VHLM Early Season Rankings and Discussion

[Grape 739]

Hello and welcome to the beginning of a brand new season for the VHLM. As I typically do, I will be ranking and going over each team at the start. This season is pretty unique in that the defensemen rankings are actually extremely close together (<10% difference between 2nd and 7th), meaning that the defense rankings aren’t going to necessarily correlate well with the overall rankings. Another unique aspect for this season is that IA goalies are allowed to be rostered for some teams, meaning every team has a goalie, however most will not improve over the season, which, while not having an impact now, will have an impact during and at the end of the season and should be interesting to watch as the season progresses. Please note that I last updated my spreadsheet on Monday and therefore some numbers may be slightly off, although that shouldn’t change very much. Also note that any player with 0 TPA was removed from my spreadsheet, as they have no impact. If they do eventually apply their TP, they’ll be factored in later. Without further adieu, let’s get into the rankings.

 

10. Houston Bulls

 

• Forward Ranking: 10th
• Defensemen Ranking: 9th
• Goaltender Ranking: 5th (107 TPA)

 

Houston comes into this season with a very sizable and young forward core, with only one of their forwards being over 100 TPE. Their weakness is in defensemen, where they only have one player. The plus side for this team is that they boast an active goalie. While this team should see plenty of growth in their forwards and likely surpass other teams, I feel that their defensive situation will hold them back from truly competing, leaving this team near the bottom of the league for the majority of the season.

 

9. Mississauga Hounds

 

• Forward Ranking: 9th
• Defensemen Ranking: 8th
• Goaltender Ranking: 7th (98 TPA)

 

At the very least, I can safely say that Mississauga will be better than last season. They have a similar look to Houston, with a good group of low to mid TPE forwards, but only a singular defenseman. This team also has an inactive goalie, which means the goaltending they’re getting now will be what they’re getting for the whole season, pending any new created goalies. I feel that this team and Houston will be pretty closely tied together, maybe flip-flopping a few times with Houston taking over down the stretch. Growth is the focus this season, so don’t be hoping for this team to be a top contender this season. I’d say that’s more so next season’s goal.

 

8. Mexico City Kings

 

• Forward Ranking: 7th
• Defensemen Ranking: 10th
• Goaltender Ranking: 4th (119 TPA)

 

This team surprised me a bit. I knew they were going to fall back from how they were last season, but I didn’t think they’d rank this low. Their forward core looks pretty damn good, with a good range of players TPE-wise. The lack of defensemen really hurts the team though. Having to roll out bots is going to make this team struggle and unless they can address that, expect this team to be hurting. With the pieces they have at forward, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a trade happen; however, few teams are necessarily rich at the defenseman position, so it’ll cost them. 

 

7. Miami Marauders

 

• Forward Ranking: 8th
• Defensemen Ranking: 2nd
• Goaltender Ranking: 8th (93 TPA)

 

Crazy how the team with the 2nd ranked defenseman group would be so low, but it’s like I stated: very little difference from 2nd to 7th in that area. This team is very rich at the forward positions, but the variations between those players in regards to their TPE lead to their ranking being hurt. This is another team with an inactive goalie, which will hurt them down the stretch, however, I believe that this team will be better than this initial ranking suggests. With good and steady growth from their forwards, that ranking will snowball and push them above other teams, but as of now, they don’t look so hot.

 

6. Las Vegas Aces

 

• Forward Ranking: 5th
• Defensemen Ranking: 3rd
• Goaltender Ranking: 10th (20 TPA)

 

20 TPA goaltender. That’s not very good. Granted, they have a good amount of TPE, they need to apply that for this team to be able to compete. This team went hard on defensemen in the draft, and now have one of the strongest defensemen groups in the league. This team is at a really good spot when looking at their roster and should be competitive, if their players keep growing and their goaltender actually improves themself. As of now, however, I cannot overlook that major flaw and so they’ll sit at 6th as of now.

 

5. Saskatoon Wild

 

• Forward Ranking: 6th
• Defensemen Ranking: 7th
• Goaltender Ranking: 9th (84 TPA)

 

Looking at Saskatoon, they look like one of the teams that will eventually drop from this spot. While their forward core should grow and become pretty damn good, and their defensemen should be able to hold down the fort, the inactive goalie hurts them, plus I feel that other rosters are just a step ahead growthwise. They should still be an okay team, but I just have this hunch that they’ll struggle. 

 

4. Halifax 21st

 

• Forward Ranking: 3rd
• Defensemen Ranking: 4th
• Goaltender Ranking: 6th (100 TPA)

 

Halifax looks like a team that should do very well right out of the gate. Their forwards are all in the mid to high TPE range which definitely gives them a big boost at the start. They went out and drafted arguably the best defenseman in the class which, paired with a guy a good 100+ TPE lower than him, should provide some stability on the blue line. Their goalie may be going inactive, which could hurt the team later on, but as of now still qualifies as an active player. This team should be one of the few that has it all together early on and ride that early momentum to the playoffs.

 

3. Philadelphia Reapers

 

• Forward Ranking: 4th
• Defensemen Ranking: 5th
• Goaltender Ranking: 1st (198 TPA)

 

This is another very well put together team. They’re tied for the largest forward group, with all but one being in that mid to high TPE range. They have (basically) a maxed player in each group already and, at least for the forwards, should be adding to that not too much longer. Their goaltender is far ahead of all the other goalies in the league at this moment and should definitely play a large impact early on, while every other team is focused on catching up. This should be another good season for Philly.

 

2. Ottawa Lynx

 

• Forward Ranking: 1st
• Defensemen Ranking: 6th
• Goaltender Ranking: 3rd (141 TPA)

 

This team boasts the strongest forward group right from the start of the season, with two players being maxed and a couple more somewhat close behind. While defensively they could use some growth, the team is one of the few with an active goaltender, which should play a sizable role at the beginning of the season. This team should be pretty much fully fleshed out by playoffs time, which there’s little doubt as to them making it or not. Expect this team to have a good season.

 

1. San Diego Marlins

 

• Forward Ranking: 2nd
• Defensemen Ranking: 1st
• Goaltender Ranking: 2nd (162 TPA)

 

This team is by far the best in the league at this point in the season. Their forwards group is very strong and is statistically neck and neck with Ottawa, and will likely overtake them soon. Their defense is also stellar, being statistically about 20% better than 2nd ranked Miami, while also being another team with an active goalie. This is going to be the team to beat this season so long as their players keep claiming. There really isn’t much else to say about them. You can already pencil this team into the top 3 by the end of the season.

 

This is shaping up to be a very interesting season for the VHLM. I feel that goaltending is going to play a major role throughout the year, with teams with an active goalie playing exponentially better than those forced to roll out an inactive one. This is another season of the league being very forward heavy, and those teams blessed enough to roster the higher end defensemen should perform much better. I should say that there looks to be a bit more parity this season than last season, mainly because Mississauga actually has a team, but also, looking at all the teams, while some are definitely much better than others and look to already be fully pieced together, it's hard for me to pinpoint the team who’ll actually be the worst in the league. As of now, it appears to be one or two, maybe three, depending on growth, teams at the top, and everyone else fighting it out, whereas last season, it was pretty clear who was going to be at the top and who was gonna be in the basement, even at the beginning. With all that being said, I wish everyone in the VHLM luck this season, and hope it’s a good one!

(1529 words )

Edited June 22 by Grape

[jacobcarson877 2,563]

yeah maybe its the perk of being a great team on paper, but the league looks WAY closer this season than usual. I think I'm very used to being afraid going into every game. Hoping to hold the #1 spot for a few more issues!

[Grape 739]

Claiming again

[Grape 739]

claiming once again