[hurricanekevin]

World Hockey Union Initial Fantasy Draft
With the first pick in the WHU Fantasy Draft (Goalie Round), the Seattle Moonbeams select Russian goalie Ilya Sorokin! To round out the top three, the Albuquerque Fennec Foxes selected another Russian in Andri Vasilevskiy, while the Helsinki Reindeer selected Swed Jacob Markstrom.

First Ten Skater Draft Rounds
As noted before, the AI went for instant talent before considering potential. With some of the greatest players to ever play the game available, the Kansas City Blackjacks selected Canadian right defender Cale Makar as the first pick in the skater draft.
The second pick went to the Fresno Bees, who selected another defender in Victor Hedman. The third pick, yet another defender, went to Boise Bactrian, with the camels selecting young American Adam Fox.
The first attacking player of the draft was selected with the fourth pick as the Buffalo Bicentennials added Auston Matthews to their first line. The Nashville Ironclad picked up center Nathan Mackinnon with the fifth skater selection to round out the first five picks.
Leon Draisaitl went sixth to the Saskatoon Mustangs, while David Pasrnak became the first winger in the draft selected. He will be working the boards for the Riga Wagtails.
A young (19 years old) Wayne Gretzky was selected by the Omaha Whitetails with the eighth pick. Despite his age, the Whitetails will expect instant production from the teenager.
The ninth pick saw the Wichita Knights with a very safe choice, choosing defense and experience over a more enticing selection. The Knights picked up 32-year-old defender Erik Karlsson out of Sweeden.
With the tenth selection, London Fortress selected aging superstar Sidney Crosby in an effort to win now and sell ice hockey to an indifferent English audience.

Thoughts
With an AI-generated draft order, the first ten clubs to select goalies and skaters have a real advantage. The talent pool is impossibly shallow with 90 teams filling up rosters with the initial draft. That being said, there are still a lot of great players on the board. The 80 teams that need to draft will still have some chances at historic, game-changing players who need to develop and present-day NHLers who can step into top-line role dominant roles.

Rounds Eleven through Twenty
11. New Orleans Delta- C Jack Hughes, 21
12. Salt Lake City Danes- C Connor McDavid, 25
13. Cleveland Quest- C Steven Stamkos, 32
14. Hamilton Reds- LW Brad Marchand, 34
15. Berlin United- RW Nikita Kucherov, 29
16. Tacoma Raiders- C Nico Hischier, 23
17. Tokyo Gulls- LD Roman Josi, 32
18. Detroit Stalwart- C Anze Kopitar, 35
19. Burlington Leopards- C Aleksander Barkov, 27
20. San Jose Atomic- RD Bobby Orr, 18
Analysis of Picks Eleven through Twenty
Hughes and McDavid are excellent pickups for New Orleans and Salt Lake City, respectively. Marchand and Stamkos are a bit older than I’d want to pick in the first round, as are Kopitar and Josi. I’m really curious how these older picks will work out for teams in the long run. Because the AI is avoiding prospects in this initial draft, these teams might pick up some intriguing young players later on, but using your first-round pick to grab someone who is 35 seems shortsighted. I’m loving the 20th pick for San Jose with Bobby Orr. He can contribute now, but at 18, he will have a lot of ice time ahead of him. Flashback specials and blogs will discuss this draft years from now and wonder why ten teams ahead of San Jose didn’t pick Orr.

First Round Continued: Picks Twenty-One through Thirty
21. Des Moines Spirits- RW Mikko Rantanen, 25
22. Boston Unity- RD Rasmus Dahlin, 22
23. Montreal Wizards- LW Kirill Kapizov, 25
24. Fairbanks Kodiaks- RD Charlie McAvoy, 24
25. Quebec City Explorers- LW Artemi Panarin, 30
26. Los Angeles Atlas- LW Gabriel Landeskog, 29
27. Ottawa Bull Moose- RW Mitch Marner, 25
28. Portland Magpies- RD Aaron Ekbald, 26
29. Orlando Indomitable- C Sebastian Aho, 25
30. Prague Golden Lions- C Evgeni Malkin, 36

Analysis of Picks Twenty-One through Thirty
Some excellent selections here, even if two-and-a-half-star, 36-year-old Malkin is an odd pick at number 30 for Prague. I really like Dahlin, Rantanen, and McAvoy, and all of those guys will do a lot for their clubs this season and in the future. The draft is starting to thin out here, with nearly all of the four-star prospects already selected. It will be interesting to see what NHL top-line role players find themselves in a franchise player position during the rest of this draft. There are still nearly all of the historic greats still floating around as teenagers.

Reflection on Orlando Indomitable Selection
Since I am managing and coaching Orlando in this fantasy universe, I figured I’d add some thoughts on why I selected Sebastian Aho with the 29th pick. First off, I had a lousy goalie round with not much talent available once it was my turn to pick (somewhere in the 60s). I went for the best available player here, and that was a toss-up between Aho and Brayden Point. At the same time, Point is rated a half-star higher than Aho; their ratings are very equal across the board. It came down to a personal decision since I’m a fan of Aho. He’s probably my favorite player that isn’t a Red Wing. Having played a lot of management games, I find having a little bit of a connection to a player really helps to connect to a new game, so Sebastian Aho it is! I think he’s the kind of player who can dominate for years while simultaneously helping to bring along the younger players I want to draft. I’ll keep an eye on Point to grade my first-round pick against.

First Round Continued: Thirty-One through Fourty
31. Chicago Dominion- C Brayden Point, 26
32. Las Vegas Tigers- LD Miro Heiskanen, 23
33. Halifax Humpbacks- RD Jared Spurgeon, 32
34. Washington Strike Eagles- LW Mathew Tkachuck, 24
35. Sacramento Saints- LD Jonas Brodin, 29
36. Anchorage Polar- LW Jonathan Huberdeau, 29
37. Philadelphia Lamplighters- C Mika Zibanejad, 29
38. Bratislava Oaks- RD John Carlson
39. Stockholm Arctic Lions- RW Claude Giroux, 34
40. Copenhagen Foxes- RD Alex Pietrangelo, 32

Analysis of Picks Thirty-One through Fourty
The aforementioned Brayden Point was the last four-star talent on the board, so Chicago lucked out to get him when they did. From this point forward, there are all three and two-star selections in the first round. I’m curious how this will turn out with the league's talent so spread out across teams. Since the initial draft is serpentine, some of the teams unable to pick up a legitimate star will need to create a cohesive team. There is some talent here; Tkachuk to Washington is a nice pick-up, as is Canadian defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to Copenhagen.

Draft Continued: Forty-One through Sixty
41. Memphis Rockers- LD Travis Sanheim, 26
42. Pittsburgh Steel Cats- C Jack Eichel, 25
43. Bridgeport Mystics- RD Drew Doughty, 32
44. Saint Louis Black Arrow- RW Jesper Bratt, 24
45. Grand Rapids Frequency- LD Devon Toews, 28
46. Richmond Renegades- C Filip Forsberg, 28
47. Paris Gallic Roosters- C Ryan Hartman, 28
48. Duluth Lakers- RD Chris Tanev, 32
49. Regina Reign- RD Mortiz Seider, 21
50. Milwaukee Dauntless- C Nolan Patrick, 24
51. Mississauga Blizzard- LD Jacob Slavin, 28
52. Winnipeg Bears- C Joel Eriksson Ek, 25
53. Austin Cockspurs- LW Rudolfs Balcers, 25
54. Vienna Black Eagles- RD Mattias Ekholm, 32
55. Wilmington Fortis- RW Mark Stone, 30
56. Seoul Black Bears- C Radek Faksa, 28
57. Zurich Chamois- C Phillip Danault, 29
58. San Diego Oceania- LD Ben Chiarot, 31
59. Honolulu Island Alliance- C Elias Pettersson, 23
60. Abu Dhabi Oryx- RD Connor Clifton, 27

Analysis of Picks Forty-One through Sixty
Some nice youthful selections here with more than a few guys who might be able to step into team leadership roles as they are given a chance. I really like Forsberg for Richmond and Seider going to Regina. Grand Rapids was fortunate to find Toews this far down in the draft. I’ve already said this, but I’m not sure how well players like Ekholm, Chiarot, and Doughty will do when trying to carry a team. Then again, this is their chance to shine, right? Picks 61 through 90 are going to be very interesting.

Draft Continued: Sixty-One through Ninty
61. Atlanta Jumbos- RD Colton Parayko, 29
62. Dallas Grand- C Patrice Bergeron, 37
63. Baltimore Bucks- LW Andrei Svechnikov, 22
64. Miami Riptide- RW Patrick Kane, 33
65. San Francisco Bohemia- C Alexander Kerfoot, 28
66. Denver Alpine- C Elias Lindhom, 27
67. Jacksonville Leviathan- C Nazem Kadri, 31
68. Louisville Rapid- LD Brett Kulak, 28
69. Oslo Elk- LW Alex Ovechkin, 37
70. Calgary Wolves- LW Jordan Greenway, 25
71. Minneapolis Futures- LW Brady Tkachuk, 23
72. New York Metros- LD Zach Werenski, 25
73. Newark Gladiators- RW Ondre Kase, 26
74. Green Bay Lynx- LW Johnny Gaudreau, 29
75. Toronto Blue Stars- RW Luke Kunin, 24
76. Spokane Sasquatches- LD Jake Muzzin, 33
77. Indianapolis Argonauts- LD Samuel Girard, 24
78. Oklahoma City Zenith- RW Kasperi Kapanen, 26
79. Charlotte Cosmos- LD Jakob Chychrun, 24
80. Colorado Springs Citadel- RD Kris Letang, 35
81. Providence Bandits- LD Morgan Rielly, 28
82. Reykjavik Puffins- C Nicolas Roy, 25
83. Edmonton Aries- C Erik Haula, 31
84. Phoenix Pharaohs- C Puis Suter, 26
85. Houston Starlights- LD Brayden McNabb, 31
86. Vancouver Vision- LD Carson Soucy, 28
87. Amsterdam Admirals- LW Ross Colton, 26
88. Helsinki Reindeer- RW Colin White, 25
89. Albuquerque Fennec Foxes- RD Josh Manson, 30
90. Seattle Moonbeams- LD Oliver Kylington, 25

Analysis of Picks Sixty-One through Ninty
As we wrap up the first round a few big names have fallen into this final third of the draft. Oslo will hope they can squeeze a few more goals out of the 37 year old Ovechkin while the Miami Riptide have taken a chance on 33 year old Patrick Kane. Dallas have also taken a 37 year old with Patrice Bergeron. I’ll be curious to see how long these players in their 30s end up playing. If you are picking the best available player at the bottom of the first round these two picks can pair nicely with a younger prospect when these teams pick at the top of the second round. Theres a lot of young talent here as well, and I’ll be intersted to see how well Lindom, Suter, and Svechnikov can do in an increased role with their new clubs.
The big news is the players who weren’t selected by the AI. It could simply be that the historic players I added weren’t properly scouted by the AI or the clubs were just interested in players with a proven record but a lot of young future hall of farmers fell deep into the draft. Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr did go early in the skater draft, but players with a similar pedigree were taken a lot later. (Note: I couldn’t help but exploit this as I did my draft picks. When you see Gordie Howe available in Round 5, Eric Lindros in Round 10, and Nicklas Lindstrom in Round 16 its really hard to not pick them. They are all teenagers but will get a lot of playing time. As you will see from the below picks I might have actually picked them too early)

Here are a few highlights from deeper in the draft:

Colorado Springs Citadel: Mario Lemieux, 17 (Round 17)
Paris Gallic Roosters: Mark Messier, 17 (Round 15)
Edmonton Aries: Maurice Richard, 17 (Round 19)
Edmonton Aries: Jean Beliveau, 17 (Round 15)
Wilmington Fortis: Jaromir Jager, 18 (Round 15)
Philadelphia Lamplighters: Steve Yzerman, 17 (Round 15)
Riga Wagtails: Joe Sakic, 17 (Round 18)
Sacramento Saints: Guy LaFleur, 17 (Round 18)
Anchorage Polar: Guy (Fellow) LaFleur, 17 (Round 18)
Atlanta Jumbos: Stan Mikita, 17 (Round 19)

It will be really interesting to see how these players develop and how quickly they can make an impact. There are a lot more historic players floating around in this fictional world so they may pop up from time to time in these posts. You’ll notice I did accidentally add more than one Guy LaFleur so I’ve renamed the second one “Fellow LaFleur.” Not really a big deal as I might add and rename a few more historic players just to see how they compare with one another. Look out WHU, Gayne Wretzky, Lario Memieux might just be ready to declare for the 2023 draft!