VHLE - Stockholm Vikings S90 preview

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With 5 picks in the top 25 of the VHLE draft including 4 picks in the first 11, the Stockholm Vikings were able to rebuild their roster for the upcoming season and will look to improve upon last season’s last place finish to make the playoffs and challenge for a championship.

 

GOALIES

 

Ryan Artyomov and Jeffrey Blake

 

With the 3^rd overall pick in the VHLE draft, Stockholm drafted Artyomov to be the anchor in goal this season and he will see the bulk of action with Blake stepping in every few games to give him a break.  While being one of the better goalies in the “E” this season, Artyomov has the rebound control, hand speed and reaction time to steal games for the Vikings and provide the team the solid goaltending they need to make a deep run in the playoffs this season.

 

 

DEFENSE

 

Celise Pereira, Eldon Escobar, Roy Krishna and Tommy Sleeves

 

Stockholm picked up a couple of defensemen early in the draft but only Sleeves will be making the jump to the “E” and will be the true “defensive type of defensemen” on the team that can also be hard hitting as well.  Pereira and Escobar will be more of the offensive type of defensemen that will man the top power play unit from the blue line who can carry the puck out of the defensive zone and make the passes up to the forwards in the neutral zone for breakouts.  Kirshna is the prototypical two-way defensemen that can chip in offensively while still being able to be sound in his own end.

 

 

OFFENSE

 

Austin Goulet, Chris Sanzone, Diego Machado, Alexandre Crosby, Maxim Anisimov, McDonalds BigMac, Ronald Johnson MacWallace III and Steven mcdard

 

With 2 of those 5 picks in the “E” draft, the Vikings selected Anisimov and Crosby to round out their forward spots on the top 2 lines.  Anisimov will be the first line right winger who is smooth skating, puck handling play making winger who can also put the puck into the net.  Crosby will also probably jump on the first line as a left winger and is more of a power forward / two-way forward who can score but can also back check and play some defense to create turnovers.  The first line will be centered by Ronald Johnson MacWallace III who is a master in the face off dot and can do everything else well including getting the puck into the net and finding his teammates for shots on goal as well.

 

The second line center will be Machado who is very similar to MacWallace in terms of Machado can do a little bit of everything but isnt as strong in face offs or scoring but is a little bit of a better passer.  On right wing will be BigMac and on left wing will be Sanzone both of whom are capable of both passing and scoring decently.  McDard and Goulet will both see action on the 3^rd line.

 

 

Through the VHLE draft, the Stockholm Vikings were able to restock a couple of forwards, a defenseman and a goalie for the upcoming season to improve upon their last place finish from last season.  With these new additions to go along with the pieces already in place, the Vikings should be able to make the playoffs this season and hopefully challenge for a championship at the end of the season.