Okay I’m late to this and I don’t have THAT much to say that hasn’t already been said. But look.

If somebody gets a job instead of you because they have a better resume, that isn’t nepotism. And whether you like it or not, people are absolutely going to tend to favor users who have a proven track record because they are a known commodity. It is really great that your player has done so well so far!

But the truth is, any GM worth a lick is gonna be able to guide just about anybody into a good build if that person is coachable. I am proof of that. I know next to jack shit about the sim engine but every GM I’ve ever had has helped me figure out how to not suck while I keep doing my part to earn TPE and stay active.

Having a “good” player is nice - having somebody who you know will mesh well with your locker room and who has a year plus proven track record of activity is always going to trump that. It doesn’t mean they don’t want you, it just means they are usually gonna take the sure thing before they start branching out. But having good personalities and a positive atmosphere is going to keep people on your team active. It’s about the team as a unit, not you as an individual player.

It’s also worth mentioning that if you are a known quantity in a negative sense, that’s a whole other thing. There are absolutely people on here who have gotten themselves blacklisted from multiple teams due to proving that they’re toxic in some way or another.

When I got drafted, we actually had a lot of first gen players go pretty high, and I know some people were pissed about that, so somebody is always going to end up grumpy about this. Some of us from that draft class are still active, and some of us aren’t, but I don’t even play for the team that drafted me anymore. It’s nice to be able to say you were drafted high but it does absolutely nothing for you beyond that.

If you get to the SHL and you start to play great and you make yourself known as a good personality who makes a locker room better with your presence, absolutely nobody is going to care where you were drafted, I promise you. And then in two years you can recreate and shake your fist at the new kids who cut in line, or you can enjoy the benefits of having that strong resume yourself. Either way, it is not something you should take personally (but by all means feel free to let your player take it personally if it’s good for the narrative )