Initial Draft Recap
I went into the draft with a couple of goals. 1) Draft the best possible player, regardless of position in Round 1. 2) Make sure that my first three picks were C, D, and G, regardless of order. I wanted to ensure that I had a solid player at each position, and then I'd work from there. I think I succeeded on both fronts.
I got really lucky and ended up with the 1st overall pick, and my choice came down to two players. 29 year old C Reed Berg and 23 year old Jakub Honek. In the end, Honek may be in the league longer, but Berg was the best player in the draft, and he's now the face of the Wildcats. There is nothing Berg doesn't do well. The 6'1", 196lb center from Toronto is not only expected to battle for the league lead in scoring, he may very well also be the best defensive forward in the league.
With picks 2 and 3 (Which happened to be back to back due to the snake style draft), I picked up both my goalie of the future as well as my #1 defenseman. At the end of round 2, I selected 25 year old d-man Jan Kulhavy. Kulhavy still has room to grow (3.0/4.5), but is already solid in his own zone, and starting to come into his own on the offensive front. He will be my horse and you should see him on the ice 23-27 minutes a game.
Round 3, pick 1, I went with Goalie Wilbur Husted. The 26 year old Husted from San Diego, CA has got the physical skills, but there are some questions about what's going on upstairs. I guess that's to be expected though. Goalies are a unique bunch.
Round 4--C Alex Miller--Miller is destined to be my #2 center. As you can see, my plan is to be strong up the middle and work from there. Miller is a solid offensive forward, and is just as strong in the defensive zone.
Round 5--D Randolph Frazier--Another 25 year old blueliner that should hold down his position for us for the next 5-10 years. The smooth skating Frazier has got some sweet passing skills, and despite being just 180lbs packs quite a punch if someone gets in his way.
Round 6--D Billy Richards--We are now three deep with mid 20's defensemen as we picked Richards with the last pick of round 6. Richards is my hard hitter. He will pair nicely with Kulhavy as the #1 d-pairing.
Round 7--LW Cole Kersey--Our first wing selected in Round 7 will team with Berg, hopefully putting all sorts of pressure on the opponents. Kersey is the definition of a "power forward". When he gets his skates dug in, in the crease, he is near impossible to move.
Round 8--G Stephen Sanders--Looking back, this was a reach, but I didn't want to be left with no backup goalie that I could trust. Sanders should be a capable backup, nothing more.
Round 9--RW Peter Dolezaj--Dolezaj gets by on his intelligence. He's got the smarts, if not the high end skills. He will ultimately be named Captain. He will likely be one of my 3rd line wingers, moving up to the 2nd line in a pinch.
Round 10--D Homer Mazurek--The last pick of the first 10 rounds is the elder statesman so far. At age 33, Mazurek should be a solid teacher for the "20 somethings" on the blue line. Mazurek has a bomb of a shot and is a stone wall on defense. He's not a great skater, but makes up for it with his positioning. Think Zdeno Chara at age 40.
Below is also the preview for the inaugural season of the HEPHL. General thoughts are that UNH and UMASS are the cream of the crop, but can expect a push from the Northeastern Huskies and BU Terriers.
Next up will be a review of the first couple of months of the first ever season of the Hockey East Professional Hockey League!