Three first round picks – and quite literally nobody else drafted to the team thereafter. Quebec made several transactions over the last two seasons, and despite not owning their own selection (which went to Detroit), they managed to acquire the oh-so-desirable Carolina first overall selection, Great Falls’ seventh overall, and Vancouver’s twelfth pick of the draft to set up a core of players intended to win championships for the SMJHL franchise. It’s hard to argue with results, as the Citadelles sat prettily atop the J with a staggering 102 points – a full six wins’ worth of points above the second place Colorado Raptors.

What went into these selections? And were they really the deciding factor for the franchise’s massive success this season? Where will they go in the SHL Draft proper? I hope to answer a handful of these questions here.

Demir Bellona, RD
Quebec City’s top selection – none other than Kalakar’s most recent recreate Demir Bellona – was a no-brainer in retrospect. Kal’s readily one of the most respected members in the SHL, and had been inducted to the Hall of Fame in August of 2023 to add to a litany of other accolades. He won a plethora of IIHF gold medals with Canada from S54-58, won a couple of Challenge Cups with the Buffabros, and the SHL famously got upset when he didn’t win a ‘most dedicated member’ award while simming.

But to the player himself: as a rookie, the defenseman managed 31 points for the season and a staggering +29 plus-minus while playing just under a minute of powerplay a game., tying him for 14th in the league among all players – not just rookies. There were only a couple of comparable defensemen – primarily QCC’s first line – and only one rookie above him in plus-minus, Colorado’s Andrade La Sombra. At 272 TPE, he’s comfortably third among defensemen in terms of earning, but Kalakar’s standing $119M bank probably helps his case as a virtually guaranteed career-long earner. His TPE is startlingly evenly distributed between offense and defense with a special focus on offensive and defensive read, making him an easy two-way defenseman convert when he makes it past the SMJHL threshold. Expect to see him early in the first round.

Song Ju-gong, G
At seventh, Song Ju-gong was picked up and immediately started by the Citadelles. That’s right – a rookie was headlining the net for the current obvious league favorites for playoff champs. He’s unambiguously the most successful rookie thus far as he’s leading the entire league in wins (30), and despite facing plenty of the top lines in the league is the best goalie in Goals Against Average (2.40) among primary starters, bested only by his backup Lukas Konecny! While it’s a bit challenging to assess his volume stats among his peers, Ju-gong’s goals saved above average is also ahead of the norm at +14.51, and his save percentage is fourth among the league at 90.7%. Throw on top of that pitching 3 shutouts and we’ve a no-brainer #1 goalie selection for the SHL Draft.

Despite Ju-gong’s accomplishments, however, it’s unclear whether he’ll be an easy early first rounder or fall somewhere in the first round-and-a-half, as goalies have a funny relationship with draft positions and going on ‘runs’ of the best candidates. At 279 TPE, expect Puppy’s most recent create to be the first netminder off the board unless gaby’s Henri Losanov is picked up via personal connection, especially given a very comparable amount of TPE.

Fredrik Gronlund, RD
Y’know how I was so impressed with Demir Bellona’s plus-minus? Well, while Gronlund hasn’t scored nearly as many points (31 vs 20), his is even better. The Norwegian defenseman has a preponderance of defensive attributes and his impact showed in the form of the third highest plus-minus rate of any player in the SMJHL.  He’s nearly seven-foot in height (let’s be honest, 7’0” is probably what he puts on Tinder). Although hockey’s/the SHL’s equivalent of PFF graded him relatively poorly (52 OGR, 66 DGR) for his contributions to the ice, they’re undeniable. Add to it Gronlund’s 265 TPE and Hordle’s $54M bank and you’ve got an awesome set-up for success.

Once we get to a certain amount of banked money in the SHL it all comes out the same anyways, right? Expect Gronlund to show up in the mid-to-late first, or at worst the early second. Like every SMJHL prospect he won’t make an immediate appearance in the SHL proper, but he’s got as high a ceiling as any. The only thing potentially stopping him from going in the first is the number of defensemen right around his TPE currently (between Agate, Crutchfield, Gablogian, his teammate Bellona, Man, Sundqvist, and Slowpoke).