb]

Understood. I guess my question is with the terminology of the phrase "reserve". I guess reserve is still part of my PRO team... Correct?

yes they are just your bench players that you can swap with your active players without any cost of losing a transaction per week.

i.e swapping an active player with a jr player is a transaction, but swapping an active player with a bench player is not a transaction. bench players receive zero points, same as in yahoo.

[Pit Bulls]

Understood. I guess my question is with the terminology of the phrase "reserve". I guess reserve is still part of my PRO team... Correct?

Fizz - think of your reserve players as your "bench" for your PRO team

[Loch]

Kind of fun to read brakli's re-cap and think 'yeah, that was me' when he talks about Rychel and Henrique going right before his picks!

This draft was like trying to hit a knuckleball... you'd be confident you were about to nail a pick and all of a sudden you had no idea what just happened.

[havanablast21]

But you CAN have junior eligible players on your bench correct? and if so, I suspect those such players would need to be in the pros while on the bench?

E.g. Drouin is still junior eligible, but clearly able to be on my pro bench/active roster. Vs Hanifin who may or may not start in the pro's vs kosmachuck who will Not start in the pro's.

Can all or some be in my pro bench?

[Pit Bulls]

I would think if the JR player(s) make the team, they can be on your PRO roster and/or bench. If they get sent down after 8 or 9 games, then they return to the JR roster. So Drouin could be on your roster, Hanifin might be (if he makes it) and Kosmachuck wouldn't be.

Either way, all 3 could stay on your JR roster until they turn 26 or play 100 NHL games, but if they are playing and doing better than some of our late round picks, you should roster your best team (meaning they should be on your PRO roster and drop some of our late round picks).

I think that is the way it would go.....

[glorybe23]

First off, great writeups guys. Enjoyed the thought process. Looks like alot of us were thinking the same draft strategy, then it turned into a crap shoot!

August has been a shitshow here at home and work, expect me to be more vocal with ridiculous stories when it cools down.

Have a question about the picks next year:

As stated on fantrax, first 5 picks are for the Junior roster and picks 6-10 are for the pro roster players that were dropped.

I can assume the first 5 picks are NOT snake draft style since it is prospects, but how about the pro roster picks from 6-10? Is this back to snake style drafting?