It’s that time of the season where double media cash is flying around. So I’ll be taking a look at both their TPE and their play on the ice. With that said, let’s take a look at the top 10 prospects taken in the S57 SHL Entry Draft.

Round 1:


1 .  New England Wolfpack - Jonathan Granström - (318 TPE)

Well let’s get this draft started with a splash move by the Wolfpack to acquire the first overall pick from the also rebuilding Tampa Bay Barracuda. With the first overall pick, the Wolfpack pick up a centre from Orsa, Sweden, Jonathan Granström. The 5’10” centre has been prolific in his development, which shows why he was taken number one. This season with Detroit, the Swede put up an impressive 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points in 50 games. The goal total may be unsustainable with a banana’s 23.53% shooting percentage, but more likely than not it shows his potential as a goal scoring centre. Granström wasn’t afraid to use his body on the ice, throwing 54 hits and blocking 72 shots, amplifying his two-way play. The weakest part of his game is his turnovers, with 17 giveaways to 8 takeaways. Despite this slight weakness, Granström shows signs of becoming a franchise centre.

2 . Minnesota Monarchs - Arsene Leclerc - (370 TPE)

The second prospect off the board is the defensemen Arsene Leclerc from Strasbourg, France. The 6’2” defensemen has shown incredible promise with his development with his 370 TPE. In 50 games with the Anaheim Outlaws, Leclerc went nuts with 7 goals and 15 assists for 22 points. Much like the tank, Leclerc fired off a mass of rounds with 125 shots on goal. Leclerc has shown that his defensive prowess may not as impressive as his offence abilities, but it cannot be taken lightly. With 44 hits and 35 shots blocked. Throw on 38 giveaways to 22 takeaways, and Leclerc is one that likes to play fast and loose with the puck. With time to simmer in the SMJHL for another season, who knows what kind of potential Arsene will be able to reach.

3 . Los Angeles Panthers - Sean Gatez - (305 TPE)

The second defensemen off the board comes from Denver, United States. The 6’04” defensemen known as Sean Gatez has shown great promise with his development. In 50 games with Maine, the defensemen scored 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points. Despite the low point total, Gatez showed flashes of brilliance in his play on a disappointing Maine team. Gatez was not one to throw his body around on the ice, making 23 hits, along with 30 shots blocked. Gatez also played very aggressively with the puck, as shown in his 26 giveaways, to 11 takeaways. While on the surface level Gatez does not look like a cornerstone defensemen, anyone who would draw that conclusion is dead wrong. With another season in the juniors upon him, expect him to take the league by storm.

4 . New Orleans Specters - Vlastislav Malik - (324 TPE)

The first winger off the board goes to the Specters. The 6’05” giant from Brno, Czech Republic has shown the potential to become one of the league’s premier power forwards. Much like the previous 3 picks, Vlastislav Malik has shown incredible development over the last season. On the ice, Malik put up 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points with the Kelowna Knights. The point total may not be eye-popping, but it shows great promise. Malik has thrown his body around quite a bit during the season. With 90 hits and 35 blocked shots, Vlastislav has had no problem using his size to his advantage. With 16 giveaways and 12 takeaways, Malik has shown patience with the puck. With his size and skill, Malik may become one of the premier forwards in this league.

5 . Winnipeg Jets - Dwayne Gretzky - (309 TPE)

Rounding out the top 5 is the 6’02” winger from Trenton, United States, Dwayne Gretzky. Much like the Great One himself, Dwayne has shown promise in both his development and his first season in the juniors. With 309 TPE, Dwayne has matched his piers when it comes to development. In 50 games with the Berserkers, Dwayne has 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points. The point total might be a little low, but that has more to do with not getting much ice time on a stacked Newfoundland squad. With 42 hits and 22 shots blocked, Gretzky has chipped in quite a bit defensively. Gretzky also has 18 giveaways to 7 takeaways, showing that there is still room to improve. Despite this Dwayne is a solid pickup at 5.

6 . Winnipeg Jets - Freyja Hellstrom - (330 TPE)

With their second of their back to back picks, the Jets pick up another winger in the form of Freyja Hellstrom. The 5’09” Swede from Södertälje, Sweden has been keeping up with her development. The speedy winger has an impressive 13 goals with 8 assists for 21 points in 50 games with the Kraken this season. With a solid showing offensively, it is impressive what she was able to do defensively as well. With 13 hits and 49 shots blocked, Freyja has had no problem putting her body in front of pucks. The giveaway to takeaway ratio is slightly concerning with 24 giveaways to 11 takeaways, but this is more of a side effect of being such an offensive threat. Overall Freyja has been impressive in her first season, and the Jets load up on offence with their first round picks.

7 . San Francisco Pride - Ruggs McOooh - (321 TPE)

The Pride load up on defence with Uggs McOooh at 7. The 6’0” defensemen does not have a birthplace listed, so I guess he was born in International Waters. Maybe on a plane in the middle of the ocean? On an ocean cruise liner? On the Moon? Who knows, but regardless of the enigmatic location of birth, Ruggs as shown incredible development this season with 321 TPE. In 50 games with Colorado, Ruggs put up 2 goals and 10 assists for 12 points. Despite the slightly low point totals, where Ruggs truly excels is his defensive game. Ruggs threw 78 hits and blocked 33 shots, flashing his physicality. Ruggs had a decent giveaway to takeaway ratio this season that will most likely improve as time goes on. 29 giveaways to 33 takeaways may not pop off the page, but it’s a good foundation to work from. The Pride picked up a future top 2 defensemen in Ruggs.

8 . Los Angeles Panthers - Jari Heikkinen - (310 TPE)

The Panthers pick up another defensemen in Jari Heikkinen at 8th overall. The 5’10” left shot defensemen from Lappeenranta, Finland has shown solid progress in his development this season with 310 TPE. The speedy defensemen put up an incredible 7 goals and 13 assists for 20 points. Heikkinen put on a clinic in the offensive zone, showing everyone the offensive potential he has. With his size however, Heikkinen didn’t produce much in the physicality department. With only 18 hits and 23 shots blocked, Heikkinen relied more on what makes him so great. That being his offensive skills and his puck handling. With 14 giveaways to 18 takeaways, Heikkinen has been excellent in his decision making, rarely taking risks that don’t pan out for him. Los Angeles spend this first round stocking up on defence, and it looks like Heikkinen will be a key contributor to that back end.

9 .   New England Wolfpack - Brennan Huff - (297 TPE)

The Wolfpack continue to stockpile prospects, adding the 6’0” winger from Quebec City, Canada, Brennan Huff. Brennan has shown good growth in his young career with 297 TPE. In 50 games with the Knights, Huff put up 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points. The point total may be low, but this is more reflective of the 14:00 minutes a game that anything else. With more ice time coming his way this upcoming season, expect Huff to take a major step offensively. Huff had 25 hits and 32 shots blocked, which shows that Huff does not always use physicality, but he does chip in when it counts. Huff plays fast and loose with the puck, as shown with his 27 giveaways to his 11 takeaways. Much like the prospects above, this ratio comes with the territory of being an offensive player, and he does have a chance to improve it this upcoming season. Overall, the Wolfpack pick up 2 solid prospects for the future of the New England offence.

10 . New Orleans Specters- Jon St. Ark - (371 TPE)

This pick used to be the property of the Wolfpack, however they ended up trading down during the draft with the Specters. The Specters ended up picking up their starter of the future Jon St. Ark. Ark has an impressive 371 TPE, showing incredible development. Ark was considered by many to be a bit of a reach as Ark is a goaltender, but with such development, is hard to fault the Specters picking him up. To many, Ark would have been considered a top 3 pick if he played a different position, but alas, such is the plight of a goaltender. With that out of the way, the first goaltender off the board had a monster season with the stacked Vancouver Whalers team. In 24 games played, Ark amassed a 19-4-0 record. While wins and losses don’t mean that much, it’s still and eye-popping number. If that’s not your cup of tea, then the 1.62 Goals Against Average and 0.930 Save Percentage should do the trick. Still not enough? Throw in 3 Shutouts and the fact that Ark helped the Whalers pick up the 4 - Star Cup this season. Ark has just about done everything he could in his first season in the juniors. So the Specters hope they picked up their franchise goaltender for hopefully the next 15 seasons.

With that ends the top 10 prospects selected this season. Time will tell if these 10 were truly the best in their draft, but as of right now every team here should be happy with who they selected.

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