When Niklas Kurri declared for unrestricted free agency, The Helsinki native had no idea what the next chapter of his VHL career had in store for him. As covered in my last article, Kurri took his time before deciding that The Quebec City Meute were the best overall fit for him. Even after Kurri made his decision and officially became a member of The Meute, there was still a certain level of uncertainty. Would he fit in with his new teammates? What type of role would he play with his new club? Would he be able to adjust to playing with such a skilled group of players? This years Meute team was certainly the most talented group of players Kurri had ever played with.
So far everything has been going smoothly. After taking a few games to get acclimated with his new surroundings and his new teammates, Kurri has picked up his game as of late and he has begun to find the score sheet with a lot more regularity. Through 21 games this season, Kurri has scored 6 goals and added 7 assists, for a total of 13 points. Kurri has shown a willingness to get involved in the physical aspects of the game and sacrifice his body, recording 31 crushing body checks and stepping into he opposing shooting lanes to block a total of 8 shots so far. Kurri has played in all situations for Quebec City and is averaging exactly 28 minutes per game. Kurri has been a key part of the Meute penalty kill which is currently killing off over 86% of opposing powerplay's. Niklas has been effective when placed on the ice for a Quebec City powerplay as well. Kurri has scored 2 powerplay goals and has 5 points total when the Meute are on the man advantage.
Kurri is dangerous carrying the puck out of the corner
As far as fitting in with his new teammate's off of the ice, all indications are that everything has been excellent. Kurri has got to know a few of the players such as Patrick Demko and Bruno Wolf. Kurri has also fit in well with the guy's he already knew, such as Jack Wylde, Aksel Thomassen and Brandon Holmes. All indications are that Quebec City might end up being a long-term residence for the 2nd year forward. The Finn is said to be enjoying his time in the Quebec City area and may look to purchase a home in the area in the near future. The two-way forward certainly has the money to do so after hitting it big in the VHL lottery late last season.
"Yeah I've definitely spent a good amount of that money!"
Kurri was quoted as saying,
"The first thing I did was buy my mom a new home back in Finland... After I took care of that, I went t the local Mercedes dealership and bought myself little present"
Kurri says with a smile.
So far all party's involved have been very happy with the way things are working out.
VHL This Week
| S43 Regular Season - First Edition |
Welcome
The season is now underway and things are beginning to take shape around the league. Last week we had a jam packed edition with a whole lot of offseason movement to digest. This week we can dive more into the lifeblood of the league - the games! Everyone wants to see their players and/or teams do good. While this is another weekly edition, I hope to sprinkle in some mid-week additions to the VHL Weekly format in the coming weeks. I think it is important to touch on things when they are fresh, and perhaps more relevant. Of course, there is a bit of a learning curve with this, and I'm getting back into the VHL after not devoting as much attention to it as I'd like - I ask that you bear with me. As always, please feel free to drop feedback, comments or concerns in posts or PMs to me!
Announcements
Remember those cool team point tasks we talked about last week? Well you can find all of the finalized submissions here. They all turned out really great, so good work everyone! If you haven't already, and you participated, be sure to claim your payout for being a part of this event!
The VHL player cards have been added, if you were in the VHL last season you should see a new addition on your player page! Thanks player card crew! Speaking of those guys, they are looking for new hires here.
More on this later, but there is a new quiz addition to VHL and VHLM weekly, read more about that in the announcement here.
Trade Talk
Most of the offseason dealings had already been done and the ink was already dried. However, Toronto's GM, Tyler Edgar finally found his phone he had lost and was able to communicate with the league's other general managers. We saw three trades this week, all involving the Legion.
The first trade saw Toronto shipping Raphael Pettyfer to the Riga Reign for a S44 Cologne 1st round pick, which looks to be at the end of the round.
The second deal sent Ed Grr to the Calgary Wranglers for a S44 Cologne 3rd round pick. Both of these deals were strictly an effort from Toronto to clear cap space to make their third deal (coming up), and a change for Riga and Calgary to benefit without having to pay a hefty return. Riga gets Pettyfer, a young center with good upside for a pick that will likely fall at the back end of the coming draft and Calgary picks up a depth defenceman for a mostly irrelevant pick.
The third deal, which was the reasoning for the first two from Toronto's perspective, saw the Legion picking up goalie Mike Szatkowski Jr. from the Helsinki Titans in exchange for Zachary Young. Mike gives the Legion a legitimate goaltender to help them in their playoff hopes this season. They will be in contention with Mike in net, but their window could be closing.
Team Talk
The regular season is underway, and while it is early on and teams have a lot left to figure out, we have a good idea of how the standings will shape up. The expected bottom teams this year are right in place, with New York, Calgary, Riga and Helsinki being out of the (very early) playoff picture. These are teams that expect to be out of contention and are in their own rebuilds. Riga looks to be faring the best of the bunch, with 9 points on the season and a 4-6-1 record.
The Legion are struggling out of the gates in the North American Conference, with a record of 4-7-0 for 8 points, less than Riga has in the European, but enough to be a playoff team at this point in their own conference. However, as we already discussed, the addition of a legitimate goaltender should shore up a majority of their problems, as they have allowed the most goals (46) of any team in the league - their trade for Szatkowski Jr. will remedy that situation.
Although there were some team shakeups in the offseason, Cologne has come out looking like a defending champion should, going 10-0-1 in their first 11, yet to lose in regulation. Their 21 points already give them a 4 point cushion in the European Conference.
The Express aren't the only team in their conference that looks strong early on, the Dynamo and Vikings are both showing that they are here to compete this season. All three of the European teams could be leading the North American conference at this point, with Davos and Stockholm having 17 and 15 points respectively. Davos has had some great performances in net, as they have allowed the fewest goals (13) of any team thus far, 5 fewer than the next lowest. On the other end, Stockholm has been the offensive attack that can't be stopped, as their 43 goals are 7 more than the next highest scoring team in the league. To showcase the balance of Cologne, they are 2nd in both of those categories league-wide.
A surprising leader in the States, as the Seattle Bears sit atop the conference with their 7-2-1 record (15 points). The Bears are only slightly ahead of the conference favorite Meute (14 points), who are 6-3-2 to start the season. Quebec has only managed a point differential of 2 this season, which will likely grow as their offensive kicks back into gear, as they have some of the top offensive weapons in the league. Seattle should be expected to regress to some extent, although they haven't been overwhelming so far. The entire conference can expect to even out some, as most expect Quebec and Toronto to improve over the course of the season, and some rumblings suggest Seattle will regress a bit as well.
Player Talk
One of the offseason movers, Jackson Miller, is the early season goals and points leader, with 12 and 21 respectively. It seems his new home in Toronto could suit him well.
Lord Karnage seems to be handling the transition from defense to winger well, putting up 12 goals of his own and another 5 points from assists to lead left wingers. He does lead all players in PIMs, with 40 (10 more than 2nd), so he hasn't lost his defensive edge just yet. It isn't surprising to see Stockholm have so many top offensive players on the leaderboards as they have the most goals scored this season, but they have had the most success at center, where new additions Tom Slaughter and Jody 3 Moons have been equally impressive. Slaughter has put up 19 points and 3 Moons has 18 of his own. They are each shooting a ton early on, first and second in the league in shots taken.
Jake Wylde leads all defenceman in scoring so far with 18 points, all but one of which came off of assists. That total of 17 assists leads the league by 4. Wylde could be key to getting Quebec's offense going, as last year's top players Aksel Thomassen and Bruno Wolf have yet to get off to the same hot start. Wolf's 6-4-10 line is only seventh among right wings (and not even the best right wing line on Quebec), and the Meute will expect him to work his away toward the top of that list. Wolf does have 62 hits, which leads all players by 8, and his defensive efforts should help to get him going offensively.
Bronson Faux and Patrick Demko lead all rookies with 9 points each, with top pick E'Twaun Delicious, Prince Gigga-Bijou and Francis York Morgan hot on their tail with 8.
Milos Denis has been the most clutch player thus far, with 3 game winning goals just 11 games into the season, if he were to keep up that pace he'd come close to 20 game winners, what a season that would be!
Thomas O'Malley is the only player to score in every game so far this season, with his 11 game point scoring streak helping him to 19 points, tied for the lead among centers with Tom Slaughter.
Among goalies, Callum Sinclair has been the best of the bunch. His 0.946% save percentage and 1.32 GAA are both tops in the league, and those numbers are the reason that Davos has allowed the fewest goals in the league by far. Martin Brookside isn't far off in his swan song season, following his MVP (both regular season and playoffs) season behind him, he his putting up a 0.937% and 1.52 to go with his 10 wins. He also has 3 shutouts thus far, but perhaps even more surprising is that DAV G has 2 shutouts in his 2 lone appearances for the Dynamo this season, no wonder they are having the best season in net!
Trivia Talk
The announcement has already been linked above, but just to make sure - answer these questions by sending a PM to me. Also, do not post your answers in public.
1. Which positional points leader (at the time of writing) was playing a different position last season?
2. Who has more shots taken this year (at the time of writing), Jackson Miller or Tom Slaughter?
3. Who was the top selection in the S43 VHL Entry Draft?
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What do you all think? How is this season gonna shape up, and how much will the early season successes and struggles play a factor?
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