VHLM Team Overview Leading Up To The S93 Draft

[Grape 528]

With the draft coming in this Saturday, many teams in the VHLM are sitting in different positions. While some appear to be primed for a competitive season, and have made moves in order to all but guarantee that, while other teams are looking at next season with weary eyes, knowing that it’s going to be a long one. If there was any season to have draft picks, it’s this one. With the massive recruitment drive and a ton of retention, we’ll be looking at active players going all the way till the end of the draft. Suffice to say, this may be one of the best drafts the VHLM has had in a long time. At least this season, gone are the completely barren rosters with like two guys sitting around twiddling their thumbs in the locker room. Every team should be able to put together at least the bones of a roster. With that being said, let’s take a look at how each team looks going into this draft.
(every roster was adjusted based on IAs on the roster as of 3/11/24)

Philadelphia Reapers

Roster: 1 Forward, 2 Defensemen
Draft Picks: 1 First, 1 Second, 1 Fourth, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh

 

The reigning Founders Cup champions are in a relatively comfortable position coming into the draft. The Jinn draft strategy last draft has appeared to pay off, as they are retaining three for this upcoming season, with two being defensemen. With a D-pair locked down, they can take advantage of the usual deep forward class and bolster an offense. There are also a large number of serviceable goaltenders in this draft, so they can fill that hole relatively easily. With the draft class being as deep as it is, they should be able to get an active player all the way to their seventh. Having spent little draft picks for their cup run, they are in a great position to attempt the repeat, and should be able to cobble together, at the very least, a winning season.

 

Las Vegas Aces

Roster: 1 Forward
Draft Picks: 1 First, 1 Third, 1 Fourth, 1 Fifth, 3 Sixths, 1 Seventh

 

Coming up short is never fun, especially when the window closes immediately after. Las Vegas seems to be primed to go into a hard rebuild, signaled with the trading of their starting goaltender and some depth picks for futures in Season 94. While they do have a handful of picks in this draft, it appears that they’ll do their damage with later round players at lower TPA levels, and hopefully retain them for the push next season, with higher TPA players likely being moved at the deadline this season. While it won’t be a long rebuild by any stretch, it’ll be a painful one going into this season.

 

Houston Bulls

Roster: 2 Forwards, 1 Goaltender

Draft Picks: 1 Second, 2 Fourths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh

 

The Bulls are in somewhat the same position as Las Vegas, with it not necessarily looking to be a winning season next season, having basically gone all in and coming up with nothing. They are definitely in a worse spot pickwise and will likely struggle to put together a competitive roster, coupled with the fact that their goalie could very well go up to the VHLE if they so desired. The pieces they are able to acquire will likely all carry over into the next, with the exception of the second, so while this is going to be a struggling season, season 94 will see a return to the dominant Houston Bulls team.

 

Miami Marauders

Roster: Absolutely nothing
Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, 1 Third, 2 Fifths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh

 

Miami is the first team with absolutely no players on their roster, which serves as a monumental task in terms of putting together a competitive team, as not everybody can be the worst. They do have the maximum amount of early round picks, with two picks in both the first and second round, and should be able to gather some top-flight talent. The big determining factor going into this season is the depth picks. If they can hit on their later round selections, they will at least have a competitive squad going into this season. If they miss, they may have to rely on a select few players on a very bare roster, which has been successful, but not necessarily ideal.

 

Mexico City Kings

Roster: 1 Forward, 1 Defenseman
Draft Picks: 1 First, 1 Second, 1 Third, 1 Fourth, 1 Fifth, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh

 

Mexico City is kind of a funny team. I believe they are the only team to hold a pick in every round and those only being their original picks. They also will need to use all those picks in order to put together a roster worth competing with. A rather bare roster as of now, with the threat of their defenseman moving up to the VHLE, they’re likely to come out of the draft with the skeleton of a team, but no real meat to give it an extra punch. Whoever they select will be their ride or die, with no room for adjustment. That also puts pressure on the GM to hit on each pick, as one misstep and they’ll be forced to slot a bot into the lineup.

San Diego Marlins

Roster: 1 Goaltender

Draft Picks: 1 Second, 2 Fourths, 2 Sevenths

 

The Marlins are cooked. Very bare on the draft picks, and only one player on the roster, this may be the worst team in the league coming into this season. It would take a monumental reach for this team to be competitive, and would likely get bounced in a sweep if they somehow sniff the playoffs. Much like Mexico City, every pick needs to be a hit, which becomes very difficult when you’re grabbing your first line forward or top pairing defenseman in the last round of the draft. The only thing they can look forward to is hopefully retaining those they do draft and build upon the foundation they set to possibly compete in Season 94.

Saskatoon Wild

Roster: 2 Forwards, 1 Goaltender
Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, 2 Thirds, 1 Fourth, 1 Fifth, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh

The Wild are in arguably the best position going into this draft. Six picks in the first three rounds puts them in a position to get a plethora of top players in this draft class and put together the best roster right out of the gate. The team is relatively bare in the later rounds, which could prove to be a disservice if any of the top picks end up drifting away, as well as put into question the competitiveness of next season, but this is the VHLM, the next season is always a question mark. There is a slight concern that one of their forwards moves onto the VHLE, but they do have the high end picks to supplement that loss if it does occur.

 

Ottawa Lynx

Roster: 1 Goaltender

Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 3 Thirds, 1 Fourth, 4 Fifths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh
 

Ottawa made a decent splash before the draft, acquiring a starting goaltender in exchange for two picks in the S94 draft. Goaltending has been their achilles heel for the past few seasons, being the biggest weakness on some otherwise strong rosters. They have a good mix of early and late picks, which should provide a balance of high end talent and young, growing depth, which would allow multiple seasons of competitiveness. The main concern is constructing a full roster, as they are starting with a relatively clean slate and can’t necessarily afford to miss on their picks, as this appears to be the season in which they want to compete.

Halifax 21st

Roster: 1 Defenseman, 1 Goaltender

Draft Picks: 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds, 1 Third, 2 Fifths, 1 Sixth, 1 Seventh

 

Halifax seems to be preparing to compete this season, as they’ve built up a decent amount of early round picks and a couple in the later rounds, attempting to strike a balanced roster of capped and growing for multiple competing seasons. This would be a nice change of pace, as it feels that Halifax has been stuck in the basement of the VHLM for quite some time. Having a good goaltender and a mediocre defenseman definitely helps, and they should at the very least be able to cobble together a good squad that likely finishes in the top half of the league.

 

Mississauga Hounds

Roster: 1 Goaltender

Draft Picks: 1 First, 2 Seconds, 1 Third, 1 Sixth

 

The lowly Hounds are in probably the worst position compared to every other team in the league. After an abysmal season, one would hope the next one would yield a more competitive result, but that does not seem to be the case for Mississauga. With a small pool of picks and only a single player on their roster, it appears that the Hounds will have another down season. The best they can hope for is to sell high on their capped assets this season and build for the future.

(1528 words. Three weeks of claiming)

[ace_five_ 126]

Review:

 

This is a great overview of what's to come in the draft. While each team's profile is short, it still feels comprehensive while being easy to digest. This is definitely worth the read for both VHLM GMs and draftees alike as it shows what each can expect for the upcoming season. As a new player looking at their first draft, this overview is a big help to see where I might fit in on each team before being drafted at all. Thanks for putting in the work to research and write this out!

 

9/10

Edited March 12 by ace_five_
added rating

[Dadam30 145]

Great Read! Keep up the good work Grape!

[Grape 528]

Week 2 of claiming

[Grape 528]

Week 3 of claiming