Fraser Wallace S84 Review

[Hoopydog 195]

Introduction

This season, former 1^st round draft pick Fraser Wallace was a mission to prove that he has what it takes to make the jump to the VHL. There were a few doubts over his ability to put up points during his VHLM season with the San Diego Marlins. This season, he joined the reigning VHLE champions Bratislava Watchmen, under the guide of GM Frostbeard. Wallace was a big part of the Watchmen this year as they drafted 6^th overall in the S84 VHLE draft which place a large amount of pressure on his shoulders. Did he handle the pressure? Let’s take a look…

 

Regular Season

Wallace had an outstanding regular season as he took the league by storm. In a full 72 game season, he scored 41 goals and bagged 48 assists for a total of 89 points. That is a 38-point increase compared to his last season which is a monstrous increase and this point total definitely proved that Wallace has what it takes. He was 2^nd in league scoring and also lead his team in point scoring. He was a feature on both the powerplay and penalty kill for the Watchmen this season as he near enough played and equal number of minutes on both special units. On the powerplay he managed to score 11 goals (team high) and 12 assists for a total of 23 points. He also managed to score a shorthanded goal. He was also fairly dominant in the face-off circle as well posting a win percentage of 54.62% which ranks him 4^th amongst leading face-off takers (out of those with more than 500 face-offs taken). This was definitely a statement season for Wallace, managing to perform at this level throughout the regular season will give him a huge boost in confidence as well as helping him stand out amongst the peers and help him make a name for himself in the league. If he can up the level of performance in the VHL then he could rise to the top and help lead his new team to glory.

 

Playoff

The Bratislava Watchmen entered the playoffs looking to repeat their success of the previous season but they were going to have to beat the Istanbul Red Wolves which whom they had battling with all season long for that top spot in the overall standings. It was a tight series that went 6 games and ended with the Red Wolves beating the Watchmen and ensuring a repeat wasn’t going to happen. Wallace had a good playoff run scoring 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points in the 6-game series. It’s maybe not as dominant as he would’ve like and not as explosive as you sometimes have to be in order to make it through the playoffs. Either way, I think this will give him more valuable playoff experience and he will being moving onto the Moscow Menace next season and we know that all of those players have playoff experience so they could be a real threat.

 

Overall Review

This season was a huge success for Fraser Wallace. Scoring at over a point per game pace for the season shows that this unique style of game that he has developed is working and if he can fine tune that and maybe add a few additional elements then he could be a force on the VHL over the coming seasons. He is in a very stacked rookie crop but he could he be a dark horse in the race for top rookie next season? We’ll need to wait and see.

 

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