The First Three Rounds: Eric Balnar Mock Draft V1

It's Friday. That means that we are only three days away from the historic NHSL Draft.

SA Ice Hockey players have been granted a unique opportunity to train like pros, get coaching from some of the best, and feature in a high-stakes competition throughout the summer.

But who will land where? The General Managers are busy at work figuring that out as we speak.

On Monday 11 October at 7:00PM, the General Managers of the Stars, Brewers and Xtreme will head to the war-room at Big Shed Brewing and select their teams. All fans, players and friends are invited to attend. Arrive early to guarantee a spot. 

Each team has already selected their two marquee players to build their team around. Everybody has signed a coach to lead the charge. 

Now to determine the rosters of each team. This is where the speculation begins...

NHSL and Ice Hockey commentator Eric Balnar has been tasked with giving us all a "mock draft" on who he thinks will go first overall and how the draft will play out the first three rounds. He'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 - While the Xtreme do not have a defenseman signed to their roster, it's hard to look past 21-year-old Nathaniel Benson. He finished second in the Premier League in scoring (45 points), scored three goals in the Jokers' Championship Series win, has experience in Canada and is an emerging Australian star. Benson and MacDougall would form a formidable 1-2 punch down the middle and pretty much allow any other forward to easily slide on a line with them. Great chance for MacDougall to mentor young Benson.

Round 1 Pick 2 (Brewers): Matus Tnka (Goalie) - Tash Farrier made a power play for the Xtreme by selecting Jeremy Friederich as their goalie. Teams will not want to hesitate in selecting a goaltender with their pick. Matus is as exciting as a prospect as there is. He is only 17-years-old but has experience playing junior hockey in Slovakia. He is a game breaking goalie with a high-ceiling. Last year, he anchored the Falcons to a spot in the Grand Final. 

Round 1 Pick 3 (Stars): Andrew Chen - Head coach Sami Mantere and General Manager Matt Lothian don't have a defenseman or goalie signed at all, leaving a big hole on the back-end to fill. With Trnka off-the-board, and still two good goalies in Curtis Villani and Glen Forbes-White available, I think Mantere / Lothian wait and select a great up-and-coming puck moving defenseman in Andrew Chen. He's won back-to-back titles with the Jokers, is familiar with Sami, and plays that high tempo game that would compliment Koubek and Riley. 

Round 2 Pick 1 (Stars): Tyler Leeming - The Stars have said they want to play an exciting game of hockey. Is there a more potent line than the prospect of Leeming - Koubek - Riley? That line will put up points. Leeming is a multiple time winner of the MVP award for the Premier League and a longtime champion. 

Round 2 Pick 2 (Brewers): Ben Handberg - An up-and-coming sniper can partner with one of the best snipers in the competition in Steve Best. Handberg + Best up front, with Boyle on the blue line, is a hell of a combination especially on the Power Play

Round 2 Pick 3 (XTreme): Nick Weiland - A solid young defenseman who started to make waves with the Blackhawks in the last half of the season. Weiland already has experience in the AIHL (Sydney) and is a young buck that can learn and grow under coach Eric Lien. 

Round 3 Pick 1 (XTreme): Jake Hazel - The XTreme will go with two defensemen here. Benson + MacDougall up front, Friederich in net, and then Hazel to pair with Nick Weiland. Hazel was on my All-Star team earlier in the season for good reason. He has anchored the Jokers defense to back-to-back titles and you never notice him because he rarely makes glaring errors. 

Round 3 Pick 2 (Brewers): Adam Wise - The Red Wing connection will come back around on this pick. The Brewers need another defenseman and Wise can play tough. He's already familiar with Villani, Best and Newbound so it's a natural fit.

Round 3 Pick 3 (Stars): Jordan Geyer -  They have a mega-line of Leeming-Koubek-Riley already, Chen floating around the back, why not add another Joker to the mix? Jordan Geyer is the captain of the Jokers, a proven winner, and has experience playing both defense and forward. That versatility could be huge. 

SUMMARY - After Three Rounds

Adelaide XTreme
Goalie - Jeremy Friederich
Defense - Nick Weiland
Defense - Jake Hazel 
Forward - Joey MacDougall
Forward - Nat Benson 

Port Adelaide Brewers
Goalie - Matus Trnka 
Defense - Adam Wise
Defense - Zach Boyle 
Forward - Steve Best
Forward - Ben Handberg

Noarlunga Stars 
Defense - Andrew Chen 
Defense - Jordan Geyer
Forward - Tyler Leeming
Forward - Jan Koubek
Forward - Jake Riley