A few months left for the S66 draft class

[Victor 10,846]

The S66 draft was a watershed moment for the VHL – the one that really justified the expansion back to 10 teams with the addition of Moscow and Malmo and got the momentum going for several drafts to come. A mind-boggling 80 players were selected in S66, beating the record which stood since S1 by 24. No draft has topped it since, especially as we have gone back down the 4 rounds over the past few seasons.

 

It wasn't just quantity either. The 78^th overall pick made it to the VHL. 14 different players have won the Continental Cup to date – from 2^nd overall Julius Freeman down the Dean Clarke and Ben Hafkey in the 6^th round. Powered by the Seattle's dynasty, the S67 class has won more championships but hasn't been able to match that tally of 14 – a joint-record with S1 with still time to add to it.

 

So was it the greatest draft of all time as it was set up to be? Possibly. With Apollo Hackett, Aleksander Rodriguez, and Guillaume Fontenette announcing their retirement, we are down to just 18 “active” players in the VHL. Three of those are inactive backup goalies – goaltender being by far the weakest position for S66 – and 4 others are inactive but decent contributors. There won't be many Hall of Famers coming out of S66 when all is said and done; the only 3 with a realistic shot now are Freeman, HHH, and Jet Jaguar. All of those were first-rounders, there wasn't any huge steal who took the VHL by storm, and several highly ranked prospects fizzled out or never got the accolades their efforts deserved.

 

That said, 3 potential Hall of Famers is above average for a VHL draft and is more than any other 60s draft is currently on track to achieve. With the record breaking depth and still a few months to leave an even bigger legacy, the S66 draft remains the one to beat in many ways.

[Banackock 7,990]

67

[Victor 10,846]

4 minutes ago, Banackock said:

67

Has Stark and Pavlov, no hope.

[gorlab 4,321]

S66 - the feels

[ThePerfectNut 563]

I was really glad to be apart of that class. I could of quit at any given moment at the start of that career, but the competition between all these dudes game me the motivation to try my best as well. 

 

Really a legendary class