Mediauh spot about Prague

[jRuutu 2,475]

When you have been chasing the money for as long as I have - it does not matter that much where I actually play, and since this is my last season before I am forced to retire, I thought it would be fun to try and get to know the team I am playing in as well as possible. Therefore, in this media spot, I will analyze the Prague Phantoms roster a little.

 

I will start with the goalies.

 

Clueless Wallob, an S84 draftee with 711 TPA is one of the best goalies in the league, my math puts them at the number 10 position for TPA. When looking at their build, I do not see any real weak points, very evenly built, remains to be seen if we see a clear shift in focus towards certain attributes in the future. At the moment, mostly 85's and 90's all over the boards.  When you take into consideration that Wallob is still a young player, it is safe to say Wallob has all the potential to be the best goalie in the league. A real battle between A*t Van*elay is on the horizon.  The question is: do they stay in Prague? No new deal has been signed, the ongoing season is the last in the current deal.

A bad sign for Prague fans is the fact that Prague does not have a backup goalie in the roster or any younger goalies in the system.

 

Defenders

Erlantz Jokinen, 99 experience, all that needs to be said.

 

Mikhail Kovalchuk, S84 draftee with 806 TPA. A solid two-way defender with a focus more on scoring than passing, handles the puck well.  50 in checking and 77 in strength suggest that Mikhail could be a physical player in the future. Fun and nice aspect for Prague: Mikhail is signed for the next five seasons, and he is still young enough to improve, so Kovalchuck will be the top D in Prague next year when Jokinen is gone.

 

Faith Hope Love, S84 draftee with 531 TPE. Love is an interesting player, you could call them the "poor mans Kovalchuck",  the two defenders are somewhat similar in style, but Love is just nowhere near as comfortable with the puck on their stick.  Love is a young player and still improving, Love-Kovalchuck pair could be a great pair in the future: Kovalchuck takes the lead offensively, Love provides support and a defense-first type of mentality, assuming Love ends up staying in Prague after this year - the ongoing year the last one in the current contract.

 

Jani Karppinen, S85 draftee with 329 TPA. Karppinen is the youngest D on the roster, rumor has it that rookie Karppinen has been injured in the last month or so, he has not been able to practice that well, but he has featured in the first regular season games. For Prague's and Karppinen's sake, we can only hope Karppinen gets back to the gym, Karppinen is not that good in anything yet, but the potential is there. Decent progress from now on, in one season, they would not be far behind the level Love is playing on now.  Love and Karppinen make for a solid defensive core, assuming both keep on working hard.
Prague has one D in the system, Quinn Clark, an S83 draftee with 351 TPA.

 

Forwards

Saku Kotkakoivu, S80 draftee with 1181, sixth best TPA rating around the league, the best player in the team.  Sniper center, who is also super strong, can hit, can defend, can take faceoffs - a complete package in many ways. The only minus could be the lack of passing, but when you play at such a high level otherwise - it is up to other players to find Kotkakoivu, not Kotkakoivu to find others.  Interesting to see whether Kotkakoivu will end up staying in Prague or not, with one year left in the current deal. One thing is for certain, Kotkakoivu is going to be a huge player for Prague during this season and hopefully in the future.

 

Nils Godlander, S80 draftee with 967 TPA.  Offensively-minded winger, who likes to shoot. The only real difference between Godlander and Kotkakoivu is their position, otherwise, the two players are similar in style, Godlander has a physical side to their game, and excellent defensively as well, which is a huge thing for a winger.  Once again, a player with their future wide open, are they going to stay in Prague? The fans sure hope so, Godlander has the second-highest TPA among all right-wingers in VHL.

 

Perry Lapierre, S82 draftee with 905 TPA. Lapierre and Kotkakoivu make for an awesome center duo. Lapierre is slightly younger, but he is already playing on an elite level. Lapierre is slightly more defensive as a player, they look for a pass more frequently, but defensively I would rate Lapierre slightly better than Kotkakoivu, and why would I not, since Lapierre has a slightly better defensive attribute.  The good news for Prague, Lapierre IS signed for numerous years, so if Kotkakoivu would be to leave, Lapierre would be the natural replacement as the clear number one center. At the moment Lapierre is ranked around 13 among all centers in TPA, which just goes to show how deep the center core in Prague really is, and as mentioned Lapierre is a younger player, so the future is extremely bright for Prague and Lapierre.

 

Matty Fire, S80 draftee with 851 TPA. Fire can play as a winger or as a center, which is a good thing as the center position in Prague is stacked.  Fire, like many others in VHL, focuses on shooting over passing, but Fire is also a great defensive player with 84 in defense. This promises great things for Prague as the team has excellent centers, but also excellent wingers in Godlander and Fire, who can read the game well.  Fire and their future is also wide open, no new deal has been signed, but if and when the ongoing season is going to be a good one - why would Fire want to leave?

 

John Jameson, S85 draftee with 601 TPA. Jameson is a rookie with loads of potential, I am not saying that just in the hopes of getting a free lunch, but also due to the fact that Jameson was drafted second overall in the S85 draft. Jameson is going to play in the winger position, at least for the ongoing season, which is not a bad thing by any means. Jameson can learn and develop while more seasoned centers take care of the defensive side.  Jameson likes to shoot, but unlike the other centers, Jameson is not as physical, yet at least. You could describe Jameson as a pure-skill player at the moment, but assuming Jameson is going to play center in the future, we will more than likely see Jameson working on the defensive and physical side heavily. The same goes for faceoffs.

 

Jason, S84 draftee with 484 TPA. Another young center is forced to play as a winger in Prague, but is there a better place to play than next to the players mentioned above? Among all S84 draftees, Jason is ranked around 19 in TPA, which shows Jason more than likely has to play in the second line for next season. As a shoot-first type of player Jason has the potential to be a first-line player, but at least in Prague and assuming the roster stays together, Jason is not as well-rounded as many others at the moment, so smaller role is looking like for Jason.

 

Conclusion

 

The roster of Prague looks pretty nice, especially offensively. You have clear partnerships in elite centers with elite wingers, Kotkakoivu-Godlander, and Lapierre - Fire. You can then round up the forward group with elite-level prospects like Jameson and talented Jason. In the defense, the roster relies on Jokinen and Kovalchuck. Jokinen will be gone soon, but Kovalchuck will be around for a long time, Love and Karppinen are young defenders who will get the job done on a decent level, night after night. And in goal Wallob is an elite goalie. You can not find much better than Wallob. Question marks are still flying over Prague, quite a few players have their contracts ending after this year. If everybody stays around, keeps on improving and old players like Jokinen can be replaced - the roster has everything you might want to compete for multiple years.

 

The ongoing season has started well, Prague has won three games out of four. Kotkakoivu has been a beast with 13 points in four games. Godlander has 10 points, Jokinen 6, Love 3, and Lapierre rounds up the top-5 in scoring with 3 points as well. As we can see, Kotkakoivu carries the team. It will be interesting to see if the second line is able to find similar chemistry as the first, so Kotkakoivu does not have to be a boss every night, but it has to be said the second line has been solid defensively, and for example, both centers have won well over 60% of their faceoffs, so at least so far things are going well. The icing on the cake, Wallob has been solid in net with 92.4% in those four games.

 

1538

 

14.11 - 20.11

21.11 - 27.11

28.11 - 4.12

 

[jRuutu 2,475]

21.11 - 27.11

 

[jRuutu 2,475]

28.11 - 4.12