Another VHLM Draft in the Books

[fromtheinside 1,289]

Well tonight was the big night! The VHLM Dispersal Draft went down and there were some clear winners and losers. Right off the bat, Mississauga jumps off the board as the clear cut winner and perennial favourite to compete for the Founder's Cup in Season 79. The Hounds already found themselves in a favourable position heading into the draft with three first round picks already secured. But in addition to that, they made a couple big moves to even further solidify themselves as the top team in the M heading into the start of the season. AJ Williams had himself a historic day. He was taken first overall by the Hounds and also 5th overall by the LA Stars of the VHL. Williams will be joining a stacked roster in Mississauga but he could make the jump to Los Angeles this season should he choose to do so...time will tell.

 

On the flipside of things, I feel like if you had to pick a loser in this draft, look no further than the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces GM Jiggs made a lot of noise by making a number of deals surrounding the picks in this year's draft. But sometimes less is more, and  I really don't understand the thinking behind some of these trades. The Aces have effectively mortgaged their future by trading away their Season 80 high end draft picks and normally this would be fine if you were planning to compete immediately. But when you take a look at the Vegas roster, I really have my doubts whether they can hang with some of the top teams in the league. They have a full roster which is great, and they do possess two decent goaltenders. But aside from a small handful of players who are partially developed, I don't think they have what it takes to be a Cup winning team this season. They would have to HEAVILY rely on player development and have to hope alot of their young draft hopefuls do big things this season. I feel like this team is built to dominate in a year from now, but again- they traded away their future picks so none of this makes any sense to me.

 

As for the reigning champion Yukon Rush. They are a stark contrast from Vegas. They loaded up for Season 78 and went the distance. But now they have conceded that Season 79 will be a rebuild year and if you take one quick look at their roster you will see that Yukon is in for a long season. That being said, they already have three first rounders and two second rounders for the Season 80 draft, so they are in a good position to reload for next season. It should be fun to watch the season unfold as it will be the last traditional season with players capped at 250 TPE. Next season the Euro league opens up and things will be changing dramatically for the VHLM.