FutureSight - S81

[Plate 285]

 

"My rebuttal is I don't care."

 

 

Welcome to FutureSight. Where I take a look at the biggest steals from past drafts. As the VHL S84 draft concludes, I stand before you with a mirror. To reflect and look back on the absolute steals of the past.

 

Rankings

 

1. Hulk Hogan 2 (Drafted 6th, ranked 2nd post-draft class) + 4

 

Hulk Hogan 2 is possibly the biggest steal of the S81 draft, being 1 of 3 players above the 600 TPE mark. Istanbul selected Hogan 1st overall in the VHLE. Seattle probably took this player in the hopes that they would develop to a top 6 talent in a season or two, but might not have expected the explosive start they had this season. 

 

A great point per game player right out of the gates, on top of a solid defensive performance of 156 shots blocked, means that Hulk Hogan will be a Seattle staple for the seasons to come. And with a contract that locks them up for the next four seasons, Seattle knows this will be a starting piece for the future. 

 

 

2. Alessio Simeoni (Drafted 60th overall, ranked 35th post-draft class) +25

 

The most significant jump in terms of value belongs to Simeoni, who, projected at the tail end of the draft, could have been selected mid-table as a serviceable center and has been for the Toronto Legion. Instead, they swiped them up at that 60th spot.

This project hasn’t quite cut the VHL roster yet, but I project to do so in a season or two. Alessio Simeoni has had a back and forth career thus far, from Houston to Saskatoon in the M. Cologne also grabbed him from Oslo.

In the VHLE, Simeoni has an impressive 65 points and 154 hits. This player will undoubtedly be helpful as a depth offensive option in many VHL rosters and might add some grit to a potential playoff run or two. Look at Toronto to keep this player as a future depth piece or some trade bait in the future. 

 

 

3. Johnny Xavier (Drafted 35th overall, ranked 21st post-draft class) +14

 

Johnny Xavier was always going to pan out as a roster player. But I don’t even think the Helsinki Titan, who picked this player in their monster draft, could have predicted the growth of Xavier. Helsinki crushed the 2nd round of the S81 draft.

Xavier hasn’t fully broken into the VHL roster. That isn’t to say Xavier’s development is below the curve. However, the value of a 2nd and 3rd round player is a giant leap. Helsinki can look to end its rebuild soon with numerous great talents.

 

Cologne got the service of Xavier this past season. Eighty points to round out his European career, with an additional 151 hits, is an absurd stat line for the prospect. However, there’s also an air of clutch with this player. Five GWG with only 24 goals total might be enough to win a game or two in the playoffs, so look to Helsinki to use Xavier as a clutch depth player in future playoff runs. 

 

 

4. (Tied) Boris Tsezar (Drafted 41st overall, ranked 20th overall post-draft class) +21 AND

Ed Nu (Drafted 45th overall, ranked 24th overall post-draft class) +21

 

Now, I know what you’re saying. Goalies aren’t worth that much. They suck. These goalies are on this list because the teams before them didn’t need the goalie prospects. And those are all valuable points.

My rebuttal is I don’t care. Goalies matter.

 

Davos (Though London picked Tsezar) and New York (Though New York-traded Ed Nu to London for some reason) get two excellent growing goalie prospects that could serve as starting goalies in the future for a couple of seasons. Hopefully, goalies will produce more robust numbers with the end of the scoring era, and their value will increase. As a result, making these picks retroactively much stronger than we give them credit for currently. 

 

Boris Tsezar is a Russian goaltender currently playing for the Rome Gladiators. He put up an incredible .913 SV% and had a solid 31-13 record. Chances are Tsezar gets the call and moves up to the Davos roster next season.

Ed Nu struggled a bit with the Istanbul Red Wolves. A barely above .50% winning record and a reasonably high GAA average might worry some London United fans, wondering if they decided to keep the better of the two goalies. To this, I say don’t worry about it. On a worse team, Nu had one less shutout than Tsezar, with five more minor wins but ten more losses. 

 

 

Exempt but still noteworthy - Nico Pearce (Drafted 10th overall, ranked 1st) +9

 

In a vacuum, I would put Pearce first on this list. However, because it’s not a steal because of the GM player selection rules, it’s invalidated. Pearce would have been a shoo-in for that number 1 spot.

 

Moscow gets to enjoy a star talent, the only player in the class to break 700 TPE and is nearly 100 TPE above Hulk Hogan 2, the next closest player in terms of progression. But, of course, that would be the case had he not been involved in a massive blockbuster trade. 

 

Helsinki gets the best prospect of the S81 draft, but Moscow gets two solid prospects (A 1st and 2nd round prospect) that will undoubtedly amount to a decent return in the long run. While the players have not immediately outperformed Peace on individual levels, they combine for more points, hits, and shots blocked. 

Conclusion

 

Of course, this is still very early on in their development, and only an actual couple of seasons in the VHL will prove the service of these players. However, I wish good luck to them all in their future VHL careers as they show you don’t necessarily need to be a 1st round pick to add value to a team. 

 

With the S83 draft finished, we can only assume that more players like these will come out of the woodwork in time. I hope they get the appreciation they deserve for their hard work and TPE grind, even if it may only be a welfare and practice facility for some. 

 

Every piece of effort counts. Thank you, Kings.

(1038 words)

Edited April 7, 2022 by Plate

[Plate 285]

Spoiler

@Hogan@Alesime@Johnny_HX@comrade cat@npuBeT@Spartan

I forgot to tag people so here you go.

[Spartan 4,006]

21 minutes ago, Plate said:

Exempt but still noteworthy - Nico Pearce (Drafted 10th overall, ranked 1st) +9

 

In a vacuum, I would put Pearce first on this list. However, because it’s not a steal because of the GM player selection rules, it’s invalidated. Pearce would have been a shoo-in for that number 1 spot.

 

Moscow gets to enjoy a star talent, the only player in the class to break 700 TPE and is nearly 100 TPE above Hulk Hogan 2, the next closest player in terms of progression. But, of course, that would be the case had he not been involved in a massive blockbuster trade. 

 

Helsinki gets the best prospect of the S81 draft, but Moscow gets two solid prospects (A 1st and 2nd round prospect) that will undoubtedly amount to a decent return in the long run. While the players have not immediately outperformed Peace on individual levels, they combine for more points, hits, and shots blocked.

Heh. Pearce wasn't a GM pick, those were abolished back in S76 or S77. GM players are treated as regular players now.

[Plate 285]

LMAO well Pearce gets 1st place then

 

[comrade cat 258]

47 minutes ago, Plate said:

My rebuttal is I don’t care. Goalies matter.

fucking finally someone gives us credit

Edited April 7, 2022 by comrade cat

[Plate 285]

I know dude it's about time. The first player I ever created was a goalie before I retired them not making a claim when everyone told me goalies were a bad idea.

 

[Plate 285]

Claim 2