VHL Trade Wars: Edition 4 (Season 60 Off-Season)

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VHL Trade Wars: Edition 4 (Season 60 Off-Season)

 

 

 

Welcome to the fourth edition of the VHL Trade Wars, and this will be a bit shorter than the others as we look into what ended up being a very significant deal in terms of the assets involved in those move.  Normally, I will be looking into multiple trades but I will be on vacation in Florida a few weeks from now, and I wanted to buy myself a couple of weeks in PT’s and then write a long one just before I go. 

 

Additionally, I figured I could use this for Retro Week as we are looking back into the past and what better way than the deal that brought one of the best VHL players of all-time to the Riga Reign in what was honestly a pretty one-sided move given the career trajectory of the two major players involved.  With that being said, I hope you all enjoy this edition of the VHL Trade Wars, and you will see me back in a couple weeks with an even longer one that has some pretty incredible talent (including another generational talent that has often been compared the legend in this move as well).

 

SEASON 60 OFF-SEASON

To QUE 

S61 RIG 1st Round Pick (Samuel Gate) @scoop

 

To RIG 

S61 QUE 1st Round Pick (Podrick Cast) @Victor

S61 NYA 2nd Round Pick (Jesper Stromberg) @Tim

 

General Managers: @hedgehog337 (RIG), @Beaviss (QUE)

 

Date: May 31^st, 2018

 

This one kinda hurts for Quebec.  That being said, I understand some of their perspective when they made this deal.  This trade saw Quebec moving up a spot in the draft (from third to second overall) and using a late second round pick in order to sweeten the pot and get the guy they wanted.  I’m not sure if there was an understanding from Riga on who Quebec was targeting by wanting to move up, but it is safe to say that Riga ended up with the player they wanted in the end.

 

Quebec used that second overall pick on Samuel Gate, a defenseman from the Hall of Fame Scoop agency that managed incredible players like Benjamin Glover and Diana Maxwell, in the past.  They were clearly looking to ensure that they would be able to select the defenseman and considering he was 28 TPE ahead of Podrick Cast at the time, it’s understandable why they made this move.  With that being said, Samuel Gate definitely didn’t work out the way they ultimately hoped he would.  Gate would play six seasons in the Victory Hockey League, four of which were with Quebec and the other two with Vancouver and Seattle.  He found some decent success in the VHL, recording 388 points, 1198 hits and 766 blocked shots in 432 games.  His last season would be the cherry on the top of the sundae, when he recorded an impressive 93 points, 251 hits and 159 blocked shots, on route to a Sterling Labatte Trophy for Top Defenseman in the VHL.  He also took home the Alexander Beketov Trophy (Most Assists in the VHL) and the Jake Wylde Trophy (Best Defensive Defenseman), in what was a really tremendous way to end his career.

 

With that being said, while Gate had a productive career, he was never the individual talent that Quebec was expecting when they moved up to second overall in order to take him.  He was a consistently solid physical presence and someone that was a really good #2 defenseman, but other than his last season, never really played like a play-driving anchor on a championship defense core.  He also struggled quite a bit in the playoffs, with just 15 points in 27 games and never scoring more than 6 points in a single playoff campaign.  He actually reminds me a lot of my first player, Michael Angelo, who was mostly known for one absolutely ridiculous season while being a consistent solid two-way defender throughout the rest of his career, but nothing spectacular.

 

Meanwhile, it’s pretty clear that Riga wanted Podrick Cast all along and was absolutely thrilled to move down a spot to select him.  This works slightly in their favour since Cast obviously had the much better career, but it’s really the only way to judge this.  Lets get the second round pick out of the way first, as Stromberg only played one season in the VHLM and never went on in the league any further, bowing out before ever hitting the Victory Hockey League. 

 

Podrick Cast, on the other hand, is one of the greatest players in VHL History.  It was definitely not something that was likely expected when Riga made this deal, but with the incredible reputation of the Victor agency, it isn’t surprising that he would have the better player out of the two main ones involved in this deal.  Cast would score 379 goals and 846 points in his 576 game career, spanning eight seasons, six of which were with Riga and the other two on Moscow.  He helped the Reign win the Season 63 Continental Cup and won several individual awards including the Scotty Campbell Trophy (League MVP) in Season 62 and 64, the Brett Slobodzian Trophy (Most Outstanding Player) in Season 62, the Mike Szatkowski Trophy (Most Points in the League) and the Kevin Brooks Trophy (Most Goals in the League).  He was a Hall of Fame inductee and first ballot at that in Season 69.  Undoubtedly a generational player, the impact he made on Riga was massive and made them an instant threat whenever he stepped onto the ice.

 

Verdict: Winner – Hedgehog337 (Riga) – Without a doubt I have to give the Reign the edge for the pure asset management win here.  Quebec made an aggressive move to acquire the better player at the time and the defender at that, but ultimately Gate’s ceiling ended up a lot lower in the end, and Cast was an absolute generational talent.  His offensive skills were on another level and for that reason alone, Riga has to take the win here.

 

1005 Words - Claiming Week 1 of 2

 

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Advantage

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