The Road to 350, and Why I Might Do What I Normally Wouldn't Want To

[Gustav 6,469]

As any top earner would, I want to have earned as much as I possibly can by the time the draft comes up. And as someone who has hated the VHLE with a violent fury since it was introduced, I wouldn't mind being above 350 TPE when the draft comes around so I can have at least an illusion of choice. But, as what I like to think is a thoughtful, reasonably intelligent, and somewhat pessimistic person, I have two questions related to this.

 

1. Will I get there?

 

I think so? I'll have less than 80 to go after this week and haven't done my career tasks yet, so that will be a handful of uncapped when I get the opportunity. That, and I haven't donated yet this season. I don't always contribute to the Beketov Yacht Fund, but if I happen to find myself at 340 before the draft...why not, I guess. The only knock against me is that I haven't remembered to do fantasy every week, and that's really been paying off for some. So while I don't think I'll be THE top prospect (especially as a goaler), I'll be up there enough that I'll be a big one and I think I'll hit the "this guy can play up" mark.

 

 

2. Is it worth it?

This one is much tricker to answer. Let's say I make it up and I end up being someone's backup in my rookie year, as is highly typical for anyone at my position (even for those select few as special as yours truly). I just made the jump to the big league to play a grand total of 8 games, and I'll have one more season in (heavy) depreciation as a consequence. As much as I hate to admit it, I would probably choose to stay down in the VHLE if that was all I got out of going up.

 

Let's say I'm the starter, though--that raises a lot of interesting questions. What team am I playing for? If I'm somewhere at the bottom of the standings, chances are my stats won't be so hot. Sure, I'm playing up, but I'm effectively tanking my numbers. I normally wouldn't mind this, but since it also means taking one more depreciation hit, I really don't see that as a smart investment. I'd need some assurance that said team was going to make some moves to get better that season. If I'm the starter on a competing team--not that I think that's realistic--sure, I'll play up! I can go as far as I want with that and I'm a good enough earner to justify the late-career hit as a tradeoff for one more season with a chance at actually accomplishing something meaningful.

 

 

I think this is helpful for any GM interested in drafting me. If you are, know that as long as you're competing and taking the team's success seriously, you've probably got yourself a loyal player in net!