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A GM's perspective: S80 VHL Entry Draft


Peace

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Oh sweet Mary Ann Joseph, it's finally over, the draft is finally over! All I could think about for the last week -- or at the very least since the lottery was conducted -- was how to make everything work, how to make a vision a reality, from a figment of my imagination to the future of the Toronto Legion. Oh how much time I wasted letting things live rent-free inside my head for way too long, far longer than anything really should. This article is a GM's perspective into a draft wherein a team has two lottery picks initially, and in a way the lottery results did softly fuck over the Toronto Legion team I love so dearly.

 

I came into this draft with three goals; 1) secure a franchise goaltender or a franchise skater; 2) secure myself [after I acquired fifth overall from London]; and 3) draft individuals who I thought would bring a new era of locker room engagement. I'd like to believe I've accomplished all three, however I know the work has only just begun and I need to understand control is out of my hands from this point on. The hard work is up to the prospects drafted to develop into VHL players, the control lies there within themselves to earn a spot on a VHL roster.

Before we start I want to rewind the clock a little... so imagine that nostalgic VCR noise as you're five minutes from missing your BlockBuster rental return date. Wait, you don't know what BlockBuster is? Oh forget it.

 

Loosing the lottery sucked, I fully admit that and I'm still kind of salty about this run of bad luck Toronto is having. I'm thinking maybe I should have shared that Facebook picture cursing me with bad luck if I didn't, or forward that email claiming I needed to or ten years of cosmic bad karma will befall upon me. We owned the native #1 and #3 picks and got rolled back one, I'm starting to think at this point anything Toronto is just cursed. Beketov jokes that Devise curses the teams he leaves, perhaps there is some cold blooded truth to the claims. Talks with London went great, after some digging and natural evolution of certain conversations I was able to acquire fifth overall from McWolf in exchange for 11th and a couple of second round selections. Despite stepping down from 5th to 11th, I'm positive McWolf doesn't see Moon_50's player as a risk. I was hoping Moon would drop down into the second round, but my boy McWolf had done his scouting. 

After acquiring fifth overall I wasted way too much time trying to gain control of third overall. My original plan was to pick Fire [MattyIce], Kotkakoivu [DollarandaDream] and Peace [myself]. I tried very hard to make this 'dream come true' happen, I spent a lot of time and had to be more demanding than I'd ever like to be in order to keep the pressure up, ultimately, however, I truly feel like I wasted half a weeks worth of my effort and dedication to the task. Ricer made a decision he had to make, I respect and understand that, but good lord I wish there were moments where people would simply state 'I am keeping the pick' instead of humming and hawing at the idea of trading it; thank you, Rayzor, for stating that you'll be keeping the pick hours before the draft. Telling me 'it depends on what happens' is just a statement to bid your time.

Now I know I do this as well, we all get caught up as soon as the draft begins and our team is on the clock but I try my best to let people know I'll be keeping the pick. 

I wasn't blindsided by Calgary's pick, yet I was blindsided by Calgary's pick. I think that's an accurate statement to how the top six boiled down, I felt kind of betrayed a little as well but I know that's my own negativity I need to purge yesterday, I need to 'get over it' as some would say and none of this is  Ricer's fault whatsoever. That's the inner child of myself trying to pop through and pout about something so minor, so swallow a chill pill Peace and move on. You don't realize what you have yet, you damned moron!

 

The kicker is the offer I had for three, which I'll remind you was absolutely going to be Kotkakoivu. I was willing to pay 5th overall, 19th overall and a S81 pick of their choice for 'Kotka'. If you read this, Dollar, know that your GM really values your presence to Calgary! Now I may not go cry in a corner, but I'm certainly wiping away tears at a dream I couldn't bring to fruition. I'll imagine what a Peace-Kotka-Fire line would have been in S82, S83 and well into their golden years. Both Fire and Kotka were willing to play all eight in Toronto, nine in the case of Mr. Fire.

They may have sim'd great in STHS, or they may have stumbled and fell across the finish line. I'll never really know if I got robbed of a golden apple, or avoided a Devise curse rotten apple.

 

Now I realize I got Doomsday and suddenly 'I'm over it', I absolutely cherish Doomsday and the work he puts into our community. I'm absolutely thrilled to have him on the team, so I hope I'm not offending him at all when I recap my thoughts about yesterdays evening draft.


Anyway I want to break down the Toronto Legions' S80 VHL Entry Draft:


With the second overall selection in the S80 VHL Entry Draft the Toronto Legion select...
 


2nd OVERALL
[C] MATTY FIRE
Potential: Franchise Player
First VHL Season? S80.

 

The tough decision between Matty or DaaD was in every sense 'tough', albeit Matty completed his draft interview faster than Dollar did. Now that didn't play into the decision whatsoever, but I will admit something about Matty tugged at my thoughts for a while. I knew Matty from my London days, I knew we got along very well and I knew he was excited to help Toronto climb back into relevancy [or at least my second attempt at making Toronto relevant, and by my definition of 'relevant' I mean champions at least once]. 

I drafted Matty over DaaD in every mock draft I could create in my head, I knew Matty was coming to Toronto at second overall and I was quite excited. In fact I was scared enough to try to acquire first overall to ensure Rayzor wouldn't select Matty from Toronto, so I quietly held my breath when Rayzor announced he'd be keeping the pick roughly two hours before the draft began. Matty brings a willing franchise skater to Toronto, will join the VHL immediately and could even become Toronto's top skater should RJ choose to leave the team at the end of the upcoming season. 



4th OVERALL
[G] OSKAR LINDBERGH
Potential: Starting Goaltender
First VHL Season? S81/S82.

I'll admit Doomsday's fall from grace lately was, or more accurately put is... still worrisome. Doomsday and I have a long history, although we've never really talked much besides our common interests. We've shot the shit, sure, and while it's been mostly VHL related I understand that's okay. We get along well, he was my VHLM GM in Saskatoon and that's a legacy we connect with. From Saskatoon's honorable history to his latest attempt to bring the cup back home we've grown around that, and I fully admit I should have been more active in the Wilds' Discord server... it's a strange place for me now, that's on me, I still haven't gotten over something I should be able to move on from. 

In terms of goaltending, I never thought I'd be making this pick, I spoke with D_A about Calgary likely choosing Doomsday and that Prague would still have a goaltender available when they made a selection. When Calgary decided to make the pick they did, I never had time to apologize to Diamond_Ace for taking one of the goaltenders he wanted. I felt forced into this pick because Toronto really did need a starting goaltender, but the reality hit me like a freight train today. Doomsday joining Toronto was always on the table and I should never have felt like it was forced upon me in the first place, I got my head so wrapped up in the idea above I never paused to really think I was adding a great member in Doom and now he's here and I couldn't be happier.



5th OVERALL
[LW] KYLE PEACE
Potential: Franchise Player
First VHL Season? S81.

 

Now here's the surprise twist... oh wait it isn't, Peace coming to Toronto was probably predicted by nearly half [or the entire] league by the time I added fifth overall to the mix of picks Toronto had. The reality is I was so close to stepping down earlier in S79 for numerous reasons I may not have been Toronto's GM at this point. Similarly to Gustav, I had my resignation typed out on a Google Word document and was ready to hand in that letter, in fact I stepped away from a potential job as co-VHLM Commissioner because I thought I wouldn't be here much longer. I had a lot going on in my personal life, I was getting evicted and my power, utilities and cellphone were all disconnected at one point. I was slated to start my courses to become an EMR in September and I was ready to move on from the VHL, but I never recovered to the point where I felt taking those courses were viable and instead found work to stabilize my situation. Instead of a September start, it turned into a December start, and then a 'maybe next year' start but that's okay. 

With a more stable life and free time I thought I wouldn't have, I decided to stick around a forum that made me -- on occasion -- happier than most of my recreational activities do. Now it is my own personal goal to get my first VHL championship with Peace. Awards can suck it, I just want to achieve the big picture this time around.

 

S17th OVERALL
[C] ARMANI CALAMARI
Potential: Top Six Forward
First VHL Season? S82/S83

 

How could I not draft a kid who grew up from Toronto? I had been reading and watching WildfireMicro develop in this league and knew I had to take him here, I didn't want to risk letting him slide to 19th overall despite the small chance he may have been there then anyway. Mr. Micro has written a few articles about his thoughts about joining the Legion, so I made it a reality when he was still available with the first pick of the second round. I was thinking perhaps Micro would go 16th after a long delay from Vancouver's end during the live draft, but thankfully I got him here. 

Calamari might spend a few seasons in the VHLE before he's ready to participate in the VHL, but thankfully that also means he'll face less depreciation once he reaches the big league and could be an impact player when he reaches the attribute levels required for VHL competition. Mr. Micro has been a fantastic addition to the locker room thus far, and I'll completely reveal I never had the time to really scout the second round. Well actually I did, but I was so consumed in other tasks I simply never got around to it.

 

 

19th OVERALL
[D] TONY ADAMS
Potential: Top Four Defender
First VHL Season? S83/S84.

 

This was a 'red flag' pick according to some of my fellow GMs, but I understood what I was getting here and I knew some of the reasons FonziGG slid out of the first round. After making the pick I was able to get ahold of this wonderful person and confirmed that they'll be around in a lesser capacity. Life gets busy, I absolutely understand that the VHL is second fiddle [or should be] over real life, and I fully support Fonzi in whatever decisions he will make in the present and the future.  

 

I won't reveal what he's been going through, that's not really my place to say, but I have given him my thoughts about his situation. Over time Adams will join the Legions' defensive unit, and while it may take awhile to get there it's certainly on the horizon. Again one of the great things about the VHLE is it delays the late career deprecation normal VHL-bound skaters will experience, so if Fonzi makes the VHL by S84 he'll never experience that depreciation and have four solid seasons in the big leagues. 


23rd OVERALL
[C] STING CHAMELEON
Potential: Top Four Defender
First VHL Season? S84/S85.

 

I don't know much about Hybrid1486, but I do know they're a returning veteran member that generated excitement among VHLM GMs and older members of our league. I'm also aware this user isn't a fan of Discord, which is entirely alright with me. I read a media spot about why they weren't on the VHL Discord just to realize a few of the points struck home for me, and in some way indirectly relates to why I avoid the official VHL discord server 95% of the time I'm tagged or mentioned. Only reason I visit there is to game with Fong from time to time, and of course read the hidden VHL GM Chat in order to stay up to date and connected with my colleagues. 

 

Lately Hybrid has taken a step back from the league again, so I don't want to apply too much pressure and will simply support whatever development path chosen. Chameleon also represents a positional need the Legion currently have, we need defensive prospects that'll make the VHL eventually. Even though Hybrid is only earning five capped TPE each week, Sting will eventually see VHL ice without facing depreciation well into his career clock and I'm alright with waiting for that to develop. If that's where Hybrid is comfortable, that's where I'll be comfortable too.

 

 

24th OVERALL
[RW] ARTHUR KIMURA
Potential: Top Six Forward
First VHL Season? S81/S82.

Unlike Hybrid, I do know something about FBR, although that is mostly related to my first player [Rylan Peace] and our joint history with Toronto. As far as I can tell, FBR's first player was Matthew Kai, a promising prospect for the Toronto Legion drafted in the first round back in S65 by the Vancouver Wolves [previously Quebec City]. FBR eventually went inactive with Kai, but Matthew had a decent career with Toronto after what I recall was the SBA/VHL drama causing a rift between the two leagues back then. 

FBR is back now, and I'm beyond excited to see what they're capable of with Arthur Kimura. I don't comment on many threads on the forum, but I will say the art work has been awesome to see, and I can't wait for Kimura to inevitably join the Toronto Legion. Is Kimura destined to join Fire and Peace on the first line? He's a right wing, not too far behind in TPE and could naturally slot in with what I hope could become a 'dynamic trio'. We shall see!

 

 

30th OVERALL
[D] LINK ZHANG
Potential: Top Four Defender
First VHL Season? S83/S84. 

 

This is the first user I know absolutely nothing about. Bolts joined back in June, played for the Yukon Rush, has been fairly active in media spots and seems like a genuinely nice individual. I've noticed the strong, kind compliments they've been leaving in reviews, joking presence within press conference answers and a positive attitude. My goal is to get to know this individual a little more once the plate has cleared a bit, so I'm excited to see where this goes and what it develops into. 

Assuming Zhang joins the VHL at 400 TPA, I can honestly see an effective two-way defender based on his build. With just a tad bit more effort, such as a media spot and a VHL.com article, Zhang could easily become the steal of the S80 draft and turn into a dominating VHL defender and a pillar the Legion rely on in a short manner of time.

 

 

 

Well that's it! 

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Review: I love reading these articles. I wish more like these were made by every team since the draft is one of the best things (imo) about the VHL. It needs more eyes and I like to hear the explanations from each GM's perspective and why they picked who they did. All in all a great read and the added color and potential ratings were a good touch (even though they were a touch biased)

 

Great read and solid everything 9/10

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review time: Always enjoy seeing another piece from you Peace. Once again a great job and it is awesome to hear your thought process through all of this and with the choices you are making for Toronto. There's lots of content here to read through and it's paced very well, the use of italics and color coding is great and adds a little flavor to this post. Good spelling and choice of words. 9.5/10

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderator

Just reading this now. I apologize for the humming and hawing over the trade. It was definitely amazing value to move down two spots. I was heavily swayed to pick Kotkakoivu by my AGM Greg_Di. However I personally really wanted Dooms goalie. I actually didn’t know I was going to “make the pick” until the draft had officially started. There were questions over Dooms inactivity and ultimately that’s what led to me keeping the pick. It was a huge struggle for me in deciding what I wanted to do with that pick whether it be select a player or trade it. There was no intent to lead you on and I couldn’t just say “I’m keeping the pick” because I really didn’t know if I was.

Edited by Ricer13
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