Before we can look forward to the huge S53 draft, we have to take a look into the past. Maybe there's something that can we can learn from past success or failure. In this article we're going to take a look at the draft class of S53, and the draft class of S43. 10 seasons a part, but very much alike.

Now the S53 draft is yet to happen so we don't know who will end up where just yet. But what if the draft class of S43 was drafted in the order of S53, where would the current stars of the league end up if they were drafted in the pick order of S53? And who would get a dud instead of stud?

1st Round

1. Winnipeg Jets, Leshaun King originally 1. San Francisco Pride (via Seattle Riot)
What a memorable user and player. King was the unanimous best player with a huge bank, loads of TPE and jobs for days.
This surefire player was originally picked by San Fran and was the future star that they needed, projected to break all sorts of TPE records. As time went on King eventually left the site during a recruitment scandal where he was accused creating users just to gain TPE and game the system. He managed to at least redeem himself by proving that when he recruited his girlfriend she was real, he did this by creating a SHL VLOG featuring both himself and his GF.
That King would cap out at ~900 TPE was a huge surprise to anyone following his development, San Fran lost the star player they had been banking on and continued being one of the bottom barrel teams up until the recent seasons.
Jet's would probably have fared better with King as they were in win now mode at the time and a 900 TPE 3rd liner could have helped out to push for one more shot a cup.

I'm leaving you all with my favorite King quote: "I'm 6'4, I'm huge, I fuck a lot"

2. Tampa Bay Barracudas, Oliver Kovacs originally 2. Manhattan Rage
Talk about a waste of a pick, Oliver Kovacs barely made it to 350 TPE if I recall correctly. Tampa, who needs a higher impact player then a career SMJHL player with their 2nd overall.
The recent SHL champs was at the time rebuilding and needed a top prospect as well, Oliver surely wasn't it as he never put on the dress. As for the user, I can't really say much about em. I never interacted with them at all.

3. Buffalo Stampede, Luke Thomason originally 3. San Francisco Pride
The first star of the S43 class that's been a staple member of the site ever since joined. Luke would have done great on the Stampede, his development would have put him on a similar path as someone who actually got drafted by Buffalo.
In the real draft  Luke went to the pride, accompanying King for the potential of one of the most lethal 1-2 punch in the league. Luke would have done great if he actually stayed on pride as well but we all know he's the current co-gm of the Rage.

4. Texas Renegades, Tig Murphy originally 4. Hamilton Steelhawks (via Toronto North Stars)
Tig, the captains captain. I user I personally don't want SHL to be without. We've shared a locker room since the start of our SHL times and I hope it continues. Originally Renegades was looking for a franchise defenseman and Tig would have filled that hole splendidly. Maybe the renegades wouldn't be rebuilding right now if they had Tig on the blue line, who knows.
Tig landed in Hamilton, where his career initially was disappointment after disappointment. Up until around S50, after that season the Hamilton broke out like a asteroid that shook the SHL world. He won a cup with Hamilton in S51 and are bound for more glory.

5. Buffalo Stampede, Goku Muerto originally 5. San Francisco Pride (via Minnesota Chiefs)
In this alternate reality we see Kez landing in Buffalo, Muerto is a stud player and would have been a great add to the Stampede making their roster even more deadly. With both Luke and Kez they would have come out with two top of the line players and be setup for days.
Instead Kez went to Pride, their THIRD pick in the top 5. Being a little forgotten behind King and Luke though, people seemed to have ignored how great of player Muerto is. Kez eventually ended up as GM of Winnipeg and is currently pissing of rookies in the trade section for the forum.

6. West Kendall Platoon, Lil' Manius originally 6. Winnipeg Jets
Bonk in WKP? I'm not sure I can imagine it, but one thing is for sure, Manius would tear up the league just as much as hes done on the Jets and now in NOLA. With Manius on WKP maybe they could have held off a rebuild for longer, losing out on assclap would have been big though.

7. Los Angeles Panthers, Philip Winter originally 7. Los Angeles Panthers
RED to Panthers, this would change things... or?? History repeats itself here as RED would have landed at the exact same team as back in 43. Although Panthers hasen't found that last bit of success they are looking for I'm sure they are super happy with drafting RED back in 43 and would have been happy to draft him again in 53.

8. Toronto North Stars, Hippo Passamus originally 8. Buffalo Stampede
Would Toronto need a player like Hippo? Yes. Would it change the current state of the team? I doubt it. The state of Toronto has been a mysterious one to me, always seeming to have some super star players like Chris York but nothing to back em up. I'm sure ML has got a plan to turn things around but if the LR is as dead as I've heard I'd probably wouldn't be on the site today.
Above all else on this site, having a locker room full of people that like talking to each other, can poke fun and jab is essential. In my opinion the locker rooms are what makes the site.

9. Calgary Dragons, Kiko Rytmeyr originally 9. Texas Renegades
Imagine looking at Kiko Rytmeyr and thinking, this is the stud D we're going to build our franchise around. My friend Dankoa did just that and boy do he still regret it. Especially looking at the next pick. Defenders was rare breed in the S43 draft but still.
Rytmeyr never made it out of SMJHL and Calgary would end up being just as dissapointed as the Renegade.

10. Edmonton Blizzard, Rex Kirby originally 10. West Kendall Platoon
The second player to hit 2k TPE in the draft class, if assclap would have gone to Edmonton.. oh boy. I can only imagine the powerhouse would have continued being just that. Blizzard already boasting an impressive roster would have insane defensive depth with Kirby on the blue line. At 10 Kirby could definitely be considered a steal.

11. Chicago Syndicate, Alex Winters originally 11. Manhattan Rage (via Edmonton Blizzard)
Syndicate didn't exist back in S43, but I'm sure they'd be happy to have drafted a player of Winters caliber. Newly minted CC Champ (we should rename it to Cameron Carter Cup btw, CC2 Cup has a ring to it) would fit right in with the syndicates strong core.
Syndicate had somewhat of a slower start then their counterpart expansion team but seems to be more future proof.

12. Tampa Bay Barracudas, Pierre Laroche-Durocher originally 12. Hamilton Steelhawks
Another bust Defender, career SMJHL and the total opposite of what you wanna draft in the first round. Tampa Bay is looking to do a quick retool after the reverse sweep in S50 cup finals and first round sweep in S51 which lead to the departure of head GM JSS, which in turn made a lot of assets flee the seemingly sinking ship.
PLD has by now retired and might have a new player, I'm not sure to be honest.

13. New Orleans Specters, Maximilian Egger originally 13. New England Wolfpack
The second expansion team would have landed a solid top 4 defender at 13oa which is a great haul. Maximilian would have saved specters from having to acquire a couple defenders during the last couple seasons and would have served them well.

14. Winnipeg Jets, Nicky Pedersen Jr. originally 14. Calgary Dragons
Now this would have redeemed a King first pick for the Jets, getting Nicky Pedersen Jr. at 14 is an absolute steal. He's a multi cup winner and a has developed firmly as a top-3 forward with loads of upsides. I'm sure Jets would have been absolutely thrilled to have Nicky on the team.

15. San Francisco Pride, Kristof Kovacs originally 15. Manhattan Rage
The second Kovacs brother, another inactive. I'm pretty sure today's Pride wouldn't have been impacted that much but it's an absolute disaster that both of these players was rated so highly never to make it out of the SMJHL.
Pride in the state they were in back in S43 would have been devastated by drafting another dud as they were the absolute bottom of the barrel back then

16. Manhattan Rage, Johannes Leitner originally 16. New England Wolfpack (via San Francisco Pride)
Ending the first round with a great goalie. Leitner would probably better in Rage then at NEW where he's currently at. He's won multiple awards and is a top goalie in the league at the moment. Considering Rage has a good goalie tandem currently I'm sure the team wouldn't be affected too  much.

2nd round

17. Tampa Bay Barracudas, Andrew Martin originally 17. Hamilton Steelhawks (via Seattle Riot)
Something that was considered a surefire steal back in the day, an super active user Kimmy going this late. Kimmy had it all going, a GM job lined up, red hair and a soul to boot. Sadly Kimmy couldn't stand the memes and decided to go inactive, retire, recreate and then go inactive-ish again.
This pick would have been a disaster for the Cudas. (ps love you kimmy)

18. Los Angeles Panthers, Pavel Pivonka originally 18. Seattle Riot (viaNew England Wolfpack via Toronto North Stars)
Not much to say here, busted out and never made it out of SMJHL.
Terrible terrible pick at 18.

19. Texas Renegades, Eero Niemi originally 19. Minnesota Chiefs
Niemi seemed to be a solid pick at 19 at the time. And I'm sure no one's really disappointed in the pick today.
Although Niemi is inactive today, his player reached a respectable amount of TPE. I'm betting Texas is looking at something with a little more impact at 19.

20. Minnesota Chiefs, Ignatius Blunt originally 20. Winnipeg Jets
Chiefs first pick of S53 would be Ignatius Blunt, which has much in common with the previous pick, solid at 20OA. Earning respectable amount of TPE and is still active.
His player would help Chiefs in their current state, and getting a middle 6 player at 20OA is nothing to scoff at.

21. Texas Renegades, Marco Raanteli originally 21. Los Angeles Panthers
Not much to say here, busted out and never made it out of SMJHL.
Terrible terrible pick at 21.

22. New England Wolfpack, Nicholas Williams originally 22. Winnipeg Jets (via Buffalo Stampede)
If this was your first pick in S53, I'd say you hit a home-run.
Probably one of the best picks of the entire draft, getting Williams, a great earner, active member and constantly producing player at 22 is insane. Just goes to show how much Jets was gutted by the expansion draft and how NOLA absolutely made it out like bandits. Today's Wolfpack would truly be monsters if they had another high caliber forward on their roster.

23. Tampa Bay Barracudas, Kevin Kazarian originally 23. Texas Renegades
Getting a bottom 6 player at 23 is decent. But I think a lot more would have been expected of former two time cup winner user Harry Hans. He's got a solid bank and is still active, although not updating it seems.
A decent pick at 23.

24. Toronto North Stars, Sulak O'Hritea originally 24. Manhattan Rage (via West Kendall Platoon)
Now retired Sulak O'Hritea at 24 is still decent, you would have gotten a 800ish TPE defender and someone to field during tanking days. I'm sure there's better player to have picked but nonetheless a decent pick for Stars who are looking to sink.

25. Calgary Dragons, Tony Pepperoni originally 25. Edmonton Blizzard
Earlier I stated that Nicolas Williams was one of the best picks in the draft, and while that is still true one pick that could rival that is this one right here. Tony Pepperoni is in his own right a shining star of the league, and picking him at 25 would be consider nothing but majestic. Dragons who always seem to some super star on the rise would have maybe ran away with even more cum dripping cups during the 40's era if Pepperoni was on the team.
Tony is currently the co-gm Blizzard so there's no lack in ambition. Future hall of fame player IMO.

26. Minnesota Chiefs, Jeff Brogen originally 26. San Francisco Pride (via Hamilton Steelhawks)
Here's a great, maybe even amazing pick at 26. Jeff Brogen is the silent workhorse of the league. Seemingly never in the spotlight but doing amazing season after season. Originally picked by Pride it was the same back then, everyone was talking about King, Luke and Muerto. But it's Jeff Brogen who charges at the front of Pride today.
Chiefs should be absolutely thrilled if the received a Brogen at 26.

27. Manhattan Rage, Mason Hudson originally 27. Seattle Riot (via New England Wolfpack)
Here's someone who actually is in the S53 draft, I'm wondering if his stock has increased this time. If history serves any purpose, picking Blues higher then this is a waste of a pick. Hudson never made it out of SMJHL.
I imagine this time around though will be a different story.

28. Hamilton Steelhawks, Cedric Robinson originally 28. Buffalo Stampede (via Calgary Dragons, via Manhattan Rage, via Edmonton Blizzard, via Winnipeg Jets)
This would have been funny, Cedric Robinson is one of the most renowned goalies of the league. Although his TPE levels are low and he hasn't been updating for a long time. He performs magic season after season. I'm not sure he'd ever take the shovel and pads from Geezus Kryyst though. The Hamilton Steelhawks goalie is just that much more advanced in TPE.
The user behind Cedric Robinson is one of the most level headed and compassionate users on the site though. I bet he'd be a great addition to the team just as a presence. Getting a Robinson quality goalie at 28. Steal.

29. Toronto North Stars, Steven Moyer originally 29. Edmonton Blizzard (via Manhattan Rage)
Another amazing late 2nd round pick, Moyer has been a solid presence on the site while getting little to no attention. Mainly due to staying out of drama. As pride has been progressing Moyer has provided that stability as a center. It would have been a great pick for the Stars of today. It's funny how the late picks of 2nd round Pride is carrying Pride when all the talk was of the first 3 picks they made in the top 5.

30. Buffalo Stampede, Craig Finley originally 30. Manhattan Rage (via San Francisco Pride)
Finley has a solid career going. Not blazing though the forefront but also not slacking off to much. But knowing Buffalo and the prospects they gun for, I imagine Craig Finley type of player is not what they are looking for at 30. No slight meant to Craig Finley at all.

31. Toronto North Stars, Vince Rieper originally 31. San Francisco Pride (via Seattle Riot)
This back to back late 2nd round picks were amazing made by Pride. These are the type of picks Toronto is pressured to make today. And if they do they might turn into the powerhouse Pride is currently. It will only take 10 seasons.

32. Calgary Dragons, Mr. Faceoffs originally 32. Toronto North Stars
Another busted out player, hopefully Dragons can get something more then a career SMJHL player at 32.


After the 2nd round there isn't a lot of substance, most players seems to have either gone inactive or re-created. I will point out some of the late round steals, minus the GM auto picks that is.

33. Hamilton Steelhawks, Sean Stevenson Jr originally 33. San Francisco Pride (via Minnesota Chiefs)
First pick of round 3, Sean Stevenson Jr can be considered a really good pick. Being a solid middle 6 defender and of the few defenders to come out of S43 and amount to a good player. Getting this caliber of a player at 33 would be good for the steelcucks.

35. Hamilton Steelhawks, Richard Metcalf Jr originally 35. San Francisco Pride (via Los Angeles Panthers)
Another goodearly third round pick. Solid middle 6 forward. And another pride pick. Pride really was the winner of S43 by definition of depth. But then again, when you pick half of the class you are sure to make a couple great picks.

41. Calgary Dragons, Jack Kennedy originally 41. San Francisco Pride (via New England Wolfpack)
At 41 Kennedy is a terrific pick, currently on a up and coming Chicago team. Getting a player of this caliber here would be great for any team.

45. New Orleans Specters, Aleister Cain originally 45. Edmonton Blizzard (via Seattle Riot)
The biggest steal of the draft, originally picked by Edmonton but later getting nicked by NOLA in the expansion draft, Aleister Cain is the creme de la creme of goalies. Funny thing he would be back on NOLA in this draft order.

46. Buffalo Stampede, Dank Boija FORFIETED originally 46. Toronto North Stars
At 46 Dank Boija should be considered a stea as he broke 1k TPEl, even though he's retired and a part of the upcoming SMJHL draft. Too bad the Stampede wouldn't be able to pick him at this position as they cheated and had to give up their pick at 46.

49. Tampa Bay Barracuda, David Fantobens originally 49. West Kendall Platoon (via Toronto North Stars, via Los Angeles Panthers, via Seattle Riot)
Beans at 49 is an absolute steal, If cudas can pick up their future captain again at 49 they should count themselves lucky.
Fantobens is also one of the most sincer and kindest users on the site. Husband material


Next up after the SHL draft will be the reverse order. S53 draftee's on the S43 pick order, can the history tell anything about who will bust out, who will become the shining stars of the future.

3219 words ready for grading