My view on "Skipping the VHLE"

[youloser1337 1,119]

“With the 32nd pick in the VHLE draft, the Istanbul Red Wolves select… Scoish Velociraptor Maloish.”

 

The applause turned into confusion as everyone looked around to see that he wasn’t there. No happy prospect that was grateful to be picked, no family to hug him a million times, no analyst to comment on how he was the future. Instead, Maloish was in Calgary trying to find a place to live for the next 3 plus years. 

 

When I created my player, I didn’t know if I would “skip the E” as people call it. I wanted to get the whole experience as a newcomer as I was a VHLM GM at the time and wanted to see what it felt like again. I’m a returning player which skewed my experience though. I got luxuries that new players would most likely not get. I skipped the VHLM draft and went into free agency in the VHLE. I played, got traded, made playoffs, and won the cup as a free agent. When the VHL draft came, I had to make the decision… Do I skip the VHLE and go to the VHL? We are almost halfway done with the season and I have some pros and cons of “skipping the E”.

 

Pros

• Getting an extra season

This one is an obvious one. I get an extra season in the VHL instead of waiting at max TPE in the VHLE. While the VHLE is nice, the awards and accolades aren’t as pristine as VHL accolades.

 

• Seeing my growth in real-time

When I was going into the VHL draft, I was almost at the hard cap of the VHLE. Although the deadline passed, if I went to the VHLE I would have to stay at 400 for the whole season. I wouldn’t get to see if my player would improve on the ice with my hard work. I would have to wait until the next season to see if it paid off. Also, I get to see if things are working vs not working. Right now I’m currently at 439 or 39 TPE over the hard cap. I’m trying new things for my player and I get to see those results on the ice.

 

• Rookie Experience TPE right away

For those who don’t know, there is a career point task where you can talk about the rookie experience during your rookie campaign in the VHL. If you wait an extra season in the VHLE, you are sitting on 5 free TPE.

 

Cons

• Losing Practice Facility TPE

This one isn’t really major, but it does hurt in the long run. A typical season is around 6-7 weeks long + offseason. When you go from the VHLE to the VHL you lose out on 1 TPE from the practice facility. This doesn’t count towards your capped TPE either so you are losing out on ~6-7 TPE (maybe more) before jumping to the VHL. In the world of hybrid attributes, any TPE matters right now.

 

 

• Playing against higher TPE

In the VHL right now, I’m currently the lowest TPE on the Wranglers squad. I’m only getting 2nd pairing ice time because of the cap space. I’m facing teams who average higher TPE than what I have. I’m also currently a minus player in the +/- category. Something I notice whenever I look at games is that whenever the other teams score, I’m always on the ice. My player is a hindrance to the team. If I was in the VHLE with my drafted team, I’d be top pairing and probably doing very well in the league. You’re more likely to do well against a capped 400 TPE goalie as a 400 TPE player vs a 900 TPE goalie.

 

So in the end, is skipping the VHLE worth it? In my honest opinion at this moment, I’d say no. This is all opinion based and I’m basing it on my current player. Your experience could be a lot different. You could be on a rebuilding team and do very well. Take that extra season and develop in the VHLE. You aren’t going to have insane stats in the VHLE as a low 400 TPE player. You’d make a bigger difference in VHLE and possibly help out the first gens who have questions about the league. If I had the chance to do my rookie season over, I would. This is not a jab at my current VHL team though.

[Daniel Janser 2,217]

Calgary FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

 

[Ricer13 2,825]

This is a fantastic point of view. I am happy that you can share this because it is exactly what my dilemma was in keeping you up or down at the start of this season. 
 

 

[KaleebtheMighty 1,539]

Thank you for sharing your views on the E! And just so you know there are absolutely no hard feelings on going up to the VHL, you made some excellent points here and I’m glad to see your thoughts on the dilemma!

[Gaikoku-hito 2,138]

As another Skipper I can say that my experience is slightly different but almost every thing stated above also applies.

 

Pros:

Extra Season - Yup agreed and was at the time the main reason why I skipped plus the feeling that I had nothing left to prove in the E; but I think I was wrong.

Real Time Growth - Yup, Again a main reason why I skipped since I will have over 100TPE banked by the end of the season if staying in the E. While I have seen growth and development of my player into an effective point producing Offensive defender. (defending is questionable)

Rookie Experience - No, Not a deciding factor to skip the E but made this actually easier to write since it been a interesting season to say the least with NYA/VAN. 

 

Cons:

Losing Practice TPE - Yes, Fully agree with this one as I have it around an extra 10TPE lost due to playing up so will finish the season with 544TPE instead of 555 TPE; not accounting for any uncapped TPE but it would make a slight difference as it is a full weeks worth of TPE lost by joining the V early!!

Better Players - Yup, fully agree but I have been luck enough to have an offensive build so I am able to off set the negative aspect a bit more but would still say that will I am helping offensively that I am also hurting the team defensively. If I waited one more season then it would have been much more positive transition to the V.

Losing - Playing on a rebuilding team as prospect is a lot tougher then I would have thought. Not being an impact player after two season contributing to teams success in the M & E is more frustrating then staying in the E to dominate. Losing can wait; is what I trying to say!!

 

Conclusion:

Staying in the E is most likely the better choice since skipping the M means you were average when joining the E and skipping the E means you are average when joining the V so better to have one extra season of development and dominate then struggle an extra season in the V. I always reminded of the Tortoise and the Hare; when thinking about my experience with skipping. The Tortoise is more consistent in the end and wins. The hare is a bit too much full of himself for his own good and loses in the end. I am currently the hare!! 

 

@youloser1337 Interesting that we have had different experience but have come to similar thought processes about skipping the E. It was a good read and I hope you don`t mind my addition to the conversation. 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Gaikoku-hito

[youloser1337 1,119]

2 hours ago, Gaikoku-hito said:

Rookie Experience - No, Not a deciding factor to skip the E but made this actually easier to write since it been a interesting season to say the least with NYA/VAN. 

 

Fair point. I think the prospect of getting 5 TPE early in your build was the mindset and have it impact your build versus waiting an extra season. I agree its not really a big factor though.

2 hours ago, Gaikoku-hito said:

Losing - Playing on a rebuilding team as prospect is a lot tougher then I would have thought. Not being an impact player after two season contributing to teams success in the M & E is more frustrating then staying in the E to dominate. Losing can wait; is what I trying to say!!

I can only imagine. If you are a key piece of a rebuild, you are more than likely to be rushed to the VHL to get experience and such early. I can see how frustrating it is for you though. I'm sure with time you will be dominating the VHL too!

 

2 hours ago, Gaikoku-hito said:

@youloser1337 Interesting that we have had different experience but have come to similar thought processes about skipping the E. It was a good read and I hope you don`t my addition to the conversation. 

Not at all! I actually like seeing another viewpoint in this. Goes to show that skipping the E isn't rainbows and sunshine like some recreates think.