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dankoa · 03-01-2020, 09:59 PM

For the first time in my 13 seasons or so as GM, last night's draft lottery finally brought good news for Texas in the form of the first overall pick in the S53 SHL Entry Draft. After what feels like an eternity of having picks in the lottery process, at a whole range of lotto odds, the ability to have total choice over who we take in the draft is quite exciting. However, the question that I've been thinking on since is whether or not the player drafted first overall often lives up to the hype of the selection; how often is the very best player in the draft taken with the first pick and how often is the first overall pick no more of a great player than the second or third overall pick, and having the luxury of the choice provides no additional benefit? Well, answering these questions would take a more analytic brain than my own (any of you stats people feel free to do my work here for me, I won't hold it against you). Instead, I thought it might be more interesting (and easy for me) to look back at some of the first overall picks that have been selected since I joined the league in S26, and make my decisions on three of the best and three of the worst. Unfortunately, without having something like the Bojo Box to back up my picks with numbers, I'm instead going to have to rely on what I remember of the member, and their activity post draft. Yes, some players I say had bad careers might well have gone on and played in the league as an inactive corpse for some time after they went inactive, but that doesn't fit the narrative of my article so please pretend that it didn't happen. It's also worth pointing out that I'm not doing these in order; it's three of the best and three of the worst. I'm not saying the first of the list is any better or worse than the last of the list, and without the Bojo Box to help get the stats to back it up it's difficult to do that sort of thing. So let's get into it; the three worst and the three best that I can remember during my tenure as an SHL member.

THE WORST

LESHAUN KING
S43 - SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE

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Leshaun King was perhaps the most hyped and heralded prospect to enter the SHL draft since Robb Wind and Jasper Clayton in S25. He was truly a force of will on the site, being highly involved in every area he could get in, taking various league jobs and churning out media like his life depended on it. In terms of the metrics a lot of GMs use for scouting, he was off the charts - a home run, can't miss pick. King was a vocal leader for the S43 class, and spent a lot of time sending out messages to GMs about how the draft was going to fall and things of the like, and it was something of an inevitability that he would be selected with the first overall pick of the draft. There were some however, who doubted the ability of King to maintain his incredible activity over the long term. The whole thing about the candle that burns twice as bright burning half as long, and it was certainly asked whether this would be the case for King. After San Francisco won the lottery and selected King with the first overall pick, his TPE production didn't falter through his first few seasons. He earned at an incredible rate, pulling far ahead of any of the competition in his draft class and even bringing in various new members to the league. However, one day it all came grinding to a screeching halt. After arguments over job pay and accusations about the players he'd recruited, it all became too much for King and he was done. His player sat around for a few seasons before King came back and retired him, bringing the whole saga to an appropriately disappointing conclusion. Leshaun King didn't set the SHL on fire as a player in the way that he had claimed he would, but he did do the trick of bringing a great deal of debate and discussion to the league during his short, but highly active time in the league.

CONNOR BLACKWELL
S38 - EDMONTON BLIZZARD

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This is a weird one in that the user behind the player didn't go inactive, but instead chose to retire their first overall pick 5 seasons after they were drafted. The user behind Blackwell, Crutch, was a popular and highly active member who had just come off a career that was probably two or three seasons short of being in the discussion for a Hall of Fame spot. But even so, he had a fantastic run and Chris Crutchfield was certainly one of the more recognizable players of his era. It was sort of a no brainer that when the rebuilding Edmonton Blizzard found themselves in possession of the first overall pick in S38, he was the pick to make. And make that pick they did, and at first, they came out looking very good. Blackwell continued his development and looked to be a stud pick but the first rumblings of something being off came when he was traded to the Hamilton Steelhawks after some disagreements with the Blizzard's management (pretty unique among these lower tier first overall picks is that the team who drafted him wasn't the one who felt the worst of the blow). Blackwell stayed on the Steelhawks for a little while, before again being traded, this time to the Winnipeg Jets. It was while on the Jets that it all went wrong - just five seasons after his entrance to the SHL, Connor Blackwell called time on his career. I'm not quite sure why it happened - I believe Crutch was annoyed at his player's lack of production and lack of opportunity, but it was a huge shock to see one of the biggest first overall picks in a while go bad so quickly. It was a real shock and one that left a few teams scratching their heads over where it had all gone wrong.

VELI KAALINPAA
S33 - PORTLAND ADMIRALS

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Kaalinpaa was a great pick until it wasn't. The first overall pick of the S33 draft was the recreate of the used behind one of the greatest goaltenders of all time in Jakob Tanner., and became a member of an on the rise expansion team in the form of the Portland Admirals. Kaalinpaa was a ferocious TPE earner, a big contributor to his teams front office, a team captain and their head coach. Safe to say, he was everything that a team looked to get from a first overall pick both in terms of potential and contribution. As the Admirals achieved breakout success during the mid to late S30s, including multiple Challenge Cup finals appearances, Kaalinpaa was a talismanic figure on the team and it looked as if he would be entering the ranks of the SHL's finest, the rug was well and truly pulled out from under him. When Portland was hit with a heavy punishment for budget manipulation, Kaalinpaa was one of the players who took part in the mass retirement in protest at the situation that had unfolded. It was a gigantic blow to the team to not only lose multiple future draft picks, but lose the team's leader and first overall pick, along with several other of the team's most valuable assets. Had Kaalinpaa decided to remain with the team, perhaps the blow of the punishment wouldn't have been quite so crippling for the team, but as it was, the decision he made totally blighted his legacy as a first overall pick and ruined the good he'd done in helping the team so far in its fledgling sucess. Another pick that appeared to be can't miss based on past successes, but came so far short of expectation by making the decision to retire early on.

So now that we've gotten the nasty business of the worst of the bunch out of the way, we can move on and look at those we consider to be the best of the best - the premier first overall selections who lived up to every expectation the team could have had and then some.

THE BEST

WYATT WOLLKER
S26 - TEXAS RENEGADES

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Muerto, aka Kez, was the man who the Texas Renegades entrusted as being the future of their franchise in S26. It wasn't exactly hard to tell why they went in this direction; his previous player, Riko Muerto, had been a very good player in the SHL for a long time, and Kez was a prominent member who held several league jobs during his time with his initial player. Texas had entered the S26 draft with an impressive three 1st round picks, looking to retool and had some players of value to the already impressive base they had. Wollker was seen as a good bet at being an elite level player in the SHL, and so it was that the first overall pick was used to draft him to the Lone Star State. Despite being looked at as the player to help lead Texas back to glory, Wollker's run with the Renegades didn't last long, and he in fact would play in the black and silver for merely two seasons before he was traded to the Los Angeles Panthers in the "trade that broke the league". Wollker would then settle in Los Angeles for a couple of seasons, before the move to the East Coast came around when the opportunity for Kez to take over the head GM role for the Manhattan Rage came around. It was this move that began an incredible run for Wollker, with his name constantly being seen among the very best defensemen in the league, putting up huge points totals with the Rage season after season, and winning multiple Challenge Cups with the team along the way. The sustained success of Wyatt's career eventually led to him being honoured with a spot in the SHL Hall of Fame, something that no one could deny he deserved. Truly a game changing player drafted at first overall (although not for the team that selected him), Wollker is clear evidence of the ability that a player who's taken before anyone else can have to impact the SHL.

MAX WEBER
S32 - PORTLAND ADMIRALS

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There are actually a number of similarities between Max Weber and Wyatt Wollker. The two biggest however are both were defensemen, and both played arguably their best hockey on a different team to the one that drafted them. Weber was initially taken by the Portland Admirals in S32 (a season before the same team took another defenseman who we discussed earlier), and quickly rose to the top of the team's young prospect rankings. Weber was an important part of the Admirals teams for their previously mentioned playoff runs, even stepping up to a management role on the team as he joined ill-fated GM Wally as his co-GM (wisely choosing to step aside before the scandal that led to his firing occurred). Weber then found himself moved to the Jets as part of a blockbuster deal that saw a lot going back the other way, but ultimately acted as a show of trust in the young defenseman as potentially franchise altering, and it's arguable that he did that. Weber was one of the league's best defensemen for many seasons, and was honoured as such in S43 with the Scott Stevens Trophy, which sits very nicely alongside the Challenge Cup rings he won in the S37 and S44 campaigns. Although not considered as great a name as Wollker by some, Weber still pops up in Hall of Fame voting occasionally, and was an important figure in that particular era of SHL history. Another solid example of the type of impact that a first overall pick can have when it comes to winning both individual awards and team based trophies.

ROBERT PHELPS
S35 - HAMILTON STEELHAWKS

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Finally on our list we meet a first overall player who has truly changed the course of the franchise who drafted him. Phelps has been synonymous with the Steelhawks for almost twenty seasons, being a leader on the ice and off, hoarding TPE and winning trophies, including a Jesster Trophy and a Littleton Trophy. He even led the team as its GM for a number of seasons, and even with the bad feeling from a lot of the league surrounding Hamilton's cup win last season, it was undeniably nice to see Phelps walk away with a cup after almost 15 seasons playing in the league. It is a positive note to end this list on as we see a player who really delivered everything that the team who drafted him hoped he would. It does raise the question however, that in the years I've seen in the SHL, he may be the only first overall pick who's stayed with the team who drafted him his whole career, maintained activity and delivered on the high levels of promise that led to his being selected in that position.

So what conclusion does this provide for us on the nature of the first overall pick? Well, it hasn't really taught us a whole lot. We knew already that the first overall pick provided no guarantees and in this list, we've seen both ends of the spectrum. In some ways this has been a humbling experience for myself as a GM and makes me realise that even though we've been blessed with the first overall pick in a great draft class, there's a lot that must be done in order to ensure that the player we come away with at the top of the draft is the one who has the potential to deliver the Renegades to the promised land. Everyone hopes that the guy they take is going to be the one to truly change things for their team, but it rarely happens. Will this year be the year that we see another transcending talent taken with the first overall pick? While I sure hope so, I guess the only way we'll know for sure is by waiting and seeing. We've got a lot of scouting and discussing to get done before the day of the draft rolls around, and I'm hoping that it'll be a day we look back on as the moment that another franchise changing player was added to our squad.

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trella · 03-01-2020, 10:03 PM

u should do one about 26th overall picks haha

Thanks to @karey and @JSS for the sigs!

Former USA Fed Head, Carolina Kraken Co-GM, Tampa Bay Barracuda GM

BDonini · 03-01-2020, 10:04 PM

Simo Hayha snubbed for worst ever tbh

dankoa · 03-01-2020, 10:06 PM

03-01-2020, 10:04 PMBDonini Wrote: Simo Hayha snubbed for worst ever tbh

these are only the ones I was around for because otherwise I’d actually have to look shit up

ml002 · 03-01-2020, 10:13 PM

No mention of S39's FORFEIT smh

Credit to Copenhagen, Wasty, FlappyGiraffe, InciteHysteria, and caltroit_red_flames
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Snoopdogg · 03-01-2020, 10:18 PM

Wow that was fantastic!

Thanks for the read

***WannabeFinn*** · 03-01-2020, 10:58 PM

03-01-2020, 10:13 PMml002 Wrote: No mention of S39's FORFEIT smh

how easily you forgot S28's FORFEIT

DeletedAtUserRequest · 03-01-2020, 11:01 PM

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*JSS* · 03-01-2020, 11:01 PM

where's the goat lagerfield wtf

karlssens · 03-01-2020, 11:25 PM

Awesome read! I recognize a bunch of these names from my time as gm (Including the one I picked). Eager to see who you guys select in the upcoming draft.

*Grum* · 03-01-2020, 11:41 PM

I thought this would be about me and how I am already destined to be the best 1OA in history
Great read!

dankoa · 03-02-2020, 04:48 AM

thank you all for the kind words

Muerto · 03-02-2020, 05:51 AM

No, thank YOU for the kind words!

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