Comparing two top forward S86 prospects from Czechia

[VattghernCZ 978]

An interesting storyline to watch in the upcoming VHL entry draft will be which forward prospect from Czechia will be selected first. Both Wann Kerr (my player, C) and Left Alone (@okochastar, LW) are currently projected to go in late first round based on their TPE. Let's compare their draft seasons and what kind of players are they.

 

Regular season comparison

 

Wann Kerr spent the S85 season with Las Vegas Aces, where he scored 41 goals and 56 assists for 97 points in 72 games, accompanied by plus-34 rating, 62 penalty minutes and 124 hits. Left Alone played whole season with San Diego Marlins, scoring 34 goals and 37 assists for 71 points in 72 games, with plus-20 rating, 30 penalty minutes and 122 hits.

 

Both players logged over 200 minutes on powerplay, where Wann Kerr scored 9 goals and 12 assists, having an edge on Left's 3 goals and 5 assists. But their powerplay shots totals were much closer than the goal totals would suggest, and with Left Alone being the better shooter overall, it's clear the luck was a big factor here. So was the powerplay execution of the whole team - the Aces had almost 4% higher PP conversion rate.

 

On penalty kill, there's really not much to compare. Left Alone spent only 35 minutes on the ice when a man down, while Wann Kerr was heavily utilized in these scenarios, playing 199 total shorthanded minutes. The special team minutes were the main reason Wann Kerr logged about a minute and half more ice time on average every game.

 

Looking at some other random stats, Left Alone blocked 41 shots compared to Wann Kerr's 18, which seems weird considering Kerr spent 161 minutes more on penalty kill than Left Alone did. He also had 3 total hattricks compared to Wann's single one. Comparing faceoffs isn't really fair - Left Alone is a winger who only took 161 draws lasts season, while Wann Kerr is a center who took 1221. But just for fun, Left won 47.83%, Wann won 54.30%.

 

Playoff comparison

 

The Aces and the Marlins met in the first round, where the Aces won in 6 games and eventually went on to reach the finals. So there is a much bigger sample size for Wann Kerr, who played 19 games compared to Left Alone's 6. So rather than comparing, let's just summarize their performance.

 

In 6 games, Left Alone scored 2 goals and 1 assist in total 121 minutes on ice. 22 of those minutes were on powerplay, where he generated 3 shots, but no points. Worth noting is his 8.33% shooting percentage, which is lower than his regular season percentage. A strong series by the Aces' goaltender really didn't help Left succeed. Even though he was a plus player in a series against a powerhouse team, you might want your core forwards to step up a bit more in the offseason.

 

In the 19 games en route to the finals appearance, Kerr scored 10 goals and 14 assists in 19 games, being one of the top scoring Aces' forwards. With 4 goals 6 assists in 75 minutes on man advantage, and with 76 minutes logged on the impeccable Aces' penalty kill, he was also a major part of his team's special teams success. Comparing his scoring rate to regular season, he went from even 1 point per 20 minutes to 1.10 points per 20.

 

Going into the draft, it's safe to say Kerr has a better minor league track record than Left Alone has.

 

Build comparison

 

Wann Kerr: 231 TPE, 0 banked. Edge in strength (52 vs 41), puck handling (52 vs 47), face offs (54 vs 40), defense (62 vs 47).

 

Left Alone: 221 TPE, 22 banked. Edge in scoring (65 vs 60), major edge in penalty shots (73 vs 40).

 

Even stats: checking (40), fighting (40), discipline (40), skating (LA 50 vs WK 52), passing (LA 56 vs WK 60).

 

Build-wise, Wann Kerr is a complete two-way center focusing on puck possession and transition game, while Left Alone is a much bigger threat to score when he's got the puck on his stick in offensive zone.

 

Earnings-wise, both have been max capped earners throughout the season, with okochastar's capped earnings being affiliate 12s, while my capped TPE come from point tasks. This gives GMs higher reliability of them earning max capped + PF. On the other hand, I am not a member of any affiliated league, so I can dedicate more time to my VHL player, participating in fantasy zone and doing career point tasks, so in current situation I'd say there is a higher earning potential in me, but with lower reliability.