Devise

Top Potential Stars of Season 48 The VHL's star power pool stock will be taking a significant hit at culmination of the Season 47 playoffs. We already knew about several big names who either to league rule or for personal reasons have announced retirement. Names like Richardson and O"Malley. Even solid depth players like Joshua Rubin and Kurtis Hunter will be calling it quits. There are still several names that will add to that list as Season 47 closes as well, such as Lloyd Light and Jody 3 Moons. However a huge blow was felt around the league when currently the best point for point player in the league in Bismarck Koenig announced it would be his final season. It's been a combination of tough blows for fans, as so many of their favorites and prominent VHL players will be stepping away. Consider this, 8 of the players currently in the top 30 in VHL scoring will not be in the league next season. 3 of those players make up the top five alone, with both Koenig and O'Malley, the top two scorers in the league, leaving. You can cut the statistics so many ways, but there is no denying reality. Due to having a high influx of quality talent in limited drafts, and some untimely retirements, we are losing a lot of star power. Probably more than we normally use when the league undergoes these generational shifts. While for fans, they see the loss of some big names, some future Hall of Fame players. There is still a lot to be optimistic about. You look at 8 players in the top 30 in scoring no longer being around, and you wonder, who is going to fill those shoes? Players are going to have to step up, and fill into those super star shoes. Here is my ranking for the top five players with the most potential to take over and become the face of the new era VHL. 5. Aleksi Koponen Season 45; Center ; Helsinki Titans; TPE: 663 The young Helsinki center had a very strong playoffs and while he maintains consistent point per game production in the regular season, he hasn't really had the breakout season to define him. But what he has on the majority of other candidates is his youth. The majority of candidates to take over figure to be in the S42-S44 range. Being a S45 draftee and already showing signs of breaking out is good news for the Titans, who shouldn't feel the loss of Koenig as deeply because of it. Look for Koponen to solidify his spot as a number one center in the league, and lead the Titans in scoring in Season 48. 4. Hans Wingate Season 43; Goalie; Riga Reign; TPE: 927 Probably seems an unlikely name to most, but when making predictions about potential players who can have an impact you can't forget about Wingate. Dubbed Wingod by his fans, Wingate could very well be the best player in the league next season. Why? Ignoring the fact that he is the highest TPE goalie who has undergone several seasons of less than consistent performance, it's important to look at what is happening next season with a closer eye. Wingate fell victim to what easily was one of the highest scoring era's of VHL in recent memory. Lack of break out goalies to help define the era was apart of that problem. But one can't ignore how elite the forward and defensive crop was for much of Wingates early career. With those players having been gone, Wingate slots into being one of the upper echelon TPE players in the entire league. Whether he stays or goes in the potential Riga rebuild, Wingate has the chance to make waves for the final three seasons of his career. 3. Edwin Reencarnacion; Season 44; Right Wing; New York Americans; TPE: 760 Reencarnacion is an intriguing breakout star. While there is no denying the impact he has had, and largely playing on a competitive New York roster in pivotal roles. However he's often had the benefit of another big name player on the roster. After a solid but mostly uneventful 55 point rookie season, Edwin enjoyed a breakout 81 point sophomore year. A year that had Bruno Wolf as an American. In Season 46, Edwin did the majority of the heavy lifting and flourished with 102 points, however constant point producer no matter where he goes Gifford Shock also centered Edwin that year. This season he is enjoying continued success, this time alongside Lloyd Light and Thomas O'Malley. Season 48 could mark the first year Edwin doesn't have any already established stars or heavy point producers playing with him. He'll maintain as one of the leagues prominent stars if he can prove that he's ready to take the Americans on his shoulders offensively. 2. Tim TebowGow; Season 44; Center; Calgary Wranglers; TPE: 594 Tim is another interesting story. He doesn't have the TPE output of some of the other names on this list, despite being older or the same season as a few names. But he has the evidence that someone like Rencarnacion hasn't had the opportunity to completely establish. After losing Koenig Calgary and their offensive output were expected to plummet this season. Yet TebowGow for the majority of the season what felt like by himself has not only pushed the Wranglers offense but kept it in a respectable fashion. He currently sits fourth in the league in points, and until the team picked up Freedom McJustice the center was simply making all the players around him better. Now that he has a top level winger in McJustice for an entire season, Season 48 could be a big year for TebowGow. 1. Lord Karnage; Season 42; Left Wing; Stockholm Vikings; TPE: 1,259 Forget the fact that for the majority of his career Karnage had to settle for being second or third fiddle compared to the dominance of some other all star forwards. In another era, Karnage's award cabinet would be a lot bigger than it currently is. Which is saying something considering the Top Rookie, and two Boulets that already sit in said cabinet. Karnage was heralded early as the star to compete with stars who are leaving, and he did just that. Despite all the competition he managed to carve out 5 very succesful seasons, including 3 straight 100+ point seasons. With the way things are going in Season 47, what with Karnage third in scoring and on pace to break the 100 point barrier for the 4th straight season, it was an obvious choice for Karnage at number one here. This recent generation of VHL has taught us that due to the parity and consistency of so many players, it either takes really elite levels of TPE or some good line mates to dominate. Considering he will be the TPE leader into next season with the next closest being Wingate being over 300 TPE behind, look for Karnage to grab hold of the best player mantle in Season 48, and most likely keep it till he hangs em up.

Good luck in life Boom, sucks to see you go. Koenig still had a very good career, to go along with so many other good careers for you in your tenure here.

Nice to see you back Slobo!

Is the VHL undergoing yet another makeover? Some "inside sources" say that post the new All Star break the VHL will be going forward with using Version 2.0 of the popular sim engine STHS. While the thought of this news brings several questions to mind, such as; why don't we just use V3? You know, STHS did release a new version not that long ago. Maybe that may have a chance at actually giving us proper stats without making the shot totals all fucked up. Also, why was this change done in the middle of the season? Now the "official" response comes from a reply that Blue Team Leader Draper (widely recognized as a Drapist), stating that it was an accident. I for one do not think this was an accident and I know the thousands and thousands of VHL fans know it as well. Accident or not, takeaways and giveaways are important. We should keep them. Should the VHL find a way to stick with V2 and get shot totals in order, or better yet actually contact Simon T himself and start using V3, and getting it to properly work so the stats/our players fit in just like they did!

Up to date as of this post.

Yeah fantastic career, so happy to have been able to share a large portion of it with you on same teams. O'Malley the Alley Cat Legend! Also, super stoked that you are sticking around.

Final All Star Game for Notable Stars This season marked a revised All-Star format, one in which teams were drafted by two selected Captains. The other thing that changed was the timing of the game itself. In years past the game would take place at the end of the season, and there was a lot of people who seemed to "phone in" their efforts. Well this years All Star game had a bit more realistic score sheet as it took place during the week of the trade deadline. It was a rather exciting game, that saw Team Phil win 7-5. However for many fans the S47 All Star game will feel bittersweet, as it will be the last time they get to see players from the stacked S40 draft honored as all stars. The S40 draft, one of the better in recent memory will likely go down as producing several hall of fame players. In the All Star game this past year were longtime rearguard converted to forward Lloyd Light, the man on the hunt to make it third all time in scoring in Thomas O"Malley, and a defender who is now getting his personal due in Mason Richardson. The three did not disappoint their fans in the game, combining for 7 points as well as an impressive 5 hits by Light, in an All Star game no less. While they were all on the losing Team Sterling for the game, the three appeared to have a blast at what will be their final All Star festivities. Marking the final game for these three bigger stars, it makes one begin to question who is going to fill the shoes of many of the prominent retiring players at the end of the season and going forward? For so long now, this generation has been dominated by players from the S40-42 drafts. Your talking about names like Karnage, Koenig, 3 Moons, Klose, and McJustice. Those are to go with the 3 names mentioned previously, who will call Season 47 their final season. While not all these names are hanging up their skates at the end of the season, all are entering the final stages in their career. Having the generation dominated by so many prominent players, players drafted near the start of the S40's era means that as they transition out of the league, opportunity after opportunity will open for younger faces to make their mark. Some candidates have already pushed their names forward, trying to rush their number if you will. Names like Koponen, TebowGow, the two Hamilton brothers, Reencarnacion, and Kyanon. But for the most part these players have had solid younger seasons while the big dogs continue to dominate the tops in the league. Will these budding younger All Stars be able to handle the pressure of being the faces of the league? The sad reality of the VHL is that these players won't have much time to do it either. Even then they will enter the middle, and later stages of their careers before they blink. It is important to note as well, the question isn't if these players can be consistent producers for their respective VHL clubs. The majority of them already do that. No the question is if we will see the type of domination some of those names I mentioned have had. It isn't just O'Malley either. Koenig and Karnage have been beast mode their entire careers. We are talking about players who regularly hit above 100 point per season, and often times even more than that. We are talking about players who even in their final season have full award cabinets. The VHL has very much been a league of era's, and as we exit the era dominated by several prominent offensive contributors, the reaction and response from the remaining "top dogs" in the VHL will very much define the next VHL era. One hopes that while many fans say goodbye to the stars of the past, they welcome into their minds the stars of now, and of the future. If so, then we can look forward to many more exciting All Star games to come season after season.

When did we start tracking giveaways and takeaways?

Not a single PP. How tragic.

If we go by that metric then Vasteras wasn't nearly as bad as everyone said under Corco either. I mean they did make the playoffs several seasons. In the VHL GM's and teams are measured by Cups. Plain and simple. Ergo, 2 Cups for Vasteras and 1 for Quebec. I'm not even implying you've done a god awful job, you made the finals in 42 after all. But one finals appearance in your tenure and that is all isn't exactly something to ride home about. Good move for Calgary, although I kinda feel bad for them since I get the sense that was a "must" move, just to keep up with the rest of the top dogs in the league. They surely added some quality starpower, but will it be enough this season? The door will certainly be open for them next season though.

Que G trying to steal wins from us. Not on Campbells watch!

I actually don't mind it this year. Not perfect but there is at least some compete/tension. A few of the guys clearly are engaged, probably want the money reward ha.

Also currently being discussed in the BoG. (Just started thanks to Molholt.) But this is hardly the place, could show some respect for the new idea which we all think could be pretty good. We feel it will help with pacing, since we tend to stack so much at the end of the off-season with very much going on during the season. Edit - Apologies Kesler, didn't realize you were asking about Double PT for Mag.

Better be an epic pose with flex Phil!

Honestly picking up both he and Niskanen, as well as your guys D/Assistant Coach Todd Reirden has been pretty huge for the Caps. All have fit in well.

I'd also wonder how much trade value they have given their cap hit as well. They both need to be traded together as you said, and then you add in the fact that a team would have to make room for 14 million. Then you consider, what type of teams would be trading for them? Younger clubs? Not likely. So now you need teams close to winning it all, needing a few pieces, trying to pony up that type of cap space for two aging players? I'd say they aren't really top trade targets.

The Canucks have the Sedins now and last I checked they aren't really winning that much, as they battle for a playoff spot. Listen I'm not blind, the Sedins are and have been two of the most talented players in the NHL. But their best years are most likely behind them, who knows how many years they actually have left and if you were to position me with rebuilding the Canucks with this format why would I keep them? If you honestly think you have a shot at winning the Cup within 2 seasons after said rebuild, then I guess? But I really don't see how with the rest of the players you end up keeping. That is to say, it'd take a lot of leg work as a GM.

Shit you people talking Destiny up in here.....wow. @Advantage and I used to tear that shit up all the time.

I do recall seeing it now that you posted, but I most of forget that you stated there was only two others (S18 Calgary and S20 Davos) I was kinda curious as well how many playoff MVP's had won a Championship before, and just skimming through the list it appears like a decent amount of them are returning Cup winners.

Everyone is updated up to this post. Thanks.

Yes you can, the point of the game isn't to pick the players you think deserve to be honored. It's you get to keep 6 players from your team going forward to try and rebuild/retool to make the best roster. Keeping two players who are past their primes and declining for favoritism reasons makes zero sense, and it's the type of move if your GM were to do it and value players like that over quality young talent/talent in their prime it would frustrate every fan.

Yeah this trade should be rejected. We are seeing passes in the 2nd/3rd, so 4th is pretty silly.

His iron man streak he has going is super impressive. Him and Nisky stepping up while Carlson and Orpik have been out has been pretty clutch.

I may end up the same as you with both lists. I love Alzner but it's really tough to decide between keeping him and keeping Niskanen, who has been a highly underrated fantastic pick up. Man though this is a tough scenario, losing Oshie?