Aaron Ekblad pulls on a Florida Panthers sweater after being chosen first overall in the NHL hockey draft, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA – There are certain traditions that accompany the annual NHL Draft every offseason. Like pretending to know who the heck any of these people are, let alone their obscure Canadian junior teams. Like deciding whether to hug mom or dad first, and whether to hug Charles Wang at all. Like booing the ever-loving crap out of Gary Bettman.

And, of course, the annual rite that is the Awkward Rookie Photo Gallery.

We covered this bizarre ritual in 2011 and 2012 and 2013. Sadly, once again, the poses are of a rather conservative variety; where have you gone, Kirill Kabonov and the magic curtain?

(More to the point: Where have you gone, Kirill Kabonov? Can we put him and Nikita Filatov in a reality show about two Russian knuckleheads trying to make it back to the NHL?)

(#TrueDetectiveSeason2 …)

Here are the 10 most awkward NHL Draft rookie photographs. Please keep in mind this is all in good fun, and prepare to weep for today’s youth …

And here … we … go.

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10. Miles Gendron, Ottawa Senators

One of the poses for this year's rookies was the classic "grip the stick" shot. Gendron was one of the only players to fondle the knob. Forget for a moment that his intimidation face is that of a hungry puppy caught in a drizzle; why does he look like he's about to belt out "Evenflow"?

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9. Beau Starrett, Chicago Backhawks

Hey, it's that overzealous intern that sorta looks like Jim Parsons! ("Coffee? Of course sir! Let me just book a flight to Columbia to harvest the beans myself!")

We're fans of this shot not only because Starrett looks slightly stiffer than an oak trunk, but because the angle of his body makes it look like he's about to lift off like Iron Man.

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