The First Three Rounds: Eric Balnar's Mock Draft V2

Tomorrow. That’s when it’s all decided: What will the inaugural NHSL teams look like?

With the season scheduled to kick off November 12, that will give teams nearly one month to prepare after Monday’s draft.

(By the way, you’re all invited to attend the draft starting at 7PM at Big Shed. Be there early!)

On Friday I gave you one direction the draft could go with my mock draft. But let’s look at another way this could go….

Each team has already selected their two marquee players to build their team around. Everybody has signed a coach to lead the charge. I’ll be selecting from this list. 

But first, the draft rules:
- The draft order was selected at random on live TV two weeks ago. The order is 1. XTreme 2. Brewers 3. Stars.
- It will be a snake draft. This means that the Stars pick third in round one, but first in round two.
- For the first six rounds, teams can't select players from the same club on back-to-back picks 

Marquee Players signed:
Adelaide Xtreme: Joey MacDougall (Forward) and Jeremy Friederich (Goalie)

Port Adelaide Brewers: Steve Best (Forward) and Zach Boyle (Defense)

Noarlunga Stars: Jake Riley (Forward) and Jan Koubek (Forward)

Eric Balnar's Mock Draft

Round 1 Pick 1 (Xtreme): Nathaniel Benson – This doesn’t change for me. I can’t see a scenario where Benson doesn’t go #1. He’s young, talented and fun. He scored three goals in the Grand Final series and finished the Premier League season with 45 points in 19 games. He’s played in Canada, for the Adrenaline and starred for the Jokers. Surely he has to go #1 overall. 

Round 1 Pick 2 (Brewers): Tyler Leeming – It would be easy to envisage Bill Newbound and Mitch Villani, both Red Wings, going with Tyler Leeming to partner with Steve Best (also a Red Wing). The two of them have been terrorising local defenseman for years and a Best + Leeming line combo is tried, tested, true and more than effective.  

Round 1 Pick 3 (Stars): Jake Hazel – I had Andrew Chen going to Lothian and Mantere’s Stars earlier. They said they want to play up tempo so that could very well happen, but I can see them also taking Jake Hazel. He’s probably the most sturdy defenseman in SA and that might be a nice anchor for the Stars. 

Round 2 Pick 1 (Stars): Matus Trnka – You want excitement? We’ll give you excitement. Trnka is an emerging goaltender who makes highlight-reel, acrobatic saves on the daily. He’s close with coach Mantere already. Could be a nice fit. 

Round 2 Pick 2 (Brewers): Zach Steele – There is no question Steele is immensely talented. He is probably more natural as a forward, but has spent the Premier League season playing defense for the Blackhawks. Perhaps Newbound looks at an exciting young talent and tries to put him under the tutelage of Steve Best. He can play two positions and versatility may be key.

Round 2 Pick 3 (XTreme): Jared Siemens – You can’t go wrong here. The Xtreme have two young guys in Benson and Friederich, why not give another veteran forward for MacDougall to work with up front. Siemens plays a hard two way game, is a great team player, and keeps getting better. That will fit the mould they are building already.  

Round 3 Pick 1 (XTreme): Andrew Chen – You can’t let this guy slip too long. He’s won back-to-back titles with the Jokers and the Xtreme need a defenseman. Chen has a relationship already with Friederich, and he can push the tempo of play. 

Round 3 Pick 2 (Brewers): Curtis Villani – A fantastic Premier League season where Villani put up a 1.52 GAA and .936 save percentage. He was excellent. That’s the reliable goaltending you need. I would have said earlier, but you can’t take players back-to-back picks from the same club and with Leeming going #2 that pushes Villani down. 

Round 3 Pick 3 (Stars): Ben Handberg -  We know the Stars want to play exciting and the Handberg to Riley combination has been working all year long on the powerplay. Imagine Jan Koubek tee-ing this guy up for one timers though….

SUMMARY - After Three Rounds

Adelaide XTreme
Goalie - Jeremy Friederich
Defense – Andrew Chen 
Forward - Joey MacDougall
Forward - Nat Benson 
Forward – Jared Siemens

Port Adelaide Brewers
Goalie – Curtis Villani 
Defense - Zach Boyle 
Forward - Steve Best
Forward – Zach Steele 
Forward – Tyler Leeming 

Noarlunga Stars 
Goalie – Matus Trnka
Defense – Jake Hazel  
Forward – Ben Handberg 
Forward - Jan Koubek
Forward - Jake Riley