Claimed:North America: Saskatoon

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NORTH AMERICAN ANALYSIS: SASKATOON WILD

by Thor Ludvigsen, VHL.com

 

Last week, we focused on General Manager Jim Gow's boys in Ottawa. In the article we discussed how talented Ottawa was on paper, but due to the struggles of goalie Soren Douffet and a lack of defensive depth, they were playing a little below standards. This week, we turn to the team is second place in the North American Conference, five points ahead of the third place Lynx and just three points behind the Brampton Blades. On a side note, we also previously discussed Brampton and said how they were just not that great on paper. They have since altered their roster, but regardless, we here at VHL.com look really stupid right now.

 

Thus far in Season 39, General Manager Brett Slobodzian has led his Saskatoon Wild to a 31-7-3 record, cementing them as one of the top teams in the VHLM. Contrary to the disappointing Lynx last week, Saskatoon seems to be playing a little bit better than expected, though they are playing about as expected. To explain, they are about where we all expected them to be, but how they got there is far more impressive than anticipated.

 

Forwards

Compared to Ottawa, Saskatoon's forward lineup is a little bit lackluster. Led by Swedish winger Rami Jakobssen, the forwards on this squad are simply not scoring at a high rate. Rather, they seem to leave the scoring to the defenders, which is more than a little odd. Out of all the forwards on the team, Jakobssen has the most points on the season with 46 to his name, but that is only good enough for the fifth most points on the team. However, General Manager Slobodzian has noticed this problematic area and has sought to rectify it by recently acquiring top winger Ashton Galbraith from the Minot Gladiators. We discussed Galbraith back when he lined up for Minot, where he had 56 points in 37 games. Since joining Saskatoon, he has two points in four games. Ideally, Galbraith will help the Wild's forwards increase their production and begin to click, but as long as they win games, I am sure Slobodzian could not care less where the points come from.

 

Besides Jakobssen and now Galbraith, there is not much to write home about for Saskatoon. Career minor leaguers Mikael Svensson, Walt Pringle, and Tobias Funke, have been unexpected bright spots on the year, putting up 39, 27, and 19 points, respectively. However, the only player left really worthy of talking about is English winger Kurtis Hunter. A Season 40 draft prospect, Hunter has been underwhelming on the season, likely due to his lack of experience. Thus far, he has 18 points, a +16 +/-, and 63 hits. While he has managed to show great defensive skill and a willingness to use his body as a weapon, Hunter has not shown great offensive prowess, which is a concern for him, since he should be producing more based on his skill set. Luckily, given his young age, there is plenty of time to improve his play and hopefully, he will do just that.

 

 

Defense

This is where the real talent lies on this Saskatoon roster. Led by American defenseman Mason Richardson, arguably the best prospect in the Season 40 draft with 239 practice hours to his name, this unit is arguably the best in the entire league. With 83 points to his name this season, Richardson is 17 points clear of the nearest competitor on Saskatoon. He also has a +17 +/-, 89 hits, and 76 blocked shots, on the season, establishing himself as the premier defensive prospect. Lining up next to him is Mexican defenseman Gunzerker Salvador. A bit rawer than Richardson, Salvador has been one of the best players on Saskatoon this season with 66 points, a +12, 94 hits, and 72 blocked shots, under his belt. If he were not playing with Richardson, however, one must wonder what his numbers would be. Regardless, Salvador's production has been much needed for this team and has put him near the top of many VHL teams' draft boards heading into the Season 40 Entry Draft.

 

On the second pairing, Saskatoon is led by another Season 40 Draft prospect, Canadian defender Joshua Rubin. With 49 points on the season, Rubin has been yet another unexpected major contributor to the offensive attack of this Wild squad. He has also been its most physical player, with 108 hits and 80 blocked shots this season, showing a complete disregard for his own safety. However, there is still room for improvement as his -2 +/- is a major black eye on his stat line. Next to Rubin is Cologne Express prospect Lights Bokan. A little behind the curve at 69 practice hours, Bokan has managed a point per game this year with 41 points in 41 games. He also has a +2 +/-, 54 hits, and 34 blocked shots, which put him as the worst defenseman on the team, but still better than what many other teams trot out every night.

 

Goalies

Last week, we discussed Ottawa goalie Soren Douffet and how his stats were a tad misleading. While he had a great goals against average, he had a terrible save percentage, which was far more indicative of his actual skill, or lack thereof. This week, however, we will focus on the best goalie in the VHLM, Gunnar Skovsgard. With a 35-6-0 record, a 2.52 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage, Skovsgard has cemented his place as the top goalie on both paper and on the ice. With 119 practice hours to his name, the Danish netminder is also one of the most well developed goalie prospects in the league and is known for his fantastic hand speed and reaction time, which allow his to adjust to shots very quickly.

 

Overall

As a collective unit, it is easy to see the strengths and weaknesses of this Saskatoon side. Their defensemen are some of the best in the league and their goalie is the best around. However, their forward unit has struggled. While there is plenty of talent there, they have simply not clicked and seem to be deferring many scoring chances to their more talented defensive teammates. General Manager Slobodzian has traded a Season 41 second round pick and forward Braxton Hunter to Minot in exchange for talented prospect Ashton Galbraith in hopes of correcting this issue, but only time will tell if it actually has any effect. If Galbraith can come in and add a scoring punch to this side, it is hard to imagine Saskatoon not being the Founders Cup favorites.

 

1,108 words

[Da Trifecta 1,902]

Content: 3/3 Something you never see. Something about Saskatoon lol. But it was pretty solid and had quite a bit of words. The team looks pretty good and has a good future hopefully.

Grammar: 2/2 Nothing to take away

Appearance: 1/1

 

Final: 6/6

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