05/02 S78 VSN Draft Update

[Patrik Tallinder 1,087]

 

Welcome to the final VSN Draft Update! It has been fun covering the developing storylines of the draft and tracking the process of countless high level prospects. Hopefully you enjoy this final installment before VSN Scouting transitions into some more in-depth content ahead of the S78 Draft.

 

		POINTS
		Player Name	POS	GP	P
	-	David Tavau	D	72	88
	1	Anze Miklavz	RW	72	87
	1	Tui Sova	D	72	82
	-2	The Seabasstard	C	72	81
	4	Luc Tessier	C	72	78
	-1	Watson Stonebridge	LW	72	74
	-1	Zarek Kaczka	D	72	74
	-1	Sven Reikkinen	D	72	70
	1	Gregory Bates	LW	72	69
	New	Hard Markinson	D	72	63

 

Our final update sees Anze Miklavz get so close to catching David Tavau, but to no avail. Luc Tessier also moved up quite a bit in the leaderboard, ending the season at 5th in the draft class. Overall, this was an impressive showing from the S78 class. Tessier seems to also be the playoff standout so far, sitting in the top 10 in points leaguewide.

 

		GOALS
		Player Name	POS	GP	G
	-	Anze Miklavz	RW	72	42
	2	Luc Tessier	C	72	37
	2	Gregory Bates	LW	72	37
	-2	The Seabasstard	C	72	34
	-2	Watson Stonebridge	LW	72	33
	1	Zarek Kaczka	D	72	31
	1	Tui Sova	D	72	29
	-2	Nils Tallinder	C	72	29
	New	Alexander Rivers	RW	72	26
	-1	Sven Reikkinen	D	72	24

 

Anze Miklavz turns out to be the sole player to reach 40 goals as a S78 prospect, doing so with Mexico City. Tessier and Bates move up to 2nd and 3rd, each slotting in at 37 goals on the season. Zarek Kaczka also put up a remarkable 31 goals on the blueline in Las Vegas, despite getting the lowest minutes per game among everyone on this list. That is truly spectacular stuff from the young defender, and he could be a possible first round talent come draft time.

 

		HITS
		Player Name	POS	GP	HIT
	-	Nathan Powers	D	72	202
	-	Hard Markinson	D	72	198
	-	Mr Duk	D	72	191
	-	Zarek Kaczka	D	72	151
	-	Henri le Massif	LW	72	145
	1	Watson Stonebridge	LW	72	134
	-1	Mitchell Osborne	D	69	130
	New	Drakon Zabastovka	D	72	123
	New	Jannik Nylen	D	72	120
	-1	Anze Miklavz	RW	72	118

 

To finish the season off, Nathan Powers maintains his position at the top, crossing the 200 hit mark. Hard Markinson and Mr Duk trail him closely, each posting 190+ hits. Drakon Zabastovka also rounds out his defensive game, becoming a new entry on the hits list after being a staple in the leaderboard for shots blocked. Henri le Massif, Watson Stonebridge, and Anze Miklavz managed to make the list as the only forwards, proving to be relentless forecheckers for their respective teams.

 

		SHOTS BLOCKED
		Player Name	POS	GP	SB
	-	Tui Sova	D	72	180
	-	Drakon Zabastovka	D	72	141
	-	David Tavau	D	72	119
	-	Nathan Powers	D	72	112
	-	Sven Reikkinen	D	72	111
	-	Mitchell Osborne	D	69	107
	-	Arvid Johansson	D	72	91
	-	David Micheal Berlinguette	D	72	84
	-	Brodie Landry ll	D	72	80
	-	Zarek Kaczka	D	72	70

 

Well it is no secret that I have been a big fan of what Kings defender Tui Sova has managed to accomplish in this statistic this season. I think it would be overkill if I spent another paragraph talking about it, so I will give a shoutout to some of the less recognized shot blockers of the S77 season. 

 

Drakon Zabastovka was an absolute horse this season, logging over 30 minutes a game and putting up 141 shots blocked on the season. Mitchell Osborne joined a few games late, but quickly acclimated to the pace of the VHLM. He solidified his position on this list and never let go of it, landing at 6th when it was all said and done. Given the 3 games that he missed, he could have possibly jumped up to 4th on this list. Interestingly enough, there was also no movement on this list from the last update, which shows model consistency from each of the names on this list.
 

		SAVE PERCENTAGE
		Goalie Name	GP	W	PCT
	1	Bastian Greiss	39	13	0.892
	-1	Aike van Giersbergen	71	36	0.891
	-	Jacob Rask	21	6	0.877
	-	Anime Protagonist	72	37	0.873
	-	Leroy Johnson	33	11	0.872

 

It took some time to build up some competition in the crease, but it has finally arrived. We have multiple solid options in net for this draft, led by Aike van Giersbergen and Bastian Greiss. The other 3 on this list, as well as Tobias Reinhart, round out the goalie crop with some really nice depth. It will be interesting to see where the goaltenders land this season, considering the rather barren cupboards of the S77 Draft.

 

		TRAINING POINTS EARNED LAST WEEK
		Name	4/25
		Hard Markinson	22
		Bastian Greiss	21
		Milk Jugs	20
		Alex Johnston	20
		Leroy Johnson	20
		Nathan Powers	19
		Shane Lazeski	18
		Nils Tallinder	17
		Tui Sova	16
		The Seabasstard	15
		Anze Miklavz	14
		Damien Salducci	13
		Mikey Markov	13
		Sven Reikkinen	12
		Luc Tessier	12
		Brock Hampton	12
		Jaromir Lemiuex	12
		Jannik Nylen	12
		Aike van Giersbergen	10
		Mr Duk	10

 

This was a bit of a slower week for the S78 class in terms of TPE earning, but that is not to say that there were no standout performances. Alex Johnston had a huge week, earning 20 TPE and being named AGM of the Philadelphia Reapers. Congratulations to him, and best of luck in Philly! Hard Markinson led the way with his VHL fantasy win and VHFL results combining for 8 TPE, adding on to his base of 14. A couple of goalies got in the mix as well, with Johnson and Greiss each earning 20+ on the week. This draft certainly is showing much more promise in the crease than the last draft, and this is the proof. 

 

		CAPPED TRAINING POINTS EARNED LAST WEEK
		Name	Last Capped
		Hard Markinson	12
		Nils Tallinder	12
		Tui Sova	12
		Anze Miklavz	12
		Milk Jugs	12
		Alex Johnston	12
		Nathan Powers	12
		Bastian Greiss	12
		The Seabasstard	10
		Sven Reikkinen	10
		Luc Tessier	10
		Brock Hampton	10
		Jaromir Lemiuex	10
		Jannik Nylen	10
		Aike van Giersbergen	8
		Mr Duk	8
		Leroy Johnson	8
		Alexander Rivers	8
		Otto Numminen	8
		Zen Raider	8

 

8 players capped out last week, nearly halving the total of the week prior. Despite being a bit of a poorer week for the S78 bunch, a positive sign was some first gens really stealing the show. Alex Johnston and Nathan Powers were both named VHLM AGMs recently, which should contribute very favourably to their already-rising draft stocks. They both joined Milk Jugs and Bastian Greiss as first gens who hit the maximum of 12 capped TPE last week.

 

Hard Markinson, Nils Tallinder, Tui Sova, Anze Miklavz, Milk Jugs and Bastian Greiss are the only players to have earned every capped TPE available to them up to this point.

 

	The presentation of the VHL Draft may be receiving some upgrades this season. Leading the movement is @Sonnet, who we sat down with for a quick interview in this installment of Scouting Spotlight.
	You've been through the draft process as a VHLM GM and as a player as well. For you, what is the best part about the two VHL drafts?
	Sonnet: I think personally, my favorite part is the sense of mystery knowing that any of the picks could end up being me. There's that tension right before the announcement is made, and you're weighing up your value against anything you've heard from the GM- maybe a few of them have expressed interest, but you're not quite sure if they're going to pull the trigger just yet. I remember that being a huge theme when I drafted Gustav into Houston, we actually hadn't spoken before that moment. I think that's why I tend to avoid or even ignore scouting questionnaires at times- I don't really want to know where I'm going. I like the suspense and subsequent surprise when my player finally gets the call.
	Do you have a favourite memory from any of your drafts as a player or GM?
	Sonnet: Of course I'm going to immediately contradict my last answer, but in true cliche'd fashion, I think my first VHL entry draft as a player is definitely my favorite draft memory. The league at the time only had one or two teams that needed a starting goaltender, and Helsinki (Quik) was the only person who really approached me with intent to put the franchise's fate in my hands. That s63 draft ended up defining the Titans- Borwinn, Crosby, and I were all taken and ended up staying with the team for our entire careers. I imagine it wasn't an easy decision to give a central role within a rebuilding franchise to an unproved first gen goalie, but getting that chance was something I'll always remember fondly when it comes to the draft each year.
	Now, I've heard you have some stuff in the works to spice up the draft this season. Can we expect these ideas to come to fruition on the forums, on discord, or on the draft stream itself?
	Sonnet: Everything I've been working on is related to the production and presentation of the streams, so be ready for something a bit more eye-popping when the s78 streams go live!

 

Thank you to everyone for the support on this series! It has been fun to cover the production of the S78 class, and I can't wait to see how the draft unfolds. Keep an eye out for the S78 VSN Scouting Combine coming up soon; You will not want to miss it.

 

Players Mentioned: @McKelvie @Ahma @KC15 @Tyler @Hank @JB123 @STZ @Lefty_S @DarkSpyro @Garsh @duckberg32 @v.2 @OzNasty @enigmatic @ThatsGreissy @Spaz @Alex_J32 @Vkobe-v @NerdyCowz