What's Next for Las Vegas?

[McLovin 450]

The long and difficult season the Las Vegas Aces have had is finally over. After being bounced by Mexico City in the first round in a four game sweep, the Aces find themselves on the golf course once more, looking for ways to improve and return to the promised land of the Founder's Cup Final. In the seasons since the Aces last appearance in the Finals, the Aces have only won one game in the playoffs, that being in S87. With this in mind, let's take a dive into the Aces and what they could potentially do to elevate themselves to contender status, and bring Sin City another Founder's Cup.

 

The most obvious start would be goaltending. It was the Aces Achilles' heel this entire season, and cost them big time once it came to playoff time. While goal tender Linden Moore cannot be blamed for everything that went wrong this season, you have to start somewhere unfortunately. Being thrown into a starting position in his rookie year, Moore struggled to find his game and couldn't catch a break. Despite doing all that he could to keep the team in games, Moore put up a 14-24-5 record in the regular season, with a 0.888% save percentage, with a 3.65 goals against to go along with it. With the Aces being swept in the first round, it didn't get much better for him. With 3 regulation losses and one in overtime, an 0.862 save percentage and a very rough 4.9 goals against average, it's safe to say that defensively he was not given much help. Obviously Moore is going to improve his game and will no doubt be a solid goaltender for the future, but sadly those numbers just can't match the level of the Aces opponents, who have had remarkable seasons posted by elite talent. With this in mind though, it's only fair that we take a look at the blueline in front of Linden Moore, and assess what could've been improved to help his situation.

 

Defensively it didn't get much better. As it stands, the Aces only have one defenseman signed as we start approaching the post season. Captain Juan Ceson put up a strong offensively minded season, notching 13 goals and 43 helpers to match. Despite putting up a -19 +/-, Ceson had his second best career year in terms of blocked shots, and a career high 291 hits in the regular season alone! With a strong cornerstone piece like him most likely remaining on the team until retirement, building a strong defensive core with him as the highlight of the blue line, you have a promising future in those regards. The issues arise, however, when you consider that a cornerstone like Ceson has been around for a while now, and only has a few seasons left in the tank. This will mark his 8th year of playing in Las Vegas, and one can only wonder if regression is going to damper an already struggling defense. With this in mind, drafting or signing free agent defenseman has to be a top priority of the Aces management, General Manager Blazzer and AGM Viper certainly have their work cut out for them. Onto a much higher note, we'll wrap the review of the season up with the offense and what the plan should be moving forward team-wise.

 

The Las Vegas Aces did not struggle offensively this season, and that should be something to lean on going into S89. With the likes of ShaunYoungca, Jeremia Barbaslov, and RJM nearing the end of their VHLM careers as they move onto Europe and the Pros, the need to either retain or replace the primary drivers of the offense is abundantly clear. Solid prospects have started making names for themselves with the team, with the likes of Jack Foster, Paul Cramer, Nose Nacho Montana and Maxim Anisimov hopefully either being resigned or drafted by the Aces in the upcoming draft. The future is bright for the Aces offense, but an additional piece or two will really solidify an already strong team hungry for championships once more. That being said, let's take a look at the off-season moves Blazzer and Viper can make to turn a fledging hopeful into a dominate contender.

 

First and foremost, improving the defense and getting additional pieces to assist Juan Ceson is a must. The man simply can't do it all by himself, and I sense Blazzer and Viper are going to be potentially moving pieces, whether it be players and/or picks to get help in that field will happen. That being said, I likely see one if not both of the Aces and Reapers first round picks they have currently being used to acquire players that will make immediate impacts on the team. Moving on from that, either signing a strong starting goalie in free agency, or drafting a prospect goalie to potentially backup a rejuvenated Linden Moore might be the play as well. Either which way you see it, an extra pair of pads to help Moore out is essential in my eyes, short and long term. Finally, I definitely expect the offense to be bolstered further in this offseason, with more winger support coming in to assist an already remarkably strong center core. The possible drafting or signing of playmaking minded wingers to sauce dishes to the snipers already on the team would enhance the offense tenfold, and would likely result in very high scoring games should that be the focus of management instead of defense. With players like Maxim Anisimov and Jeremia Barbaslov already filling those roles on the team, retaining them should be a must, and I'm not only saying that because I'm extremely biased.

 

All-in-all, the Aces are a promising team to look forward to watching in the upcoming seasons. A swift and decisive offseason for them will likely propel them back into the elite of the league, and with the assets they currently posses, they have the potential to make some major splashes to chase that dream. Time will tell what ends up happening, but the future is bright in the Neon City.

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1,020 words, claiming for weeks ending 5/21 & 5/28 

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