How the Canucks faired in the NM reloaded hockey draft.

Oct 4, 2022 - 1:35 AM

Hello everyone!

Nucks Misconduct Reloaded had its draft on Sunday Oct 4^th. Sixteen brave members took up the challenge of picking a team that would hold up the bent beer can of a trophy given to the winner.

Hockey drafts are always interesting to evaluate, especially when it comes to seeing how Canuck fans value their own players. I am not sure what other players did when it came to choosing. I look at the last year’s numbers and Yahoo’s expectations….plus a coin. I did have some sort of strategy, as I like to have players that are strong in several categories and not just one. Our league includes stats such as hits, blocks and PIM, so there will be some draft picks that seem unorthodox from a goal and assist perspective. That also leads to some Canucks getting picked as well.

The first Canuck chosen was J.T. Miller in the 2^nd round. No surprise there as he was the leader last year and should see lots of PP time this year as well. But personally, Petey was my first choice if I had this spot.

The second Canuck to be chosen was one of my picks….Thatcher Demko. I took him the 3^rd round and he was the second goalie I chose….after Marky. I like to get goalies as they carry almost half of the stats in the league. Demko might not win 40 games, but he will face a lot of shots and get a lot of opportunities.

Petey was chosen right after my pick of Demko. “Wait…you said you would have taken Petey instead of Miller!!!” I did, but that was in round 2, not round 3. I had to get a goalie. I would have loved to have Petey on my team named after him, but if I waited any longer, I wouldn’t have got two great goalies!

Two picks after Petey in the third round, Quinn Hughes was taken (Rd 3 pick 9). I love me some Quinn Hughes, but not in fantasy hockey. He is an assist machine gets the PP points, but does nothing for PIM, block shots or hits. To me, this seems like a “Homer” pick (No offence Montavi….you Homer)

We had to wait another 4 rounds before the next Canuck was chosen and that was the Captain, Bo Horvat. This is a nice value pick as Bo will get his near 30 goals, with lots of shots and some hits thrown in. His average numbers justify this mid round pick.

First surprise pick to some degree was Brock Boeser was chosen right after Bo (Rd 7, pick 11) Brock will start on the IR for the league, so Kent is going to have to dip into the FA market early. The real question is how long will it take for Brock to get his touch back before Kent can activate him. Kent has had some shit luck in past years in this league….he has now cursed Brock. Thanks Kent.

Our young Russian Vasily Podkolzin was picked in the 9^th round. I had him on my list for the 10^th or 11^th if available. I think we all hope for 20 goals and 20 assists, but he could also add a fair number of hits this year. Nice pick.

In the 15^th round, I think I made the steal of the draft as I picked Andrei Kuzmenko. I think I was able to get him so late since Yahoo didn’t know how to rank him. I think the preseason shows he can get the goals and set up others. He will get PP time on the 2^nd unit. I think he will get more points than Vasily and be more physical. Yeah me!

Later in that round, my guy Andrew, took OEL. There were better defensemen available but he said, “No, I must have a Swedish defenseman on the downslide of his career.” Well, you got him Andrew. No tradeses.

The last Canuck chosen and the most Homerish pick of the night, (Sorry Montavi) went to Kent and his choice of Spencer Martin. What the hell Kent? Although, if you look at the goalies that were left available, it might not be a bad idea to a goalie who will have to play a lot of games in Demko gets injured. You sly old fox.

So that’s it. That’s how a bunch of Canuck fans looked at this team and chose certain players over others. No Conor Garland….no Tyler Myers….no Tanner Pearson. I’m sure the injury fairies will have something to say about these choices very quickly.

Let’s get this season started already.