As the S80 season comes to a close, let’s look back at the draft which happened at the start of the season and have a deeper look at the players drafted in the first round and how they performed in their rookie season. I will be doing this based on the immaculate prime number. How do prime numbers work? It’s an age old secret, but it will make for a great shuffle of sorts to pick out some stellar players to review.
Pick 2 - VAN - River Yekaterina Volkova - Baron1898
With the second pick in the SMJHL draft the Vancouver Whalers would draft an excellent player in River Yekaterina Volkova. River is a center playmaker backed by their strong skating skills. On a middling Vancouver team who finished 27-33-6, Volkova was able to become the 2nd highest producing player with 20 goals and 29 assists for a total of 49 points in their rookie season. Instantly coming into the line up and earning first line minutes in essentially all units. Noteworthy were the 71 PIMs they racked up during the season, is Volkova a bit of a goon?
Pick 3 - SDT - Dee Centerman IV, Jr. - grok
San Diego would follow Vancouver in the draft and use their 3rd overall pick on Dee Centerman IV, Jr. Despite what their name might suggest, Centerman IV, Jr actually plays on the left wing. Dee is an interesting player, at 6 feet 8 inches and 240 pounds they are an absolute unit amongst their junior peers, Dee is a real work horse, given the chance this player could use their excellent stamina to stay out on the ice for an entire game. Beyond that they mostly excel in the defensive categories, a strong read of the defensive player and decent usage of their body with checks and hits. On an almost .500 team, Centerman IV, Jr was given 3rd line minutes and recorded 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points in their rookie campaign. They excelled at laying down the law with 110 hits and 87 blocked shots, making him a solid defensive option on the wing.
Pick 5 - GFG - Kienan McKeller - ryzuko
Kienan McKeller saw their name get called out by the Great Fall Grizzlies 5th overall in the draft. McKeller is a part of the new-aged offensive minded defenders, with strong skating skills and an absolutely lethal arsenal of offensive power. With a strong read on the offensive game, their crisp passing ability, good handling of the puck and a wicked strong puck release McKeller will be a strong candidate for offensive awards in the future. Part of a struggling Great Falls team who finished 14th in the league with a 19-42-5 record, McKeller showed flashes of brilliance as he finished as the Grizzlies best scoring defender. With 5 goals, 20 assists for 25 points total they were very unlucky with a 2.8% shot-goal conversion rate. As Kienan matures and gets better with their shots that number and the number of goals will skyrocket. With 2nd minute 5on5 time and first minute power play time McKeller has already cemented themselves as a solid part of the Grizzlies.
Pick 11 - MET - Lucas Lindberg - Vaxlare
For the 11th overall pick in the draft, the Maine Timber stepped up and announced their selection of leftwinger Lucas Lindberg. Lindberg is a very balanced player who has a bit of everything in their toolbelt, but does excel in their ability to handle the puck, pass and strong ability to find open spaces on the ice. On a strong Timber team who ended the regular season with a 42-23-1 record, Lindberg saw themselves receiving third line 5on5 time with 2nd line powerplayer minutes. This saw him have a great rookie season recording 29 goals, 23 assists for 52 points total. More impressively is that 49 of those points were all recorded during 5-on-5 play. Lindberg is one for the future, currently behind a strong forward core that he will be looking to break into next season.
Pick 13 - ANC - Reg Kirkby - Acsolap
Two picks later, Reg Kirkby was drafted 13th overall by the Anchorage Armada. Kirkby who plays the center position, is a defensive minded player who uses their 5 foot 11 inch and 200 pound frame very well and possesses strong checking and hitting ability. Paired with a keen passing ability and storing defensive read of the game. Kirkby had a stellar rookie season with the Armada who finished 4th in the league with a 44-16-6 record. Reg would record 12 goals, 42 assists for 54 points, as well as having 97 hits in their rookie campaign. Kirkby finds themselves on the 2nd line across all playing units, meaning that on a strong Armada team he has already broken through into the top spots on a team.
“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. ... There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”
Raven
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Montreal Impact/Militia 
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