Rauno Palo @jRuutu
What a weird one to have to consider on next season's Hall of Fame ballot. S66-S69 Palo was one of the best forwards in the league – just look at how Vancouver and Riga's fortunes changed after he moved between them last season. Palo S62-S65 was pretty much a bust though. Can someone go into the HOF off half a career? Palo might be joining Keaton Louth in this modern-VHL experiment.
Jake Davis @Josh
On the opposite side, can someone go in as the most consistent forward of his generation (bar Thompson and Cast) but without a single award to their name? Davis' best bet is Malmo winning the Continental Cup at this point. It also sucks that he is currently going through the worst season of his career – his career PPG mark dropping from 1.24 at the end of S68 to 1.19 currently – and still falling!
The other possible candidate is Maxim Kovalchuk. @Banackock Hasn't announced his retirement yet but his 5 seasons on defence were probably the best since Mats Johnsson retired. Second stint in Seattle still decent and finally got a cup, but another potentially damaging final season.
Leph Twinger @DollarAndADream
What the fuck happened? 116 points in his rookie season, cup-winner as a sophomore.... and just one season with a better than 1 point-per-game mark since. Unluckiest player of all time? Maybe.
Paolo Nano @leafsman
A surprising pick for Moscow in the expansion draft, Nano has repaid that with unwavering loyalty and became one of the better playmaking defencemen in the league – not far off 300 career assists which would put him in the top 100 of all-time defencemen.
Rylan Peace @Peace
Had his moments and did well as a sleeper pick in the mid second round. Not quite a superstar though and rarely surrounded by a real cup contender core. 1.09 point-per-game pace is very respectable in this decade though.
Elias Dahlberg @Nykonax
For a fleeting moment in S65, it looked like Davos got their new Smalling-Rafter duo with Dahlberg and Peace. It didn't last though and Peace has outperformed Dahlberg since, although Dahlberg may have a stronger chance to retire with a cup this season.
Diljodh Starload @DilIsPickle
Didn't have a chance to shine in a low-scoring Calgary and seemed to be set for an early retirement as soon as he left. Will look to banish some Game 7 demons in his last VHL playoffs.
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