As much as I hate to say it, I didn't get a great chance to review the full first round of awesome draft picks from this season - which, provided New Orleans's, Winnipeg's, Los Angeles's, and New England's multiple first round selections, made for a very interesting live look as the draft went on. Unfortunately, health care is an exceptionally busy place nowadays, so we'll have to settle for a relatively brief review of the first six selections as the last couple of weeks have certainly gotten away from me. Rankings are based off of Player Analyze 2.0 as of a couple of days ago. Enjoy!

Pick 1.1 | New England Wolfpack | C Jonathan Granström (@Halkohol) | 318 TPE (#9 OV, #4 F)
8 G / 7 A / 15 P | -13 | Defensive Stats – 54 Hits / 8 TkA / 72 SB / 56 GR (56 DGR) | 10:14 TOI
Among those ‘in-the-know,’ this pick wasn’t terribly surprising. First overall in some past seasons has been carefully smoke-screened by management, and based on his Player Analyze 2.0 TPE rankings, it’s certainly an eye-opening pick for first overall. But the 5’10” Swede, who weighs in at a hair over 200 lbs., made a strong impression on scouts throughout his first season in spite of his, at times, limited chances to perform. Indeed, he’s one of the most malleable candidates in the draft, finding himself content to bring just about all of his ratings between 9 and 12 (with his lowest non-fighting attribute at 7).

The centerman’s production this season was a little lackluster, as it tends to be for prospects in their first season in either the SHL or SMJHL. With just 10 minutes on the ice per game but a massive 23.53% accuracy on shots, however, the Wolfpack have a lot to be excited for. With about 15% of Granström’s on-ice time on the penalty kill, it’s perhaps unsurprising to see him produce just 15 points on the season. He’ll have plenty of time to work out his growing pains as New England has three centers (McShotty, Bruchevski, van der Heijden) as well as the 527 TPE Calvin Hobbes lying in wait between the new draftee and a majors spot.

Granström probably made a strong impact on New England’s management through his avidity for ‘deep dive’ and S57 Entry Draft class-engaging content – particularly his mid-season interviews with his classmates. It doesn’t hurt that he published a wonderful review of Sweden’s S55 WJC roster, either – a task that probably made a strong impression on Sweden’s own Olá Wagstrom. The high-peaking right winger may no longer be with New England, but Granström’s penchant for activity in multiple arenas probably piqued the interest of several franchises across the SHL – including Wagstrom’s former northeastern team. It also doesn’t hurt that Sweden employs Kenvald, an agent with close ties to New England management (read: is the current GM), who probably recognized this prospect’s promise. Indeed, at 4th-highest forward by TPE – a full 20 behind #1 (at the time of my research snapshot) forward Anton Mihailov, there’s little else to differentiate prospects. But a first-generation prospect with >$14 million banked at the start of this season with the aforementioned connections shouldn’t be a surprising pick for the Wolfpack.

Pick 1.2 | Minnesota Monarchs | D Arsene Leclerc (@spooked) | 370 TPE (#2 OV, #1 D)
7 G / 15 A / 22 P | -2 | Defensive Stats – 44 Hits / 22 TkA / 35 SB / 60 GR (60 DGR) | 21:13 TOI
Expectations ran and will continue to run high for defender Arsene Leclerc, a Strasbourg, France native who was taken first overall by the Anaheim Outlaws last season. He quickly became a fixture in the Outlaws defensive pairings, managing a typical 20+ minute starter load from the get-go. And while the Outlaws struggled to find a spot in the congested upper tier of the West, Leclerc performed impressively for a rookie defender, accumulating 22 points on 7 goals. He certainly appears to play the role of a ‘finesse’-style defender, strongly preferring checking to forcing hits (44) or fights, but comfortably fits the ‘two-way defenseman’ descriptor.

In a move that stunned many (in typical All-SMJHL team fashion), Leclerc was left off of the All-Rookie SMJHL Team in spite of besting defenseman and team selection Jari Heikkinen in assists, points, plus-minus, power-play points, hits, takeaways, shot blocks, grade, and time on ice (i.e. virtually all offensive and defensive stats, including a tie for goals). It’s yet to be seen (as of time of writing) how Leclerc and his agent, spooked, respond to the apparent snub, but it’s perhaps drawn additional attention to Leclerc’s competence and ability to earn TPE reliably. Indeed, Leclerc’s management has been around the SHL for multiple years, and previously managed defenseman Eero Hämäläinen (an S33 draftee) and Finnish winger Eero Niemi. Although neither player broke into superstar status, they both resulted as reasonable earners – and it helps that Leclerc has a full $41 M in the bank to help him along his way.

With just five defensemen on their SHL roster, the Monarchs fit both a need and selected the (likely) best available selection at second overall – especially provided two of those defensemen are under 800 TPE. Two of the S54 prospects they’ll need to call up this season (or waive) – Slimey Snail (665 TPE) and Tinke Jutila (500 TPE) – aren’t truly up to snuff for the roles they would probably need to play (third defensive pair partners). Seeing as Leclerc is just a season or two away from matching their TPE and the Monarchs are clearly in the building phase, Minnesota’s selection appears to be perfectly justified. On the offensive end – where they have about a half-dozen competent earners that could probably qualify for roles on major league teams – Minnesota has five prospects waiting in the wings (no pun intended). Regardless, as the Monarchs start to stretch out their wings a bit to soar a few seasons from now, they can rest easy knowing they’ve made a net-positive choice on their franchise.

Pick 1.3 | Los Angeles Panthers | D Sean Gatez (@SewingWithNancy) | 305 TPE (#17 OV, #6 D)
3 G / 6 A / 9 P | -18 | Defensive Stats – 23 Hits / 11 TkA / 30 SB / 54 GR (52 DGR) | 18:18 TOI
A quick look through the Panthers roster makes this pick – at first glance – the right position, at the very least. With three defensemen under 1,000 TPE (and only one defenseman with less than a decade in the SHL), Los Angeles should expect their defense to be hurting by the time any of their prospects have real time to make it up. Indeed, their youngest defenseman – S54 prospect Elias Kierkegaard – is only being brough up this season, and S47’s Tony Ford is their second-youngest. That spells a concerning future for this franchise, who otherwise would have had one defenseman (Germany’s Jonas Kahnwald)  waiting in the wings for call-up.

Gatez is a first step in revitalizing what would otherwise become a defense with too many years and not enough talent under its belt. Gatez’s rankings in terms of raw TPE are a bit uninspiring – placed at 17th overall and the sixth best defenseman – and some less-informed critics would have been justified in putting a big question mark over this pick. After all, Gatez’s agent, SewingWithNancy, only presented to the league a couple of months ago with a player that appears to be developing into a Rockstar. He’s performed admirably for a Maine team that, at the time, appeared to be reaching a bit for this relative unknown prospect. It’s not as if this player has management with a long, storied history in sim leagues. But as with Jonathan Granström, Gatez may be just as much a locker room pick as they are a desperately needed raw defensive talent.

Like many prospects, this Denver, Colorado native is largely undifferentiated, playing the role of two-way defenseman relatively well with complementary offensive, defensive, and athletic talents. Gatez has understandably fit the role of ‘all-rounder,’ producing 9 points and 30 blocked shots on pretty average defender minutes. But it’s clear that this member of the Timber has plenty of room left to grow as the team cycles through a bit of a down period: in spite of recording a 52-point season, Maine had a -8 goal differential, which was reflected in Gatez’s -18. While this single number might be cause for concern for some franchises, this defenseman’s relatively rapid improvement over the last couple of months was more than enough to force Los Angeles’s hand. A handful of scouts are a bit pessimistic about Gatez’s ceiling, but with a relatively small sample size and apparent commitment to the long haul, I’d expect the Panthers are pleased to have him.

Pick 1.4 | New Orleans Specters | LW Vlastislav Malik (@leafs1997) | 324 TPE (#7 OV, #3 F)
4 G / 8 A / 12 P | -17 | Defensive Stats – 90 Hits / 12 TkA / 35 SB / 54 GR (50DGR) | 14:43 TOI
With forwards Lil Manius, Nicholas Williams, and Stephen Moyer moving ever closer to the fifteen-season mark, New Orleans somehow finds themselves with what seems like an abundance of S57 first round selections. And while all three of the aforementioned forwards have a pretty healthy amount of TPE (Moyer is the lowest at 1,320), the Specters found themselves planning for their replacement. Their only true ‘future’ option – S54 draftee Kwame Dakari – has unfortunately gone inactive at around 650 TPE, and it’s unclear what the trajectory of last season’s forward class, Czech winger Zbynek Dobrovsky, looks like so early in his career. While there’s some uncertainty coming in the next half-dozen seasons, New Orleans as a franchise required a high impact pick very early on.

Malik comes as a very welcome option at fourth overall, rated by scouts as a top-three forward talent with management that hasn’t been shy about providing for his future (as he has a cool $8.5 M in the bank). Many expected this to be one of a couple of forward picks for the Specters, as their forwards are retty old. On top of Manius, Williams, and Moyer, the Specters also should expect to find longer-term replacements for the likes of Boruvka Banananak. It’s a relatively steep climb for Malik, who may be called on to enter the SHL and rapidly ascend the forward lines as the Specters age through their most competitive seasons.

Malik explores a skillset that, even with two defensemen selected, hasn’t been extensively explored by prior picks. He’s an extremely hard-hitting forward, with nearly 100 hits on the books last season; he’s also proven relatively competent as a shot blocker while eating 35 pucks in spite of under 15 minutes of ice time per game. He was frequently on the ice with third overall pick Sean Gatez, and this diverse skillset certainly justifies his selection here. Most commentators had very few bad things to say about this pick here – and many eagerly-anticipated New Orleans’s next picks to see who might be joining him.

Pick 1.5 | Winnipeg Jets | LW Dwayne Gretzky (@3lewsers) | 309 TPE (#14 OV, #7 F)
4 G / 8 A / 12 P | -6 | Defensive Stats – 42 Hits / 7 TkA / 22 SB / 53 GR (50 DGR) | 8:06 TOI
Picked 17OA by Newfoundland
New Orleans’s fourth overall pick started a tiny run on forwards, and there are few forward selectiosn much different than winger Dwayne Gretzky and Vlastislav Malik. While Malik’s game is very checking and hitting oriented, Gretzky impressively managed to match the Czech’s scoring in just two-thirds the time on the ice while playing for Newfoundland. The FHM developmental player trend of basically equalizing most of a prospect’s ratings held true with Gretzky, who has an 11 or 12 in over a dozen individual attributes but produced a relatively productive SMJHL rookie.

A quick scan through 3lewsers’s profile makes it very easy to see why they might be in high demand. Since joining the league in general around the same time as our previous two prospects, they’ve been absolutely prolific – producing a pair of deep dives with a bevy of other articles that broke down the league’s earnings breakdown, as well as producing Team USA’s WJC roster announcement and a pair of regular season stats breakdowns. Like a few of the other high-tier picks, Gretzky has an admirable bank at over $9 M, but his frequent, consistent production of content speaks to his level of activity and attention paid to the league.

The Jets were in desperate need of forward prospects – as like New Orleans, they have a trio of S43 forwards (in this case, Ignatius Blunt, Goku Muerto, and Jack Kennedy) that demand the Jets produce a pair of replacements. While the Jets own the fifth and sixth picks in this draft, they’ve generally been a middle-of-the-table team who need a player in the pipeline that can produce some excitement in Winnipeg. They’ve certainly managed to do so with some transactions that moved three prospects their way in Burke, Kimanje, and Maximov, showing they’re committed as a franchise to the long haul. That should speak volumes to Gretzky, who probably welcomes some cavalry that should join him when he’s pulled up to the majors.

Pick 1.6 | Winnipeg Jets | F Freyja Hellstrom (@Calliope) | 330 TPE (#6 OV, #2 F)
13 G / 8 A / 21 P | -5 | Defensive Stats – 13 Hits / 11 TkA / 49 SB / 58 GR (56 DGR) | 13:19 TOI
If the prospects mentioned in Gretzky’s entry weren’t enough, Winnipeg’s back-to-back picks brought another exceptional candidate – rated among the highest by several scouts – into the fold in Freyja Hellstrom. Indeed, the Jets found themselves in a pretty enviable position this draft and immediately took advantage of it, nabbing two top-seven forward selections worth heavy consideration. And like Gretzky, Hellstrom has shown her scoring chops in the SMJHL while playing for Carolina, who took her tenth overall last season.

It’s not often we see a rookie that’s quite this prolific, but Hellstrom made waves throughout the SMJHL by scoring 21 points. That in and of itself would have been impressive, but at 13 goals, Hellstrom was also top 35 in the league. Indeed, she’s proven herself an electrifying talent on the offensive end and backed it up with nearly 50 shot blocks to boot! If that’s not immediately exciting to fans, it at least speaks the world to scouting departments who look for skaters to play the full length of the ice.

[Word count: 2,544 with internal word counter, 2,467 by Microsoft Word]

Thanks @Amidships!

C | Violet Stoica | Regina Elk/Atlanta Inferno | Sweden | 356 TPE 


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Transactions

Selected 12th Overall in the Season 75 SHL Draft

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SMJHL Statistics

None Yet!

Aye great job Reno! Rly good read