Season 68 has just started, but already we can see a worrying sign - expansion teams are not doing so well. Perhaps as expected, not going to be in the top of the standings right away, but still when you look the standings and then go take a look at the roster of D.C Dragons, it´s fair to ask - why did VHL expand?
Prague Panthers have made an effort to run a team that tries to win games, so it's unfair to even mention them next to D.C Dragons and in this expansion rant, but let's talk about D.C Dragons, six games - zero wins. Ten goals scored and thirty against. Bad start or lack of effort from the team and management?
D.C Dragons is a team that has 8 players in the roster, that is right: 8, but only 7 have been playing this year so far. They don´t have a goalie, so the bot has been playing. This a team that has 27 million dollars free to be used on players, but they refuse, why? If we quickly study the available free agents in vhlportal we can see that Joe Nixon is free to be signed as a goalie, then you have 12 other players who are over 250 TPE - they have to be better than the bots? Why don´t they call the younger players up from the juniors? Surely there is at least a few who don´t mind playing in the big show and in a massive role instead of spending the year in juniors?
How is Prague Panthers able to run an expansion team that looks like a team and by the looks of it D.C United just refuses to even put together a decent lineup that tries to win, you have the cap space to sign a 340 TPE goalie, but you still go with a bot goalie. Have centers, wingers and defenders available to be signed, but still, they go with bots and double shifting. To add extra humor value to it all - Enorama does not even have his own player in the team, McWolf same thing.
I mean I get it, someone has to finish last, not everybody has the ability to stay on top year after year, expansion teams are not the favorites to win the championship right away and that is the way it should go, but there has to be a limit to this.
At what point is the league going to step in? Are we seriously going to watch a full season of this and hope they get maybe 5 wins all year? If that is the case and they are allowed to run their team like that and mock the league by not even trying - why was the expansion even needed? Where are the players who so desperately needed to get ice time, oh wait I know where they are: not in D.C Dragons.
Must be nice to add team into the league to watch them not even try to win games.
For the misconduct of illegally back-claiming point tasks, as well as duplicates of the birthday tpe giveaway and false doubles claims, @Advantage has received the following punishment:
-He has been relieved of his Updater duties
-All false claims have been removed from both players
-TPE/Update ban, for both players, effective immediately through September 29th.
He may resume earning TPE and updating his players on September 30th.
Hey. How'd ya like that title? Got you all riled up, didn't it? Well now I'm here to disappoint you by informing you that the subject of this article really isn't that big of an issue. It certainly bothers me, and I know there are others who are not in favor of such a practice, but especially in today's VHL, it can be argued that it doesn't actually make a major impact. Alright, now that I've failed to deliver on the promise of clickbait fulfillment and lost most of you, let's get into our analysis of every trade this offseason that involved a GM member's team getting their non-GM player.
Trade 1
Davos Receives:
Shawn Glade*
S68 VAN 1st (10th overall; G Samuel Ross)
Vancouver Receives:
S69 TOR 1st
S70 DAV 1st
As you can see here, I have the player in question, in this case Shawn Glade, denoted with an asterisk. Look out for more of that later. Anyways, here we have a whale of a deal that started the offseason with a bang. This deal gave Davos two first round picks in the draft that just occurred on Sunday, although they ended up only picking in the first round once under interesting circumstances (more on that later). Meanwhile, Vancouver did as Vancouver does, picking up multiple prime assets that Beaviss can use to either keep the machine churning or split into smaller pieces.
Vancouver Analysis
I figure I’d get this one out of the way first, because boy is the other side of this gonna be a doozy. The idea for Vancouver was clear here, with the team moving on from a defenseman that was getting older and picking up some strong assets in return. Toronto is re-tooling so that first rounder should net the team one of the top recreates in the deep Season 69 class, while Davos will have to do a lot of work to be competitive in Season 70 considering the age of many of their core players. This deal could end up being Shawn Glade, who Vancouver very well may have had eyes on leaving exposed to the expansion draft, and the Season 68 10th overall pick for back-to-back picks in the top half of the first round.
Davos Analysis
This deal made a lot of sense from Davos’ standpoint. Davos’ set of defensemen last season looked solid on paper, but following the loss of Alvaro Jokinen, Marvin Harding and Guy LeGrande over the course of the season, the team wanted to beef up their remaining players in the unit, with Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen being a clear franchise defenseman and Charlie Paddywagon a rising star, while the aging Konstantin Mulligan was the only other rostered player at the position. The team moved on from Mulligan and pulled off big deals to acquire Glade and Elasmobranch Fish, ultimately sending away four 1st round picks and young defenseman Brandon LeBlanc for the two defensemen and a 1st rounder.
That being said, there are quite a few reasons to look at this deal as an overpayment on the part of Davos. Glade as a player is an asset of diminishing value, entering his second season of regression and looking like he was possibility to be exposed in the impending upcoming expansion draft. Even with the team picking up the 10th overall pick, they traded away a first in a draft filled with recreates and set themselves up with a core that might be too old to truly be competitive enough to make the gamble of sending away their Season 70 1st rounder worth it.
Interestingly enough, the story with this deal doesn’t end here. The 10th overall pick that Davos acquired here didn’t stay with them long, hopping right back on the plane to Vancouver three days later when Davos gave Vancouver the pick back along with a staggering five players (including Mulligan) in a massive cap-clearing move. This pick would then move back to Davos once again, as the team traded their 4th overall pick for the 10th and 20th picks of the draft just two days after sending the pick to its original home.
So in effect, Davos traded the 4th overall pick, Toronto’s Season 69 first rounder, their own Season 70 first rounder, Konstantin Mulligan, Don Draper, Pekka Pouta, and two other inactive goalies for Shawn Glade, the 10th overall pick, the 20th overall pick, the 45th pick, and a 3rd rounder in Season 69. That’s quite a lot to give up for one player, a good pick, and a bunch of decent picks, even when you factor in the salary dump. With all of that factoring together I’d have to say Vancouver is the clear winner in this deal.
Grade for Davos: C
Grade for Vancouver: A
Trade 2
New York Receives:
S68 HSK 1st (9th overall; F Fredrik Elmebeck)
S68 HSK 4th (47th overall; F Case Martell)
Helsinki Receives:
ACL TEAR*
Don’t expect the same level of detail for this deal as for the last one. This deal was still pretty big, with a top flight talent in ACL TEAR changing hands, but there isn’t quite as much to unpack here overall. New York already had a lot of stock in the Season 68 draft, and this deal just added to their stockpile of selections. They ended up reaching the draft with four first rounders, three picks in the second round, and a total of 12 selections in the draft’s first five rounds. Helsinki, meanwhile, has been a good team for a long time and as a result, has seen a lot of their key forwards get older (while also ultimately losing Matt Thompson). Being able to add a good young forward as a replacement for Thompson allows the team to re-tool their group in the future rather than having to rely on a mass of young players panning out.
New York Analysis
To be honest I’m not sure I understand this deal from a New York side. I understand ACL TEAR had a weird build, but he ended up getting a TPA re-roll (which New York knew he would do) and becoming a more conventional VHL forward. Maybe the idea was avoiding lumping the salaries of young players like Boris the Forest, Guy LeGrande, and Alexander Rodriguez along with ACL TEAR and the team’s ton of Season 68 draftees all together. Quik is a top earner though, as evidenced by TEAR entering his second season over 550 TPE, so it stands to reason that the return would be higher than picks 9 and 47.
The one thing that salvages the deal for New York’s side is the quality of players they were able to add with those picks. Fredrik Elmebeck has shown to be a great earner on the site and presence in the locker room so far, so the team added a key piece with that selection. Meanwhile, taking a 4th round flier on Shaka is always a good idea.
Helsinki Analysis
Helsinki looked set to lose future Hall-of-Famer Matt Thompson to free agency. It would be a tough blow to the Titans, who had just won the European Conference for the second consecutive season and come off a fourth consecutive Continental Cup appearance. The team still has some top forwards, but Julian Borwinn and Dan Wilinsky are entering regression, so the team had to supplement Jordan Tonn with another young forward to put them in a position where they can continue to sustain their success. With that in mind, the price for Quik to acquire his own player in just his second season looks favorable for the Titans.
Grade for New York: B-
Grade for Helsinki: A+
Trade 3
Toronto Receives:
Brian Strong
David Lindberg
MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS
Teagen Glover
Malmo Receives:
Ryan Sullivan Jr.*
The Toronto Legion are well known in the Devise era to be extremely draft pick-averse, and it certainly shows in this deal, as the team traded away Ryan Sullivan Jr. for a large group of players. Devise sent away his highest TPE player but was able to spread Sullivan into three professional players and an inactive prospect. Malmo, meanwhile, was looking to push into contention, already housing a talented young roster and adding first overall pick Condor Adrienne, who broke the record for most TPE for a draftee. The team would later sign Matt Thompson to really set themselves up well for Season 68.
Toronto Analysis
This deal was necessary for Toronto. After seeing two of their top three scorers (Veran Dragomir and Oyorra Arroyo) retire, and later their fourth leading scorer (Joey Boucher) decide to move on from the Legion, they desperately needed forwards. The team also needed defensemen, with Sullivan Jr. switching to forward shortly before the deal and ultimately leaving only the elderly Lando Baxter and Cayden Saint to team up with Tzuyu on the blue line.
The real prize of this deal was Teagen Glover. Glover is in that steady range of earning where he’ll continue to grow while being an inexpensive second line center for Toronto. Meanwhile, the additions of Strong and DESTRUCTIOUS give Toronto a winger and a defenseman, respectively, just entering the prime of their careers. Neither is a game changer, but both are good earners and good members in general. Lindberg, as mentioned before, is inactive, so he doesn’t really factor in too much here.
Malmo Analysis
Advantage has done a terrific job with Malmo so far. That much is apparent when you look at how many players Malmo gave to Toronto between this and the Boucher deal, and then consider how deep their young roster currently is. The team currently has 13 skaters on the roster over 350 TPE, with six of those players still in their first three seasons and eight of them being at least two seasons away from regression. Factor in talented young goalie Michael Johnson, and Malmo is well-set to win now and for the next few seasons.
As far as Sullivan Jr. goes, he should slot in well as a playmaker on the first line with Thompson and Phil Marleau while Matthew Materazo heads up the second unit. Advantage hasn’t been a huge earner with Sullivan Jr., but he’s still clocking in just under 800 TPE and has half of his career left.
Another possible small factor here is the fact that Devise’s second player, veteran Mikka Pajari, plays for Malmo. Devise and Advantage are longtime friends, so it’s not surprising to see him look to help set up Malmo while re-tooling his own team (and certainly benefitting from the two trades) considering all of those variables.
This deal adds up to a win for both sides. Toronto was able to use this deal as well as the other trade with the Nighthawks to turn individual assets into expanded depth on his depleted roster, while Malmo sent away guys they weren’t going to have space for while picking up players that can benefit them for their Season 68 Cup run. I’d say Malmo benefits here slightly more, but the difference really isn’t a whole lot.
Grade for Toronto: B+
Grade for Malmo: A-
Trade 4
Seattle Receives:
Maxim Kovalchuk*
DC Receives:
S68 TOR 4th
S69 SEA 3rd
There really isn’t gonna be a lot to talk about here. Even if you find the practice of GMs trading for or otherwise acquiring their second players deplorable, you shouldn’t find much issue with this deal, as Enorama selected Kovalchuk in the expansion draft specifically with the mind to send him back to Seattle for picks.
Seattle Analysis
It was a smart strategy on Seattle’s part to utilize Bana’s second player to use a protection slot on another player. They didn’t have to give up much to get him back, but that’s to be expected in a deal like this. All in all, it was a good, creative way for Seattle to keep their players and send off smaller assets to a new team.
DC Analysis
Not really much more to say here. Enorama decided he’d make the move for Kovalchuk with a mind for getting more picks, a bold strategy to begin his franchise. Again, he could have maybe taken Bana for a bit more, but I understand not wanting to burn bridges early in your GMing run. I’ll still have to tip this deal slightly in Seattle’s favor because they lost less than most other teams to expansion.
Grade for Seattle: A
Grade for DC: A-
Stay tuned for part 2 in just a few minutes!
Part 2
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Season 67 VHL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Player Induction: D - Ay Ay Ron @boubabi
Fittingly, as the member behind the player is allowed to return to the VHL, so his most recently retired player is inducted into the Hall of Fame. There was some debate over Ay Ay Ron since his retirement, given the late career slump and move to forward, but ultimately his peak as the VHL's best defenceman for 3 seasons was hard to overlook. A joint record 3 Beketov Trophies (tied with Conner Low), a large accumulation of Wylde and Valiq Trophies (and almost certainly 3 Labatte Trophies if they existed at the time), perhaps my placement of AAR in essentially the top 15 defencemen of all time may have been driven by recency bias, but he is certainly among the best 25-30 we've seen.
Finally, questions were raised about his playoff performances, but AAR stepped up when it mattered as playoff MVP in S60, driving Helsinki to the 3rd Continental Cup of their 9-season dynasty, of which he was an essential part.
Full stats and achievements below:
S68 Player Voting Results:
Ay Ay Ron - 11/14
Mathias Chouinard - 2/14
Keaton Louth - 1/14
Builder Induction: Matt Bailey @Quik
Quik is one of those members who we could have easily turned back to at some point if he hadn't come back and said, you know, we should probably induct him. If you simply took his first period of activity (S1-S19), when he produced 3 straight Hall of Famers (Matthew Pogge, Branden Snelheid, and Matt Bailey) and successfully managed the Helsinki Titans to the Continental Cup in S15, there was already enough to warrant at least a discussion for a Builder induction.
Quik then spent most of the next years away from the VHL - although one of his few players in between, the S34 draftee Matteo Gallo, is still one of my favourite members of the S36 Davos cup-winning team - but once he came back with Mats Johnsson in S57, he has become an absolutely integral member of the league. A perfect mix of sim league experience but also in many ways a fresh pair of eyes, Quik rose back to prominence as a moderator and member of the Board of Governors as we came out of contraction, and has generated a lot of discussion in a time when the league missed exactly that. He was rewarded for his enthusiasm by becoming a VHL Commissioner, a position he has performed very well to this day, while also coming back for a second successful stint as Helsinki GM.
We often induct Builders after their biggest achievements are already behind them, but it wouldn't surprise me if Quik is only at the start of his renaissance and the league continues to expand and grow under his watch.
*Builder voting this season was a straight choice between two unanimous options - you will likely see the other member inducted into the Hall of Fame in S68.
I am applying for the position of Philadelphia Reapers GM. Now I know there is a lot of candidates that will likely be applying, some with great criteria, some with great backgrounds and so on, but I am not here to talk about them, I am here to talk about me. Today, I want to share why I will be the best applicant for this position.
IR hired me two seasons ago, when we officially were given the Marlins expansion team. Since then, I have learned a lot, and craved more for myself in the management side of things. Now, I can successfully:
Make Lines
Use portal for GM purposes (been instructed how to, anyways)
Handle myself in a professional manner
I've also made it my duty to ensure that the players are my number one priority, whether they need help with the builds, or need help with achievement tracker, or just about anything they could ask for, I am there. I promise to provide a healthy, fun, safe and active locker room atmosphere, as I have with the Marlins. I've made it my goal and my mission as an AGM not only to see it that our team finds success, but primarily to make sure our PLAYERS have fun.
A lot of our players this season were new to the league, they hadn't ever experienced the VHL or the VHLM like many other members have before, and at times we could've sold off, at times we could've tanked and let them go, but because of the experience we created for them, they actually told us they'd rather stay, then leave, and it's good to know I was able to contribute to their happiness in my time as AGM.
So if you want someone who is serious, but able to have fun, simple and relaxed, but also dedicated to the cause, and if you want someone who genuinely CARES about the well-being of his team, his players and their happiness, then look no further...I am your guy. I want this more than anything, I've actively done my part in trying to get a GM spot for so long, I am now hoping this is my chance.
Overall surprisingly quiet powerplays from both teams so far, especially provided the number of PP/PK minutes we've seen to this point. Hopefully the second line will keep waking up!
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okochastar reacted to Bayley in Welfare/Pension (September 23-29)
okochastar got a reaction from oilmandan in GM 109: Moscow Menace vs. Helsinki Titans
okochastar got a reaction from gorlab in VHL Predict the score (S68 W1)
