With less than nine hours until the Simulation Hockey League Season 53 Draft, the air is electric here in coronavirus plagued Montreal, Quebec, Canada. While fears of coronavirus tampered expectations for fan turnout, so far the result has been far better than expected with fans from across the continent showing up to participate in the festivities and to cheer on their teams as they look to add future super stars to their prospect pools. While more than a few fans have masks on to help prevent the spread of the virus, many are still able to partake in the revelry, and particularly the imbibing of alcoholic beverages with crafty concoctions and funnels. Bottom line: plenty of fans have made the trip and despite coronavirus fears are partaking in the draft day revelry and merriment.
As the start of the draft moves ever closer, teams are continuing to jockey for draft pick position, moving up and down the draft board trying to secure their future hopefuls. As for the players, likely first rounders have already started showing up to the event and are meeting the fans before heading to the green rooms where they will sit for the next few hours awaiting their potential Simulation Hockey League destination.

Some of the top contenders for being selected in the first round are some of last season’s Simulation Minor Junior Hockey League leaders, namely Danny White, Edward Williams, Zoltan Topalo and Lucas Hellquist. All four of these players were tops in the league last season in terms of point scoring for rookies and all four have the potential to be superstars in the Simulation Hockey League.
One of the top prospects coming into this draft is Danny White who played last season with the Anchorage Armada, one of the worst teams in the league last season, at least by record. White, a center by trade, played much of last season as a right winger on Anchorage’s second line and on the powerplay unit, tallying 14 goals and 18 assists to be tied at the top of the league for rookie scoring. Add in a +5 rating and a 14% shooting percentage and it is clear that White has significant potential at the next level. What makes White’s transcendence into a hockey star all the more intriguing is his background, growing up in the Netherlands which is known more for speed skating than hockey. But it is that background that put White on the map, as one of his greatest strengths is his skating speed and skill which drives his ability to find and get to the puck in transition. Long story short, White could prove to be one of the best of this season’s talented draft class.

Another top prospect that recently arrived to the green rooms is Detroit Falcon forward Edward Williams. Williams, another big and burly center, played on one of the best teams in the league last year and earned significant minutes anchoring the second line as well as earning significant power play time. The young center tied with the aforementioned Danny White to lead all rookies in scoring, tallying 14 goals and 18 assists while also ranking second in the league in shooting percentage with 19.72% of shit shots resulting in a goal. This young sniper, who hails from Great Britain (another country not normally known for growing hockey talent), also managed to win 46.39% of the thousand face offs that he took last season, showing his class as an all-around offensive player. As one of the preeminent prospects in this season’s draft class, Williams appears to be on the verge of making the move to being a class of his own.

Another rookie prospect worthy of being mentioned as one of the top potential draft picks this season is Edward Williams’ Detroit Falcons teammate, Zoltan Topalo. Both Williams and Topalo arrived to the venue together in a white escalade limousine and it only makes sense that the two teammates that rode together would be mentioned together as potentially going first and second overall in a few hours time. Topalo was third in rookie scoring last season with 10 goals and 20 assists as the short but muscle-bound left winger played out of position on the right wing for Detroit’s second line, sharing a line with the previously mentioned Williams. Not known for his skating prowess, Topalo is nevertheless known as one of the premier puck handlers in the draft and his ability to use his relatively short height but strong frame to shield the puck is one of his greatest assets. Combined with excellent hockey IQ, as evidenced by his 20 assists and his ability to make tough defensive plays, Topalo could develop into one of the best winger prospects in recent league history.

Rounding out the quartet of recent arrivals to the Bell Centre for the pre-draft festivities is yet another of this class’s standouts, rookie sensation Lucas Hellquist. Standing six feet four inches tall and weighing 245 pounds, this viking from Norway made a splash last season as he garnered recognition and finished the season fourth in the league in rookie scoring which is all the more impressive due to him playing on the last place Halifax Raiders. The large, skilled right winger played out of position last season, anchoring the second line as a left winger and was able to tally 9 goals and 21 assists while averaging just under 18 minutes of ice time per game. The hard-hitting Hellquist will be a nice addition for a team lucky enough to snag him as he is clearly one of the top prospects in this draft. His ability to use his large size to his advantage would make you think that he has little actual skill beyond his size but looks are clearly deceiving as he is one of the most gifted passers in the game today. While Hellquist does not have the pedigree or experience to seriously compete for being the first overall draft pick, he does have the ability to go in the first round and potentially develop into one of the league’s more skilled players.

As draft time moves closer here in Montreal, we will continue to see more prospects arriving to celebrate what could turn into the pinnacle of their careers. While all the prospects described above have the potential to develop into superstars there is just as much potential that several future draftees will fizzle out and never reach the expectations that are set for them. While I do not think that will be the case for these four players, it is all the more reason that this season’s draft is so exciting.