VHLM Argument #16957

[nurx 914]

I often hear arguments about how the VHLM should not be a very competitive league, but I also hear that the VHLM should be a league friendly to new members. Often times these arguments will be made by the same members and it is interesting because they can fairly easily be seen to contradict each other. The main problem in the argument about what do to change the VHLM if change is even needed comes down to how you think of the VHLM, so I believe that this should continue to be a very large argument in the league. 

 

When it comes down to it the VHLM is the most important league in the VHL. I may get hate for this but if the first league someone plays in isn't a good experience then they may not be willing to even continue in the league. The main point of the VHLM should be to help new members become a stronger member in the community. A lot of this falls on the GMs shoulders which can often be viewed as the most important job in the league because those members are the people who end up teaching the newer members in the league the ropes. If you at all agree with me that the VHLM's goal should not be to help new members this next statement should not sound to crazy.

 

The VHLM should not allow teams to be completely uncompetitive. In the end I think the biggest problem in the VHLM is the fact that teams work in 3 season cycles of competing which often leads to new members joining teams that are awful. (ex. S80 and S81 Marauder) I do think it is important for each team to have the ability to have some sort of competitive games, so I think the best solution is fixing how VHLM teams draft players. I truly believe that VHLM teams being able to obtain more than 2 1st round picks is a major problem could be the first step to solving this problem.

 

In reality though this is way more than 150 words, so I will be claiming this and making more arguments in comments as I have time. Thanks for read.

 

[Shindigs 1,771]

9 hours ago, nurx said:

S81 Marauder

At least we fulfill the very important role of making Halifax feel slightly better about themselves. Also based on the experiences in the Miami LR it would seem like the main solution for a better 1st gen experience is to have more Aussies in the LR. So that seems like a totally reasonable fix!

 

Really though isn't the biggest issue with the competitiveness of teams stemming more from mid round picks than 1st rounders? That 1st is going to be a insta-capped 1 season wonder recreate right? Which is strong, yes. But that's not what's making a team like Ottawa curb stomp the rest of league on repeat. It's that they absolutely loaded up on welfare+ players that all end up being competitive players for a long time and then culminating in a full capped team (more or less) this season. I doubt any of those were 1st round picks, right?

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

15 minutes ago, Shindigs said:

At least we fulfill the very important role of making Halifax feel slightly better about themselves. Also based on the experiences in the Miami LR it would seem like the main solution for a better 1st gen experience is to have more Aussies in the LR. So that seems like a totally reasonable fix!

 

Really though isn't the biggest issue with the competitiveness of teams stemming more from mid round picks than 1st rounders? That 1st is going to be a insta-capped 1 season wonder recreate right? Which is strong, yes. But that's not what's making a team like Ottawa curb stomp the rest of league on repeat. It's that they absolutely loaded up on welfare+ players that all end up being competitive players for a long time and then culminating in a full capped team (more or less) this season. I doubt any of those were 1st round picks, right?

I think the VHLM is very unforgiving in that respect... depending on your scouting/your luck you can get solid playersfor 1-2 seasons in the draft as you correctly described... the crux is if you do your job for the league right and animate and nurse and gently push your players to do PT, they will leave within a season (due to reaching 200 TPE) and you start from scratch again... and if you foolishly traded away all or most of your picks you get your ass handed to you during the start of the season and have to hope for the waivers/FA to improve your roster...

[Shindigs 1,771]

4 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

I think the VHLM is very unforgiving in that respect... depending on your scouting/your luck you can get solid playersfor 1-2 seasons in the draft as you correctly described... the crux is if you do your job for the league right and animate and nurse and gently push your players to do PT, they will leave within a season (due to reaching 200 TPE) and you start from scratch again... and if you foolishly traded away all or most of your picks you get your ass handed to you during the start of the season and have to hope for the waivers/FA to improve your roster...

It feels like the M is very much on the fence. We mostly agree it should be a developmental league, yet it uses a competitive rule set. Stuff like trades, the current waiver structure and drafting are neat for competitiveness. It's however basically guaranteed to not spread prospects in a way that optimizes the new player experience. For instance both "pure" 4th line players on Ottawa are better than Miami's 1st line RW. Does it make sense that their reward for earning and building well is to sit on the 4th line and work on their cheerleading? Not really. But how were they supposed to make an informed decision about that on day 1?

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

24 minutes ago, Shindigs said:

It feels like the M is very much on the fence. We mostly agree it should be a developmental league, yet it uses a competitive rule set. Stuff like trades, the current waiver structure and drafting are neat for competitiveness. It's however basically guaranteed to not spread prospects in a way that optimizes the new player experience. For instance both "pure" 4th line players on Ottawa are better than Miami's 1st line RW. Does it make sense that their reward for earning and building well is to sit on the 4th line and work on their cheerleading? Not really. But how were they supposed to make an informed decision about that on day 1?

Well if they were waivers, and read the pitch carefully, they could have made a semi-informed decision... I get your point though as it can be overwhelming when you join the league as a new player (it was for me)... 

Edited December 27, 2021 by Daniel Janser

[Shindigs 1,771]

39 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

Well if they were waivers, and read the pitch carefully, they could have made a semi-informed decision... I get your point though as it can be overwhelming when you join the league as a new player (it was for me)... 

Yeah, same. Honestly Miami massively underpromised in my pitch I think. Think it was like top 4 and special teams. Ended up being 32 minutes a game. But unless you know how to look at the index (which I didn't know existed until around week 2) you can't really tell for sure. Even then you'd probably need to cross reference with the portal etc. Just a lot more than you can feasibly expect. Think I was too excited to get started to even wait for all teams to answer.

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

2 minutes ago, Shindigs said:

Yeah, same. Honestly Miami massively underpromised in my pitch I think. Think it was like top 4 and special teams. Ended up being 32 minutes a game. But unless you know how to look at the index (which I didn't know existed until around week 2) you can't really tell for sure. Even then you'd probably need to cross reference with the portal etc. Just a lot more than you can feasibly expect. Think I was too excited to get started to even wait for all teams to answer.

Same here, on the other hand, I role play like I do not have any influence who will pick me up at all... Every team which contacted me for the draft scouting, I told that I will play for whoever will pick me up and being fully committed to that franchise and certainly not pull a Lindros...