With the conclusion of the S56 Regular Season, it’ll be interesting to take an in-depth look at how my team, the Kelowna Knights, did! However, I think the success of our season shouldn’t be measured by the usual metrics, such as win % or GF, considering we were committed to a re-build from the start. Instead, let’s focus on how our six S57 rookies have developed over the course of the season and if they made any significant contributions.

Drafted at #14 by the Knights, Pontecorvo has done fairly well this season, coming in at #38 in S57 TPE Rankings at the time of writing this. She racked up 9 P, with 6 A. That might not seem like a lot but considering the highest point getters on the Knights finished with 25P and she spent her 11:54 TOI mainly at 5on5, that’s quite impressive for a rookie. Of the six rookies, she comes in last in terms of offensive production, but 3rd in OGR (55), DGR (55), and GR (55). Keep at it and she’ll be a solid two-way presence for seasons to come.

Malik was picked up by the Knights 2 spots after Pontecorvo at #16 and is currently at #13 in TPE rankings. Finishing with 4G, 8A puts Malik at #11 team-wide and #3 in terms of rookies for points. Weirdly enough, Malik is meant to have a scoring tough, but finished with double as many assists as goals and only a 6.67 SH%, so there’s some progress to be made there. With 90 hits (#2 on the team, #1 for rookies), Malik lives up to his physical scouting report. Malik ranked 2nd in OGR (56) but struggled in his DGR (50), so he’ll be focusing on his defensive acumen in the offseason.

Feltersnatch was originally drafted by the Colorado Raptors at #44 and was traded to the Knights soon before the trade deadline for a 2nd and a 4th. At face value, the Raptors got their spent 4th back plus an additional high pick, but it should be worthwhile for the Knights as Feltersnatch is at #21 in rankings currently and should be quite active as a member of the Quadruplets in Kelowna! He finished with 11 P, 42 hits, 38 shots blocked, and finished last in OGR (53) and 1st in DGR (61) in terms of rookies. The future of the Knights’ back-end is bright!

Huff signed with the Knights soon after the draft and comes in tied at #17 for TPE, so he’s been quite a nice pickup. Huff finished with 12 P, a 12.77 SH%, 53 OGR (5th for rookies), 49 DGR (6th), and 51 GR (6th). That’s some decent offensive production, good enough for 12th on the team and 4th for rookies, despite having some of the lowest ratings on the team. His PDO was below 100 (98.3), so it wasn’t just good luck either. There’s real skill underneath the hood, it’ll be quite interesting to see how he improves next season.

Hamilton Jr. also signed after the draft and is the lowest S57 Knights rookie in TPE but is still quite good at #40 league-wide. He finished with 15 points (10th on the team, 2nd for Knights rookies) and posted a OGR of 55 (3rd for rookies), DGR of 52 (4th), and GR of 54 (4th). Like Malik, he needs to improve his defensive game a bit and if he puts together some high TPE updates soon, he’ll be on track to a solid sophomore season!

McFelter finished the regular season tied for the team’s lead in points, having signed after the draft as well, currently sitting at #26 in TPE. Here we’ve got ourselves a gem! McFelter is supposed to be a PLY C but found his scoring touch at times, ending with a 12.70 SH%. His OGR (56), DGR (57), and GR (58) ranked 6th (1st for rookies), 10th (2nd), and 9th (1st) on the team, respectively. His PDO was quite close to 100 (99.3), so it seems his production was due to his skill as opposed to luck. It’ll be interesting to see how he improves upon his ROTY-nomination-worthy rookie campaign!

Overall, we see a very active S57 Knights rookie class, all in the upper 2/3 of S57 rookies league-wide. They’ve also contributed to their team’s success this season and will continue to make strides this offseason. There’s no doubt the future of the Kelowna Knights is bright, the real question is: Can they pull off some upsets in the S56 playoffs?

Approved +5 TPE @leafs1997