CIA's Long, Probably Wrong S81 VHL Mock Draft

[CowboyinAmerica 2,731]

 

CIA's S81 VHL Mock Draft

 

Mock drafts are fun, but we haven’t seen any yet for the VHL’s Season 81 Draft. I’m assuming that VSN will come up with a well-researched draft here shortly, but where are the ones that are solely decided by gut, that just feel like the author doesn’t know what he’s talking about, that are written even before the lottery is actually decided?

 

Reader, I’m here to give you one of those poor mock drafts.

 

There’s a good chance that none of this is right come draft day, but that’s half the fun, right? Here’s one person’s take on the first round as it stands, based solely off team needs, the VHCS pre-draft rankings, and good old fashioned speculation. Did I miss something? Probably! But if you disagree, feel free to sound off in the comments. Or better yet, write your own mock draft, because the more of these, the better by me.

 

 1. Helsinki Titans (from Toronto): LW Nico Pearce, Minnesota Storm, @Spartan

Last draft, the Titans began their rebuild in earnest by building from the back: goaltender Xavier Booberry went first overall, then the team went defensemen with their next three picks in Alessandro Nano, Flynn Remy and Dookie Headtop. That means that there’s a heavy need for young first round forward talent. Seems like a good time to have two of the first three picks, with three forwards atop the draft board, huh? Pearce is outpacing Mulds and Colors as it stands, and while I’m sure his agency would like to usher him to Moscow, it’d be tough for the Menace to trade up high enough without selling a key piece of this year’s finals team. Slotting in alongside Ori on a burgeoning team’s front line of the future is a good consolation.

 

 2. Helsinki Titans: C Harkat Mulds, Yukon Rush, @hylands

Assuming that the Titans are indeed going double forwards with these two high firsts, they have an interesting conundrum. Another scoring winger like Zaza Colors would seemingly be a cleaner fit alongside a passing-oriented center like Ori, presenting a formidable one-two scoring punch with Pearce in the future. But with zero inside knowledge, I think Harkat Mulds could be the selection here for two reasons. First, Gustislav Nasherov figures to be in the Titans’ long-term plans as well and could be tough to displace on the first line winger spot, making the centerpiece of the second line a strong pick. And second, taking a second GM-affiliated player could be risky, especially since Colors has much more of an argument to force himself to London’s similarly high pick.

 

 3. Seattle Bears: RW Maximus Decimus Meridius, Yukon Rush, @Beaviss

This is where I could see things getting interesting. The pick by raw TPE here is Colors. But at least pre-lottery, London is sitting there with the fourth overall pick. If there’s a GM that could bluff a Colors selection and force London to trade up, I think Seattle’s Bana could be. I also see a scenario where that’s not a bluff. But I’m going to guess another player ends up on Seattle either way. Hulk Hogan 2 makes a lot of sense given Hulk Hogan 1’s Seattle history, but maybe less with Erlantz Jokinen and Sven Eightnine waiting in the wings. Seattle needs young forward talent, and knows Meridius’s management well from their time GMing competing teams. Assuming Meridius stays active, him being the most productive player in this draft wouldn't be a shock.

 

 4. London United: RW Zaza Colors, Yukon Rush, @McWolf

I don’t think any team is going to be sweating the draft lottery more than London. If the United moves up even one spot, then the team would stand a good shot at bringing their GM’s player to London. But if things stay static – or God forbid, a move down – then that gets thrown into jeopardy. I have Seattle playing nice here, and if Colors is on the board, it’s a no brainer. If Colors is off the board, though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a defensive player like Hulk Hogan 2 here, given that London picked wingers in Godlander and Ablar early in last year’s draft.

 

 5. New York Americans: D Hulk Hogan 2, Yukon Rush, @Hogan

The New York Americans have had enough bad sim and user luck recently that it’s giving me Lance Flowers PTSD. And the result is that it’s put the Americans in a tough spot: They probably could go for it another season, maybe two if they wanted. But are they really going to pass the Vancouvers and Calgarys of the world, and when’s the right time to start the rebuild? Regardless, New York needs young talent across the board, and Hogan provides a high-upside defenseman that can both be a centerpiece in a rebuild as well as provide some immediate benefit in place of Kramerev or Cloudera if the Americans continue to try and stretch out their competitive window.

 

 6. Riga Reign: C Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems, Las Vegas Aces, @FrostBeard

The Reign may have underachieved their goals this year, but they’ve got a sneaky nice reload going, following up defenseman Hari Singh Nalwa with three firsts in this draft. Offense has to be the name of the game here, with only Anze Miklavz and Donny Carter the only forwards active and younger than S75. Nezuko would certainly make sense here, but I’m going out of TPE order and saying Miglaskems is the pick. A playmaking-oriented center is increasingly a rarity in the VHL, Riga knows his management from past GM dealings, and of course, you have to send the Latvian player to Riga, right?

 

 7. Toronto Legion (from Davos): D Wattson Power, Mexico City Kings, @Tape-to-Tape

The Legion would sure like to have their own first back this season, but they’ll make due with two firsts from Davos and Malmo. With the first of those, Nezuko is still sitting on the board, and he wouldn’t surprise me here. But man, the Legion need some defense. They only have one active defenseman on their roster in Rusty Knale, and just Sting Chameleon in their prospect pool after the retirements of both Tony Adams and Link Zhang. Both Wattson Power and Biggie Cheese are offensive-oriented defensemen that would make sense here; I’ll say it’s Power on a pure hunch.

 

 8. Helsinki Titans (from Calgary): LW Nezuko, Minnesota Storm, @tfong

Especially if the Titans go forward with their first two picks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go defenseman here for diversity, putting someone like Biggie Cheese or Cadmael Ixazaluoh into play. But if Nezuko slips to pick eight, I have to think they’d be running up to the podium. Nezuko would reunite with Minnesota teammate Pearce in this scenario, and give the Titans another long-term super scoring forward to pair with Ori. Worry about the fit later and take the talent while it’s available. Plus, it's in the rules that he has to go to a European team somewhere, right?

 

 9. Riga Reign (from Prague): D Biggie Cheese, Houston Bulls, @a_Ferk

If the Reign go forward with their first pick, it opens up the options across the board for first rounders two and three. I certainly think they’d look at Daniel Janser here, but since there will be more forwards available with the D.C. first, going defense here would seem to be the stronger move. The Reign already have a young, offensively-oriented defenseman in Hari Singh Nalwa, but Biggie Cheese would allow them to double down with a blue line that can really snipe. 112 points with 78 assists in Houston this past season shows that he’s no slouch getting teammates in on the action either.

 

 10. Warsaw Predators: D Cadmael Ixazaluoh, Philadelphia Reapers, @Vice

(I gave Warsaw the tiebreaker with L.A. on goal differential, no idea what it actually is.) Warsaw has two late firsts, and I think they could be seeing the draft board very similarly to Riga before them: more likely to have the forward they want than the defenseman they want with the second pick. Pair that with defense being their top priority with S80 forwards Zach Kisslinger II and Brendan Marner waiting in the wings, and grabbing a player like Ixazaluoh makes a lot of sense. A passing and defense-oriented blue liner provides space for pure scorers like Trunov and Kisslinger to complement one another on the first line of Warsaw’s future.

 

 11. Los Angeles Stars: LW Daniel Janser, Philadelphia Reapers, @Daniel Janser

Rory enters the Stars GM role in an interesting conundrum – it’s a team built to win right now, but wasn’t able to top a younger team in Vancouver last season. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this pick moved for more veteran help, but if they keep it, grabbing the best offensive talent to pair with AJ Williams and Florida Man in the future seems like a good way to go. By raw TPE, this is a slide for Janser, a good indication of how much he’s been able to show out as a first gen with consistent earning since joining in August. Janser could easily go higher than this, and I think his ultimate floor is 11 or 12.

 

 12. Seattle Bears (from Chicago): RW Alexandre Leduc, Yukon Rush, @Alexandre

Another first generation player who’s been rising up draft boards since August, Leduc showed what he can do offensively this season with 90 points, and another 24 in the playoffs, on a crowded Yukon team. In Seattle he’d be going to one of the best situations for a young player to learn the ropes, and Seattle would get another offensively-oriented winger to balance all of the mashing that’s happening on Vinny Detroit’s side of the ice. It may be a season or two before Leduc’s up to the VHL, but that timeline’s perfect as Seattle will be looking to replace an aging Stormsson or Foley.

 

 13. Riga Reign (from D.C.): RW Yun Chiang, Miami Marauders, @FireballSalad

If the Reign wanted their choice of forwards with their pick, they’ll get it: There’s a group of three forwards with similar scoring-oriented builds in Sergey Preobrazhensky, Robert Wilk and Yun Chiang to choose from, along with more passing-oriented winger Mason Jones. I’ll say it’s Chiang that’s the pick, partially through process of elimination: the earlier pick of a center eliminates Preobrazhensky, Miglaskems being passing-oriented eliminates Jones, and Wilk has his eye on Warsaw. Chiang would provide a nice scoring counterpart to Miglaskems on the first line of Riga’s future, and he showed he can light up the goal with 60 goals (in 68 games!) in Miami.

 

 14. Toronto Legion (from Malmo): D George Sanderson, Philadelphia Reapers, @SpicyGecko

Do the Legion want to rebuild their defensive core strongly enough to slightly reach for one in terms of TPE? I say yes – but it might not even be a reach given the way Sanderson has been earning since joining in late September. More of a throwback defensive bruiser, Sanderson provides a different dimension on the blue line than earlier mocked pick Wattson Power or passing-oriented Sting Chameleon. There might even be some pressure to rush Sanderson up to the Legion early given the lack of depth on the main roster, but letting him develop in the VHLE for a season or two could yield an excellent first line defensemen in the future.

 

 15. Moscow Menace: C Sergey Preobrazhensky, San Diego Marlins, @Bulduray_1

The Menace may not be getting Nico Pearce in this scenario, but they’re picking up a productive scorer nonetheless in Preobrazhensky. An early season pick up for the Marlins, Preobrazhensky totaled 89 points in 64 games, and more relevant to the draft, did so with constant updating ever since joining in late September. It might be two seasons in the VHLE before he’s up for Moscow, but I think Spartan’s OK with that, given that a cap crunch is rapidly approaching as their S77 and S78 stars approach their TPA apex. And when he hits, it could be an easy slot to replace a retiring or regressing Glass or Stein.

 

 16. Warsaw Predators (from Vancouver): RW Robert Wilk, San Diego Marlins, @Tomat0

Part of me thinks I’m being too nice with these selections, giving Colors to London, Miglaskems to his native Latvia, and now Wilk to his native Poland. But what can I say, I like to see people happy. Especially if Warsaw goes defense with their first selection this draft, an offensive dynamo is what they’ll be looking for with this pick. Who’s better than the guy who lit up the scoreboard with 133 points in 72 games in San Diego? Wilk’s management may not have as much of a VHL pedigree, but its work in affiliated leagues gives it an advantage here as well.

 

Also on the Cusp: LW Mason Jones, LW William Groves, D Cameron Elsby, G Tadhg Byrne, G Juha Jarvinen

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by CowboyinAmerica

[CowboyinAmerica 2,731]

2000+ words, because who wants to do a PT over Thanksgiving?

 

Claiming for the weeks ending:

11/14

11/21

11/28

12/5

[Tomat0 50]

Would love to end up there

[Ledge 1,131]

@FireballSalad We'd love to have you in Riga 

[Spartan 4,006]

3 hours ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

I’m sure his agency would like to usher him to Moscow

[BOOM 8,435]

Thanks for doing all the scouting for the GM's.

[FrostBeard 1,975]

4 hours ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

C Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems, Las Vegas Aces,

*Screams at the screen that Sirdsvaldis played for Houston*

Great stuffs though, I have around 2 to 3 teams I would be super excited to play for. Only GMs of those teams know which teams they are though.. 

[nurx 914]

1 hour ago, Ledge and Dairy said:

@FireballSalad We'd love to have you in Riga 

 

[McWolf 3,112]

Yes, let Zaza slip to me

[CowboyinAmerica 2,731]

13 hours ago, FrostBeard said:

*Screams at the screen that Sirdsvaldis played for Houston*

Great stuffs though, I have around 2 to 3 teams I would be super excited to play for. Only GMs of those teams know which teams they are though.. 

 

Whoops, think I saw "LV" in the rankings and my mind went to Vegas. My bad.

[Daniel Janser 1,983]

Wow, that is a well researched mock draft. You took not only into consideration raw TPE but also pre-existing affiliations with the franchises in question, weekly earnings and on what positions the teams have need for 'fresh blood' in the near future. It is also graphically appealing with the team logos and differently coloured titles. It has all the bells and whistles. The only point of criticism I have, is that you put me only at 11th pick. Just kidding. 10/10

[Alex 2,879]

Review:

 

Great job! In all honesty I think you aren't that far off of what will happen, with that being said some unforeseen circumstances have changed the order of the draft (trades and lottery) so with respect to that you've done a great job. Additionally, I really enjoy the more statistically driven media spots so this was a great read for me. 9/10

[CowboyinAmerica 2,731]

Claim 3/4

[ROOKIE745 572]

review: I don't know how I missed this but good mock draft Cowboy, I love that Ori was mentioned in every Helsinki pick XD But anyway, to get serious this mock draft has all of what you expect from a good quality post, color coding, team icons, bold, tags to the users, picture at the top, a lot at why said team would pick said player, and even honorable mentions. You don't miss a beat here, 10/10 my friend

[CowboyinAmerica 2,731]

Claim 4/4