Best Final Round Draft Pick in Every Draft Part 1 (S1-23)

[Grape 739]

(Been sitting on this one for almost a year now. Doing it in parts because I’m a glutton for TPE)

A (long) while back, Gustav made a massive article about the best picks in every single draft in VHL history. It was a massive endeavor and it immediately caught my interest. Perhaps it would be a fun project to look into other things involving the draft. My first thought was trying to find the biggest bust in each draft, but I trashed that idea. In some instances that could be cruel to some members who’s player simply didn’t pan out. Instead, I went and looked into the best players in the final round of every VHL draft. After hours of work and some painful searching, I have finally completed this project. Keep in mind that I will only list players who have registered at least one point (goalies at least one game) in the VHL unless: they are the only player in their draft that had actually played any games; they were drafted in season 84 and up, as they are, to me at least, still considered prospects. Without any more delay, from season 1 to season 88, here are the best players from the final round of the VHL draft.

 

Season 1

Pick 51: Bruce Wayne - D

 

Mr. Wayne proved to be a fantastic player and excellent pick for Helsinki, putting up 42 goals and 100 assists for 142 points as a defenseman in his 289 game career in the VHL. While never winning a cup, he appeared to be a great producer on the blue line and proved to be the top last round defenseman in a final round with 2 other really good defensemen. The only real knock would be his playoff performance, only registering 3 assists in 18 playoff games, but hey, still pretty good for a 7th rounder.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 49: Jeremy Lamborghini - D (27 G, 102 A)

Pick 50: John Pereira - G (0 W, 0.832 SV%, 6.26 GAA)

Pick 52: Marian Oshie - LW (12 G, 24 A)

Pick 53: Waldo Cezar - D (17 G, 77 A)

Pick 55: Jeff Van Slacker - LW (9 G, 15 A)

 

Season 2

Pick 39: Edward Eldred - RW

 

A really really good pick by Calgary, snagging Edward in the 2nd to last pick of the draft, he would end up being a very good player, amassing 145 goals and 218 assists for 363 points in 360 games, barely securing a ppg pace. Edward would also net 8 goals and 23 assists for 31 points in 28 playoff games, and his performance helped his team secure the championship in Season 2 and 3. No other last round pick really came super close to being as good as Edward, with the only argument really being Goldberg.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 33: Chris Orosz - G (2 W, 0.905 SV%, 3.60 GAA)

Pick 34: Chris Maher (13 G, 38 A)

Pick 35: Craig Levver (20 G, 39 A)

Pick 36: Greg Goldberg (162 W, 0.914 SV%, 3.45 GAA, 6 SO)

Pick 37: Patrice Roydeur (95 W, 0.910 SV%, 3.42 GAA, 5 SO)

Pick 38: Nevets Detroit - C (27 G, 62 A,)

Pick 40: Alexei Fedorov - LW (14 G, 16 A, 30 P)

 

Season 3

Pick 19: Edward Holm - LW

 

Holm only needed to play one game or put up a single point to be the best last round pick for the season 3 draft, but he decided to go above and beyond, putting up 142 goals and 312 assists for 454 points in 442 games, hitting that ppg pace. Edward Holm turned into the second Calgary last round steal and their second high scoring Edward. Playoff success was also shown, with Holm getting 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points over 58 games and earning himself a ring in seasons 3 and 8.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 4

Pick 23: Jonathan Coward - D

 

Jonathan Coward turned out to be one of the better players for Helsinki, logging 21 goals and 82 assists for 103 points in 214 games. Playoff performance was a struggle, with 1 goal and 4 assists in 21 postseason games, but he provided a good deal of offense on the blue line, much like late pick Bruce Wayne before him. At the very least, Coward continues the early trend of late round steals being made by either Calgary or Helsinki, with Calgary getting the forwards and Helsinki getting the defensemen.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 18: Jonathan Bernier - G (2 W, 0.839 SV%, 6.93 G.A.A)

Pick 21: Mikael Jonsson - D (9 G, 16 A, 25 P)

 

Season 5

Pick 36: Raul Thundercat - G

 

Raul is the first goalie “steal” and not much can really be said about them. Drafted by Calgary (of course), he posted a record of 9-52-3 with a 0.859 SV% and 6.49 G.A.A, registering 1 shutout in his career. There was not much competition in this late round, so Mr. Thundercat gets off easy in this regard. Cool name though.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 37: Mikhail Prospov - G (2 W, 0.865 SV%, 5.56 GAA)

 

Season 6

Pick 33: Aiden Fox - G

 

Aiden Fox breaks the trend of Calgary/Helsinki late round steals, being picked by Toronto. Unfortunately, however, he did not have the best career. In 13 games, Aiden Fox posted a 0-5-1 record with a 0.890 SV% and 6.50 G.A.A. Likely never being more than a sparsely used backup, Fox had an uneventful and short career, that only benefits from nobody else in the last round of this draft class playing a game.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 7

No VHL Players

 

Season 8

Pick 26: Matt Fletcher - RW

 

Matt Fletcher appeared to be an absolute unit for Riga, generating 139 goals and 179 assists for 318 points in 288 games. I cannot find his postseason data, if there even is any, but I know that he never won a Cup. From what I can gather, he did win the Mikka Virkkunen Trophy for Sportsmanship in season 13, so I can confidently say that Mr. Fletcher is a certified Nice Guy™ 

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 30: Jeff McCarthy - C (40 G, 157 A)

 

Season 9

Pick 21: Sean Costello - C

 

Riga drafts another 300+ point player in the last round with Sean Costello, who absolutely runs away with being the best last round pick this season, posting 139 goals and 203 assists for 342 points in 362 games. Again, not much else can really be said due to recordkeeping being quite poor in the early seasons of the VHL (for the non-HoF players at least), but it can be said that he was an excellent player throughout his career.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 20: Ricky Okposo - G (11 W, 0.865 SV%, 5.47 GAA)

Pick 22: Travis Tyson - LW (9 G, 10 A)

Season 10

Pick 31: Prabal Konstantinov - G

 

Third season in a row in which Riga gets the last round steal, this being the only player in this round to suit up for any games. In their 28 game career, Konstantinov posted a record of 15-11-1 with a 0.869 SV% and 3.74 G.A.A. Honestly a pretty admirable win percentage given how few games they actually played. Of course, with no competition in the last round, they’d be a shoe-in even if they lost every game

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 11

Pick 20: Jimmy Ryan - G

 

A Helsinki pick, Jimmy Ryan had a pretty rough 72 game career, posting a record of 9-51-9 with a 0.861 SV% and 4.96 G.A.A. While not the best, he was better than not playing any games at all, and therefore is the best player in the last round.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 12

Pick 23: Harvey Singh - D

 

New York put in a good amount of work in this final round, picking up 3 players, the best of which being Harvey Singh. Singh would go on and pot 129 goals and 160 assists for 289 points in 288 games. The interesting thing about this player is that despite only playing in 3 seasons, they won two championships. The first being with New York in Season 14, and the next being in Season 16 with Riga. A short yet illustrious career.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 17: Somalian Tiger - LW (12G, 28A)

Pick 18: Jurgen Ferdinand - LW (12G, 19A)

Pick 21: Dmitry Petrov - RW (5G, 15A)

Pick 24: Tony Pajamas - D (11G, 30A)

 

Season 13

Pick 21: Brian Steckel - RW

 

Not much can be said for this Riga pick. Brian Steckel had a surprisingly long yet unfulfilling career, putting up 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in 113 games. While the points were not there for the player, something could be said with how long they actually stuck around despite the low offensive generation. I really could not say it was for their defensive game either, having a career +/- of -61.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 14

Pick 27: Steve Collins - LW

 

Collins appears to have been a good player with a short career. A Helsinki pick, Steve Collins put up 50 goals and 81 assists for 131 points in 144 games. From what I could gather, he was an absolute legend in the VHLM, having a 229 point season with Brampton. While he could not translate that dominant play in the VHL, he was still nonetheless a very good player.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 31: Koby Kaine - D (21G, 77A)

 

Season 15

Pick 19: Alexander Randoulov - C

 

Alexander Randoulov would turn out to be a pretty decent player for Seattle, putting up 33 goals and 47 assists for 80 points in 145 games. It’s also funny to note that they had an abysmal +/- at -102. Other than that nothing else to say about this player.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 20: HB Illy - G (0W, 0.882 SV%, 3.93 GAA)

 

Season 16

Pick 18: Jardy Bunclewirth - LW

 

Another elite pick by Calgary, hands-down the best last round pick. It’s absolutely insane that this player was picked as low as they were, even though it was a small draft. 432 games, 291 goals, 398 assists, 689 points, Season 18, 19, and 23 champion, hall-of-famer, and certified beautician. 

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 17: Blade Hunter - RW (121G, 258A)

Pick 21: Alan Garner - G (9W, 0.832 SV%, 6.09 GAA)

Pick 23: Cam Whitney - D (10G, 31A)

 

Season 17

Pick 30: Matt Douglas - D

 

A bit of a fall-off from that last season’s draft, Seattle’s Matt Douglas had a less than spectacular career, garnering 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 78 games and pretty much nothing else. 

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 18

Pick 29: Robin Big Snake - RW

 

A goated name and a pretty good pick by Madrid, Mr. Big Snake potted 47 goals and 91 assists for 138 points in 360 games. A really solid player who contributed positively for 5 seasons. No rings but still a good pick and player.

 

Other VHL Players:

Pick 32: Magnus Huuskonen - D (1G, 3A)

 

Season 19

No VHL Players

 

Season 20

Pick 27: Einer Kallstrom - C

 

Madrid went and drafted the only player in the final round to break into the league with Einar Kallstrom, who put up a pretty lackluster 0 goals and 4 assists in their 6 game tenure. Honestly pretty impressive for the small amount of games they played.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 21

Pick 30: J.J. Stafford - RW

 

Very solid pick by Riga. Stafford would go on to get 74 goals and 204 assists for 278 points in his 432 game career. He was the only player in the last round of the season 21 draft to make it to the league, and it’s safe to say he turned out to be a pretty good player.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 22

Pick 23: Johnny Blaze - D

 

Drafted by Toronto, Johnny Blaze is a very unique player in regards to this list. Looking at his stats, he never registered a single point. In fact, he doesn’t even have a shot on goal. In his 12 games, he played a purely defensive role it seems.

 

No Other VHL Players

 

Season 23

No VHL Players

(2067 words, see y'all next month)

Edited December 17, 2023 by Grape

[Gustav 6,469]

On 12/17/2023 at 1:08 PM, Grape said:

A (long) while back, Gustav made a massive article about the best picks in every single draft in VHL history.

 

My longest article ever (by far)! I'm glad it's still appreciated. I'm also glad you're doing the smart thing and breaking it up into parts. I could have milked mine for 6 months of PTs if I were a bit smarter.

 

One thing I learned there (and one thing I hope you're learning as well) is just how many players you'll come across that you didn't know existed that you really should know about--how many people who joined in the past few seasons know Rhett DeGrath or J.D. Stormwall (or even best-ever names like Conner Low)? It's surprisingly few and it's why writing about league history is so important. Not enough people care. 

 

Looking forward to the rest!

[Grape 739]

Claiming week 2 of 4

[Grape 739]

Claiming week 3 of 4

[Grape 739]

Claiming week 4 of 4. Guess I actually have to do stuff now

[Daniel Janser 2,217]

On 12/21/2023 at 12:05 AM, Gustav said:

 

My longest article ever (by far)! I'm glad it's still appreciated. I'm also glad you're doing the smart thing and breaking it up into parts. I could have milked mine for 6 months of PTs if I were a bit smarter.

 

One thing I learned there (and one thing I hope you're learning as well) is just how many players you'll come across that you didn't know existed that you really should know about--how many people who joined in the past few seasons know Rhett DeGrath or J.D. Stormwall (or even best-ever names like Conner Low)? It's surprisingly few and it's why writing about league history is so important. Not enough people care. 

 

Looking forward to the rest!

I mean I know of Stormwall, but mainly because he is in the Calgary retired Jersey section.