Gustav

MALMO--Some thought the Nighthawks reached for Rusty Shackleford in the second round, but he's very proud to say that, with his selection at 17th overall in the VHL Entry Draft on Saturday, he's the first active, shitposting, defensive defenseman to ever be picked up by the team in the draft. Oh, wait... Anyway, Shackleford recently released a statement containing an overview of every expansion city, VHL and VHLM, including his unsolicited opinion of the women of each city. Though he seemed to be a fan of the ladies in Malmo, he neglected to mention those of other VHL cities for comparison. It follows, then, that the media quickly caught up to him, and asked what he thought. Instead of answering for every VHL city, (a visibly drunk) Shackleford instead elected to go on a ten-minute-long, less-than-kind rant about Moscow, in which he made it more than clear that Malmo's women are indeed more appealing. At least one teammate agreed with him on the spot. "That's why I signed with this team," said Vaydar Odinsson. "As soon as I heard this team was interested, I bought my plane ticket and met [GM Christopher] Miller for lunch. Mind you, he wasn't expecting me, but I met him anyway. I know my Swedish girls, and they don't call me The Boobmaster for nothing." Odinsson and Shackleford decided to end the interview at this point, as they had plans at a local strip club and were opposed to the possibility of being late.

I especially loved watching the live stream and hearing everyone go all "goddammit Gustav" when pick #5 hit and it wasn't Jagr. Of course I had to miss a few picks. Upon further review, it looks like I completely forgot about the section of players I was wildly wrong about. I'll stick that in the comments here when I have the time.

It's been a few days since the release of Gustav's Mock Draft, that big thing I wrote that actually turned out pretty well (at least for a relatively inexperienced new guy). I've been thinking about breaking it down here, and now I will, 75% because I want to and 25% because @Beaviss wanted to see it. Here you have it... List of Picks Correctly Predicted by Gustav's Mock Draft: For the sake of common sense, if a team has two consecutive picks, and a player was predicted for one and drafted at either, that player is included. For example, Owen May was my predicted #10, but was picked at #11. He is included here because both picks were Moscow's. First Round: #1: Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Riga Reign) #2: Julius Freeman (Vancouver Wolves) #3: Shane Mars (Seattle Bears) #4: Mikko Aaltonen (Riga Reign) #7: Jerry Garcia (Malmo Nighthawks) #9: Aron Nielsen (Riga Reign) Second Round: #11: Owen May (Moscow Menace) #16: Apollo Hackett (Riga Reign) #17: Rusty Shackleford (Malmo Nighthawks) #20: Valeri Morozov (Seattle Bears) Third Round: #25: Edgar Tannahill (Moscow Menace) #26: Nethila Dissanayake (Calgary Wranglers, though Riga had the pick when I wrote up the mock) #29: Jordan Tonn (Helsinki Titans) Fourth Round: #33: Edward Vigneault (Moscow Menace) #35: Emil Passerelli (Moscow Menace) #37: Nacho (Malmo Nighthawks) #39: Rhys Chism (Helsinki Titans) Fifth Round: Nothing to see here, though I will say that at this point the draft starts to become guesswork more than anything else. Overall, the mock correctly predicted 17 out of 50 picks, a rate of 34%. It hit about a third of the picks, and if we only went through the fourth round, we'd be at 17 out of 40 (42.5%). List of Players Selected One Pick Away from Mock Prediction: #5: Dmitri Volosenkov (Moscow Menace, predicted Davos at #6) #15: Bert Meyers (Helsinki Titans, predicted Vancouver at #14) #21: Beau Buefordsson (Moscow Menace, predicted Helsinki at #22) #22: Ludvig Sederstrom (Helsinki Titans, predicted Moscow at #21) #30: Guillaume Fontenette (Helsinki Titans, predicted Moscow at #31) So, this means that the mock was within one pick of 44% of players, and within one pick of over 50% of players through the first four rounds! I'm not going to figure these into any statistics here, but here are the players who went to the team I predicted, but at a different (nonconsecutive) spot or a different round: #6: Charlie Paddywagon (HC Davos Dynamo, predicted #13) #12: John Frostbeard (Calgary Wranglers, predicted #32) #28: Hans Gruber (Vancouver Wolves, predicted #18) #52: Dylan Doyle (Calgary Wranglers, predicted #40) Here's a list which breaks down the mock's accuracy by team... Malmo Nighthawks: 3/5 (60%) Riga Reign: 5/9 (55.6%) Seattle Bears: 2/4 (50%) Moscow Menace: 4/9 (44.4%) Vancouver Wolves: 1/4 (25%) Calgary Wranglers: 1/5 (20%) HC Davos Dynamo: 0/6 (0%) New York Americans: 0/2 (0%) Toronto Legion: N/A So yeah, I'd attribute quite a bit of this mock's success to dumb luck, but all in all I'm proud of it. (The above is 500 words exactly, didn't even know until I copied and pasted into Word to make sure)

@Phil what do you think about this

Can confirm, I most definitely would have screwed this up had I been in this situation.

I wonder how Beaviss feels about Ghost Peace Feet

I think Bana just set up Peace's death. Come join Third Person Gustav in Hell.

We should have all made brackets to see who dies in what order. Extra TPE to whoever wins. And speaking of winners...Mississauga is watching intently.

Sign me up. Came in second last season and my picks were 100% guesswork. Time to completely bomb it this season, because that's how life is.

Opening this thread because some may be opposed to discussion on Discord. Have fun.

For the week of 5/5-5/12: 1. The team made a few free agent signings this past week (Alexander Shaw and Jacob Rogers, to name two). How do you feel about this? 2. What are your thoughts on our current lack of defensive depth? Is this a concern? Can management be trusted? 3. Rumors have arisen about a possible rivalry of ours with Mexico City. Anything you'd like to say to @Nykonax and the Kings? 4. If you had to sign for any VHLM team other than the Hounds, right now, and they all wanted you, where would you be and why? 5. Likewise, if you had to choose any one VHL team to be drafted by, who would it be? 6. @Rayzor_7 posted a VSN article recently in which he argues that the Hounds had the worst draft out of all 3 VHLM expansion teams. Do you think this is fair? Why or why not? (sorry Rayzor) @Rayzor_7 @HulkHogan @No_Dangles @GlowyGoat @DoktorFunk @cody73 @mmarcoux98 @raghas @NavyCanuck @SweetMike666 @berocka @maximlab

I can be wrong! Nice job in the draft and good luck!

You forgot the "On May 5th, 2019, Stark signed with the Mississauga Hounds."

Might I add, you'll be at the center of many a Gustav shitpost (and in a positive light to boot) should you come to Mississauga. You get the point, I want you on my team. Winter is coming.

@Banackock You know the deal. No fancy pictures here. No copypasta. Just straight talk. First line. Next to unlimited ice time. We're deep at forward and have a great goalie, but we NEED defensemen. You know how to accept if you want to come here (and you know our locker room is good...) Good luck! -Gustav

This guy's done all that he can to help me set up my team this season and I'd love to see him get the opportunity to be the boss. He'd do a great job, guaranteed.

Boooooooooooooooo

Freeman at 2. I knew it @Beaviss

You're absolutely entitled to this opinion! I did say he could go off the board earlier; I just had him falling due to my own personal interpretation of the numbers. Good luck in the draft!

To whoever reads this and thinks I'm an idiot: I meant the exact opposite here. Calgary is reasonably set at every position but winger. Have a good day.

In Gustav's Mock Draft I did say that I don't anticipate Devise keeping the one Toronto draft pick I talked about. Not that that's an impressive prediction, because it really isn't. But I'm proud of myself nonetheless.

Now that you mention it, you're right--I admittedly didn't take the time to dig that far back, as, you know, I was trying to write detailed statements about 50 different players. I saw the front of your player page, thought, "oh, that's interesting," and put it down. You'd be higher up if I'd taken a closer look. Sorry!

First

Welcome to Gustav's Mock Draft, the first-ever reasonably-long, stupidly-self-explanatory-in-title, first-sentence-and-in-fact-the-entire-thing-containing-way-too-many-hyphens-because-that's-how-I-tend-to-write-sometimes--I'm sorry. It's a media spot, a mock draft at that, and I'll be projecting picks right up until approximately whenever I feel like it. Anyway...I've been thinking about doing this for quite some time now, but since that time is now running out, I now pretty much have to do it in order to not hate myself for not doing it. As a side note, this would not have been possible without @rjfryman and his magnificent draft spreadsheet, which you can find here should you be interested. I also took the liberty of taking the tiny team logos from @Renomitsu's mock draft, though I'm fairly certain I've seen them all over the place (correct me if I'm wrong; I am not worthy). So, without further ado... #1: Riga Reign (From Russia With Love) Hunter Hearst Helmsley |@Beaviss| C | TPE: 431 Yep, right about what we expected. I don't remember a time when HHH wasn't the projected #1 choice. HHH being great was one of the very first things I learned about this league--before I'd fully figured out how to earn TPE, before I even knew who Shane Mars was, and probably even before Julius Freeman existed. The first indication of any doubt at all I saw came this week with an article posted by Victor after Moscow traded down, aptly titled "I was going to draft Shane Mars 1st overall." The reason given here was that, after Helmsley's initial contract was up, it was impossible to say whether he'd end up sticking around with his team--in that case, Moscow, and in this case, Riga. The Reign ABSOLUTELY will take Helmsley here--not only did they do well this year, but they've also managed to set themselves up for success, owning draft picks and owning a lot of them. Convincing a player to stick around is, and always has been, quite a bit easier when you're winning and will be for a while. So, I can see Hedgehog not only taking the risk here, but seeing it pay off as well. #2: Vancouver Wolves (From Davos) Julius Freeman |@rjfryman| LW | TPE: 339 -Spade18 Fire me @Banackock What? Not Mars? You heard that right, the Wolves pick Freeman. And it's not even a tough decision for him--Beaviss trades up to this spot with Freeman in mind. Not only is he high up in the draft class in terms of TPE, and not only has he managed to cap every week (and, might I add, he's guaranteed to cap every week now that he has, like Beaviss and Spade, joined Recruitment Crew), but he entered the league as a free agent. He's had way less time to prepare than most others, and, though I haven't calculated it, I'd be willing to bet he's #1 or #2 in terms of earning rate. He's won quite a few points in the lottery, he's proven himself more than worthy research-wise (see my preliminary statement), AND he just recently started a Conan Exiles server with Beaviss (though I'm not on it, I bet they'd both appreciate some mention for it here as they're looking for new people). So sorry, Shane Mars, but there's a new #2. #3: Seattle Bears (From Calgary) Shane Mars |@Spade18| LW | TPE: 358 Here's our year-long consensus #2, in my #3 spot (again, many apologies). I see Banackock trading up, to this spot specifically, because this draft has a definite "top 3," and this guarantees that one will be around at that point. That's perfect for a team that wants to start and end their rebuild as quickly as possible, and sticking Mars at the center of it makes it that much easier to escape, and come back even more powerful, within a season or two. No matter the placement of the top 3, there's almost no question that they are the top 3, and Seattle proves it here. #4: Riga Reign (From Vancouver through Davos) Mikko Aaltonen |@GRZ| RW | TPE: 315 I'd say that Riga is planning on selling, but they've already managed to gain control of much of the first round, and their star players--Edwin Preencarnacion, Podrick Cast, and Ryan Kastelic--are still there, making this not simply a sellout but a feat of epic proportions by management (let's not forget Kallis Kriketers). This season, however, would definitely be considered the start of a rebuild for the team had they not still managed to keep up their playing ability. Riga currently has a bit of an aging roster, with only three players S63 or newer at or above 400 TPE (and guess what? They're all S63 players, nobody newer). Minus Kriketers and Kastelic, in fact, the team isn't much beyond its core of Preencarnacion and Cast, both of whom proudly represent S61. Their picks in this draft leave them with plenty to work with, and space can, and will, easily be freed up by both retirement and trading for cheap picks. Here, I'm going BPA, simply because Riga has so many options. #5: Moscow Menace (From New York) Shawnomir Jagr |@TheLastOlympian07| RW | TPE: 296 Moscow needs, well, everyone. The Menace could use players at every position there is, and here I can see them moving around the draft board to pick not the best winger available (in Dmitri Volosenkov) but the second-best winger out there, in terms of TPE. Here's why: I can say that I believe Moscow is looking for a winger here--anything else would be a reach, other than Jet Jaguar. However, Moscow actually has a half-decent center in Mark Gebauer, so I can't see them loading up that position when they can spend time building a legitimate top line. Here I put Jagr over Volosenkov simply based on reputation--TheLastOlympian has been around forever, and while Volosenkov is likely just as trustworthy, I see Moscow taking the guarantee here. #6: HC Davos Dynamo (From Riga) Dmitri Volosenkov |@SirRupertBarnes| LW | TPE: 308 A while back, Davos was sure to pick a defenseman, and if that were still the case, I would actually put my own player here, at the risk of being labeled an egomaniac (just to be clear--I think Jerry would be a reach here, as Volosenkov and Jaguar are both very good forwards with higher TPE). The team recently traded for high-TPE defenseman Shawn Glade, however, giving them a nice linemate for Smitty. This trade gives them a bit more to work with, and though I would say that they will end up investing in defense, it's no longer a pressing need. So, here, they're quite happy to find Volosenkov, who they don't necessarily need but gives them much to work with in the trade market, whether they'd like to trade him or any other one of their rising star wingers for future assets, or, perhaps, high-TPE veterans. #7: Malmo Nighthawks Jerry Garcia |@GustavMattias| D | TPE: 286 Yes, this is me. Yes, Jaguar is at 304. No, I don't think I'd be here if this were most other teams. The fact remains, though, that the only position the Nighthawks find themselves in need of filling after the expansion draft is defense, as they only have one defenseman on the roster (Basaraba Moose). At the moment, they've got two forward lines, and a 500-TPE goalie. But the first defensive pair needs filling, and, though it's been a tight race, Garcia is the best available in terms of TPE. #8: Riga Reign (From Seattle) Jet Jaguar |@gorlab| C | TPE: 304 It's about time that Jaguar went off the board, and here we see it happen. Gorlab is an experienced member of the league (since 2014!) and brings a virtual guarantee that he'll be around and active--not that that's much of a worry with this draft class. Riga has two established centers, but they're S61. I can see the team sticking Jaguar in a winger spot, or perhaps making a trade to clear some space, but regardless of what happens, Jaguar figures to find room to play in Riga. Also, remember back at #1 when I said there were potential concerns about Helmsley's chances of staying with his first team? Here's Riga's foolproof plan B if #1 overall doesn't work out. #9: Riga Reign (From Helsinki) Aron Nielsen |@solas| D | TPE: 274 Enough of Riga picking forwards--it's time to move on as by this point they've saturated their scoring lines with new talent. Nielsen comes into the draft as the #2 defenseman TPE-wise, and, though he went through a bit of an inconsistent patch during the regular season, is back at full activity and just as good as ever with solas, a 2-time Hall of Famer, steering the ship. Reputation alone may actually be enough to put him over Garcia in some GMs' rankings, but for now, I'll put him at #9. #10: Moscow Menace (From Toronto) Owen May |@FacebookFighter| G | TPE: 266 May is a bit down in the draft rankings, but he's still got room this week to bring himself up, and I happen to know he's got an update or two on the way. He'll still be ranked below players like Bert Meyers (286 TPE) when the week is over, but the difference won't be as drastic as this article makes it seem. In May, the team gets their goalie--at the moment, they own the rights to inactive Justin Cole and semi-active Chase, but May is the class's first active goaltender, which earns him the last spot of the first round. ROUND 2 #11: Moscow Menace Arnor Sigurdsson |@bluesfan55| RW | TPE: 284 GMs are letting Bert Meyers slip here, but it seems like they all have their reasons. Here, Moscow picks up Sigurdsson--again, the team has Mark Gebauer at center, and, in fact, will welcome Victor's GM player, Vladimir Pavlov, also a center, next season. So, the Menace will opt for another forward, to complete at least one decent-looking line. #12: Calgary Wranglers Chico Smeb |@xDParK| LW | TPE: 272 Won't someone pick Meyers already? Nope! It just so happens that Calgary is lacking in every position but winger. Oddly enough, this would, for sure, be Meyers (and a steal!) if Meyers hadn't converted to center from left wing late last season. Thus, Smeb goes to Calgary, and Meyers stays on the board. #13: HC Davos Dynamo (From Vancouver through Riga) Charlie Paddywagon |@DMaximus| D | TPE: 270 At this point, Meyers not being picked is likely going to make a lot of people think I'm an idiot. In fact, I initially put him down for this pick because I thought we'd gone way too far down the board. But we're talking about Davos, who owns a good top defensive pairing but not a whole ton of depth beyond that--semi-active Cayden Saint is on the team, but Shawn Glade is S62, and who better to serve as an eventual replacement than Paddywagon, whose build (90 defense already, but not a whole lot otherwise) offers a solid foundation and quite a bit of flexibility development-wise? Meyers deserves to be here (and higher!) but Davos won't regret this pick. #14: Vancouver Wolves (From Davos) Bert Meyers |@RunnerBert11| C | TPE: 286 Honestly? Vancouver doesn't need a center either, at least not at this very moment. But at this point, there's a big drop-off in talent, and it's about time Meyers went off the board (he's got the same TPE as Garcia, who I took the liberty of projecting for #7!). The pick does make a bit of sense for Vancouver--star players Beau Louth and Rauno Palo are S61 and S62, respectively, making Gritty the only center who won't be out of the picture in a few seasons. Though Meyers won't be filling any holes immediately, he'll be an important part of the machine in a while, and the Wolves are more than happy to pick up this steal at #14. #15: Helsinki Titans (From New York) Codrick Past |@Kylrad| D | TPE: 258 Helsinki could use a winger here, but there simply aren't any here that wouldn't be a reach. So, they go for a different hole to fill and pick up Codrick Past, a defenseman who will do the job of giving them someone consistently active on defense. Though players like Sidney Crosby and Jesse Wilson are S63 and active within reason, Past gives the team a defender who consistently either caps or almost caps every week, something they don't have at the moment. #16: Riga Reign Apollo Hackett |@Renomitsu| D | TPE: 231 Here, the top players in the draft rankings are centers. And, you know what? A center would be nice given Riga's current roster. But this mock satisfies the need for a center in Riga twice over in Round 1. Aside from me scoring another point in my tagging battle with Renomitsu, this pick allows me to talk about how Riga has far less defensive depth now that they've lost Shawn Glade. For Riga, only Ryan Kastelic is a high-TPE active, and in fact, he's the only Riga defenseman active on the level most GMs would like. To be honest, I'd say defense is Riga's #1 priority in the draft, but their placement in the first round is a bit tricky--if Malmo doesn't draft a defenseman, I can see the team picking up both Garcia and Nielsen. But if Malmo does, Paddywagon is a bit of a reach at #9. It's not an emergency, though--Renomitsu has media spot claims banked through God-knows-when and is a solid pickup as a league veteran. #17: Malmo Nighthawks Rusty Shackleford |@K1NG LINUS| D | TPE: 199 What? Shackleford this high up? He's staying down in the minors another season; don't you know that? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do, and by the way, I also know he's a full 64 TPE behind Maximilian Kirbsson, who hasn't been picked yet. Here's the thing about this pick: Malmo needs defensemen, even after they've drafted Garcia in the first. They'll need at least a third defenseman on their team, and being an expansion team with no new players coming up this season, it's a hole in the depth chart almost more literally than figuratively. So why don't they pick Beau Buefordsson, who's sitting at 208 TPE and represents our last defenseman going up? Well, first, Advantage likely won't be trying to win a cup this season. It simply isn't feasible, so it doesn't really matter that Shackleford is staying down another season. Plus, his TPE earn rate, in the weeks before he was forced to stop to stay down, was a bit higher than Buefordsson's, and for that reason I have him ranked a bit higher for teams that likely aren't playing to win right away. #18: Vancouver Wolves (From Seattle) Hans Gruber |@TheFlash| C | TPE: 225 Here's another pick that isn't entirely necessary at the moment. If Gruber's drafted to Vancouver, he'd have no place to play at center, especially with Bert Meyers being picked farther up. The team could use a few defenders, but again, it's a bit of a reach at this point, even after Malmo has just reached up a bit with their last pick. Instead, I say the team picks up Gruber for some nice forward depth, and either makes a move or two or waits for its aging players to move out of the picture while Gruber develops. #19: HC Davos Dynamo (From Helsinki) Maximilian Kirbsson |@Kirby| C | TPE: 263 This pick is a bit of a development-type pick for Davos--Rylan Peace and John Madden currently hold down Davos' top spots at center, and figure to do so for most of Kirbsson's career. Though Kirbsson has slipped a bit here, as there are more active players out there, he put up some very good scoring numbers for the Houston Bulls this past season (as I should very well know) and is on every week to claim some TPE, whether he's capping or not. It's also true that he was, at the beginning of the season, quite active, so this pick could very well end up being a steal for Davos if Kirbsson returns to form. And if he doesn't, then it's no big deal--he's a solid choice for depth. #20: Seattle Bears (From Toronto) Valeri Morozov |@Dangles13| LW | TPE: 213 Guess what: Seattle only has five players on their roster. Remember what I said earlier about a few teams (Moscow specifically), about how they could use players everywhere? It's even more true for Seattle--they don't have a team full of bad or inactive players, but rather a team with five decent ones and literally nothing else. Here, Seattle will consider Beau Buefordsson, but ultimately go with Morozov--they'll be getting close to filling up two forward lines at this point. ROUND 3 #21: Moscow Menace Ludvig Sederstrom |@aleks| C | TPE: 218 Sederstrom just barely manages to fall into the third round here, and I know I'll be hearing all about it on Discord should he see this. While Gebauer is OK, a GM will want someone a bit more active to play center, and Victor grabs that here with Sederstrom, someone who hasn't claimed this week but has definite first-line potential if he's active enough. While I wouldn't say he's done so much that many GMs would be inclined to reach for him, he has definite potential to be a steal. #22: Helsinki Titans (From Calgary) Beau Buefordsson |@Radcow| D | TPE: 208 Here's where I get to predict the fate of my AGM, and predicted it is--he's going to Helsinki, and this is likely the most sure I feel about any pick at this point in the draft. Number one: though Helsinki picked up Codrick Past in the last round, they would still appreciate bringing in a new era of defensemen rather than simply just one. And number two, Radcow's GM this past season (and mine as well), Sonnet, is now AGM of Helsinki, and he's likely done quite a bit to help out Quik scouting-wise. He's more aware than anyone else that Radcow is deceptively active, despite a bit of an inactive patch halfway through the season. Buefordsson to Helsinki, and I'd be willing to put money on it. #23: New York Americans (From Vancouver) Kyle Sabertooth |@uphillmoss| LW | TPE: 199 At the moment, New York's future needs a few brilliant moves to save. They have a bit of an aging roster, and next to no meaningful picks to speak of in this draft. No one draft choice, especially in the 3rd round, will save the team, and that's why I say that the Americans are here willing to pick a player who's planning on staying down in the VHLM this season, especially since he's also a player who's more active than any still on the board above him. The team can always call him up should they want to, and, if they don't, he's definitely a player who will make an impact for the team next season. #24: Riga Reign (From Davos) Kolur Bjoernsson |@jblock3| G | TPE: 172 Bjoernsson gets the nod here because goaltender is the only position that Riga hasn't gone for yet. Kriketers is S63 and tearing it up, but the team doesn't have a backup and would appreciate it for the games in which they have to use one. In the future, we may see Bjoernsson going somewhere else as valuable trade material for, say, more picks, something that they're obviously not too opposed to in Riga. #25: Moscow Menace (From New York) Edgar Tannahill |@gregreg| LW | TPE: 191 I've got a good feeling about this. In the past, gregreg has been very much in favor of being drafted to Moscow. He's also, in recent memory, outwardly expressed a wish to be called up immediately. I can see Moscow reaching for him here--he's the only active, 190-some TPE VHLMer who isn't trying to stay down, and is only down this far because he created a bit late. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go sometime in the second round, but this pick is one of the first I could really see him being chosen at. #26: Riga Reign Nethila Dissanayake |@nethi99| RW | TPE: 199 Riga doesn't have any pressing needs right now, as they've managed to fill up just about every space they have with new guys. With the incoming depreciation of Edwin Preencarnacion, and the (very) recent trade of Kisshan Shan, Riga will have space for wingers on their roster before long. It's not an immediate need, given that at least one of their many centers will likely be shifted over to wing this season, so I've given them Dissanayake, a player who's staying down in the VHLM and could be waited for if Riga is so inclined. #27: Seattle Bears (From Malmo) Aleksander Rodriguez |@Jtv123| RW | TPE: 199 Here's our other 199-TPE VHLMer. Looking at Seattle's picks (three first-rounders next season), it's fairly evident that, while they're planning on rebuilding fairly quickly, they don't expect to be out of it with this draft class alone. So, they draft Rodriguez, who plans to stay down. At the moment, Seattle doesn't care about this, and it's likely that they like the idea of being able to plan around Rodriguez's arrival next season come draft time. #28: Vancouver Wolves (From Seattle) Rhye Tyr |@Plate| D | TPE: 201 Earlier this season, Tyr was battling it out with Aron Nielsen for the title of "S66's Best Defenseman." After hitting 158 TPE and falling inactive for a bit, though, he's been surpassed by a few, and though he gets on every now and then to claim something or other, he hasn't quite stuck with the strong start he had. Vancouver picks him up here for depth, as they only have two defensemen on the roster at the moment. #29: Helsinki Titans Clayton Park |@leafssteen| G | TPE: 214 Though I'd heard (or at least thought I'd heard) earlier in the season that Park was inactive, upon checking his player page I found quite the opposite. He's a welfare claimer, but takes on various other minor point tasks which distinguish him from other welfare-and-practice-facility-only players. He figures to be a solid backup for Alexander Pepper, one of the league's premier, high-TPE goaltenders. #30: Helsinki Titans (From Toronto) Jordan Tonn |@MexicanCow123| C | TPE: 200 With Tonn, the Titans add a bit of forward depth to their lineup. Right now, the team has five forwards, and while they're all reasonably solid players in terms of activity, they'll need a bit of depth. Tonn, the last non-inactive eligible player who's going up to the VHL, gives them that here, and this may very well end up being a steal, as MexicanCow's appointment to AGM of the San Diego Marlins is indicative of activity. ROUND 4: #31: Moscow Menace Guillaume Fontenette |@okocha5| D | TPE: 156 Anyone who's been paying attention to the VHLM's latest draft class knows that Fontenette, a pickup of the Mexico City Kings in this past week's VHLM Dispersal Draft, has been steadily climbing the rankings, right after I listed him as semi-active on my own draft board and moved on with my life. As a consequence, I'm forced to put him here--I believe he was below 100 just a few weeks ago, and, assuming VHL GMs do their homework on these things, he wouldn't be out of the question for even the mid-3rd round. This is Moscow's first defensive selection, and, while he won't go up to the VHL, figures to be a valuable addition to the Menace next season. #32: Calgary Wranglers John Frostbeard |@FrostBeard| RW | TPE: 184 FrostBeard is very close to Blade. Blade is very close to Bush. Calgary needs a winger, and Frostbeard is available. He'd be a good choice, too, with this pick. Starting off this past season highly active, Frostbeard trailed off a bit midway through, despite maintaining his status as an important member of the community. Recently, too, he was chosen as the new GM of the Houston Bulls (Horns Up!), a bit of a rise in status which may cause him to go off the board a bit earlier than this. If he's available here, though, expect him to be a lock for Calgary. #33: Moscow Menace (From Vancouver) Edward Vigneault |@Patpou22| D | TPE: 182 I'll be the first to say I had doubts about Vigneault's activity heading into the VHLM draft--he hung at 138 for quite some time, then brought that up to 143 and stayed there for a while too. Though largely a consistent welfare claimer, Vigneault has been known to do a media spot or two (including his first-ever media spot, infamously written in French) and has managed to re-legitimize himself with a burst of recent activity. While it's impossible to say whether he'll turn out highly valuable in the future, most teams here, and perhaps a bit earlier, will be willing to take the chance. #34: HC Davos Dynamo Juan Jaundice |@Jus| G | TPE: 166 This pick may come as a surprise to some, but Jaundice recently made a bit of a comeback, claiming a media spot and capping last week. Davos needs goalie depth, and, as by this point they will have picked up quite a few valuable skaters, they can use their fourth-rounder on Jaundice, who may, in a couple seasons' time, depending on which way his activity turns, end up as the starter. #35: Moscow Menace (From New York) Emil Passarelli |@SparrowLTD| RW | TPE: 189 Passerelli is currently in a tie, TPE-wise, with fellow right winger Mat Tocco, but I'm putting him first as Tocco has somehow gotten by without claiming even so much as welfare in the realm of one-time point tasks. Passarelli, however, is a consistent welfare claimer, giving him the edge should both continue to claim as they have been. Plus, again, Moscow will take anyone they can get. #36: Riga Reign Mat Tocco |@Matmenzinger| RW | TPE: 189 Here's that guy I was talking about in the previous pick. Like most at this point, Tocco is staying down in the VHLM, and he's simply the best player available for Riga to pick up. The fact that he is, in fact, staying down gives Riga lots of room to work with, as they have a full season to watch his progress and decide whether he's worth making room for on the roster. #37: Malmo Nighthawks Nacho |@Nacci25| C | TPE: 158 Nacho may actually go higher up the board than this, and by quite a bit, in fact, as he should be on a few "hidden gems" lists should anyone write any sometime soon. Unlike most around him, Nacho, while he doesn't tend to cap every week, is a graphics guy rather than a welfare claimer. This should move him up on many scouts' lists, and Malmo at 37 is, in my opinion, a conservative estimate. Look for him to begin to be considered around #30. #38: Malmo Nighthawks (From Seattle) AJ Axelsen |@littleboi| RW | TPE: 144 Axelsen is another hidden talent that I'd like to throw into the mix as another forward draftee by Malmo. While he does claim welfare, he's a bit like (hypothetically Moscow's) Vigneault in that he claims all his minor point tasks on top of that to make him not half bad at the end of the day. Axelsen could again be drafted higher than #38, but the pick makes sense for Malmo--they've focused on defense so far in this mock, and Axelsen provides a bit of needed forward depth. #39: Helsinki Titans Rhys Chism |@Jables| C | TPE: 156 Helsinki again goes with the forward-depth choice, and picks up a weekly welfare guy in Chism, who's recently been on the site a bit more often since his choice in the VHLM Dispersal Draft by Philadelphia. He's really only been on for welfare and practice facility every week, but he has been on every week, and actually tagged me in Philly's press conference earlier this week. He's in and out of the locker room, and the fact that Sonnet is familiar with him as a player may be convincing enough for Quik to pull the switch and pick him up here. #40: Calgary Wranglers (From Toronto) Dylan Doyle |@zepheter| LW | TPE: 116 This pick may come off as a surprise--we have Blake Laughton, a 151 TPE winger (and former teammate of mine) on the board. Doyle, however, is our first player since Nacho to not do welfare every week. While he did last week, he's written some media spots, showing definite potential to rise above many ranked above him in the future. Even if Calgary drafts Frostbeard, too, they could use some winger depth, and Doyle will give them this in a season. ROUND 5 #41: Moscow Menace Anthony Amberback |@Oost| D | TPE: 164 Amberback at 41 is a steal for the Menace, who pick up a third defenseman in the 5th round. Here, he's easily the best player available, but Moscow is perhaps the first team where this pick makes sense. Amberback claims welfare and practice facility every week, plus extra activities, and goes perhaps much later than he should here. #42: Calgary Wranglers Hunter Wagner |@Inf1d3l| LW | TPE: 169 The Wranglers here pick up Wagner, another practice-facility-and-welfare-plus-some-extra-stuff guy who will figure to form a decent combination with Frostbeard and Doyle next season. One could argue that Calgary would be overcompensating for its lack of wingers at this point, but since most of their choices aren't going up this season, #43: HC Davos Dynamo (From Vancouver) Samuel Sparrow |@Birdman| D | TPE: 154 Sparrow was recently passed by Fontenette in the TPE rankings, which also moves him down a bit in the draft. Here, we see him being picked up by Davos, who we've seen picking up Charlie Paddywagon back in the second. While Sparrow won't be going up this season, he can certainly end up being a steal in the 5th for Davos, who would appreciate a bit of support from an already-developed player once Shawn Glade begins to depreciate. #44: HC Davos Dynamo Blake Laughton |@Grape| LW | TPE: 151 Laughton comes off the board with this pick, and some might say it's about time. He's a welfare claimer, but gets on every week to claim it. Personally, I can also attest to his presence in the locker room, when he has the time for it. Look for him to go up to Davos next season for the sake of depth, and depending on his development, look for Davos to unload a forward or two in a trade. #45: New York Americans Pascal Batz |@efiug| C | TPE: 139 Though New York needs a winger a bit more than they need a center at this point, Batz gives them room to work with as he's not going up right away. He's the best forward available at the moment, and, if the team doesn't make any moves to make room, he can always be moved to wing for more ice time. #46: Riga Reign Cody Smith |@cody73| LW | TPE: 138 I'll never understand how Riga managed to get all these draft picks without giving up most of their own--and without completely selling out, to boot. Smith is a bit of a developmental choice here for Riga--he's a welfare guy, but like the others on my list, is on every week. The team can do whatever they'd like here--keep him, trade him, make room for him on the roster this season--anything. As a side note, Smith will end up being the first player ever drafted from my VHLM team, the Mississauga Hounds, and I'll admit that this mention was half of the reason I didn't stop after the fourth round. #47: Malmo Nighthawks Sunny Burst |@Sunburst| G | TPE: 114 The Nighthawks pick up Burst here, as their current goaltender is a S62 welfare claimer. Burst has been increasingly active lately, putting out what one could call a "burst" of activity prior to the expansion draft that made everyone's choices all the more difficult. Here, I can see Advantage pulling the trigger and going with the goalie, hoping that Burst's TPE will rise to a decent level before Johnny Havenk Carison is out of the league and before an early draft pick or an expensive trade is necessary for the position. #48: Seattle Bears Devin Gabella |@Gabella19| LW | TPE: 132 The Bears are here caught between Gabella and Halifax's Blake Gaudette (at least in terms of TPE level), but choose Gabella because Halifax is a Satanic cult Gaudette spent about a month as an inactive. While Gaudette seems to be back for good, with solid claims in the past couple weeks, this could hurt his draft stock a bit, and Gabella is chosen over him. #49: Helsinki Titans Ben Hafkey |@ItsMcLovin| LW | TPE: 112 So I was careful to drop the phrase "in terms of TPE level" in the last pick, and I'd like to explain exactly why here. The next player off the board is not Gaudette, but Ben Hafkey, a player who, if I remember correctly, had only 71 TPE when I first made my dispersal draft board. His activity has increased quite a bit since then, making him not only a steal for Philadelphia in the dispersal draft but a potential steal in the VHL as well, as Helsinki here digs into the TPE ratings to select him. #50: Toronto Legion Walter Clements |@cpetrella| C | TPE: 134 I actually don't have a tiny little Toronto logo to stick around the name here, as Renomitsu's mock was 4 rounds and we didn't get to this pick yet. Though I'd be very surprised if Devise actually keeps this pick, Clements is a choice that makes sense for Toronto. They need a center, first of all, and Clements is reasonably active--if I could find a more appealing acronym for "Welfare Plus Extra Stuff" than "WPES," I'd have been using it at this point, especially since Clements certainly fits the description. So! That concludes the first-ever "Gustav's Mock Draft" (I'll come up with a better name next season, I promise). Enjoy!