Back to the Lab in Moscow

[Arce 755]

Moscow forwards Nico Pearce, Ronan Lavelle, and defenseman Hammar Voss comfort goaltender Matt Murdock after the game 6 goal vs Malmo that sealed the series.

 

Going into S87, the expectations were high in Moscow. Moscow had acquired DC star forward Ronan Lavelle who was coming off 2 consecutive 98 point seasons, notching 50 in S86, and winning a cup/playoff MVP in S85. The forward core was stacked with Nico Pearce, Ronan Lavelle, Tomas Sogaard, Fraser Wallace, and captain  Kyosti Karjalainen. They also had two of the best defensemen on paper in Hammar Voss and AK 92 wit the Hoodie. Highly touted rookie goaltender Matt Murdock was entering his first season as a starter. Moscow believed Murdock would be one of the top goaltenders even as a rookie, and he was. Where did it all go wrong? Moscow was in first place for 95% of the season in the European Conference. After games played were made up, it was literally their conference to lose. And somehow, they lost it. Moscow dropped their final 2 games of the season, and Davos won their final 3 to give them the 1st seed in the European Conference. This ended up giving Davos a date with Riga (who defeated Warsaw in the wildcard), while it gave Moscow a tough matchup against a good Malmo Nighthawks team. Still, this should have been a series Moscow should have won, even if it was 6 or 7 games. On the contrary, Moscow was stunned in 6 games by Malmo. Another spectacular regular season went to waste. So what now? Moscow still has their central core in tact for S88, will it stay that way? Will there be additions?

 

Even though it ended up being a very productive year for players individually in Moscow, it just didn't feel dominate. It may be because there was a lot of talent to pass the points around to. Nico Pearce led the team with 91 points, and 58 assists. Nico was a menace (ha) with the puck and dishing it out. He played primarily on line 1 with the new Ronan Lavelle who finished one point back of Nico with 91, and a team leading 40 goals. Pearce and Lavelle definitely had productive seasons, and played well together. Both are under contract for next season. We should expect more production out of both forwards going in S88. Tomas Sogaard finished with what is considered a down year for a player on his caliber with 77 points, 30 of which being goals. Sogaard got off to a slow start, and played most of the season on the 2nd line at regular strength to help some balance. Sogaard's tier you usually expect 90-100 points. You never know what Euron has in mind. Will he give these big 3 a chance to redeem this year's disappointing end, or will be mix it up? Lavelle and Sogaard have NTC so if a deal were to be made, it would have to go through them. Pearce is open however, will Euron trade him a second time? Remember after his rookie season in Moscow, he was traded to Helsinki. Surely Moscow won't use him for bait again. Captain, and longtime Menace loyal Kyosti Karjalainen is set to become a UFA. You would imagine there is interest in both parties for a re-signing. Would Moscow dare use the potential salary to mix it up elsewhere? Or does Karjalainen himself have other plans? It is unlikely, but you just never know. The Mediocre One is set to hit UFA after a rookie season he didn't get too involved with on the scoresheet with 17 points playing with Pearce and Lavelle. Does he get an extension on Moscow, or will the Menace look to fill that void with someone in the salary range with a little more production? Many questions surround this forward core. The Menace could have a very familiar forward core in S88 or a completely different one with all of these questions in the air.

 

In S87, Moscow ran the 3 defensemen system that has been successful for teams in the past. They had two top heavy d-men with Hammar Voss and AK 92 wit the Hoodie. Voss had a very productive year with 88 points and led all defensmen in goals with 33, as well as 162 blocked shots.. Hoodie on the other hand had a solid 66 points, and 168 blocked shots but expressed extreme disappointment in his own production. It is understandable given his range of talent. Then Moscow also has a very solid defenseman in Flynn Remy who posted up 35 points and had 139 blocked shots. Remy is a UFA heading in S88, but you imagine Moscow would like to keep him in their top 4 so a re-signing in S88 seems likely. Will Euron dice having 3 defensemen again? Or does he have plans to throw some money around to return to the 4 defensemen system? It seemed Moscow had better results running the 4 defensemen, but maybe S87 was a year for everyone to get their chemistry together to make a stronger run in S88. If there is one thing we know about Moscow, it is that they are never boring in the off-season.

 

Goaltender Matt Murdock had a fantastic rookie season. He was amongst the best goaltenders in S87 with a 39-21-4 record, .931 save percentage, 2.39 GAA and 4 shutouts to tack onto it. Murdock's entry level contract is coming to an end, which means Moscow will need to pay Murdock for him to stick around. Murdock is fully expected to stick around Moscow for the long term. The Menace were fortunate enough to have Papa Emeritus for his career, and looks like they could luck out again with Matt Murdock. With him in between the pipes, the team always stands a chance, and makes "rebuild years" very minimal. Does Moscow try to go for a backup? For years, the Menace had backup goaltender Leroy Johnson, who could be the best backup in VHL history. Johnson accepted his role as a career backup and did his part to give Moscow a chance to win the cup. Is there a chance with the backup goaltender cap relief rule, that Euron goes out and finds rooms for a backup goaltender? Surely if the Menace had a Leroy Johnson this past season, they would have held onto their 1st seed, which could have generated different results in the playoffs.

 

Word count: 1053

Claimed for weeks ending: 3/19, 3/26

[Arce 755]

Claim for week ending in 3/26.

 

Also Doubles Week from S88 off-season donation here: https://vhlforum.com/topic/2451-vhl-donation-index/?do=findComment&comment=976503

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by Arce