A Look at the S85 DC Dragons

[Arce 755]

The DC Dragons entered S84 with expectations high as they had a high powered offense, and rock solid defense in front of franchise goaltender Bubbles Utonium. The Dragons delivered in the regular season as they finished first place in the North American Division, and had the second best record in the whole league. The Dragons however would fall in the semi finals to the Seattle Bears, who shocked the Dragons in 5 games despite the Dragons dominance of them during the regular season. The question then came up, now what? Duncan Idaho was entering retirement, Taylor Mourning and Poopy Peepants to enter free agency, and a whole loom of salary cap questions surrounded DC. Gm Eno Rama made it clear he wanted to keep DC a competitor and decided to get to work on the offensive and defensive fronts. Through a combination of a critical free agency signing, a trade, and some call ups the Dragons are poised to be a potential competitor again. With other teams such as Vacouver, rival Chicago and New York getting better, the North American Conference will be competitive yet again. After a slew of moves, it is that time of the season to take a look into what DC has to work with in the upcoming S85 season.

 

Offense

 

The Dragons have S82 franchise forward Ronan Lavelle returning after extending his contract through the S86 season. Lavelle had a huge bounce back year scoring 98 points, 58 better than his rookie campaign of 40. Lavelle registered 38 goals, 60 assists and 13 power play goals in that span. The big question was, how would Lavelle respond to not having Duncan Idaho playing on his line. The Dragons also let Taylor Mourning walk in free agency. The 2nd line combo of Mourning and Ryan Vidot was one of the best in the whole league at the end of the season and in the playoffs. The Dragons have Ryan Vidot returning after another 30+ goal season. Who would take Mourning place? The first thing Eno Rama did was call up center Adison Bond and LW Jason Coiner. Bond and Coiner are no doubt to provide depth for the Dragons offense. To fill the holes for Mourning and Idaho, the Dragons were able to land the talented Titans winger Nezuko. Nezuko had an impressive 35 goal, 88 point S84 campaign with the Titans and helped them make a deep playoff run. With the current roster, the Dragons then had 3 great forwards, and 3 average-depth options TPE wise. More moves would have to be made if the Dragons hoped to be serious competitors yet again. So Eno Rama struck a deal with the Riga Reign. Riga would recieve forward Daniele Clarke and a S86 Malmo 3rd rounder in exchange for forward Darth Kaprizov, who has posted up an impressive career to this point. Kaprizov is not long past a 115 point season, and just posted up 38 goals and 85 total points in S84 with the Riga Reign. Kaprizov is no stranger to the postseason, as he has competed in the playoffs all 4 seasons he has been in the league. A veteran with playoff experience and a build like Kaprizov was a much needed adition. Now the Dragons have 4 forwards at around the 700 TPA mark and beyond, which is exactly where they need to be. With a core of Lavelle, Vidot, Nezuko and Kaprizov with Coiner and Bond looking to make an impression, the Dragons should be in a good spot offensively.

 

Defense

 

 

The Dragons have had a very strong defense the past 2 seasons. Tui Sova had his best season, and was arguably the best defenseman in the league (at least in the discussions). He had 106 points, 77 of which being assists. Sova also lit it up in the playoffs with 11 points in 9 games played. The Dragons get to have Sova for his final season, so they know they really need to make it count. Corey Kitson will return with Sova after posted up a solid 60 point season and was able to hit the 20 goal mark yet again. Kitson has hit 20+ goals in all but one season in his career. Kitson knows all about winning, and what it is like to raise the cup. Having that leadership maintained for S85 will be huge for the Dragons. Baxter Acanum will look to build off his rookie season, as he is now back and fully committed to practicing and improving his game. We should expect improvement in all areas from DC's favorite young defneseman. The big question surrounding DC's defense is, how would they replace Poopy Peepants? That is a lot of experience and applied skill that they would have to replace. Regardless the Dragons had to go for a cheaper option on either the offense or defensive side. So in free agency, the Dragons targeting and successfully landed defenseman Milan Dvorak. Dvorak is a pass first defenseman, who nearly doubled their S83 point totals in S84. Dvorak will be very helpful in support passing up to the talented DC forwards and working the power play. DC's defense will look a little different, but should still be very sound in S85.

 

Goaltending

 

 

Nothing has changed appearance wise for the Dragons in net. Franchise goaltender Bubbles Utonium is coming off a great season, where they led the league in shutouts with a whopping 11. Utonium also posted up a .928 save percentage and a 2.09 GAA. These are Aidan Shaw numbers, if Papa Emeritus hadn't been so dominant, the honors definitely would have gone to Utonium. Utonium is only getting better, and their play will be highly relied on by DC as they have a different looking team entering S85. With Utonium in between the pipes, the Dragons always have a chance. DCD-G1 will have the honors of backing up Utonium yet again. The Dragons typically look to get their mandatory games overwith as soon as possible. However DCD-G1 has been known to surprise people time to time. I would look for them to steal a game during one of their starts at the least.

 

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[Arce 755]

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