Bucatini Preps for VHLM Draft

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Rome, Italy -- Last season, Italian forward Antonia Bucatini joined the ranks of the VHLM at the trade deadline, playing down the stretch and into the playoffs for the Philadelphia Reapers. And for that brief period, she acquitted herself adequately - particularly during a playoff run that saw Bucatini average more than a point per game as the fifth-seeded Reapers made the finals.

 

However, all of that comes as a precursor to what's next: a full VHLM season. This coming Sunday, Bucatini will know her VHLM home for the season as she prepares to enter the Season 93 VHL Draft.

 

"It's a different type of anticipation. It's not the 'get ready to play' type of butterflies, but something else," Bucatini told American reporters after a recent workout. "There's so much that's out of your hands here, it's a bit nervewracking."

 

Indeed, Bucatini's VHLM future may very well be decided by the time the draft wraps up. At this moment, she has only been contacted by two of the league's 10 teams, though that number may increase the closer we get to the draft. Seeing as how Bucatini's skill level is already enough to play in the VHLE in some scouts' eyes, it is expected that she will only play one season in the minor league before moving up.

 

As a result, her response to the teams' questions was largely the same. Bucatini noted that while she doesn't need to be on a superteam, she doesn't want to be on a rebuilding squad either. She hopes that any team taking her in the draft has a reasonable shot of at least making the playoffs, if not making some noise in the playoffs, this season.

 

"I do hope that GMs contact me too. I like to hear the plan," she added. "But no matter where I land, I think it'll be a good season ahead. I'm excited to see what I can do with a full season under my belt."