What Is The Current Draft Stock Of Wayne Gretzky?

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At the start of this year, the title of this piece would have been such a stupid no-brainer question to ask. Of course, the greatest hockey player, and potentially athlete, of all time Wayne Gretzky would have been an automatic first overall selection in the upcoming Season 92 VHL Draft for any team who would hold that selection regardless of their needs as you just cannot pass up on day one world-class talent. However, it's been an incredibly torrid time for Wayne Gretzky in the build-up to this draft as he's been unable to play at all in the VHLM this season and they are currently rehabbing from their nineteenth Broken Everything, which they suffered having mistaken an oncoming monster truck for old teammate Kevin McClelland while still in the process of rehabbing from their eighteenth Broken Everything. 

 

But in spite of his litany of typically career-ending injuries, will Wayne Gretzky still end up being selected with a high pick? The decision of many young prospects to delay a season and elect to enter the Season 93 Draft to avoid Wayne Gretzky's draft with the hopes of a better contract led to a significantly lower prospect pool count that is half of even the lowest previous count of the last 29 seasons (68 in Season 90 versus 35 for Season 92). On top of that, with four of those 35 prospects mysteriously vanishing, having not been seen since October, it appears to be a guarantee that, in spite of all their injuries, Wayne Gretzky will be at least a second round selection in this upcoming VHL Draft.

 

But is there even potentially view for Wayne Gretzky to make their way into the first round? If he did, Gretzky would be the first player taken in the first round with less than 100 TPE since Jónas Vilhjálmsson went seventh overall in Season 60 with 72 TPE and it would be the first time since Season 59 (Ebi Shpeen at eighth overall) that a player with 30 TPE went in the first round. While Gretzky hasn't earned any TPE because of his raft of injuries, he is projected to max earn following the conclusion of their VHL Draft, which is a mark that only six prospects in the same draft are currently reaching. While Gretzky's time missed through injury will make it difficult to catch up to those particular prospects, they should face significantly less issues gaining ground on players currently slotted down as late-first selections. Of the players currently in the top 16 in TPE, four are consistently earning less than or equal to 6 capped TPE per week (A rate Gretzky projects to double post-draft) and one other has faced a roadblock in their earning capabilities due to the crackdown on AI use in player development. At the same time though, there are one or two prospects currently outside the top 16 in TPE that have started to show more potential recently that could overtake them.

 

A lot of this will evidently come down to how much faith any potential GM has in Gretzky to get back to the work ethic that made him the greatest hockey player of all time once he recovers from his big injury setbacks. However, scientists who have looked into the potential career projection of Gretzky have noted that his recent Broken Everything's have led to him resembling a large similarity in hockey efficiency to recent VHL player The Board Game Clue On Skates, as neither are capable of sufficiently playing hockey, and it's noted that the cardboard board game accrued nearly 2000 TPE in their career, a mark which any VHL GM would be more than happy to have Gretzky get even close to. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by MubbleFubbles