The Minnesota Swarm had the most picks, but was their draft the best? We take a look
Minnesota Swarm: Logan Schuss, Jason Noble, Cam Flint, Scott Jones, Reid Acton, Zach Palmer, Jordan Houtby, Dominique Alexander, JJ Laforet, Nick Jonas
Draft Grade: A
The Swarm had by far the most picks in the draft and they made the best of them. Schuss, Noble and Flint were all in the top four picks, something unheard of in professional sports. They then picked Jones at number six overall. With those four picks alone they had the best draft class.
Colorado Mammoth: Dillon Ward, Cameron Mann, Cody McMahon, Dom Sebastiani, Jake Weidner
Draft Grade: C+
The Mammoth did really well getting Ward to help with their goalie situation and Mann should be a top class defender. Other than that, their draft was marginal; they did better with their trades this week.
Edmonton Rush: Robert Church, Riley Loewen, Adrian Sorichetti, Reid Mydske, Ben Snider
Draft Grade: A-
The Rush did very well in this draft. They were able to snag a top prospect like Church and then got the lefty they needed with Loewen despite passing on Cody Bremner. Mydske was also a natural pick with his brother Brett on the team, and Snider is an Alberta guy who will fit in well.
Calgary Roughnecks: Tor Reinholdt, Karsen Leung, Garrett McIntosh, Peter Dubenski, Jake Hayes, Brendan Randofrd
Draft Grade: B+
Reinholdt was an obvious pick for them at number seven after GM Mike Board stressed he wanted transition players. He made that very clear with his additions, and even though Leung might have been a stretch at 10th overall he is a solid addition.
Vancouver Stealth: Cody Bremner, Nick Weiss, Tyler Digby, Brett Dobray, Blair Gloss, Brendan Rouse, Chris Wardle, Kevin Neufield
Draft Grade: B+
Bremner fell a bit and GM Doug Locker had to be thrilled. He told us earlier in the week how much he liked Bremner so it was a pick to be expected. Chris Wardle, meanwhile, went later than projected and might be a worthwhile pickup.
Toronto Rock: Ethan O’Connor, Mike Woods, Keegan Bal, Eric Law, Emerson Clark, Alex Lubczuk
Draft Grade: B-
O’Connor was pretty much a consensus pick to the Rock and then adding Bal in the third round was solid. Law came as a pit of a surprise as an American player, but it was good to see the Rock put that aside and take the best player on the board.
Philadelphia Wings: AJ Masson, James Delaney, Tucker Durkin, Don Alton, Rob Pannell
Draft Grade: B
Masson, Delaney and Durkin are all very good picks and should be contributors. Alton is a bit of a mystery since they just added Evan Kirk but they possible want to develop him in CLax or something similar. Pannell went very late which is concerning but he was a typical Wings draft pick.
Rochester Knighthawks: Mark White, Taylor Northway, Zac Reid, Brandon Styres
Draft Grade: D+
The Knighthawks didn’t have a lot of picks and it’s hard to criticize a two time champion but this was a weak draft. Northway is only 18 years old and was a major reach, and Styres was picked only because his father is the team owner.
Buffalo Bandits: Nick Diachenko, Mitch Wilde, Eric Penney, Kevin Pym, Dylan Goddard
Draft Grade: B-
Diachenko is a risk but should pay off nicely. Penney is interesting because a few goalies could have ranked ahead of him but they might lose Anthony Cosmo to free agency so it seems they are focused on developing him long term. Goddard might be able to be considered a steal because he led Jr B in scoring for two years in a row.
