Season 40 Draftees in VHL

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Despite the rumors that there would be shakeups in the top four picks in the Season 40 VHL Entry Draft, everything ended up going exactly as planned with Thomas O'Malley and Mason Richardson going first and second to the Cologne Express and Tyler Cote and Jerrick Poole being selected third and fourth by the Toronto Legion.  All four players made the early arrival to the VHL where they are showing the league just why the top of the draft was held in such high regard.

 

All four players are among the top six rookie point scorers - Thomas O'Malley's 23 rank second while Richardson, Cote, and Poole come in at fourth, fifth, and sixth with 17, 16, and 15 points each.  In addition, all four players are among the top ten point scorers in the VHL at their own position.

 

Cote, O'Malley, and Poole also show up among the league leaders in non-scoring categories.  Tyler Cote is far from a one-dimensional player and his 86 hits rank him seventh in the VHL while Thomas O'Malley is a face-off specialist, winning 58.5% of his faceoffs, good enough for seventh among qualifying players.  Poole, on the other hand, has been one of the more gritty players in the league and his 67 shots blocked and 70 penalty minutes are the second highest in the VHL.

 

While neither the Express or Legion are currently in playoff position and each team clearly has plenty of work ahead of them if they want to become legitimate contenders, both teams struck it rich at the top of the Season 40 draft and will have a strong core to build around in the years to come.