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HFLeafs WJC Pool, Year 2

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I feel like between Cormier and Nystrom I got two dmen who may get PP2 time and even if not should put up .5 ppg so I’m very happy with that. I think my team should do better this year
 
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weems said:
It's also a difficult draft in the sense we have no real idea of line combos/PP units for some countries.

I havent heard one thing about Russia's potential lineup and you got guys like Guenther/Stankoven who innitially looked like they might be top 6 players who would get powerplay time that are possibly now either on the 4th line or even not making the top 12.

Alot of just throwing darts and hoping for the best :laugh:
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Russia has a different coach with a slightly different outlook on what he wants in his bottom 6, with speed and energy being the emphasis similar to what USA is building on their 4th line with a mix of James/Smilanic/Slaggert/Mazur/Savage but much of it is the same as previous years.

Clear top 6: Gulistov, Khusnutdinov, Michkov, Ponomaryov, Chibrikov, and Svechkov. The bottom 6 guys had to compete for their spot in the Four Nations.

The wildcard for them is probably Yurov. They are giving him Ponomaryov and some special teams time to see if he can really build on it. I think they were impressed with him given his age, but I don't think he impressed them like they were hoping out of a guy who should go high in the draft (i.e. possibly being in their top 6 like Michkov). He may end up just being a bottom 6 speedy energy guy who can put up a couple of points, which is probably the same expectation you would have out of Slaggert/Smilanic/Savage/James/Mazur, or he may be a guy who gets 3 or 4 points. I doubt he gets more than that unless he really exceeds expectations.

That being said, my choice is:

Tanner Dickinson

@Judas Tavares
 
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SeaOfBlue said:
Russia has a different coach with a slightly different outlook on what he wants in his bottom 6, with speed and energy being the emphasis similar to what USA is building on their 4th line with a mix of James/Smilanic/Slaggert/Mazur/Savage but much of it is the same as previous years.

Clear top 6: Gulistov, Khusnutdinov, Michkov, Ponomaryov, Chibrikov, and Svechkov. The bottom 6 guys had to compete for their spot in the Four Nations.

The wildcard for them is probably Yurov. They are giving him Ponomaryov and some special teams time to see if he can really build on it. I think they were impressed with him given his age, but I don't think he impressed them like they were hoping out of a guy who should go high in the draft (i.e. possibly being in their top 6 like Michkov). He may end up just being a bottom 6 speedy energy guy who can put up a couple of points, which is probably the same expectation you would have out of Slaggert/Smilanic/Savage/James/Mazur, or he may be a guy who gets 3 or 4 points. I doubt he gets more than that unless he really exceeds expectations.

That being said, my choice is:

Tanner Dickinson

@Judas Tavares
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USA has been thrown into a blender a bit in terms of combos, but I think the guys they use in the top 9 are generally all the same. The one thing I did notice Leaman mention though was "chemistry".

My best guess then would be that it ends up something like this, with the 2nd and 3rd lines getting similar minutes:

Berard - Beniers - Lucius
Knies - Cooley - Pastujov
Coronato - Dickinson - Samoskevich
Smilanic - Slaggert - Mazur
James/Savage

However, it could also end up something like this:

Berard - Beniers - Pastujov
Knies - Dickinson - Lucius
Coronato - Cooley - Samoskevich
Smilanic - Slaggert - Mazur
James/Savage

No idea what the PP looks like, but I imagine it will be the top 9 guys minus one of Dickinson/Cooley. If Cooley can't hack the top 9, then I imagine Smilanic moves into the top 9 as a center, or Mazur moves into the top 9 as a LW with Samoskevich or Lucius moving down the middle. That would be far from ideal, though, and I think they are really betting on Cooley at least being similar to Beniers from last year. They didn't get much offense from Beniers (only 3 points in 7 games) , but he was a great two-way presence on their 2nd/3rd line. Hopefully he does better on the draw than Beniers though.
 
Canada's lines have already been posted.



I don't think you will get much of a surprise from Finland...

Hirvonen - Lambert - Simontaival
Jarventie - Helenius - Kemell
Koivunen - Kapanen - Vaisanen
Paivarinta - Maenpaa - Nikupeteri
Karvinen/Maatta

Viro - Niemela
Nurmi - Puutio
Ottavainen - Rafkin
Heimosalmi (Finland will likely dress 7D)
Aho

Combos may change a bit, but that is the clear top 6/bottom 6 divide for Finland. They also have a defined top 3 (Viro, Niemela, Puutio).

Sweden's line combos are a mess, just like always. They have far more talent than Finland, but always put out questionable usage.



Sweden has a nice top line, a top pairing with a good amount of upside, and a great goalie. The problem is, I think the rest of their team is easy to beat. Last year's team had a little bit less forward depth, but significantly better defenders... And they still lost in the Quarters. It is not going to be any easier for them this year, and there are a lot of teams that can easily expose Sweden's weaknesses... Again. There is a reason why Sweden has only won 1 goal medal in 30+ years despite often sweeping the Round Robin and having some of the most talented individual players. It is like what everyone sees the Leafs as in the NHL, except 100x worse and actually factually true.
 
Obviously going forward here, as no goalies will be taken by the time it comes back to me. I have 4 forwards left that I ranked, but I haven't even had to consider dipping that far down before now in any pool.

I'll go Kasperi, I mean Oliver Kapanen. Finland will win the goal and Kapanen will score the winner in overtime. It's a tradition.
 
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Canada4Gold said:
Obviously going forward here, as no goalies will be taken by the time it comes back to me. I have 4 forwards left that I ranked, but I haven't even had to consider dipping that far down before now in any pool.

I'll go Kasperi, I mean Oliver Kapanen. Finland will win the goal and Kapanen will score the winner in overtime. It's a tradition.
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THIS WAS MY PICK NO
 
Oscar Olausson - Mason McTavish - Xavier Bourgault
Brad Lambert - Kirill Tankov - Mackie Samoskevich

Lukas Cormier - Joel Nystrom
Tyler Kleven

Sebastian Cossa

This group feels really strong. I opted to take guys who should be riding shotgun with the big producers such as Tankov with Svechkov and Chibrikov, Kleven with Sanderson, Bourgault with Perfetti and Olausson with Eklund/Holtz. Here's hoping it works!
 
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hockeynorth said:
Oscar Olausson - Mason McTavish - Xavier Bourgault
Brad Lambert - Kirill Tankov - Mackie Samoskevich

Lukas Cormier - Joel Nystrom
Tyler Kleven

Sebastian Cossa

This group feels really strong. I opted to take guys who should be riding shotgun with the big producers such as Tankov with Svechkov and Chibrikov, Kleven with Sanderson, Bourgault with Perfetti and Olausson with Eklund/Holtz. Here's hoping it works!
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I would say you have a good chance at winning. Bourgalt is going to be insane value if he sticks on the top line. Hopefully for you Canada also goes with Cossa instead of Garand but I'm not sure if that's been confirmed yet.
 
^Yeah it was either him or a backup from one of the best 5 teams but I picked that other guy in my pool so I'm going to diversify, and hope Slovakia's young guns play above their age. They have the talent to.

Simon Latkoczy

@Judas Tavares
 
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Canada4Gold said:
^Yeah it was either him or a backup from one of the best 5 teams but I picked that other guy in my pool so I'm going to diversify, and hope Slovakia's young guns play above their age. They have the talent to.

Simon Latkoczy

@Judas Tavares
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I feel like this could have been a coming out party for the 2002-2004 Slovakian age group if they weren't in such a brutal group. If Nemec returns next year they could low key be a medal contender. Slafkovsky has always been dominant against junior aged players, Nemec is looking like an elite, elite level defence prospect and Dvorsky is a legitimate elite/possible franchise level talent for next year's draft. Not even getting into guys like Mesar or Ciernik who are also high, high upside players or Petrovsky.
 
hockeynorth said:
Oscar Olausson - Mason McTavish - Xavier Bourgault
Brad Lambert - Kirill Tankov - Mackie Samoskevich

Lukas Cormier - Joel Nystrom
Tyler Kleven

Sebastian Cossa

This group feels really strong. I opted to take guys who should be riding shotgun with the big producers such as Tankov with Svechkov and Chibrikov, Kleven with Sanderson, Bourgault with Perfetti and Olausson with Eklund/Holtz. Here's hoping it works!
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I feel like you are either going to do very well or absolutely terrible.

Other than McTavish and Cossa, you have a bunch of guys who can put up big numbers or may put up next to nothing.

Also, Kleven is not playing with Sanderson from what I have seen. They are giving him his own pairing with Morrow. Ian Moore was the guy they usually gave Sanderson.
 
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Canada4Gold said:
Kent Johnson - Matthew Beniers - Matthew Coronato
Isak Rosen- Niklas Guslistov - Oliver Kapanen

Kirill Kirsanov - Olen Zellweger
Eemil Viro

Simon Latkoczy
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Johnson, Beniers, and Coronato are a great trio of forwards to have. Zellweger is also really good and Viro is playing top pairingwith Niemela and could score some points as a result. I've also seen Guslistov listed as a top line guy for Russia so again a great value pick. Considering you were picking later in the draft this is a good team.
 
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Brett Berard-Shane Wright-Pavel Novak
Roby Jarventie-Jake Neighbours-Justin Sourdif

Kaiden Guhle-Aleksi Heimosalmi
Leo Loof

Drew Commesso

Like my goalie. I think my forwards while not overly elite, are a good mix of 6 with solid depth. Don't like my defence, wasn't expecting to really. Hoping for some decent production from Guhle.

Last year my team had some major busts (Podkolzin and Askarov) so everyone just happened to put up decent to meh numbers, but it was enough to get me third. Feel like that same thing may happen this year, whether that gets me to the podium or not. Funny enough, Niemela was my leading point getter last year. I like Neighbours, I feel he is the Team Canada guy that may go slightly under the radar but have a good tournament, ala Tomasino last year.
 
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Maplebeasts said:
I feel like this could have been a coming out party for the 2002-2004 Slovakian age group if they weren't in such a brutal group. If Nemec returns next year they could low key be a medal contender. Slafkovsky has always been dominant against junior aged players, Nemec is looking like an elite, elite level defence prospect and Dvorsky is a legitimate elite/possible franchise level talent for next year's draft. Not even getting into guys like Mesar or Ciernik who are also high, high upside players or Petrovsky.
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Ciernik is a stud. It’s criminal that he was left off this WJC team, political decisions… brutal. His numbers in his DY-1 are pretty much the same as William Eklund. He was pretty great at the HGC too, 7 pts in 5 games. Everyone on slovak hockey forums were shocked he wasn’t included. His line with Molnar and Dvorsky was a ton of fun at the HGC. Could very well see that line next year as slovakias second line at the WJC.
 
Antiillafire said:
Ciernik is a stud. It’s criminal that he was left off this WJC team, political decisions… brutal. His numbers in his DY-1 are pretty much the same as William Eklund. He was pretty great at the HGC too, 7 pts in 5 games. Everyone on slovak hockey forums were shocked he wasn’t included. His line with Molnar and Dvorsky was a ton of fun at the HGC. Could very well see that line next year as slovakias second line at the WJC.
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Yeah I was surprised by that as well. I had him as an easy first rounder for next season with a chance at cracking top ten.
 
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