Possbile FA Destinations for Cole Pearce

[N0HBDY 1,132]

With deciding to head to free agency for the first time ever in my time in the VHL I decided to do an analysis on the possible destinations where my player Cole Pearce could end up, even with the insane amount of goalies there are. Now I know finances on the portal are very unreliable sometimes and usually inaccurate but for the sake of this article whenever finances are needed I’m just going to go off the portal anyways.

 

Moscow Menace

Starting in the European Conference where Pearce currently is, you have the currently #1 seeded Moscow. The Menace have had the same goaltender tandem for quite a while with a dedicated Leroy Johnson as the backup and Papa Emeritus as the starter. Now Moscow has been nothing but loyal to Papa by moving around their offensive and defensive players to build around Papa to keep him on the team. However, Leroy is 1 season away from retirement but is expected to retire with Moscow, and Papa is 2 seasons away and also expected to retire with Moscow (and possibly have his number retired). Depending on how Moscow will shape up for next season it’s highly unlikely and I mean highly but they could move Papa for a cheaper goaltender to keep their skater group relatively the same, but that would be the opposite of what they’ve done in the past by building around Papa. They also shit talked Pearce in a leaked scouting profile about him so we’ll decide to see if Pearce holds a grudge.

 

FA destination? Unlikely

 

 

Helsinki Titans

Next is Helsinki, with Xavier Booberry as their starter with 1,200+ tpe he’s a costly man. But Helsinki will also have 3 forwards on the way out as Nasherov and R.Reinhart will be retiring and Groves has yet to be re-signed, they also have a defenseman Dvorak who also has yet to resign. Like Moscow, Helsinki has been nothing but loyal to their goaltender and will likely have the cap space to hold on to him.

 

FA destination? Extremely Unlikely

 

 

Warsaw Predators

Warsaw’s starting goaltender currently is from the same draft class as Pearce but is just about 200 tpe lower than him. Warsaw will have a decent amount of cap space in the future with big players like Bogdan Trunov and Hari Singh Nalwa who are 5-mil each have not yet re-signed. They don’t have many prospects and could fall into a small rebuild if they don’t get lucky in the FA skater market. If they wouldn’t happen to get lucky they could try to sign Pearce and flip him but then they would also have 2 starting goaltenders and would probably want to keep their current starter happier since he is signed through the S86 season.

 

FA destination? Slightly Unlikely

 

 

Riga Reign

Riga’s current starter is Tobias Reinhart who will have 1 more season after this before retiring. Currently at 620 tpe and with the Riga roster aging/expiring it would be tough to fill Pearce’s wishes of being on a competitive roster. With 4 players still not having been signed and set to leave for FA after this season there’s also another player that is rumored to be traded( @Arce) Alex Johnston who has a player option has been rumored that he is not going to be picking up his player option this off-season and would want to be traded elsewhere, making it 5 players that will be leaving Riga. With them possibly set for a rebuild Pearce could come here to fill out the roster but again which would be against his wishes of wanting to be competitive.

 

FA destination? Neither Likely nor Unlikely

 

 

HC Davos Dynamo

This team has been in some hot water regarding Pearce in the past with some tampering allegations. The Dynamo’s current starting goaltender Davis Davis has reportedly not been responding to the GM’s calls or messages regarding an extension. Pearce’s agent who is also an insider in the Dynamo organization has a strong reason to believe that the team is opening up cap space to sign someone big and who would possibly complete the team to be a solid contender should they continue to not hear back from their starting goalie. Davo’s backup goaltender also has yet to resign. Some big things may be cooking in Davos

 

FA destination? Slightly Likely

 

 

London United

Obviously not that’s the whole reason this article is happening, just a fallback if Pearce doesn’t get offered anywhere should the team’s management not be stubborn.

 

FA destination? Extremely Unlikely

 

 

Malmo Nighthawks

Malmo is a unique team, with 2 goaltender of the same class who are about 100 tpe apart and both signed through the S86 season. Malmo will have a decent amount of prospects coming up to fill in the roster. 3 of their 4 forwards are currently set to leave, 2 to FA and 1 due to retiring. They also have 2 of their 3 defensemen set to leave to FA. With 3 first-round picks, this season Malmo will probably pick skaters rather than goaltenders because they have 2 signed currently and won’t need a goaltender such as Pearce for a couple of seasons as their team matures.

 

FA destination? Very Unlikely

 

 

Prague Phantoms

The Phantoms will be the first of its kind on this list because they are in need of a goaltender but won’t need to sign one because their future starter Clueless Wallob who is playing in the E currently will be brought up to the team to become their starter. With a plethora of first round, second round, and incoming prospects Prague has decided to let their entire roster go to FA besides one who will be retiring. Prague could always sign Pearce but would likely prefer not to so that Clueless Wallab can get more starts in the VHL.

 

FA destination? Quite Unlikely

 

 

D.C. Dragons

Moving onto North America we start with the Dragons, their starting goaltender is the self declared “rival” of Cole Pearce, Bubbles Utonium. Bubbles is likely the franchise goaltender of the Dragons who took Bubbles over Pearce in the S82 draft. Bubbles is also signed through the S87 season making the need for another goaltender basically irrelevant for the Dragons.

 

FA destination? Impossible

 

 

Seattle Bears

The trade destination of Peare’s old teammate and ex-friend Nils Godlander. The Bears starting goaltender Dusty Wilson is from the same draft class as Pearce but 300 tpe behind him. Seattle will be losing 2 players, 1 forward being Kakapo Bushtit who has outright refused to re-sign, and Drakon Zabastovka who will be retiring. Seattle will easily be able to replace the two with some incoming rookies. Depending on how Seattle’s cap space plays out they could make a move to acquire a higher tpe goaltender or remain loyal with their current starter.

 

FA destination? Slightly Likely

 

 

Toronto Legion

Toronto has a surplus of incoming rookies and not a lot of current players leaving the team. Their current starter Oskar Lindbergh is the GM’s own player who is signed through S86 so it’s unlikely that they will move themself, but moves are impending for the Legion to make space for all the incoming rookies and current players.

 

FA destination? Quite Unlikely

 

 

Chicago Phoenix

Chicago is a fun team to look at, with the large bonuses they’ve been giving out they have lots of cap space. But currently 8 players are on route to leaving Chicago with 7 going to FA and 1 retiring. Chicago’s current starter Red Gaming is part of those 8 players who are currently leaving because he has not been re-signed yet. This could be an interesting position for Pearce to possibly come in for the team, but with little prospects Chicago will likely have to try and re-sign whatever players they can before considering Pearce.

 

FA destination? Neither Likely or Unlikely

 

 

Calgary Wranglers

The Wranglers starter Ben Dahl is the only goaltender on this list so far to be signed through the S89 season! Ben Dahl is likely going to be the Wranglers franchise goaltender with a contract as long as that. The Wranglers are also set to lose 2 players to retirement but will be able to replace 1 of them with the Janser that will finally make their way to the VHL and reunite with their brother, Marcel Janser. Calgary will only have to replace a forward on their team which could be very easy to do with the amount of people currently walking to the market.

 

FA destination? Extremely Unlikely

 

 

New York Americans

Augustus Kennedy is the current starter for the Americans and is signed through the S85 season with very generous bonuses also being given to them. New York will likely pull up a number of its very deep prospect pool to fill out the team and replace the 3 outgoing players that will be retiring. Though you cannot predict what will happen to the New York franchise because the GM of the team for next season is in limbo and to be determined, though the interim GM of the Americans has impressed the public and we’ll see if they decide to keep with the position. But as of now there also isn’t really a place for Augustus in his own team with Art Vandely stealing the show. Kennedy could possibly sign an extension, the future of the position is unknown, but currently the position is filled and not really in need of any improvement for New York.

 

FA destination? Quite Unlikely

 

 

Los Angeles Stars

The Stars recently drafted a star of their own, as recently mentioned Art Vandely. The Stars may look to make Vandelay a franchise goaltender for them, while also being signed through S86. The Stars will likely focus more on their forward core since 3 are leaving to FA and only 1 prospect is currently eligible to come up in the future. Otherwise the Stars roster is pretty well set for the future from a goaltending standpoint.

 

FA destination? Extremely Unlikely

 

 

Vancouver Wolves

Finally, to round out this list we have the Wolves and their current starting goaltender Brandt Fuhr. Brandt Fuhr is a season younger than Pearce and a little over 100 tpe behind him. The Wolves have themselves a good Pearce equivalent that is signed through the S85 season. Vancouver will bring up some of their prospect forwards to replace whatever they can of the 3 of 4 forwards that are going to be leaving the team, 2 to retirement and the other to FA (then retirement the next season lol). Vancouver will likely focus more on completing their D-core for the next season and re-signing Fuhr to a longer contract. But as for a landing location of Pearce next season, see below.

 

FA destination? Extremely Unlikely

 

 

This is the first article of this sort of thing i’ve ever written and I’m surprised I got through this all in 1 sitting since I can’t write like Gustav. I’m also not an all knowing person so my predictions of some teams may be wrong but those are just my thoughts. The current over saturation of goaltenders there are makes it hard to be a goaltender especially since I was sort of the beginning or just before this whole saturation wave began. Starting positions will be hard to come by in the nearing seasons so if I want to complete my mission of being on a competitive team for the majority of my career I had better find a good landing spot while I still can before all the starting spots are taken up and goaltenders moving teams will likely be impossible. If anything else I could always just retire my player early for a 2nd time. I just need like 50 more words to be able to claim this for 4 weeks. The new updaters have taken a considerable effect already, I wrote a .com article just before this and it was approved in 5 minutes, great job you guys keep it up. And sweet I made it, goodbye y’all.

Edited July 29, 2022 by N0HBDY

[rory 1,945]

berlin blitz: very super 100% likely

[OrbitingDeath 3,229]

You will be a bear

[Moon 597]

44 minutes ago, N0HBDY said:

ex-friend Nils Godlander

DA FUQ

[ROOKIE745 607]

Review: As someone who recently made the choice to hit the FA market, this was an interesting read, to name out where you are likely to go. Probably a little easier for you as a goalie vs Ori as a forward. The layout is pretty basic and maybe a little to spacious, could have made some use of bigger text or bold. You do use color text for how likely you are to go somewhere but the rest is plain. You did a good job explaining where you are likely and not likely to go, giving out valid reasons and thoughts. It's a fine MS just lacks any flavor, no picture or italics, bold or underlines. Overall I'll give it a 6/10

[dlamb 1,328]

Review 0/10 cause you're basically saying you're going to seattLUL

 

at least make bana work for it 

[N0HBDY 1,132]

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