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Thoughts on the S77 Offseason/S78 Draft

Spartan

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Spartan

Spartan 4,096

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Time for the monthly VHL.com to claim as affiliate checks! Anyways, since the last media spot/blab, our final regular season position was determined, as well as the projected pick ranges for our two first rounders. For the second season in a row, I'm excited that Moscow holds 2 picks in the top 3, also holding the projected 1st and 2nd overall selections. Luck's really been on our side so far, as two trades with projected contenders in the past two seasons have ended up with Moscow receiving the 1st overall pick, or at least the best odds for it. Do I expect this trend to continue? Hopefully not, as I'd hope we won't be trading for 1st round picks when we become a contender. I'd rather see that kind of luck show up in our sims in the next few seasons. Plus, roster space is starting to get tight, as we're looking at having 4 forwards, 1 defenseman and a goalie coming up from our prospect pool for next season, not counting our two 1st round picks in this draft who are likely to also start on the pro roster. It's going to be a challenge to manage all of these VHL caliber players while still giving everyone meaningful time and also making sure we stay under the cap.

 

More specific thoughts on this draft: I'm pretty excited about the top 6-7 prospects in this class. I think nearly all of them can be valuable day 1 players for Moscow, and likely won't need another season in the M. Markinson and Reikkinen are the clear top 2 defenders in the class, although it's a decently deep class for defensemen with 15 actives over at least 120 TPE. Defense is definitely a need for Moscow, especially as it's the one area of our roster where we don't have many young players, or players ready to make immediate contributions to the Menace on the ice. While we have Tristan, Kamkar and Tipton all at S75 or younger, we're still looking for a franchise "top defenseman" to be the leader in the position group both on and off the ice. We're guaranteed to have our selection of at least one the top 2, but I think Sova and Tavau also merit strong looks. Seabasstard and Tallinder are the clear top centers, with Tessier also up there. All three will likely be ready to play in the VHL, although I suppose there may be a little bit of ambiguity with Tessier at 229 TPE, so I think the time between now and the draft will clear up his situation. Giersbergen is likely to stay down another season, which in terms of goalies, isn't going to make much of a difference. It's just 8 fewer career starts at worst, which is negligible in the long run. 

 

Regarding forwards in this class, there's a decent level of depth for centers, but just a few high end wingers. Anze Miklavz, Henri le Massif and Alex Johnston are likely to go higher than projected, mainly because the defensive depth of this class can allow for defensive needy teams to hold off on selecting one early. I think it'll be interesting though to see how teams will value defense, as there are 7 defensemen within 30 TPE of each other in the 180-150 range, which is a relatively easy gap to catch up to. But wingers will definitely be a valued position in this draft, so expect a run on them in the first round. Yes, yes, I know that centers can play winger. But I'd imagine folks would prefer to play in their natural position, especially as they're likely to have invested TPE into FO, making them a less effective forward overall. I know centers in recent seasons have hinted at or expressed frustration with not playing the position they created to play, so I'm thinking as if teams will draft players to play their natural position.

 

Lastly, goalies are an interesting area here. There are really only 2 top goalies here, with about 50 TPE separating Giersbergen and Greiss. Both players have developed nicely since entering the VHLM, though timing really explains the gap between Giersbergen and Greiss. Had Greiss created sooner, he'd probably rival Giersbergen to be the top goalie in this class though I know GM's interested in goalies will have to decide who they think will have the better long term value. Both goalies are likely to stay down for another season, but I don't think there are many teams who will be looking for a new, starting goalie. DC is the main team that comes to mind, so despite them not having their own first round pick, it may be a blessing in disguise as they have their 2nd round pick, which should be high enough to take one of these two goalies to eventually replace Wolski. I know that I'm keeping an eye on these two, mainly because Malone is S74, with regression just 2 seasons away. Bowman could blossom into being the starter, but I suppose that it's always nice to try to be prepared for the future. 

 

Overall, I think this draft class has essentially held to the expectations set by myself and a few other GM's towards the beginning of the season. Very strong at the top, with 4 or 5 players ready to start in the VHL immediately. There's another small pocket of players who are likely to also be mid-first rounders, and then the group that comprises the late 1st can be lumped in with most of the players projected for the 2nd round. There's a tad bit more spread on this class than before, but a mix of familiar and fresh users along with mixed histories will certainly play a factor into where their players go. This will be my first full offseason, since I was named GM just a few days before the S76 draft, so I'm excited to have the entire offseason and this playoff period to chat with the players in this draft and work with my scouting crew. I've always believed in building internally, although my impatience leads to me trading picks and players for more established players to speed up a rebuild and contend sooner. However, I think that the plan that I set for Moscow is going well (famous last words eh?), so I'll continue to make an effort to stick to it and hopefully put together a contender with the ultimate goal of winning cups.

 

Word Count: 1,085

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Spartan

Spartan 4,096

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Just now, N0HBDY said:

Nice 1000 word vhl.com article

 

Yeah I need to learn to not elaborate on every thought that pops into my head. I'll blame my lack of affiliate check claims on my inability to write less than 300 words in one sitting.

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v.2

v.2 1,286

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Dope article giving us S78 draftees some HYPE.  Having spent the season in the VHLM I've been pretty out of the loop on the wants/needs/holes of each VHL team in terms of positions, so this article was quite informative.  I like how you gave a glimpse into your draft plans, without revealing too much.  

7 hours ago, Spartan said:

I think it'll be interesting though to see how teams will value defense, as there are 7 defensemen within 30 TPE of each other in the 180-150 range, which is a relatively easy gap to catch up to. But wingers will definitely be a valued position in this draft, so expect a run on them in the first round.

This part got me excited for the draft too, because now I really don't know what to expect lol.  

 

Overall Rating 9/10 (needs pics!)

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Spartan

Spartan 4,096

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17 minutes ago, v.2 said:

Dope article giving us S78 draftees some HYPE.  Having spent the season in the VHLM I've been pretty out of the loop on the wants/needs/holes of each VHL team in terms of positions, so this article was quite informative.  I like how you gave a glimpse into your draft plans, without revealing too much.  

 

This part got me excited for the draft too, because now I really don't know what to expect lol.  

 

Overall Rating 9/10 (needs pics!)

Thanks for the read and review! Always happy to get feedback/responses to what I write. Regarding the VHL team wants/needs, I know VSN Scouting will be putting out a mock draft after the prospect interviews, so that'll be much more comprehensive look at each team's needs. Hopefully it's informative! Also, had to talk about the draft and how I was thinking about it while being coy lol, can't ever reveal my intent. That being said though, I genuinely do think that there is a lot of talent at the top of the draft, and I know GM's will have to make some very tough decisions. Not even 1oa will be a slam dunk pick, so the draft lottery and the next week or so will be really interesting to follow along.

 

As per the defensemen/wingers thing, I'm honestly really excited and curious to see how that plays out. I remember my last draft in the M, where there were just a few defensemen overall in the draft, so a lot of forwards dropped, and defensemen went on a tear in the 1st/2nd rounds. Houston gave up a significant amount of draft capital to acquire a full defense corps, which in other seasons such as S74/S75, was pretty easy to get. In your case though, I think your TPE and earning should put you a tier higher than that 150-180 cluster I mentioned. Unless someone has a really strong tie with a significantly lower TPE player, I'm fairly confident that you'll be a mid-late first rounder. But anything can happen, and that's the beauty of it!

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Spartan

Spartan 4,096

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1 minute ago, OrbitingDeath said:

 

Starts a vhl.com, writes a media spot.... :D

It's a problem man, I just can't shut up and press send once I hit the word count. If it comes to mind, it has to be written down lol.

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Prout

Prout 373

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17 hours ago, OrbitingDeath said:

I'll help you. Try to write 250 words praising me. You will run out of words soon enough.

Erm I don’t know about that once he starts to praise you he might not stop! That’s a easy 4 week claim media spot for him 

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  • 3 weeks later...
KC15

KC15 340

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Review:  Really well-written article.  I generally look for Spartan's articles when I'm looking to review for TPE as I don't have to work to get through bad grammar, misspellings, poor sentence structure, etc.  Also, I always learn something.  Even though I'm reading this way after the draft, it was great to learn from the analysis and then compare it to how the draft went - pretty dang spot on with the thoughts in the article.  Another great read.  9/10

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