Hello media consumers! Wanted to try something a little different for this season’s draft media and take a look at players from this S74 draft class and think who may have the best shot at winning the Ryan Jesster rookie of the year trophy FIRST. Players can make their debut in the SHL at different times, so it’s entirely possible we get multiple rookies of the year from this very class! And its certainly a big one. I don’t know what the record is but this is certainly one of the largest drafts. 106 total picks but that included 32 PASS’s, so that’s a net 74 draftees. That’s honestly about the size of most draft classes, but then those classes always drop a few IA’s who don’t land on an SHL team.
 
1. Emil Karlsson C 387 TPE 
Montreal pulled in a whopping 8 draftees from the S74 class and their first selection was Emil Karlsson from the Detroit Falcons. At the time of writing, Karlsson is in the top 4 in terms of TPE for the S74 draft class. But we all know TPE does not exactly translate to success or trophies. What is landing Karlsson so high on this list are some organizational quirks. First, Montreal is in the early stages of a rebuild. They sit at #20th overall in forwards TPE and #18th overall in defense TPE. Free agents are still being signed, so the Patriotes roster may change for S74 from right now. However, there is just one forward above 425 on this roster. Most of these are not in regression, so its not as though retirement is imminent. But that means that there is plenty of room for a max earning rookie to jump up the depth chart. The one other factor that I think makes a good case for Karlsson to land a rookie of the year first from the S74 draft class, Montreal only has 1 forward prospect from a class older than S74. So if players are getting called up to fill out this roster, its very likely they will be coming from S74. 

2. Shadow Fenix C 379 TPE 
    Will Tomlander LW 377 TPE 
    Squidwardo Tentacles LW 376 TPE 
Consider this a tie for 2nd as these three players are competing for a roster spot. Not really, Im sure they will become good friends (maybe roommates?!?), but for the sake of this article its all about being FIRST to be named rookie of the year. These players joined the Argonauts who have some room on their roster at forward. Im seeing some players from draft classes in the S50’s range, as well as 7 forwards under the 425 TPE cap at the time of writing. It looks like Seattle does have a couple forward prospects that are 1-2 years closer to entering the SHL ahead of this group. But one of these prospects has lower TPE than these three, so there’s a good chance this trio leapfrogs them. I know I'm lumping all three of these players together due to the opportunity being the same, but I don’t have the connections to know if any of them are looking for an early departure from the SHL. It would be cool to see Seattle ice an all rookie line with all three of these players together. That may honestly hurt their chances at rookie of the year more than help. But it would be a cool competition to keep an eye on as the season progresses. If I had to break the tie here, it looks like Seattle may need the LW’s more than the Center. But its truly splitting hairs. So then between Tomlander and Tentacles, I give the tiebreaker to whomever comments on this media first. Go!

3. Frøya Solberg C 383 TPE 
    Sonja Solberg LW 380 TPE 
OK, you know the drill by now. Calgary has just 3 rostered players below the 425 cap. However they are recent draft classes and could just be catching up. There is also one S58 draft class forward who is in the throes of regression now and will only have a tougher and tougher time keeping a roster spot. Unlike the situation in MTL, Calgary does have a couple forward prospects ahead of the Solberg twins who would most likely be filling in those spots mentioned earlier. But sometimes things happen. Either a prospect or a roster player goes inactive you didn’t expect, and you have two max earners on their way up. It doesn’t take much to punch through to the SHL sometimes.

4. Leo Roze D 374 TPE 
Roze is in a unique position here as he is the Syndicate’s only Defensive prospect right now. So any opening in the roster for a d-man and he is the #1 option. And it just so happens there is a S58 defense currently on the roster. Now one D spot is just as easily filled in free agency as it is with a prospect, so this is no guarantee. Also, there’s still about a 100pt gap between Roze and even beating out the rostered player. So this is a couple seasons away at earliest. Now I will say, its going to be damn hard to have a lot of success as a 3rd pairing defenseman. Its really easy to be overshadowed by a forward with decent production. Roze could hope that he gets a quick callup or a down year for forwards. But honestly, either way his future is bright in Chicago.

5. Shawn Pawn LW 387 TPE 
    Rodrigo Banes C 370 TPE 
This spot is reserved for the wild card that is this class’s GMs. Now I’m not saying this is a certainty, but someone COULD put themselves on the top line and PP unit in their rookie season to give them the best shot at rookie of the year. I don’t think this happens as that’s such a big investment for such a minor payoff. But maybe I just spoke this meme into reality?

I feel comfortable with the list above, but I’m certain I’m missing some information and good candidates from this class. Who knows, maybe we have multiple ROTY’s on this list due to different callup seasons! I was admittedly too lazy to see which goalie has the quickest path to winning the starting job. Also I did not dig too deeply into S74 draftees to TOR or MAN as both teams have quite a few prospects already in the system. Its more likely one of the ones from this list gets called up first and into a bigger role.