Career Reflection - Malum Maellard

[frescoelmo 1,276]

Career Reflection – Malum Maellard

 

How It Started

Maellard, drafted 10^th overall, was excited about the ability to become a foundational piece to a New York roster that was in… well let’s just say turmoil.  The manager at the time, manager mexicancow, had picked up some talented veterans and was hoping to turn things around in short order.  This did not pan out.  Cow left his managerial position in the middle of season 84, leaving Maellard’s player agent (frescoelmo) with the reigns to take over what had quickly become a pretty marginal roster.  Yet still, the team had just missed the playoffs one year into elmo’s tenure as manager, the first year Maellard had been on the roster.  Malum played with fellow veterans Eightnine and Peepants, and posted a respectable 42 points in his rookie campaign.  Far too many penalties though, as he was still acclimating to the speed of the professional league.

 

Season 86 held similar promise, as Maellard and the Americans were off to a hot start with a revamped roster and the newly acquired manager Thad, who traded for his own forward.  New York, tied for 5^th in North America with Seattle, missed out on the playoffs due to a head-to-head technicality, despite both teams finishing with 70 points.  Malum rebounded with similar statistics, albeit with far less penalty minutes.  This was a promising campaign for the blueliner, as he was playing more minutes and it had shown.

 

I big move before the start of Season 87 left the Americans’ roster with some more ammunition, picking up Leduc and promoting Babay Shrimp to the big leagues.  Yet…  ANOTHER missed opportunity as the first team out of the cup race in North America.  This was statistically Maellard’s best season in the majors to that point, with 51 points, his most hits and fewest penalty minutes in a full year.

 

How It’s Going

The most recent season (88) was Maellard’s last contract year with New York.  What felt like another season on repeat, upper management in New York promised to offer Malum and his fellow forward (Detroit) the option to try their hand elsewhere at the trade deadline given New York’s prospects for a postseason appearance were waning.  Having both been moved to, which was at the time in second place in Europe, a much-improved Helsinki Titan roster, Malum was excited about taking his talents to the playoffs. WELL, that did not happen, as 7-12-1 in the final twenty games to miss the playoffs entirely.  This was a particularly difficult stretch of games for Malum, who seemed to have been really pissed off about something off the ice and took it out on fellow forwards to the tune of 38 PIM in 20 games.

 

Where It’s Going

In what will be his fifth full season in the VHL this upcoming year, Malum expressed his interests to dabble in free agency for the first time in his career.  A player who is more pure defenseman than anything else, has yet to see the postseason.  With the ability to change the direction of his career trajectory entirely, it will be interesting to see where Malum ends up making his next home.