Offseason/Draft Analysis Number 1: Austin Marauders

This is the first of many of our Offseason/Draft Analyses, beginning with the team with the number one draft pick: the Austin Marauders. The draft analysis section will only include first round picks, after we've done a report for every team, there will be a mega post containing analysis for the remaining portion of the draft.

Offseason Analysis
The Marauders have many holes to fill, I'll start out by naming them all off: Center, they need 3 more. Left wing, 2 more. Right wing, 1 more. Defense, 4 more. And they need a backup goaltender.

As you can see, as of now, the Marauders' lineup is holier than swiss cheese, and I'm not sure if they will have a chance to fill all of those holes by the beginning of the regular season. First up will be center. With an absentee GM in Dan Schaaf, Eric Harmon stepped up and took the initiative and made a few trades, namely sending out Pete Schwadel for...who? The 'Rauders were already shallow up the middle, and this deal with virtually no return didn't exactly help. Although they have number one center Jon Anderson locked up through S8, that's just about all they have. Look for a few minor trades or free agent signings to bring in a 70-75 rated center, but past that, there could quite possibly being some 65s starting at center in S6.

Left wing is another hole, but this one could be filled much easier. There will be two open slots, if both Lari Lahtela and Trevor Cardinal are lost to free agency. I think that at least one of those two will sign with Austin, leaving left wing in much better shape than just about anywhere else on this team.

Right wing is a relatively strong spot as well. The depth chart shakes down like this: Kuehn, Stoll, and Sillanpa. This really just leaves one extra starting spot. The worst case scenario would be to give it to a young Chris DeSouza, although they could potentially pick up another mid level free-agent.

Now is time for the big supermassive blackhole on this team: defense. The Marauders only have one starting caliber defensive pairing; Matt Danson, and J.L. Pinsent. This pairing would usually be 3rd string at best. Look for them to draft 1 or 2 defensemen, but that still won't solve the issues on the back end.


With the acquisition of Andres Godoe, goaltender is a strong point for the Marauders. This is unconfirmed, but sources tell me that Godoe has signed FA Robert Jeppson to be his back up. This would give the 'Rauders an extremely strong goaltending unit.

Draft Analysis
The Marauders decision got a helluva lot easier when defenseman Gerard Pastorius seemingly pulled out of the draft. It was a close competition between Englander Jon Rowson, and the elder statesman of TBN, Pastorius. Look for Rowson to inject some exciting youthfulness into this fairly dead Marauders squad, which is fairly unexciting other than a few active players. Rowson will put asses in the stands, and that's what this team plans right now, especially if the new arena deal with the city of Austin goes through.