Draft Update

My apologies to the league for doubting the accuracy of their Twittering. I thought for sure that they had messed up and not posted all of the picks made by the Express. It turns out that the Express only made 3 total picks in the draft. Here they are:

Round 1/#18 overall - Joseph Graveline - D - 1991 Birth Year - St Thomas Academy
Round 2/#43 overall - Thomas Burke - G - 6'1"/170 - Holy Angels
Round 3/#65 overall - Mike Shibrowski - G - Colorado College (WCHA)

Before the draft today, each team in the NAHL submitted their protected list to the league. This list is made up of protected veteran players, and each team's tendered players (8 plus or minus trades). Each team then drafts as many players as necessary to get their protected list to 30 players. For example, if a team has 8 protected veterans, and signed 8 tendered players, they would then need to draft 14 players.

My take: With the assumption that Coach Cullen made the decisions on the protected list and the draft picks because the new coach hasn't been hired yet, the Express only drafting 3 guys makes sense. Protect all of your veteran players from last season, and let the new coach, when he gets here, make the decision to keep those guys or not. Hypothetically, let's say Coach Cullen was not leaving. There are probably a few veteran guys towards the bottom of the roster that Cullen wouldn't have put on the protected list. He knows what those guys are capable of, and decides they are not a good fit for this season. It happens every year. However, maybe the new coach would see things differently, and keep that guy around. So it's actually a smart move to protect all of your veterans in this situation.

The Numbers Game -

So we know the Express drafted 3 players, and tendered 8 players (Coach Cullen confirmed this at the annual meeting). That's 11 out of 30 players on the preliminary roster, which means there were 19 veteran guys on the protected list. The 2009-2010 Express playoff roster had 26 players listed. Subtract the guys that aged out: Carson, Porter, McGinty, Darnell, Cecka. Subtract the guys that are moving on to college: Sloat, Thorson. That gives you 19 guys right??

That's just a theory, but it certainly appears plausible.


Albert Lea & North Iowa -

It looks as though both Albert Lea and Mason City will not be fielding teams in the NAHL this season, as neither team participated in the draft.

With their departures, it looks as though the Central Division will shape up like this: Bismarck Bobcats, Alexandria Blizzard, Owatonna Express, Aberdeen Wings, Austin Bruins, and Coulee Region Chill.


See you at the rink.

--BK