S80 Mock Draft: by ajwllmsn (Amateur Opinion)

[AJW 2,156]

ajwllmsn's S80 VHL Mock Draft

(First Round)

 

Hello and welcome to my second unofficial and unprofessional VHL Mock Draft! Last season my player was entering the S79 Draft and I thought it would be fun to do a mock draft. I had a lot of great feedback so I figured why not do another one.

 

Disclaimer: As it says in the title this is not a serious mock draft. I will try my best to make it accurate but I am no VSN writer or anything, just a bored college student who has his nights off.

 

To start things off here is the standings for the end of S79:

 

 

I will be following this order from Toronto to Malmo... The Draft Lottery Tournament is still underway I am pretty sure so I do not know what the finalized draft order will be.

 

How I will be ranking players:

 

Member/Activity

The VHL team’s needs

Position

TPE

 

ANYWAYS - Enough talking, here we go.

 

1st

Toronto Legion

@MattyIce

C Matty Fire

 

Matty Fire enters the S80 VHL draft ranked third overall in the TPE category but in my eyes owns the first overall pick to the Toronto Legion, hear me out. Toronto has no goaltender and Booberry is sitting pretty up there, but Toronto has three first round picks and there are a good amount of franchise goalies in this draft class. Anyways back to the main man MattyIce. MattyIce is an extremely well known member throughout the community, part of the VSN squad and just recently hired as the Houston Bulls GM. His player Matty Fire is a solid centerman putting up 41 goals and 87 points throughout his VHLM rookie season. Fire ranked 27th overall for points in the league and 4th amongst all rookies this past season. Fire was one of the first to recreate for the VHLE expansion and earns TPE at a great rate, maxing out weekly capped TPE pretty much every week... The Pre-Draft Class Rankings has him earning over 10 TPE every week since creation of his player. Toronto is underdeveloped and needs a variety of players, they could definetly use a franchise player like Fire. Toronto does have a solid two first line centers with Asher Reinhart and Lester Green, but Fire could easily hop on a wing with them as his faceoff attribute is only 60.

 

 

2nd

Helsinki Titans

@CowboyinAmerica

G Xavier Booberry

 

Xavier Booberry is the second highest ranked S80 player in his draft class, leading all others in TPE. I have him at second because like I said above, Toronto could draft a goalie later. But I could be totally wrong and Booberry could easily go to Toronto. CowboyinAmerica is like many in this draft, a very well known member throughout the community being here for almost 8 years. His reputation is off the charts and his player, Xavier Booberry, is even better. Booberry was one of the first recreates for the VHLE expansion and, correct me if I am wrong, was actually the first recreate if I can remember correctly. Xavier Booberry is an extremely talented goaltender. After Houston dumped all their players, Booberry was traded to the San Diego Marlins where he put on a show. Having a 0.896 SV% (almost top 10 in the league) and a 2.7 GAA (4th in the league). Even in Houston with no team in front of him, Booberry had a 0.906 SV% which had him at 3rd overall in the league. Helsinki does not need a goalie but their starter is super weak and Booberry could pass them in no time. The Titans have some type of rebuildish thing going on and I believe if Booberry does not go first, he can help lead Helsinki to future success.

 

3rd

Toronto Legion (From Moscow)

@Peace

LW Kyle Peace

 

I do not think I really need to explain why Kyle Peace will be going third overall in the draft after Toronto used their first for Fire. Peace is the GM for the Toronto Legion and his player, Kyle Peace, is ranked 6th in his draft class. So in my mind this makes sense if Peace wants his own player. Kyle Peace is the second highest ranked winger but I believe he will be the first winger off the board. Peace had an insane VHLM rookie season with the Wild putting up 59 goals and 129 points. This put him in the top 10 for goals, assists, points, plus/minus, powerplay goals, game winners, shorthanded goals, shots and hat-tricks in the league. If this was real life and not a sim league, Kyle Peace would be going first overall to some dog shit team in the NHL. Toronto could also really use Peace's player to eventually play alongside centerman Asher Reinhart, and Matty Fire if drafted, a soon to be disgusting first line trio. Toronto also is dying for defenseman and a goaltender now, but I believe that this draft class is so strong that they can worry about defenseman and goaltenders later.

 

4th

London United

@Nykonax

D Corey Kitson

 

London has a somewhat underdeveloped team but more so on their defensive side which is why I believe they snag Corey Kitson at fourth overall. Nykonax is another well known member throughout the VHL community as he soon will be entering his fourth year on the forums. Nykonax is an updater and Vancouver's AGM so they are high in the ranks of the community. Nykonax's player Kitson has an amazing build for a VHLM player, scoring and defence attributes at 89 and 90. All other attributes lack a bit but with his banked TPE that this off-season will give him, I am sure he will be building a great player. Kitson put up 83 points this past season with the Mississauga Hounds which has him ranked 30th overall for points in the league, 7th amongst defenseman, and 6th amongst rookies. Kitson also had 132 shots blocked which put him 7th overall in the league for that category. Kitson is ranked 5th in his draft class and 1st for defenseman. He earns TPE at a great rate, over 10 weekly capped TPE. I think London will benefit greatly from Kitson as he will be one of two of their franchise defenseman since the rest of the United blueline, besides Devise's player Sven Reikkinen, does not earn TPE at a good rate. If Kitson and Reikkinen end up on the same blueline, London could eventually have the best defensive pairing in the whole league.

 

5th

New York Americans

@DollarAndADream

C Saku Kotkakoivu

 

The New York Americans are developing a great roster as their defenseman and goaltender are looking good. Up front on the other hand could use some help, that is where Kotkakoivu comes in at 5th overall. DaaD is a long known member being here for 7 years now. He is Head of PT and has great community rep. His player, Saku Kotkakoivu, is a solid centerman who played in his rookie season this past season for the Mexico City Kings and put up just over a point per game with 79 points along with 39 goals. This is definetly a sniper build as Kotkakoivu's scoring attribute is his strongest by far. Kotkakoivu earns TPE at a great pace as well, earning over 10 weekly capped TPE. I think New York would greatly benefit from picking up Saku as they could really use another center. New York does have Rhynex Entertainment with a solid build, but after that it drops off. Kotkakoivu could easily play on the wing as his faceoff attribute is a low 60, but if he keeps earning the way he does, a first line centerman spot could be a near future.

 

6th

Prague Phantoms

@Dil

D Hari Singh Nalwa

 

In at 6th overall is a well known discord general chat user. Dil is easily the cutest member of the VHL community and Prague needs another defenseman to work with Sandstrom. Dil's player Nalwa is a high scoring defenseman, putting up 31 goals and 102 points in his rookie season with the Miami Marauders. Nalwa finished 3rd in the league amongst defenseman in points, 3rd in points amongst rookies, and 1st in points amongst rookie defenseman. Nalwa also sits at 8th overall in the league for shots blocked with 128. Nalwa has a solid build and earns about 10 weekly capped TPE since the creation of his player and is ranked 2nd for defenseman in his draft class. Nalwa would be a great fit for Prague's blueline and eventually play alongside Sandstrom for lots of seasons to come. Prague has a good goaltender and a solid top 6 forward squad, so passing up on a defenseman like Nalwa would be surprising.

 

7th

Vancouver Wolves

@fonziGG

D Tony Adams

 

After a monster S79 draft picking up the Reinhart twins, Vancouver has secured a great forward group and has an elite goaltender in the making with Giersbergen. With that being said, I would believe the Wolves would want to pick up a defenseman since that is where they lack the most. Funny enough, FonziGG's player Tony Adams is ranked around where Vancouver landed this pick. FonziGG runs the Vancouver Wolves squad as their GM and I would guess would want his player to be a part of his organization. Tony Adams is a hard hitting defensive defenseman. Adams blew the league away in the hit category with 312 in his VHLM rookie season, ranking him first against his competition. Adams is not a goal scorer but can rack up the assists as he had 43 assists of his 52 points. Vancouver really does need a defenseman as they do not even have a franchise player on the blueline. If FonziGG drafts his own player, I am sure the TPE gains will be huge and Adams will be the face of the Wolves blueline. With Adams playing behind the Reinharts, I am sure his assist totals will sky rocket as well.

 

8th

Seattle Bears (From HC Davos)

@dasboot

LW Vinny Detroit

 

Seattle enters the S80 draft with some troubles, they have 5 players retiring next season and 4 of those are forwards. So I think that dasboot's player Vinny Detroit can help out their situation. Detroit is the highest ranked player in his whole draft class but the reason I have him at 8th is because of his build. Detroit is a grinder build with checking being his highest attribute. I was confused where to put Detroit not knowing if any GMs would like his build, but he can easily use all his banked TPE to put to other attributes so I would not be worried. Detroit played his S79 with the Mississauga Hounds and was a big body enforcer/grinder putting up 201 hits (just under top 10 in the league) and 138 PIM (enforcer fights). I think that it is interesting how dasboot is building his player and hopefully a team can benefit in some way from Vinny Detroit as he is not a goal scorer (I really do not mean to disrespcet your player build I am sorry lol). Detroit had 2 goals and 7 points throughout 72 games with the Hounds. I do believe he played on the third line which does not help his case. Seattle looks like a rebuild team next season and I think Detroit can bring some value to the Bears squad since they're losing so many veterans.

 

9th

Riga Reign

@Doomsday

G Oskar Lindbergh

 

Doomsday's player Oskar Lindbergh comes in at 9th overall for me since I believe Riga could use a goaltender. Veteran Zamboni Driver will retire next season and Riga's backup is not someone to rely on. Doomsday is an active and veteran member throughout the VHL community. Doomsday has been here for 8 years now and is a well known name. His player Lindbergh is a solid goaltender who had a tough rookie season with the Yukon Rush. Lindbergh put up a 23-40-7 record but I would not even look at that since his save percentage sits at a 0.902 which is super impressive. So impressive that it had him in the top 5 (0.03% away from the top goaltender in this draft class) on one of the worst teams in the league. Doomsday earns a solid 9+ average weekly capped TPE so it is obvious Lindbergh will be a franchise goalie for the Reign. Riga has good depth up front and on their blueline so I believe adding this goaltender will solve the puzzle.

 

10th

Toronto Legion (From D.C)

@Josh

G David Davis

 

Josh's player David Davis sits at 10th overall for me just because of the fact he has less TPE than the other goalies. I am sure that in the eyes of the VHL GMs he could go sooner as Josh is an Admin for the VHL and another well known member on this list. Josh runs the Los Angeles Stars as well which might be a bummer if he goes before 12th as the Stars own the 12th overall pick. Davis is another solid goaltender in this draft class sitting at an impressive 0.901 save percentage with Halifax which put him in the top 10 in the league. Josh earns an automatic 12 weekly capped TPE as a developer/simmer/GM, so Toronto will not have to worry about his TPE gains. Toronto is in need of a goaltender as they do not currently have one and I believe that Davis can easily be their starting franchise goalie. Toronto could take other goalies earlier as they have the first and third overall pick, but I think if they wait for either Doomsday or Josh's player they will be walking away happy.

 

11th

Helsinki Titans (From Calgary)

@leafsman

D Alessandro Nano

 

Alessandro Nano comes into the draft as the third highest ranked TPE defenseman. Nano is in my eyes a hard hitting two way defenseman. Nano sat in the top 3 through his rookie season in hits with 272, and also had an impressive 101 shots blocked. Nano can also help with the offensive rush as he put up 49 assists and 58 points with the Miami Marauders last season. Leafsman is also a pretty well known member as he has been in the league for 3 years now and Alessandro Nano is his third player. Leafsman gains a solid 10 average TPE capped weekly which is good news for the Titans who are looking for an elite defender. The Titans currently have 5 defenseman but all are welfare collectors if I am not mistaken, so Nano could easily make his way to the top 2 pairing in no time and run the blueline.

 

12th

Los Angeles Stars

@BarzalGoat

D Sven Eightnine

 

BarzalGoat is a solid member to the VHL community, AGM of the Halifax 21st and actually my teammate this past season in Mississauga. Funny enough I have him predicted to go to the Los Angeles stars at 12th overall, the team I was drafted to. BarzalGoat's player Eightnine is a high scoring and hard hitting offensive defenseman. Eightnine racked up 24 goals and 85 points this past season with the Hounds as well as 276 hits and 100 shots blocked. This left him 6th in the league for defensemen points and 2nd in the league for hits. I know if my player is on the ice with Eightnine I would want him on my blueline and not the opponent's. Eightnine earns a nice 8ish weekly capped TPE which can lead to him being a top 2 pairing on Los Angeles as they are hurting for defenseman. Alex Letang had a monster S79 but unfortunately is retiring next season, leaving only really Pines to man the blueline. I believe that Eightnine can easily make his way up to the top since Pines will retire after S80. The Stars are in need of a defenseman like Eightnine and I think they will be smiling at the end of this draft if they take him.

 

13th

London United (From Chicago)

@Kelsier

RW Logain Ablar

 

After drafting defenseman Corey Kitson with their 4th overall pick, I believe London can use a winger like Ablar. Logain Abler is run by Kelsier who knows how to earn TPE. If I am not mistaken, I am pretty sure Ablar is the only player out of the top players in this draft class to max out weekly capped TPE every week with 12. Kelsier is not a veteran like most in this draft, but the fact that he earns TPE so well is why I have him on this list. His player Logain Ablar is a talented sniper too, 43 goals and 82 points with Miami and mainly Minnesota last season is very eye catching. Ablar just barely missed out on the top 10 for goal scorers in the league but I believe that if he played his whole season with Minnesota he would have reached the top 10. London could definitely use another forward as 3 of their top 5 retire in the next two seasons. I believe Ablar will be a great player and Kelsier will have some recognition to his name soon enough.

 

14th

Warsaw Predators

@jhatty8

D Flynn Remy

 

As AGM of the Warsaw Predators I would like to think I know who we need to draft but I honestly do not know. If I took over I would take jhatty8's player Flynn Remy. Remy is an offensive defenseman who can also hold his own in his defensive end. Remy put up 24 goals and 70 points (top 10 for defenseman in the league last season) along with 126 shots blocked (once again top 10 in the league last season). I really like Remy's player attributes as well as he covers just scoring, defense, puck handling, skating, and checking, which I think is perfect for a defensemen. Jhatty8 is a well known member to me and has been with the VHL for two years now. The only problem I see with this pick is that jhatty8 has not yet had a player that he played a full career with yet and he has had 5 players. So hopefully with the VHLE expansion that will keep him around with his player. Warsaw is going to have to go through a bit of a rebuild and also are losing two defenseman next season due to retirement, so I hope Remy can help spark the blueline for the Predators.

15th

Seattle Bears

@Kisslinger

LW Zach Kisslinger II

 

Kisslinger is not a veteran like most on this list but I had to include them because I think their player is unbelievable. Zach Kisslinger II has a very solid winger build and I have the facts to prove it... 50 goals, 89 assists, for 139 points in his VHLM rookie season. That just blows my mind. Kisslinger finished 2nd in points, 6th in goals, 1st in assists, and 4th in shots throughout the whole league, as a rookie. Like I said earlier for Peace's player, if this was real life and not a sim league, Kisslinger could for sure go first overall in the NHL with that stat line. Kisslinger also earns a respectable 7ish weekly capped TPE since creation of player, which is not that great honestly but it is better than most people in this draft class. Seattle is looking for forwards as well as they will have 4 retiring next season. If Seattle ends up drafting Detroit and Kisslinger, the Bears may not even have to think too hard of a rebuild.

 

16th

Vancouver Wolves (From Malmo)

@Enorama

D Ryan Vidot

 

Ryan Vidot does not sit in the top 16 for TPE ranked players in his draft class but this is Mr. Enorama's player so a first round pick makes sense. Enorama is the GM for the D.C. Dragons and has been with the VHL for 3 years so many people know him. Unfortunately for Enorama, the dragons do not own a first round pick, so it is likely Ryan Vidot will be going to a different team. Ryan Vidot is growing into a strong defenseman with a great attribute build. Vidot does not have impressive stats (9 goals and 41 points last season as a rookie) as this past season was a development season, Vidot sits at 188 TPE at the moment. Enorama does earn a solid weekly capped TPE amount with an average of over 10. If Vancouver drafts Adams with their 7th, they could have a really solid defensive pairing and group of members on the Wolves (Zetterberg, MexicanCow, Fonzi, Enorama). Vancouver does also need an elite defenseman as they only really have one with Nilsson, and then Adams if they draft him.

 

CONCLUSION

 

I know for a fact there will be a lot of people that disagree than agree, but cut me some slack, THIS WAS SO HARD!! This draft class has to be one of the most stacked ever. Everyone with a draft pick in the first round will be walking away with an Elite/Franchise player in my opinion

 

Here are some other points I want to make:

 

1. I think these players could all go top five in any order:

Matty Fire

Xavier Booberry

Saku Kotkakoivu

Corey Kitson

Kyle Peace

 

2. Members who's players I think could easily make the first round that I did not include:

Arthur Kimura @FBR

Florida Man @zepheter

Armani Calamari @WildfireMicro

Kyosti Karjalainen @UnkemptCL4PTP

 

3. I did try my best to put members reputation over TPE, but for example: I would not put Ryan Vidot (VHL GM Enorama's player) over Alessandro Nano (leafsman's player) just because Eno is a VHL GM... Nano has almost 100 TPE more than Vidot.

 

4. These players are just so good that the order can go any way, so I tried to think of what the teams need. If two veteran VHL members had the same-ish TPE (Dil and Doomsday's players both at 274 and 276), I would put the position over anything.

 

So to conclude the conclusion:

 

I tried my best and I hope everyone who read this enjoyed. Let me know your thoughts in the comments if I am a draft genius or a complete idiot lol.

 

3,723 Words (Collecting Sept 12, Sept 19, Sept 26, Oct 3)

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by ajwllmsn

[Ledge 1,131]

I'd toss an honorable mention over to @Moon_50 and Godlander, but other than that, solid job. Love mock drafts

[zepheter 586]

florida man will be a steal

[AJW 2,156]

2 minutes ago, Ledge and Dairy said:

I'd toss an honorable mention over to @Moon_50 and Godlander, but other than that, solid job. Love mock drafts

 

I agree, draft class too stacked

 

[mattyIceman 1,212]

First?  Hmm...

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

Enjoyed the mock and the work you put into it! Definitely curious where I end up, since there are some teams picking high that don't necessarily need goalies too.

[Kisslinger 372]

kisslinger II steal of the draft  that tpe earning will only go back up

 

[jhatty8 663]

21 hours ago, ajwllmsn said:

The only problem I see with this pick is that jhatty8 has not yet had a player that he played a full career with yet and he has had 5 players.

 

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

I read this already, so now I'm going to review it because I need a point.

 

Review: 10/10

 

The main point that sticks out to me for this article is the presentation. It'd be very easy to just bold names and keep them all in paragraph form, but the team bars, the centering of the selections, and the user tagging really goes above and beyond here. It makes the article not only easier to read, but easier to skim too for people who are looking more at the picks than the explanations. The explanations themselves work well too however, taking into account not only team needs, but player builds and stats as well when talking about potential destinations (such as the reasoning for the Detroit drop). If there's one super nitpick there it would be taking more of the long-term futures into account (i.e. what Toronto and Vancouver look like in S80 isn't nearly as important as in S83), but that'd be asking a whole lot and you crammed a bunch in with a short space. I know you called this an amateur opinion, but I view it as anything but that and extremely well done.

[AJW 2,156]

On 9/10/2021 at 4:40 PM, CowboyinAmerica said:

I read this already, so now I'm going to review it because I need a point.

 

Review: 10/10

 

The main point that sticks out to me for this article is the presentation. It'd be very easy to just bold names and keep them all in paragraph form, but the team bars, the centering of the selections, and the user tagging really goes above and beyond here. It makes the article not only easier to read, but easier to skim too for people who are looking more at the picks than the explanations. The explanations themselves work well too however, taking into account not only team needs, but player builds and stats as well when talking about potential destinations (such as the reasoning for the Detroit drop). If there's one super nitpick there it would be taking more of the long-term futures into account (i.e. what Toronto and Vancouver look like in S80 isn't nearly as important as in S83), but that'd be asking a whole lot and you crammed a bunch in with a short space. I know you called this an amateur opinion, but I view it as anything but that and extremely well done.

 

Thanks for the great review  I definitely should take into consideration for long-term futures as that would make more sense. Still in the VHLM team building mindset lol

[AJW 2,156]

Claiming 2/4

[AJW 2,156]

Claiming 3/4

 

[AJW 2,156]

Claiming 4/4