S84 Pre-season Power Rankings

[DMaximus 1,046]

S84 Pre-season Power Rankings

 

Each year when predictions open up, I go through a process of looking at every VHL team’s roster and ranking them. This helps me figure out who I want to pick to win awards. I figured I’m already doing the work to rank the teams on my own. I might as well type out some sentences and earn some sweet TPE. So here we are, my Season 84 pre-season power rankings.

 

I’ll start at the bottom and work my way to the top. Save the suspense for the end. I find it’s helpful for me to group teams into tiers. I’ll also highlight a key player from the team who will be crucial to the team’s success.

Bottom Feeders

16) Prague

                Based on all their offseason moves, it appears that Prague is rebuilding. Their current roster makes that evidently clear. Incomplete and low on TPE, they’d likely struggle to beat some VHLE teams.

Key Player: Future Draft Picks

15) Malmo

Malmo is mostly young, their fans can look to the future and hope. Hope might be all they have at the moment.

Key Player: Fans will definitely be cheering for Malmo legend Druss Deathwalker’s @animal74 final season. But with Malmo looking into the future, the growth of Igor Molotov @Dom is the key for Malmo

14) L.A.

                Props to L.A for filling out a complete roster. Unfortunately, it’s tough to find where the talent is on that complete roster.

                Key Player: All eyes will be on L.A.’s #1 overall pick, goalie Art Vandelay @Gustav

 

Missing Pieces

13) New York

                If you had to name a strength for N.Y., it would be their top D pair. Jerome Reinhart @MexicanCow123 is a proven winner and while Sven Eightnine @BarzalGoat may have taken a step back last season, they still received valuable experience on a great Seattle team. Unfortunately for N.Y., the compliments end there. It’s tough to find where their offense is going to come from.

                Key Player: If they have any chance to do well, Robert Wilk @Tomat0 will have to shine on offense.

 

12) Vancouver

                Vancouver has a couple of veteran players who keep this team from being too terrible. But an incomplete roster and aging players whose best days are behind them make it tough to see how Vancouver will be overly competitive. Hopefully fans will still be drunk from the past glory to mind too much.

                Key Player: Young goalie Brandt Fuhr @Tate will have to improve on an already great rookie season for Vancouver to have a chance at success.

 

 

Almost There

11) Chicago

              Chicago’s defense and goalie are very suspect and it doesn’t appear their offense will allow them to continually outscore opponents. Fans can expect a lot of high scoring games, at least.

                Key Player: Recent acquisition Baby Bob @Baby Boomer will need to mesh with their new teammates and have their best season.

 

10) London

                London has a very evenly skilled team. There’s no real superstar standout player who can carry the team. Their success will depend on everyone contributing. If they’re 2^nd lines can keep improving, they might be able to take on some of the top-heavy teams later in this list.

                Key Player: Goaltender Cole Pearce @N0HBDY will have to stop everything in sight to allow the team to unite in front of him.

 

Outside Looking In

9) Riga

                Riga has a great top line, but lack of depth is likely what’s holding them back, especially without a complete defense and a top-tier goalie.

                Key Player: Alexandre Leduc @Lemorse7 has had a solid first two seasons. They will need to make the leap to greatness to propel Riga forward.

 

8 ) Warsaw

                Warsaw and Riga are very similar looking team on paper. Warsaw appears to be just slightly better at every position, which gives them the nod over Riga in the rankings.

                Key Player: Brendan Marner @MetalToday will have recover from a slight dip in performance in their sophomore season.

 

7) Seattle

                Some significant retooling after their championship finds Seattle lower down this list than one might expect. Much like Riga, they lack depth at defense and strong goaltending.

                Key Player: Free Agent signee Jonathan Ori @ROOKIE745 will need to lead this team for Seattle to have any chance at a repeat.

 

Good

6) Davos

                Davos made a lot of moves to strengthen their roster this season. Their lack of offensive depth is all that is holding them back.

                Key Player(s): It’s tough to separate these two because they came as a packaged deal from Seattle. Both Vinny Detroit @dasboot and Zeedayno Chara @Jubis need to transfer their winning magic to Davos.

 

5) Toronto

                Much like Warsaw/Riga Toronto and Davos are very similar on paper with Toronto just being slightly better at every position.

                Key Player: Veteran center Paul Atreides @Mr_Hatter will have to duplicate their amazing performance last season.

 

4) Moscow

                On paper Moscow is slightly worse than the other teams in this tier. But, based on their performance over the last couple of years, never count out Moscow. Their winning pedigree puts them above both Toronto and Davos.

                Key Player: Hard Markinson @STZ took a slight step back last season, after being separated from long-time partner Aurelien Moreau @Frank. Can they return to the exceptional level of performance this season?

 

3) Helsinki

                Helsinki’s roster might not match the other teams in this tier top to bottom. But their goaltending outshines all other teams and that means a heck of a lot.

                Key Player: No real surprise here. Helsinki’s success rests solely on the shoulders of their goalie, Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica

 

Great

2) Calgary

                Calgary probably has the best top line in the league. If you want to search for a flaw, you could point to inexperience on their 2^nd line and at goalie. But this team is going to score a lot more goals then they give up, that’s a pretty simple recipe for success.

                Key Player: Journeyman defenseman Erlantz Jokinen @jRuutuhad their best years at Calgary. They’ll need to rekindle that magic for Calgary to win it all.

 

1) D.C.

                Like in many other of the tiers, a direct comparison between teams in this tier show that D.C is better at every position than Calgary, so they get ranked higher.

                Key Player: Of course, this is hall-of-famer Duncan Idaho @OrbitingDeath . Without another hall-of-fame season from Duncan Idaho, D.C.’s chances at a cup evaporate.  

 

 

 

 

 

1,068 words. Will claim for 2 weeks

Edited June 29, 2022 by DMaximus

[AJW 2,156]

Williams had a 50g 50a season but Ori needs to lead Seattle? Mhmmmm

[Banackock 8,049]

Seaddle not scared. Been best team for almost 2 VHL decades.

 

[Hogan 1,423]

lol where is seattle lacking on defense? Our new goalie is max earning now .

Dc mid btw 

[jacobcarson877 2,536]

Its Wranglin Szn

[Acydburn 1,607]

3 hours ago, DMaximus said:

 

16) Prague

                Based on all their offseason moves, it appears that Prague is rebuilding. Their current roster makes that evidently clear. Incomplete and low on TPE, they’d likely struggle to beat some VHLE teams.

Key Player: Future Draft Picks + @KaleebtheMightyPerry Laperriere

 

 

Fixed it for ya  

[Gustav 6,418]

Art Vandelay

[dlamb 1,326]

 

UNDER

DAWGS

[animal74 1,810]

Deathwalker gonna give the fans something to cheer about alright!

[DMaximus 1,046]

Week 2 claim