It's a natural phenomenon to think you are the greatest player in your generation, a no-doubt slam dunk of a 1st overall pick, and it hurts when that is not the case. It's also normal to look at every single player taken ahead of you in the draft and compare yourself to them, just to prove to yourself and others that you were indeed the best player in the draft and every GM who passed on you made a grave mistake. Today we will be doing just that. To be fair, just looking at stats and how they compare to one another may not be totally fair, as some of these stats have to be with team success. We can ignore that for now.

Let's compare defenseman Ace Lightning, taken 26th overall, with the 7 defensemen who were taken ahead of him in the S69 SMJHL Draft.

^ = more than Ace Lightning
v = less than Ace Lightning
= = = to Ace Lightning

First, we look at:

26th Overall: Ace Lightning
Team: Nevada
GP: 48
G: 3
A: 10
PTS: 13
+/-: -18
PIM: 28
ATOI: 21:24
TA: 36
BLK: 58
HITS: 102
GR: 66
DGR: 68


1st Overall: Sydney Shaw
Team: Yukon
GP: 49 ^
G: 3 =
A: 4 v
PTS: 7 v
+/-: -21 v
PIM: 18 ^
ATOI: 22:50 ^
TA: 48 ^
BLK: 70 ^
HITS: 75 v
GR: 61 v
DGR: 70 ^

Sydney Shaw was always going to be a top 2 pick and she is showing a very strong defensive presence on a Yukon team at the bottom of the standings. It's safe to say that Shaw will be not only a dynamite player in the SMJHL, but in the SHL as well. Odds that Lightning gets picked ahead of Shaw in the S70 SHL Draft? 0%.

2nd Overall: Isak Sogard
Team: Kelowna
GP: 51 ^
G: 1 v
A: 10 =
PTS: 11 v
+/-: +10 ^
PIM: 22 ^
ATOI: 19:31 v
TA: 28 v
BLK: 98 ^
HITS: 78 v
GR: 61 v
DGR: 71 ^

Another no-brainer pick by Kelowna at 2nd overall, Sogard is a franchise defenseman who is showing well on a deep team who is looking at a long playoff run. He's not afraid to put his body in front of the puck and is a responsible defensive option at this point in his career. Points will come. Odds that Ace Lightning gets picked ahead of him in the S70 SHL Draft? 0%.

3rd Overall Pick: Elena Maximova
Team: Quebec
GP: 48 =
G: 12 ^
A: 21 ^
PTS: 33 ^
+/-: +15 ^
ATOI: 23:15 ^
TA: 59 ^
BLK: 55 v
HITS: 91 v
GR: 69 ^
DGR: 71 ^

A leader in the rookie of the year race, Maximova is having a dream season for Quebec so far and is dominating in almost every category against the other defenseman in the draft. What are the odds that Ace Lightning gets picked ahead of Maximova in the S70 SHL Draft? 0%

6th Overall: Robin Nyckel
Team: Colorado
GP: 53 ^
G: 6 ^
A: 16 ^
PTS: 22 ^
+/-: +7 ^
PIM: 32 v
ATOI: 20:37 v
TA: 30 v
BLK: 123 ^
HITS: 41 v
GR: 60 v
DGR: 71 ^

Perhaps a forgotten defenseman after the "big 3", Nyckel is putting up a strong all around game for the Raptors this season, and should cement themselves as a quality option for any team in the S70 draft. Not a lot of glaring weaknesses. Odds of Ace Lightning being taken ahead of him in the S70 SHL Draft? 10%

13th Overall: Mit Wobet
Team: Newfoundland
GP: 51 ^
G: 5 ^
A: 16 ^
PTS: 21 ^
+/-:  9 ^
PIM: 32 v
ATOI: 21:07 v
TA: 37 v
BLK: 47 v
HITS: 64 v
GR: 63 v
DGR: 62 v

Wobet is having a strong offensive season as a rookie for Newfoundland but hasn't been given the opportunity to excel as well defensively as his draft peers, but that is a part of the game which should round out just fine by draft time. Odds of Ace Lightning being picked ahead of him in the S70 draft? 25%.

24th Overall: Willow Soderberg-Snooks
Team: Regina
GP: 49 ^
G: 1 v
A: 14 ^
PTS: 15 ^
+/-: -12 ^
PIM: 16 ^
ATOI: 22:49 ^
TA: 24 v
BLK: 147 ^
HIT: 50 v
GR: 62 v
DGR: 74 ^

A prototypical defensive defenseman with a hit of an offensive touch, Soderberg-Snooks appears to have been a 2nd round steal for the Elk. Hit defensive game is one of the strongest, if not the strongest in the S70 class. Odds of Ace Lightning getting picked ahead of him in the draft? 5%.

25th Overall: Gnabe Dabson
Team: Anchorage
GP: 49 ^
G: 3 =
A: 10 =
PTS: 13 =
+/-: +9 ^
PIM: 28 =
ATOI: 23:13 ^
TA: 30 v
BLK: 52 v
HITS: 96 v
GR: 63 v
DGR: 67 v

Gnabe Dabson and Ace Lightning are two similar defenseman and share similar stat. You would say it could have been a 50/50 decision for Anchorage at the time and it may just be a 50/50 decision on who goes first between the two in the S70 SHL Draft. Odds? 50%.

It was a strong defensive draft all around and it would appear that Ace Lightning, at least at this point in the season, should have gone 7th out of the 7 defenseman taken. What can change? We look forward to keeping tabs on these guys as the Season 70 SHL Entry Draft comes up soon.

Approved, +5 TPE to @hockeyfan

credit to Flappy, ToeDragon, and Carpy