VHL S87 Predictions and Future Rankings (>104% accurate)

[sadie 904]

The S86 playoffs are still wrapping up throughout the leagues, but as those don't involve Sadie St-Louis right now, I find myself looking onward to 2023 which will begin with S87. This year has had a lot of great competition, but I have been paying attention to the VHLE rather than the VHL for the most part. Now that I have much more of an interest, I'll try to power rank the teams based on how bright I think their futures are as well as providing a prediction for next year's success. This is my probably awful interpretation of the team's futures right now and these will obviously be looking different after the draft/any potential trades.

 

(rankings based upon overall outlook and not performance next season)

 

1. Calgary Wranglers

Calgary tops this list because they are an amazing example of how to build a team that should always be competitive. They are an absolute powerhouse right now, having come 1st in the league in the regular season, with players like Daniel Janser, Landon Wolanin, and Leandro Goncalves (the latter 2 are still pretty young being S83 players). All three of those players are above 1000 TPE as well as AirRig GoodBrandSun, another S83 player. Their prospect pool is also pretty amazing considering how good they are, containing players like Larry Abass Jr (2nd in VHLE scoring this year), Vincent Laroche-Gagnier, Darius Marimoto II, and Adam Rage. Their star players will last a while yet and their new talent will have arrived by the time they end up retiring. 

 

S87 prediction: 1st

 

2. Toronto Legion

Toronto is not a team that has any of the highest TPE superstars in the VHL and when I looked at their lineup I didn't think it was outstanding, but their prospect pool is gigantic. It includes many S85 and S86 players and while most aren't very active, there is potential for some to start being active at some point given the sheer number. Joel Castle and Jeremy Swayman are the brightest stars for Toronto, both being at or near the 400 cap. They will make excellent replacements for Oskar Lindbergh when his career eventually comes to a close. Toronto also owns THREE first round picks in the S87 draft which is perhaps the biggest reason they are this high. If they can come out with some solid picks in this draft, they will be propelled to contender status much sooner.

 

S87 prediction: 16th

 

3. Seattle Bears

Seattle, while having had a losing record this year, have an awesome future. Hulk Hogan 2 and Tavish Degroot, their 1000+ TPE players are S81 and S82. So they will experience the effects of depreciation pretty soon, but they have some amazing up and coming stars like Don Aven and Elias Lampi who are banking their TPE in the VHLM and will be here sooner than their 200 TPA would suggest. Left Alone is nearing 400 TPE. They also have an awesome prospect goalie in Ash Sparks who is nearly at the VHLE's 400 TPE cap and will be a massive part of future Seattle success. It might take a couple of seasons but I think with this team's drafting ability, it will be a contender for years.

 

S87 prediction: 9th

 

4. Los Angeles Stars

Los Angeles is in a pretty solid place right now with their current lineup. What propels them to the top here is another huge prospect pool including players like Sunglasses Joyo, Sebastien dokis, and Joey Coaster, all of who are at the 400 cap and can perhaps bolster their lineup in the coming seasons to be even better. They have an awesome goalie at the 400 cap in Alexander Minion and with their already established starter Art Vandelay approaching 1000 TPE as an S84, their future on the back end is bright. Again, much like Toronto, their pool suffers from a lack of activity and they own no picks in the 1st two rounds this year, which is why I placed them a couple of spots below. 

 

S87 prediction: 12th

 

5. HC Davos Dynamo

Davos is already in a good spot and is able to contend- they are in the second round of the playoffs after sweeping London as I write this. Although Xavier Booberry and Vinny Detroit (both S80) are on their way out, Davos still boasts an awesome defense including players like Jake Thunder and Siyan Yasilievich, both hovering around 1000 TPE and only S83. Their prospect pool isn't great in size and not amazing in quality either except for two amazing prospects: John Richards and Lachlan Summers. Richards will be an excellent scoring winger and should find himself fitting in fairly soon on a team that only has one other right winger. Lachlan Summers, a star S86 goalie already having earned 454 TPE, is going to be the future of this Davos team in my opinion, coming in at the perfect time, likely nearing the end of Booberry's career.

 

S87 prediction: 6th

 

6. Vancouver Wolves

Vancouver is a team that is interesting; they never seem to be awful or really go into a long rebuild as far as I can tell. They have one of the brighter VHL futures as they have a lineup full of players young and older. Alexandre Leduc and Sergey Preobrazhensky won't be around for that many more seasons, but it looks like players such as Dogwood Maple and Pierre Emile Bouchard are ready to take their place. While their prospect pool isn't huge, they have two amazing prospects in Wann Kerr and Jens Lekman. Both are earning consistently and are on their way up to the VHL sooner rather than later, I'm sure.

 

S87 predictions: 5th

 

7. New York Americans

New York has a deep lineup and while they have nobody above 1000 TPA at the moment, they remain having good chances at playoff spots. Taylor Mourning is now retired and Sven Eightnine and Zaza Colors are winding it down, but New York's prospect pool is something to look at positively. Four players have hit the 400 cap in the VHLE including Geoff Bezos and Babay Shrimp! It's not a particularly young prospect pool, but the amount of top talent and their first round pick make me optimistic that they will be a top team in the next few seasons.

 

S87 prediction: 11th

 

8. Helsinki Titans

Helsinki has been one of the worse teams in the league this year without question. Their forward core is aging fast with no players in the organization above 600 TPA. That, however, is the only reason they are this low on the list. They have 3 fantastic prospects ready for VHL action in Fuukka Rask, Daryl Dixon, and Rick Grimes, ALL of whom are S86 players. This gives them one of the best prospect pools leaguewide in my opinion and I think that however their roster looks now, that is about to change big-time when you factor in the next couple of drafts as well in which Helsinki does possess their 1st round picks.

 

S87 prediction: 15th

 

9. Riga Reign

Riga had an awful showing last season, coming in dead last in the VHL by six points. But I think the future will be much better than this here. If I understand the draft "lottery" system correctly which I may not, Riga is guaranteed a pretty good pick even if it doesn't end up being first overall. The Frenchman is their best up and coming star, an S86 player already above 550 TPE. He will be the central piece of this franchise for years to come. Daniel Weaver and Henry Tucker Jr are good S85 players who will also be instrumental. Something Riga needs to do is bolster their prospect pool, because they only have 6 at this point. Sadie St-Louis, who led the VHLE in goals this season, has reached 400 TPA and is ready to make the jump to the VHL at this point, leaving their next highest earning player at 251 TPE. If Riga plays their cards right in the draft (especially if they can land the first or second overall pick), they could set themselves up for a lot of success in the future.

 

S87 prediction: 14th

 

10. Prague Phantoms

Prague has one of, if not the most skilled trio in the league in Nils Godlander, Saku Kotkakoivu, and Erlantz Jokinen. But they are getting old and approaching the end of their VHL careers. They have a lot of good players rostered with Jason and John Jameson gaining TPE fast and their prospect pool appears to be amazing on the surface when looking at TPE count. What makes them this low on the list is the fact that they have no first round pick this year and the fact that the majority of their prospects are not very active and have been accumulating TPE rather slowly. It is very good however, that a lot of them are reaching that 400 TPE threshold at the same time, so if the salary cap were to allow it they could have quite a deep team and avoid the risk of having too many bots.

 

S87 prediction: 3rd

 

11. London United

London, led by players like Jerome Reinhart, Hari Singh Nalwa, and David Davis, is now in some trouble in terms of star power because those players are S79 and S80. They have people like Molly the Cat rising to take their place, however. But London has some great prospects coming up from the M and E soon with the likes of Rex Wolffe Gregor and Leonard Triller earning more and more TPE. They have an above average prospect pool in my opinion it is very young and has active people in it. Jesse Teno also looks ready to take the place of Davis in the goal, so I think London, even while they lack a first round pick this year, is in a fairly good spot depending on how their youth turn out.

 

S87 prediction: 10th

 

12. Malmo Nighthawks

Malmo is in a bit of a rough place, because they don't have the star power to be one of the top contenders, but they don't have the strongest prospect pool either. Two first round picks will help them immensely this year but as it stands they are getting older without new talent coming in. Igor Molotov and Max Torq are the key if they are to win soon and Womp Womp Womp Womp Womp Jr and Erik Finck are their best prospects, both above 250 TPE.

 

S87 prediction: 13th

 

13. Moscow Menace 

Moscow's team is currently in fairly good shape, even with the retirement of Papa Emeritus, their amazing goalie this year. They have two S83 players above 1000 TPE in Hammar Voss and Tomas Sogaard as well as Nico Pearce (S81). Their main concern is a lack of top-tier prospects, only having 7 in total and none that are really that active. The Mediocre One and Ilya Bryzgalov are their best and with their multiple first round picks in the S87 draft, they will add some top talent.

 

S87 prediction: 7th

 

14. D.C. Dragons

D.C. suffers from aging. That is their biggest problem right now- they can still be very competitive but how long can they keep it up? They have 3 players who sit above 1000 TPA: Ronan Lavelle, Jonathan Ori, and Nezuko, who are S82, S79, and S81 players respectively. Bubbles Utonium, their star goalie, is also a S82 player. They have a prospect goalie at 400 TPA, the VHLE cap, but DJ Fire Dragon is an S83 player. Their prospects are simply not enough to counter the effect that losing their stars will have on the team, having only 4 and all of them below 150 TPE. They will need some strong drafts in the next couple years to get them out of their current situation.

 

S87 prediction: 8th

 

15. Warsaw Predators

Warsaw has been a great team for many seasons, winning it all in S84, but they are winding down at this point given that everyone but 1 person on their roster is S82 or older. Their current players are not the problem right now though. Brendan Marner, Brian Payne, and Vasile Lamb, among others, are performing terrifically right now. The main concern is a lack of active prospect players. While they have 9 prospects in the system, not one has surpassed 200 TPE and looking at their two highest earners, Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist is S82 and Bedirhan Paard is no longer an active member of the VHL. Warsaw will still be a good team until depreciation starts to really hurt their stars.

 

S87 prediction: 2nd

 

16. Chicago Phoenix

Chicago has the worst future in my opinion mainly because of their complete lack of prospects; they have only 3 at the moment. zack martinez is their best prospect at 378 TPE but claims welfare and is S83. Care Bear, when they update, do claim PTs but they don't update every week and sit at 160 TPA. Jeff Ienco is their other player and currently has no applied TPE. Chicago had a great lineup this year with The Board Game Clue On Skates and Bo Johansson leading the way along with Cole Pearce in goal, but this team is getting older and currently doesn't have any prospect players that are in a position to step up and be a crucial part of this team. In the S87 draft they have no firsts, just a 2nd and 3rd and in S88 only their first and second.

 

S87 prediction: 4th

 

Sorry if I ranked your team too low.

Word Count: 2216

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[Moon 593]

36 minutes ago, sadie said:

S87 prediction: 16th

wooooo

[Spartan 4,406]

58 minutes ago, sadie said:

Sorry if I ranked your team too low.

Apology not accepted, we are no longer friends. All your updates can sit at the end of the queue.

Edited December 26, 2022 by Spartan

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