For the first time since S41, it looks like we will have a Top Leader who isn't one of @Phil, @DollarAndADream, or @Green. Where the award goes from here, who knows. That all just depends on when any one of those three becomes a captain again.
None of Phil Shankly, Zach Parechkin, and Pietro Maximoff are slated to be a captain (including alternate) this season, which means they will all be ineligible for the Grimm Jonsson Trophy. That really opens up the award for others around the league. So who are some possible candidates?
I personally think any of the New York captains should be in consideration at the end of the season, but I'm in the New York locker room so I have more exposure to them. I don't know what other locker rooms are like. Bogdan Podarok of Seattle and Fabio Jokinen of Quebec are the other two standouts in the North American Conference. From the European Conference, Theo Axelsson of the Titans is maybe the only player outside of Stockholm who I was look to for a possible choice. I think the most likely winner, if he's a captain, is Shawn Muller of the Vikings. However, he is playing just his first season with the team, though I would not be surprised if part of his agreement to sign with the team was that he would be named a captain. Muller received two votes in the S52 ballot, being the only player on the ballot who wasn't one of "the big three leaders."
for mist4ke