Tomas Sandstrom. Bryan Smolinski. Ruslan Fedotenko. Steve McCarthy. Chris Osgood. Dave Scatchard. Brendan Morrison. The list is long, but not overly impressive. When it comes to stocking a new franchise with players, such have been considered the cream of their respective crops in past expansion drafts. However, while the list of available players is usually littered with has-beens and never-weres, there can always be a hidden gem, if you are ready to scour for them.
Consider Kurt Sauer, taken 43rd overall in a four-team RHL16 expansion draft by the Cleveland Falcons. Sauer was a young unknown at the time and slowly developed, though not quickly enough for the Falcons who moved him around the league until he was re-drafted in the RHL18 expansion, 12th overall to the Calgary Browns. Sauer now is poised to be a major contributor in RHL20, having blossomed into a legitimate 44 defensive defenseman. Or Rob Scuderi, taken much later in that same RHL18 expansion draft (35th overall), who has also bloomed into a 44 shutdown D.
Or consider the case of a prospect goalie that gets squeezed out in a numbers game. Going into the RHL15 season, the Chicago Gargoyles were set in net with Garth Snow and Manny Legace. However, they had a trio of young prospects pushing for time in Ari Ahonen, Maxime Ouellet, and Ilya Bryzgalov. All warranted pro contracts and when expansion came along, one had to be sacrificed. The victim was Bryzgalov, who was snatched up by the Grand Prairie Stingers and today is the starting goalie on that powerhouse young team.
And then there is the always popular pick-and-trade method of team building. While expansion teams can sometimes have little use for established vets, established teams may pay for their services. The Baffin Island Rovers never saw Brian Leetch or Andrei Nikolishin play for their RHL11 squad, but they did turn those players into Martin Erat, Brian Gionta, and David Legwand via two separate deals.
Wednesday night the RHL will stock the shelves of its two latest franchises, the Express and the Titans. While they have each selected a marquee player in dispersal, now is the time when they'll see who will actually flesh out their RHL20 lines. It won't necessarily be pretty, but it can be productive with the right preparation and a little bit of patience.
Stephen Valiquette is available. Former league-leading goaltender, and playoffs MVP in the RHL. The perfect experienced goalie for a young expansion team :)
ReplyDeleteAnd how about Forsberg? A great leader, a great addition to any team once you go past the technicality that he doesn't have ratings this season...
Expansion drafts are always fun, both as a spectator, and as a participant when you can create via the draft the foundation of the type of franchise you want to build.