VSN Presents: S90 VHL Season Preview

[Alex 3,247]

@Zetterberg

 

Hey everybody! Welcome to this season’s VHL Season preview, after a busy offseason, full of roster changes there’s been a considerable shift in team’s outlooks this season. So, without further to do, let’s jump right into it!

 

North American Conference

 

1 - Vancouver Wolves

Forward Rank - 3
Defense Rank - 1

Goalie Rank - 9

Conference Rank - 1

League Rank - 1

 

Coming off of a Continental Cup finals run, the Vancouver wolves had a very busy offseason shipping out Henry Eagles @Greg_Di. However, the additions of Girts Galvins @Girts and Liv Slater @Subject056 is huge for the program! We can expect Vancouver to be absolutely dominant with the only weak point on their roster being their goaltending with Brandt Fuhr @Tate, but even that is very good, despite being a hair below league average. Vancouver is without a doubt the Cup favourite heading into this season and we should not be surprised when they cruise through the majority of the North American Conference.

 

2 - Toronto Legion

Forward Rank - 1
Defense Rank - 6

Goalie Rank - 7

Conference Rank - 2

League Rank - 2

 

Toronto is this season’s most improved team with GM @Moonpulling the trigger and brining in a couple of big names with Tomas Sogaard @Brandon, Ronan Lavelle @Arce, and free agent Siyan Yasilievich @badcolethetitan. For the most part their roster is very well rounded, with the only gap really being that they just don’t have a number 2 defensemen and are running with 3 D, something that could be a touch risky. Toronto is practically the only team that we can expect to go back and forth with Vancouver all season. If Toronto can finish in the top 3 during the regular season it will be considered a huge success.

 

3 - Seattle Bears

Forward Rank - 7
Defense Rank - 4

Goalie Rank - 4

Conference Rank - 3

League Rank - 4

 

The Seattle Bears had one of the busier offseasons, as they made 10 trades bringing in previous award winner AirRig GoodBrandSun @Rhynex Entertainment! Seattle’s top end forwards are by far their biggest strength with Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg , Yaroslav Bogatyrev @Bojovnik, and Randy Bobandy @AJW. In addition to that Seattle has continued their recent trend of trading for a starting goalie with the acquisition of Clueless Wallob @DMaximus . This season we can look for Seattle to maybe push Toronto and Vancouver ahead of them, but given the significant drop to the 4th team on our list, the top 3 in the NA are essentially locked in.

 

4 - Los Angeles Stars

Forward Rank - 9
Defense Rank - 11

Goalie Rank - 6

Conference Rank - 4

League Rank - 9

 

Los Angeles also made several big moves this offseason in order to bring in a great 2nd defensemen with Elias Lampi @Pifferfish, and made a massive trade to bring in Napoleon Dynamite @thadthrasher and Svaltopluk Puk @Otaznik to drastically improve their offense. Even with these massive trades, there is a lot of questions in Los Angeles and they will be needing Art Vandelay @Gustav to stand on their head this season to make up for their D-core lacking a true #1 defensemen. We should see LA make the playoffs again this season, but with an aging core and only 1 notable prospect, their window is closing quickly.

 

5 - D.C. Dragons

Forward Rank - 11
Defense Rank - 10

Goalie Rank - 10

Conference Rank - 5

League Rank - 11

 

The D.C. Dragons are a very interesting team this season and should make the playoffs due to the 3 teams below them actively tanking. With that being said, D.C. is probably one of the most promising teams in the NA as their roster is full of young prospects with a strong veteran presence. With 1 season remaining in Bubbles Utonium’s @fishy career and no real replacement in the pipeline, if D.C. can address that gap they’ll be golden for some time to come.

 

6 - Calgary Wranglers

Forward Rank - 15
Defense Rank - 9

Goalie Rank - 12

Conference Rank - 6

League Rank - 13

 

An era has officially ended in Calgary, with the retirement of Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser, the team is moving into a re-tool and with a plethora of young talent it shouldn’t be long until Calgary is back contending. This season Calgary’s success will entirely depend on Merome Dilson @MexicanCow123 and Phil Strasmore @Phil. Calgary could be in for a long season, but at least it should be a quick turn-around.

 

7 - Chicago Phoenix

Forward Rank - 13
Defense Rank - 14

Goalie Rank - 13

Conference Rank - 7

League Rank - 14

 

Now under new management for the first time ever, Chicago is in full rebuild mode, shipping out everything with value with the exception of franchise player Scotty Sundin @fromtheinside who would like to retire there. Chicago is realistically rebuilding from the ground up and could be in for a long-term rebuild. With that being said, they do have a great young goalie in the system and have multiple firsts in both the next 2 drafts. 

 

8 - New York Americans

Forward Rank - 16
Defense Rank - 13

Goalie Rank - 16

Conference Rank - 8

League Rank - 16

 

Up until this offseason I had never seen a team tank by accident, S89 was a huge success in New York after they made the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons and even won 2 rounds! However, the departure of key players has led to a re-tool as they’ll shift their focus to the next generation of players and build their team around Jasper Davis @Josh. It’s safe to say that for New York, the tank is on.

 

European Conference

 

1- Prague Phantoms

Forward Rank - 2
Defense Rank - 8

Goalie Rank - 2

Conference Rank - 1

League Rank - 3

 

The Prague Phantoms had a relatively quiet offseason, and with that they have managed to come into this season as the EU’s top team. They have one of the best top 3 forward groups in the league and with Matt Murdock @Acydburn in goal, Prague looks really good! The only gap in their roster is the lack of a true number 1 defensemen as they do not have a single defensemen over 900 TPA. With that being said, Prague does have a bit of a leg up on the EU, and are the favourites to reach the finals.

 

2 - HC Davos Dynamo

Forward Rank - 8
Defense Rank - 3

Goalie Rank - 3

Conference Rank - 2

League Rank - 5

 

Coming off of their first Continental Cup since S61, Davos could have very well pulled the trigger on a rebuild, but with bringing in veteran forwards to try and replace their losses to retirement Davos is in pretty good shape for one last kick at the can this season. In stark contrast to a majority of other teams, Davos has two true number one defensemen with Jake Thunder @Thunder and Skor McFluery @Alex. Davos does look strong again this season and should finish in a playoff spot in what will be a hotly contested EU conference.

 

3 - Malmo Nighthawks

Forward Rank - 5
Defense Rank - 2

Goalie Rank - 11

Conference Rank - 3

League Rank - 6

 

Similarly to Toronto, Malmo went all-in this offseason and brought in Daniel Weaver @ThePerfectNut, Henry Eagles, and Mo Probert @Yahtzee and as a result have a very solid group of skaters. However, the one glaring weakness for them comes with their goalie Ash Sparks @DarkSpyro who’s play should take a considerable step back from the previous season as they will have less shots against with a complete roster in front of them. With that being said Malmo should still be fine and will likely make the playoffs.

 

4 - London United

Forward Rank - 10
Defense Rank - 5

Goalie Rank - 1

Conference Rank - 4

League Rank - 7

 

London is in a very similar situation to Davos with a good goaltender and defense, but with some gaps in their forward group. Ironically as well, both London and Davos are on the verge of a rebuild with aging cores. With that being said, London could very well push for a top three spot with their elite talent in every position as even up front they have a couple of great players in Leonard Triller @Triller and Molly The Cat @JCarson. However, London’s success will be heavily dependent on Jesse Teno @aimkin and if London makes the playoffs, Teno will be a good bet for MVP.

 

5 - Helsinki Titans

Forward Rank - 6
Defense Rank - 12

Goalie Rank - 5

Conference Rank - 5

League Rank - 8

 

Helsinki is the third and final team that finally made the move to compete with the addition of Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877 and Lloyd Braun @Toast. When compared to most of the EU, Helsinki has one of the best forward groups in the conference. However, Helsinki’s offense does come at the cost of their defense which consists of a bunch of players in the 600-700 range and YaBoi Oven @Doomsday, Helsinki’s defense should improve over the course of the season and they could potentially push to buy a top defensemen later on.

 

6 - Riga Reign

Forward Rank - 4
Defense Rank - 15

Goalie Rank - 8

Conference Rank - 6

League Rank - 10

 

Riga could find themselves either battling at the top of the conference or out of the playoffs, and a big reason for that is since they only have 2 defensemen. If Riga’s roster works they will without a doubt find themselves at the top of the EU and could very well set a new precedent for roster composition, but if it doesn’t they could easily miss the playoffs and have to make some panic moves towards the deadline. It is also entirely plausible that Riga’s offense just carries them as they have a ridiculous top 4 forwards that would make any team jealous. 

 

7 - Moscow Menace

Forward Rank - 12
Defense Rank - 7

Goalie Rank - 15

Conference Rank - 7

League Rank - 12

 

After being the most dominant team of the 80’s Moscow has moved towards a rebuild and looks to already be a step up on other rebuilding with budding stars in Jeff Lewis @nerji and Nils Andersson @Viper already on the roster. Moscow also has one of the largest prospect pools in the league and should be back in contention very soon!

 

8 - Warsaw Predators

Forward Rank - 16
Defense Rank - 13

Goalie Rank - 16

Conference Rank - 8

League Rank - 16

 

The Warsaw rebuild is still in full send, and with their current roster they should have a top 2 pick in the S91 draft and could very well be a top team in the league very soon as their prospect pool is already looking elite. The only thing Warsaw really needs at this point is a goalie and some defense, both of which should be attainable via the draft.

 

Thank you for reading this season’s VHL preview! Best of luck to everyone this season!

[BOOM 8,812]

Nice preview. I hate it when that happens to a graphic though 

[Banackock 8,134]

1 hour ago, BOOM said:

Nice preview. I hate it when that happens to a graphic though 

 

me too

[scoop 3,447]

Oh damn, this is an exact match of my power rankings