Can Mississauga Bounce Back?

[Grape 619]

The Mississauga Hounds sit at the bottom of the VHLM, with a record of 9-52-6. It is clear that they will not be competing this season and are in a brutal rebuild, with only 3 players on their roster. The question is, however, do they have the pieces needed to compete next season, or will they be in for another year of misery.

 

As stated before, Mississauga has 3 players currently playing on their team. Of these players, two of them, Mikhail Lospenov (@Gretzky didnt lift da puck) and Nayt Bedard (@Hawk E), look to possibly push to be in the VHLE next season, depending on how they’ll claim going forward, maybe barely not making it, maybe intentionally trying to stay down, who knows. Jean Francois Papineau (@HabsFanFromOntario) is brand new to the league and has yet to make a claim. So, next season the team could very easily look even more depleted than before, with only their goalie returning. So the question is, will they be able to draft a squad ready to compete?

 

The team has, for this upcoming draft, 8 picks, with 2 4ths. They do have ownership over their own first, but both their 2nd and 3rd are from contending teams, meaning that they will be at the near end of those rounds. They’ll likely be able to draft an absolute stud with their first selection, someone who will immediately be the face of their franchise. The 2nd will likely net them another pretty good looking player, and the 3rd and 2 4ths will bring in some more needed talent. The 5th, 6th, and 7th will bolster the depth of the team. Hopefully their draft could net them a couple gems that’ll give them a needed boost, however, no matter how you cut it, the team will be very weak in either offense or defense, or brutally mediocre in both. If both their forwards leave, they’ll need to split their 8 picks probably with 5 forwards and 3 defensemen. If both forwards stay, they may be more inclined to do an even split, therefore having a full top 6 and top 4. Either way, depth will be a concern, and they’ll need to do a good job picking up free agents, or perhaps make some slick trade deals, if they do intend on going all in.

 

Based on their position player-wise and draft-wise, I cannot say that Mississauga would be a major competitor next season. It’s hard for a gutted team to push for a championship the next season, and even harder when you lack the plethora of draft picks to build the team up. They’ll likely be kept in mediocrity, and would be wise for them to sell at next season’s deadline to have a more fleshed out rebuild. While they may be able to draft decent talent this offseason, I cannot be too sure that they’ll be able to carry the load completely. The top end teams not only have maxed players, but depth as well, the majority of them with complete rosters. For Mississauga to succeed, all draft picks need to be a hit and depth must be acquired via free agency, as trading picks at this point would be far too risky.

[diacope 2 764]

While Mississauga may be bad this season, with the way that the VHLM seems to operate I wager they will be a playoff next season. The season after that they will contend, and then in another season they will rebuild again. The cycle continues and so on. Nice to see someone write an article about a team that isn't their own, I'm guilty of that a lot. 9/10

[Masu Chan 456]

Review:

 

It's nice to read up on other teams and as an new AGM It's interesting to see what a struggling team plans. Sorry if that sounds harsh if Mississauga Management reads this, but I'm just trying to say that as a new member I am going to watch Mississauga closely to see how you improve next season. Ontop of that this media spot is really well written and as the previous comment mentioned It's cool to see someone willing to critique a team that isn't their own and shows that you did a lot of research on the team.

 

10/10