Hybrid1486

I made a good choice joining Houston

Well that sucks...

First career point in the books

USA

Them's fightin words

I remember seeing a notification that I had a contract offer, but when I went to accept there was nothing there...I got this one, though, so we good now

It's okay, I know

While I was writing my look at the S66 VHL Draft entrants by position, there were two wild cards that caught my eye. One of them is the traditional sleeper-type, while the other could put a kink into things for an entirely different reason. The first player is Edgar Tannahill. He's gotten off to a great start, nearly capping out in each week so far...I'm not sure how long @gregreg has been out of the game, so if he needs time to acclimate to the modern method of capping it's understandable. Even if he just plain isn't capping out, though, he's a Hall of Famer as a builder and with multiple players, so he knows what's up. It could be a case of nostalgia that wears off quickly, or he could add another banner to his resume. The other is the oddly-named ACL TEAR (I know he has an actual name, I'm not writing it out). He created in the timeframe to declare for the S67 draft, but at this point he's still listed as S66 and @Quik hasn't decided which draft he'll be in. If he wants the first-overall and TPE-whore glory he could wait it out, but as of right now he's a mid-TPE prospect in this draft who will sneak past guys with almost twice as much TPE on reputation alone.

1,008 words (not counting number breakdowns), so I'll claim for the week of the 14th as well

With the end of Season 65 almost upon us, a lot of people have turned their heads towards the Season 66 rookie crop (and not all because it's this week's theme week). The VHL's draft classes have been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few seasons, to the point that each position group could just about make up an entire draft class for 40-50 seasons ago. That said, it's not a bad idea to break down those position groups and see where the talent really is, and where there's a solid base of mid-tier players to choose from. As of right now, there are 249 draft-eligible players. While that number seems daunting (because it is), almost 60 percent of them are still at entry-level TPE and probably won't make much of an impact in the league. On the other hand, there are 48 players already at triple-digit TPE and nine players already over 200. There's going to be at least one full round of top-level talent and 4-5 rounds of potential VHL contributors. With the recent league expansion, there will be a lot more room for these players to breathe and grow into potential stars. Now let's see what positions they'll be playing. Just a quik note, all o these numbers came from the portal page as it looked when I wrote this. If there are any issues, blame someone else, I didn't do it. Center Total: 51 30 TPE: 29 31-100 TPE: 11 101-199 TPE: 8 200+ TPE: 3 Top 3: Hunter Hearst Helmsley - 326 Maximilian Kirbsson - 225 Jet Jaguar - 210 HHH got off to one of the fastest starts we've ever seen from a VHL prospect, and as a result he's a near lock to be the first overall pick. It wouldn't be a huge surprise to see him overtake Mats Johnsson as the top TPE earner of all-time when his career is finished, and he'll be a productive player right out of the gate. While the same won't be true of the next two centers, they should both be productive VHLers, especially Jaguar. Tyler Barabash, Jr. should also be an excellent player in the VHL, but as a GM player he won't be in this draft. A couple other centers who could excel at the next level include Bert Meyers and Hans Gruber. Left Wing Total: 63 30 TPE: 40 31-100 TPE: 13 101-199 TPE: 6 200+ TPE: 4 Top 3: Shane Mars - 295 Julius Freeman - 233 Kari Jurri - 209 Helmsley is likely the first overall pick of the draft, but Mars is a solid second choice and has an outside shot of going first overall. He has stardom written all over him no matter which position he goes in. The same could be said for the next two players on the list, although it's less certain with Freeman and Jurri. Both players are off to a great start so far, though, and both could easily be first-round picks in this draft. Farther down the list, Kyle Sabertooth could be a solid pickup in the later rounds, and there's a clear late-draft wild card in Edgar Tannahill. He can display first-round talent at times, but could be a bit rusty after a long layoff and might be hurt by his entry timing. He won't be a high pick, but he could be the steal of the draft. Right Wing Total: 56 30 TPE: 42 31-100 TPE: 6 101-199 TPE: 6 200+ TPE: 2 Top 3: Mikko Aaltonen - 223 Shawnomir Jagr - 205 Arnor Sigurdsson - 194 There could be a major monkey wrench in this draft at right wing. If newly-declared ACL TEAR remains in this class, he's a surefire first round pick despite only having 90 TPE right now, good for ninth among right wingers alone. He could move to the S67 class and lock down the first overall pick for that draft, but as of right now he's probably going to push a few of the higher-rated guys here down a peg or two. He likely won't move past either Aaltonen or Jagr, who both have comfortable leads and are showing enough progress to keep themselves safely ahead of TEAR, but the next tier of guys like Nethila Dissanayake and John Frostbeard could be in trouble. He even has an outside chance of passing up Sigurdsson for third among right wings in this draft, which would be an astonishing feat for someone who may end his VHLM career before he's even drafted. Defense Total: 61 30 TPE: 27 31-100 TPE: 20 101-199 TPE: 14 200+ TPE: 0 Top 3: Charlie Paddywagon - 184 Jerry Garcia - 182 Aron Nielsen - 178 The breakdown of draft-eligible defensemen is really interesting to me. There aren't any top-level talents available right now, but the next tier down has more potential VHLers than any other position group. The top two maxed their development out last week, and Garcia is already there for this week as well. All three of these guys could be top-pair VHL defenders in a couple seasons, and a few names farther down the list could join them. Two names that stand out to me are Rusty Shackleford and Apollo Hackett. Both players are progressing at an elite rate, but both are a bit behind due to being a couple weeks late to the party. Of course, that will all even out down the road. While it's possible that only one or two defensemen go in round one, I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of these guys are the stars of round 2. Goaltender Total: 18 30 TPE: 9 31-100 TPE: 4 101-199 TPE: 5 200+ TPE: 0 Top 3: Owen May - 173 Wendy Kandee Cain - 152 Clayton Park - 139 With the well-known lack of goaltending jobs available, as well as the lack of offensive statistics to compile, it's no wonder that the goaltenders make up the shortest list of eligible draftees. There aren't many goalie-needy teams aside from the expansion squads, although a couple teams may be looking for a new starter in a couple seasons. As far as the draft-eligible crop goes this year, Owen May seems to be establishing himself as the top dog in the class. With a capped-out progression every week for the last two months, he's giving himself a good rep as a possible franchise goaltender for either Malmo or Moscow, unless one of the other squads wants to scoop him up and either stash him or trade him. After May, the main contenders for a roster spot are the other two goalies in the top three. Cain has some more experience, but doesn't seem to be progressing at the fastest rate. The same goes for Park; both goaltenders are getting better, but it's not hard to picture a newcomer in the next season or two passing them by at their current rate.

So...is there a reason I'm not on Houston yet? @Sonnet

I'm in

Aw hell, was I supposed to wait until 3 for S67? @Quik

Player Information Username: Hybrid1486 Player Name: Boomer Kuwanger Recruited From: Other (Recreate) Age: 18 Position: D Height: 74 in. Weight: 233 lbs. Birthplace: Australia Player Page @VHLM GM

With only about a quarter of the VHL season remaining, it seems that the standings have more or less settles out to where they were supposed to be from the get-go. The expansion Moscow Menace have put together a fairly dreadful season that would have them in last place even if their point total were doubled, a clear 23 points behind the rebuilding Calgary Wranglers. After those two, there is still something of a three-way competition for the final playoff spot. New York currently holds the place with 59 points in 57 games played, but Davos (54 points in 56 games) and Vancouver (53 in 55) are both within striking distance. It should be noted that New York has the advantage of playing Moscow five more times, while the other two teams only have three apiece against the VHL's worst squad. The fourth-place Helsinki Titans, with 66 points, have positioned themselves far enough ahead of the logjam after a rough start to the season to not have to worry much about missing the playoffs. That said, they'll have a tough time reaching the third-place Toronto Legion to avoid the wild-card playoff round. At the top of the standings, Seattle holds a one-point advantage over Riga with a game in hand. That one could fall either way, and they both play Moscow two more times, so it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

5

Riga Toronto Davos Seattle

Toronto 4-2

So I was gone on vacation for a few days, and I've also more or less still obsessed with Apex (which I feel isn't a huge thing among you people anymore), so I feel like I'm kinda out of the loop on what's been happening in the VHL this season. Checking in on the standings, it seems that Helsinki has normalized itself and returned to a playoff position. We're in fifth right now, only three points ahead of New York but only two behind Vancouver. And what happened to Davos? They were doing so well, and now they're...not. Good thing there's an expansion team to make them feel better about themselves. Seattle is really good. Toronto is solid, which tends to happen when you have a guy who's 22 points clear of all but one other player in the scoring race, so that looks like it's going to be a fun race. Arroyo is probably the MVP, but could Rift or Sterling steal it away from him with continued excellence down the stretch? Also, the "Will I Retire Slipher?" odds are up to about 92%

5

S16 Draft represent

And here I was thinking that Slipher was gonna start carrying the team...great work by @Romaris and @AndrewWarren13

Well, things have certainly turned around for us in the last week or so. Almost as soon as I wrote my article last week complaining about us sucking, we're doing quite a bit better. The acquisition of Canmore and Revchenko is starting to take form, and we've shifted our lines around to help increase offensive output. We're having some struggles on the defensive end, but that was to be expected with our second pair being a rookie and a converted center. On a personal note, I'm starting to rethink my decision to retire at the deadline this year. With Slipher actually starting to play well, I could see sticking it out with him for a couple more seasons. I am pretty hyped about making a defenseman at some point, but if I can wait out the market to the point where a goalie would be a viable option that would be awesome. There's still a lot of season left, and we still have a ways to go to reach where we really should be in the standings, but it's been a promising turnaround so far.

5

Y'all need to get Zemgus Girgensons back in the ASG