McLovin

Review: I absolutely love how many layers are put into this graphic! The city scape and the faded logo in the background, the precision of the logos placed on the jerseys, everything about this is very carefully crafted and well polished! I can tell this is a graphic that had a lot of effort put into it so I'm a big fan of it! Maybe once the Aces have a team I'll even commission you for a graphic for us too!

The Future of the Aces Taking a page out of @JCarson's book, we're gonna be taking a look at the year the Aces had this season, and see what the most likely path to take from this abysmal season and the lessons it taught the Aces. The Aces at the moment have two rostered players of which they can retain for next season, that being Finneas Finnegan O Cleirigh and Miles Bryant. Two solid players with good earnings that will be the center pieces of the Aces roster over the next season or two. As was evident from this seasons performance however, two players are not nearly enough to be competitive, as the Aces of writing this article still only have 2 wins on the season, with a whopping 59 regulation losses and 4 overtime losses to match. It definitely has been a historically awful season for Aces fans, and a far cry from the elite offensive juggernaut they were just two seasons ago. With this in mind, let's look towards the future and assess how and when the Aces can become competitive again. As it stands this season, the Aces have a great deal of picks to work with in this seasons draft, but especially the next. It is expected that the Aces will select the son of Las Vegas Aces legend Juan Ceson @dylanjj37 Manny first overall, and he is projected to grow rapidly and become a star d-man by S95. Manny Ceson looks to be everything his father was and even more with his goals to make it all the way to the pros, solidifying his families name in the history books of the VHL. With their future captain and star defenseman of the future secured, it's just a matter of how the Aces utilize the rest of their draft capital this season. With a first, second and three thirds this season, the Aces aren't expected to fill every positional need with the draft alone, which means they'll have to rely on the historically unreliable waiver and free agent market. As anyone who's been around the management game of the VHLM over the last few seasons know, unless you are a really good team, the chances of you signing waivers on a consistent basis (and getting ones that don't immediately retire from your team once the going gets hard instead of requesting a trade or pushing through adversity) are remarkably slim. It's going to be a retool year for the Aces in S95, but if all goes according to plan, the Aces will have the means to compete for a Founder's Cup again by the trade deadline in S95, and most definitely by S96 just with the amount of assets they'll be working with by that point. Depending on the ability of the Aces management team to draft well and pick up gems, as well as their ability to trade and manage assets (which compared to this season left much to be desired), the future of the Aces is a bit in the air. Only time will tell what will happen for the boys however, as for now, all we get to do is watch them get blown out by 5+ goals every game!

should i take dyl first overall

Week ending 6/30/24 Presser! Answer all 6 questions for 2 TPE! 1. So, we're not really doing too hot right now. What're your thoughts on the season so far? 2. With us basically being a lock for first overall, who do you hope we pick up in the draft? 3. How should we approach the offseason and what kind of direction should the Aces take for next season? Rebuild, all in, competitive retooling? 4. What are your thoughts about the rest of the M? Who do you think is going to go all the way? 5. Opinion on renaming Juan Ceson Arena to something else? What would you suggest it be renamed to? 6. Should Las Vegas relocate to Denver in the near future? (Only correct answer is yes with a 5 page essay on all the reasons why)

A Historic Season For All The Wrong Reasons (And Deep Dive Into VHLM Asset Management) The Las Vegas Aces are having an incredibly historic season this year in the VHLM, but as those who watch the M know, it is not for any good reason, and today we'll take a look at what led to this predicament they find themselves in, and what lead to this even being possible in a developmental league. To put it plainly, the Aces suck right now. Like, bad. They're currently 2-42-4, a point percentage of a staggeringly low 0.083%, and a goal differential of -185 through only 48 games. To top it all off, they're on a sixteen game losing streak where they have barely scored double digits worth of goals in that span. One could ask how this team, who only two seasons ago were at the pinnacle, the absolute top of the mountain of the VHLM, constantly dominating in offensive numbers, setting franchise records and riding win streaks left and right, have fallen so far from grace and are now at the precipice of becoming an absolute joke. The answer is simple: Poor asset management by yours truly. GMing in the VHLM is vastly different to GMing in ANY form, across any league, in any capacity. From NHL franchise modes, to the top dog GMs in the VHL, there is nothing quite like the M. I took the job during the start of a harsh rebuild. The Aces were in a constant state of inconsistency, never being good enough to go all the way, but being too good to tank or earn high picks. They were in management hell, where nothing short of a miracle or decisive action one way or another would shake the foundation. I came in, and I took the path of going all in. I recruited a bunch of people, built an offensive superteam that lasted for 3 seasons (which in the M might as well be 10), and took them all the way to the Finals (we don't talk about the ending of that playoff run though.) The problem became that I didn't predict how suddenly the rebuild would come, as my mind was still set in that of a traditional GM's, in which you can flip aging assets for younger underdeveloped talent, or picks. The thing is about high end talent in this league however is that once they hit the summit of the talent pool in the league, that being a mere 200 TPE, they're gone almost immediately after to the E. I'm not gonna go on a long winded tangent about how I feel like the E is an unnecessary gap between the pros and the minors, but you can understand my surprise when HALF my team ended up not being able to come back after our best season with that squad. To any potential future GMs in the M, heed my advice. Asset management in the M is incredibly difficult, across the board, not just in player management. Plan eight moves ahead in every regard. Pick minimum requirements in the draft and a waiver system that definitely favors winning and already stacked teams over empty roster teams add to the difficulty of an already incredibly micromanage intensive process, and to excel in this league requires patience and serious luck. That'll do it for my tangent and this theme week article however. I'd love to hear thoughts in the responses on asset management, potential improvements the league or GMs like myself can make to improve upon existing systems and ways to make teams like the Aces more appealing to waivers and draft picks so historically bad seasons like this are a rarity in a developmental league. Thanks for reading!

This is the canon Aces logo and color scheme until further notice. I LOVE this

Condition met on this trade:

Also claiming 2/2 because I accidentally wrote over 2k words

(graphic maybe pending) VSN Presents: S94 VHL Trade Analysis! Hello and welcome to this edition of VSN where today we will be covering some of the biggest trades that have occurred in S94! As we start approaching the midway point of the VHL season, this season has already seen a great number of player and asset movements across the league, as teams aim to address issues early to bolster their rosters, address weaknesses, and give teams better means of impacting their place in the standings and playoff aspirations! Join us tonight as we break down some of the most notable trades so far in S94 and analyze their implications for the teams involved! June 3rd: HC Davos receives: Marek Nowaczyk @Chillybro Stefan Nikolaev @Is_thatok S95 RIG 1st Round Pick Riga receives: Sadie St-Louis @sadie S95 RIG 2nd Round Pick S96 TOR 2nd Round Pick The 4th overall pick from S86 is going back to Riga in a deal with Davos! Having previously played for Riga from S87 to S90, Sadie St-Louis has had a difficult time finding a permanent home in the VHL since being traded to Calgary in the offseason following S90. Having played 2 seasons with the Wranglers, a season in Seattle and then starting this season on the Dynamo, St-Louis looks to reignite the production and success of their early career in the VHL with a team that knows them well! Being likely slotted in as the top line LW, Sadie has managed to put up 7 points in 13 games! Riga also made out with their own 2nd round pick from this season, as well as Toronto’s 2nd from next season, so an overall very decent haul! Let’s take a look at the other side of the trade, and we’ll grade how well each team pulled away from this trade! HC Davos Dynamo is in the midst of a tough season so far to put it fairly. As of writing this article, they’re 7-16-1, very much on the outside looking in in terms of playoff competitiveness. Being able to offload a player that you won’t be able to carry into the mid to long term future for a first round pick is a great return, but they didn’t stop there! Bringing in Marek Nowaczyk & Stefan Nikolaev, they’re hoping both of these guys become good depth earning players in the future. Marek Nowaczyk is a S93 3rd round pick from Seattle, currently playing their rookie season in the VHLE on Oslo. Stefan Nikolaev is a S90 3rd round pick as well, currently in the VHL during their rookie season as well. In 26 games, they’ve put up 4 points. While not the biggest point production, having a player on the roster to immediately replace the departing player is useful, and they still have a fair amount of room to grow to become an excellent player with. With all being said, I’d say the immediate winner of this trade is obviously the team that pulled away with the big piece of this trade. Riga walking away with two second round picks as well definitely helps the blow of losing their first round pick. A very strong case can and probably should be made that Davos will win this trade down the line however as they walked away from this trade with three potential roster players to build with in the future! VSN Grades: HC Davos: 8/10 Riga: 9/10 ---------------------------------------------------------- Riga receives: Annie Oaks @Noodle Enjoyer The Frenchman @OrbitingDeath S95 CGY 2nd Vancouver receives: Martin Kemp @leafsman Pierre Marc Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito S96 RIG Conditional 3rd Riga stayed busy on the 3rd, as they made another big deal, this time with Vancouver! Riga got Annie Oaks, a former 4th overall pick from S93, currently playing their rookie season in the VHL, and producing respectable numbers! The crazy part about this acquisition is that Annie Oaks isn’t even the biggest piece of this trade, as VHL veteran The Frenchman was also traded to Riga in this deal. A 3 time 100+ point player, The Frenchman has solidified himself as a VHL great, and now gets to ride out the rest of his career with the team that originally drafted him 1st overall in S86! A proven player performer, The Frenchman is going to bolster Riga significantly in their quest for a Cup this season! With Vancouver giving up significant pieces, you’d expect them to get big pieces back, and get big pieces back they did! In this trade, Vancouver received Pierre Marc Bouchard, the former 3rd overall pick from S94 & Martin Kemp, the 10th overall pick from S90! Pierre Marc Bouchard is having a remarkable season with Bratislava this season, having put up 40 points in 24 contests so far. With their skill already greatly exceeding that of the average VHLE player, Bouchard is expected to make an immediate and major impact in the VHL in S95! The main roster piece coming back from Riga was Martin Kemp, who so far this season is having a career year, having put up 26 points in 25 games between Vancouver and Riga! They also received a conditional 3rd rounder, which will become a 2nd if Kemp does not re-sign with Vancouver prior to free agency this offseason. This is a blockbuster of blockbusters as every player moved in this deal has the potential to make this trade a steal for the team who acquired them! It’s very hard to gauge a winner, but again I have to lean on who gets the most right now, and considering Bouchard is still in the E and unable to contribute to Vancouver’s playoff hopes this season, I have to give the slight edge to Riga! Long term though I definitely give this to Vancouver, as pulling away with two former first round picks and a second rounder will definitely help them build a powerhouse of a team in a few seasons! VSN Grades: Riga: 9/10 Vancouver: 9/10 ---------------------------------------------------------- May 16th: Toronto receives: Nils Andersson @Viper S94 HSK 2nd S94 RIG 3rd Moscow receives: Steve Lattimer @pugsood S94 TOR 2nd Toronto made a big splash prior to season start as they acquired Nils Andersson and two picks from Moscow for Steve Lattimer and a pick! Nils Andersson, a S88 1st round pick has been a defensive juggernaut with Moscow over the last 5 seasons, with some of his best numbers coming from S90 & 91 where he put up well over 100 hits in both seasons, and was even a power play point producer with 14 PPG’s in those two seasons as well! With being traded to Toronto in the offseason, Nils is on pace to exceed previous career highs, and is reaching new heights in both defensive and offensive metrics! With two more seasons after this one on contract for Andersson, Toronto has an excellent top 4 defenseman they can lean on for future pushes that doesn’t require much cap space to utilize! Moscow acquired a very strong winger in Steve Lattimer with this trade as well! Having come off a career high 92 point season in S93, Lattimer is maintaining a strong offensive presence with Moscow. Already having a whopping 202 shots on goal this season, he is a player you can definitely lean on to create offensive chances, and create chances he has! In the 25 contests he’s played, Lattimer has managed to be a point per game player, and while he isn’t on pace to be a 92 point man again, a strong 60-70 point season would be an excellent addition to Moscow’s offense! All said, it’s hard to gauge who won this trade as both players are excellent at what they do for their teams! If I had to give a team the edge, it’d have to be Toronto, solely for being able to retain Nils longer and acquiring two picks on top of that! That is most certainly not discounting the pieces made by Moscow however, as the season is still young, and Steve Lattimer has the pieces needed to seriously take off in offensive production! Time will tell who truly won this trade though! VSN Grades: Toronto: 9/10 Moscow: 8/10 ---------------------------------------------------------- May 15th: HC Davos receives: Reginald the Dodo @Esso2264 S95 RIG 2nd S96 RIG 1st Riga receives: Skor McFleury @Alex Leaning heavily into the rebuild this season, Davos made a trade prior to season start to offload Skor McFleury for picks and a depth defenseman. With the previously mentioned season they are having, acquiring picks for a player they won’t be able to properly utilize for the remaining seasons of his career was the best play they could make, though the loss of McFleury has definitely been felt as he’s having a remarkably strong season in Riga this season. Taking into consideration Riga’s place in the standings this season, they’re likely looking at a mid round 1st round pick in S96, and similarly for the 2nd rounder they acquired from this season. Reginald the Dodo is a very serviceable player, but was flipped prior to season start, and is having a strong season thus far, having put up 17 points in 24 games with New York. Riga walked away with a single asset this trade, that being the elite offensive defenseman in Skor McFleury. He’s having a remarkably strong season this go around, as in 25 games he’s put up 29 points, 20 of those being assists. Having a physical and defensive presence as well, with 62 hits and 53 shots blocked, McFleury is utilizing his experience to help Riga pursue his second Continental Cup win in his career. Giving up the pieces they did, they’re definitely going all in this season, and are making out pretty decently in these trades. Though they are setting themselves up for a BIG rebuild in a few seasons, so we’ll see if Riga pulls through and wins it all by season's end! All in all, these major asset trades provide very clear short and long term winners and losers. Obviously it hurts Davos to give up Skor, but building for the future will help them more than going for a deep run at this point in the season. Riga bolstering their roster shows they are very much all in, and are definitely the short term winners of this trade. Davos wins in the longer term though, especially if Riga isn’t able to retain some of their players and forces themselves into a rebuild, then Davos will definitely be the clear winner! VSN Grades: Davos: 8/10 Riga 8/10 ---------------------------------------------------------- May 13th: Moscow receives: S96 WAR 1st Warsaw receives: Kronchy Kardashian @Garsh S94 LDN 2nd Moscow received a first round pick from Warsaw, who are notorious for trading first rounders away for players to help now! Little can be said about the pick acquired as it is two seasons out from being utilized, but Warsaw will have multiple aging players by then, so this is definitely a calculated risk to be selling picks that far into the future. With Warsaw currently in 5th place in league standings, if they can maintain that pace until the S96 draft, and they can win a Cup in that time, this trade will look very good for Warsaw! Warsaw on the other hand acquired a very strong veteran offensive defenseman in Kronchky Kardashian, who is putting up a very strong season so far for the Predators! In 24 games, Kronchky has managed to put up 28 points, while also being nearly an assist per game pace type of player. Kronchy Kardashian is on pace at the moment to break career highs, and should Warsaw keep winning with the strong roster they have now, it is very possible that Kardashian will win their first Continental Cup with the Predators! Time will tell however if this dream becomes a reality for them and the Predators as a whole! VSN Grades: Moscow: 7/10 Warsaw: 9/10 ---------------------------------------------------------- That will do it for this edition of VSN’s trade reviews! With how young the season still is, and the TDL fast approaching, I expect that the best is yet to come, but it’s always nice to see big deals happen this early on in the season! For VSN, I’m Marcus Svedberg, signing off!

Maxim Anisimov really is on his Count Dooku character arc

Maxim Anisimov will DEFINITELY win a cup in his career… right?

FIXED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Condition for the 7th The S96 7th rounder becomes an S96 3rd if one player remains in the VHLM for S94 & plays at minimum 36 games with the San Diego Marlins. The S96th 7th becomes an S96 2nd if BOTH players remain in the VHLM for S94 & BOTH play at minimum 36 games with the San Diego Marlins @Mysterious_Fish Reconfirm condition

A CONDITIONAL TRADE IN THE VHLM OMGGGGGGGG

CONDITION ON THE S96 7TH If one player stays in the VHLM for S94, the 7th turns into an S96 3rd. If both stay in the VHLM for S94, the 7th becomes a S96 2nd. @Mysterious_Fish Confirm condition :^)

Also claiming for 5/26/24 :PPP

(graphic pending again ) VSN Presents: S93 World Junior Championship Preview! Hello everybody, and welcome to yet another season of VSN WJC coverage! As our readers know, the WJC is a highly anticipated tournament within the VHL, where prospects from all across the VHLM & E demonstrate their skills and make a significant impact both on the ice and in their draft stock! With the tournament set to start in just a few days, and the team’s all but locked in at this point, we at VSN figure it’s a better time than ever to take a look at how the WJC’s rosters might shape up over the coming weeks, and see which teams have the best shot at taking home the Gold Medal this season! With that all being said, let’s get into the preview! Team Asia Starting this list off alphabetically, we have Team Asia! As is the case with most seasons of this tournament, Team Asia’s depth sheet leaves a lot to be desired. While they have a good handful of players at key positions they could lean on, including Petit Hughie @Sen & Soju @Frank at defense and goaltending respectively, there just isn’t enough high star power, or lower line depth for me to confidently say that Team Asia will pull through all the way. That’s not saying that they might not draft well to fill the gaps, and perhaps grab players from teams with TOO much talent to spare, but if you’re matching up against those teams with the players they didn’t need, it’s going to leave a lot to be desired. Team Asia, while still being able to have a fighting chance in the tournament, probably wouldn’t be expected to go all the way off pure talent alone. Anything can happen though, so we'll see what happens for them! Team Canada Up next on our list, we have Team Canada! Canada is a very interesting team this season in terms of its potential roster. With a strong emphasis on centers to lean on and win draws, Canada is expected to be a team that will dominate games in the possession numbers. With Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly & Herald Benson @Benson representing the team in net most likely, Team Canada is gonna have a solid goaltender to lean on every single night. With such a good offense and goaltending, there had to have been a catch, and that came in the form of a weaker than expected defensive pool to choose from. As it stands right now, Carson Tripp @Cartripp14 is their best defenseman at 277 TPA. While that is serviceable, and will provide Canada with a good backbone, it may prove to be a strain on the amount of shots the goalies end up facing in games. When you measure it up against teams like Team USA or Team World, it definitely looks to be a competition of just outshooting and outscoring your opponent. We shall see if the strategy pays off for Canada in the long run! Team Europe Onto the halfway point of our preview, we got the stacked Team Europe! These guys are definitely my vote to be the ones to potentially win it all! Similarly to Canada, these guys have an absolutely stacked offense. S94 VHL first overall pick Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg, Nico Belique @Syzygy, Antonia Bucatini @CowboyinAmerica are just a few of the elite talents that Europe is bolstering this season, and could potentially be game changers for Team Europe and the tournament if they’re all put on the same line. With David Slezak @ShawnGlade in net as well, Europe is a dangerous team both in net and in the offensive zone. With that said however, they are very similar to Canada in the sense that they also lack deep defensive depth. With Scrungle Bungle @Novanod headlining Europe's defensive core at a solid 334 TPA as of writing this, it’s serviceable, but it severely drops off from that point. By a margin of 110 TPA, to be exact. Slezak has his work cut out for him, but if he and Aleksanteri Kaskiniemi-Kekkonen @Snussu can lock it down for them, they have a seriously solid chance at securing gold for Team Europe! Team USA Nearing the end of our list, we got Team USA, and what an interesting team we have here! It’s certainly not something you see very often, but this is a team that has an eligibility sheet of almost all defensemen. With a handful of forwards across the board, and almost no VHLE goaltending representation available, this team is an almost complete polar opposite to Canada and Europe. With the likes of Gul Dukat @MSouthworth, Jillian Woods @jacobcarson877 and Lucy Leitner @LucyXpher headlining the top players of Team USA, they’re all defensemen! They have a handful of serviceable wingers thrown into the mix, but next to no elite centers or goaltenders to lean on. With this in mind, Team USA is going to HAVE to be a shutdown team. The defense is gonna be relied on HEAVILY, in 5v5, special teams, I wouldn’t be surprised to even see defensemen playing forward positions if they somehow find a way to pull that off with the commissioners (please let that happen, it would be so funny.) Either way, Team USA is a very interesting team, but has the tools to shut down some of the big offenses in the tournament like Canada and Europe where needed, so we will see what happens! Team World Last but not least, we have Team World! In a bit of a similar situation to Team Asia, Team World is lacking a bit in terms of great depth to lean on, but they make up for it in their high end talent spread across all positions. Olumide Anders @Theory, Sunset Moth @McWolf and Jorgen Lovstrom @Pifferfish all either at max TPA or nearly to it, they all provide solid anchors for their positions at forward, defense, and goaltending respectively. Team World has a fair amount of defensive and center depth to lean on too, with Hezeus Ohmontegue-Steinhardt X @Sisyphus and Piston Maicupp @MandyManiac being the notable players in those regards. All in all, World has the pieces it needs to make a deep run, but will a lengthy run in the round robin and medal games prove to be too much for the high end talent, and the team buckles under the pressure? Only time will tell, but this is certainly an interesting and fun team to watch going into this season's tournament no doubt! With all being said, this season's World Juniors is shaping up to be a remarkable and unique tournament, especially in some of the teams interesting depth charts! If I were to predict who I think has the pieces to go all the way, my bet would be Europe, but in all honesty ANY team can do it. Round Robin only determines seeding, all you have to do in the medal round to win it all is win 2-3 games, so it’s anybody's tournament! Thank you all for reading this season's edition of the WJC preview, tune in next time when we dive deeper into the games, and see if any teams surprised us along the way!

if i hire you here, can we swap and i take helsinkis gm spot?

First off, I'd just like to congratulate @mattyIceman on becoming Philly's new GM! Even though you only served as my AGM for a few weeks, you were still an excellent member of our team, and we wish you nothing but the best as you move onto Philadelphia! With that being said, the position of AGM for the Las Vegas Aces is open once more! If you are interested in dipping your toes into management and want to begin building a GM career, here's where to start! The requirements for the job are as follows: - Provide the team with weekly press conferences - Be a positive locker room presence, encouraging more activity and chemistry within the team - Submit lines when I'm not available - Be a second voice in trades, draft picks, free agency, and more! There is no experience required, all you need is a willingness to learn! DM me on the forums or respond in the comments of this job listing if you're interested in the position!

Appreciate it boss! Cheers for the quick and fun negotiations once again!

Cheers homie! Quick negotiation and great deal all around!

https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/6503 has reached 100+ TPE

THE MIGHTY ICE WIZARD @Royski confirm referral

Claiming 2/2