Pier 21: Landfall

[LucyXpher 554]

Halifax, Nova Scotia - Canada

With the VHLM draft taking place this past Saturday and free agency opening immediately afterward, rosters in the M began to take shape. 

For Lexie Leitner, a first time general manager who was recently named to the Halifax 21st front office, it was a busy but exciting weekend.  Halifax added 10 new players with their draft selections, 1 new goalie by trade, and 2 new players so far through free agency. Following the weekend frenzy, I had the opportunity to chat with Leitner about the weekend and the state of the team going into Season 93. 

 

༻❁༺

 

 "Lexie, thank you for taking the time with us today and congratulations on the new job." 

 

"Thank you, Lauren, and it's my pleasure!" 

 

 "So let's get right into it, you were named as the next GM of the Halifax 21st just over a week ago, how are you finding the new role? And maybe you could just talk me through your experience joining the team." 

 

 "Sure, yeah, so far it's been a challenging but exciting job.  With very little time between being named to the team and the VHLM draft, it was a bit of a chaotic week reaching out to draft eligibles, doing scouting reports, and getting prepared for our picks.  Thankfully, I was lucky to have Will @Will3, our AGM, who has been a tremendous help in the scouting process and keeping up with the day-to-day management of the team.  To be honest, I wasn't certain that I'd get this job-- being a little lighter on experience than some candidates-- and there was a chance I might have ended up in Mexico City since they were also looking for a GM, but when it was announced that I was named to Halifax, I was super excited for this opportunity and I really hope I can live up to expectations and bring success to the city and the organization." 

 

 "It sounds like a lot of your focus so far has been on the draft and adding new players to your roster.  What was your strategy going into the draft?" 

 

 "Well, when I joined here, we already had a couple of 1st round picks and we were able to acquire a 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th by trade.  My goal was simply to add good players and quality people to our roster right away to give us the best chance to compete this season.  In our draft scouting, Will and I had identified a list of players who we really liked because of their on-ice skills and their draft interviews.  Ideally, they checked both of those boxes for us.  We're very happy with the players we were able to select and I think our roster is in a great place for the beginning of the season.  Obviously, things will likely change in the coming days and weeks with more free agent signings and development, but I'm confident that our core is strong and we've got some great young prospects as well who are already making a name for themselves." 

 

 "So you picked 2nd overall in this draft and it seemed like you were very quick to select Pierre Marc Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito.  With your 6th overall pick, you surprised some people by selecting Andrew Skilton @ace_five_.  Talk me through those two picks and how you came to decide on those two players with your important 1st round picks." 

 

 “Both of these players interviewed very well and really exemplified the qualities we were looking for, you know, strong character, hard working, involved in the locker room, and competitive on the ice.  With Bouchard, we really wanted to make sure we had a great number one center who could really stabilize our top line.  He’s got great defensive sensibilities too so we know he can be relied on in all situations.  And as for Skilton, we were just really impressed with his development leading up to the draft and I know he was on the radar of a few other teams. Sure, there’s an argument that he might have been available in the 2nd round, but we just didn’t want to risk missing out on a player who we are confident is going to be a strong player and leader for us this season.”

 

“Your next two picks were at 12th and 13th overall, talk me through those selections.”

 

“Yeah, we had a number of players on our list that were still available who we liked, but Novotny @Patrik Tallinder and Dogwood @dogwoodmaple were always the next two that we wanted.  Novotny-- a little bit like Skilton-- had been really rising fast on draft boards and we were really impressed with his training during the offseason.  His agent, is a known quantity around the VHL as well so we’re pretty confident what we’re getting with him.  And Dogwood, similarly, really gave us a lot in his draft interview and was developing well during the offseason. In our scouting, we also found out that he’d played with Bouchard before so the thought was that reuniting them could spark some instant chemistry.”

 

“So you then picked Tommy Shelby @Will at 22nd overall and had a long break before 43rd where you picked Connor Simard @Alex99.  Were you also targeting those players?  And were there any players in those early rounds that got away from you?”

 

“Yeah, so it’s funny you should ask, actually, with both of those we had a player in mind that we really wanted to pick that was taken just before our selection, so we had to pivot our strategy a little bit here and even explored some possibilities to trade into the 4th round.  Obviously, that didn’t happen. With Shelby at 22nd, he was a player we’d been targeting, but didn’t necessarily expect to be able to pick because of where our picks landed.  With Shelby, we’re very confident in our center ice position now and that was certainly a priority for us because there were always likely to be more wingers available later on.  And then with Simard, I was honestly shocked to see that he was still available at 43 so it was kind of a no-brainer for us because we needed a left winger and he’ll fit in perfectly with Bouchard and Dogwood on our top line.”

 

“You didn’t make a trade into the 4th round, but you did trade away a goalie after selecting another one in the draft.  What was the thinking around the pick and the trade?” 

 

“We viewed goaltending as a priority position for us this season so that’s why we traded for Wazinski @samthemancub before the draft.  Going into the draft with two goalies, we always felt confident that we would never have to reach for one.  At 46, we had the opportunity to take Jon Webber III @Webberj, who we were really high on from our draft interviews and scouting reports. So even though we already had two goalies that we liked, we saw it as an opportunity to add some value in the crease and made the pick. After that, it was really about just becoming compliant with the VHLM roster rules allowing only 2 goalies.  On a personal level, it is difficult to trade away a good player and we wish Cavill @Firekiss all the best in Vegas.”  

 

“And so your last three picks in the draft were Dorji Khan @Oddpurplefly, Ty Duke @TheDuke, and Robert Tango @trains.  What can you tell us about those selections?”

 

“With this draft, we knew that there would be hidden talent to be had all the way into the 7th round so it really kind of became a matter of selecting players who we see as being capable of developing over the course of the season.  Khan, in particular, we had done some scouting on and liked the potential we saw there.  With Duke and Tango, we add another player at the center position who has plenty of room to grow and a right winger with some versatility that may help us on special teams.”

 

“When the draft ended, free agency opened up and Halifax managed to sign a couple of players.  What were you looking for with those signings and how are those players doing so far?”

 

“Yeah, we were absolutely thrilled to sign Robin Sierra @ethanjaeda who has been putting in some great work off the ice to get his game to another level.  He’s also been awesome in the locker room as well so we’re really happy with the early returns on him.  And Captain Nugget Jr. @Captain nugget comes into the lineup with some real skill and finishing ability on the right side and really has the potential to be an impact player in our lineup this season.”

 

“Right now, it seems that there is one hole on the roster as it’s currently constructed, and that is at defense on the second pairing.  What are your plans to address this need?”

 

“Ideally, we would be able to find someone in free agency or on waivers that we could bring in right away, but at the moment it’s just not looking like that player is out there.  We’re also exploring some potential trade targets and if the right deal presents itself, we’re definitely open to making a move.  It’s a balance between wanting to give ourselves the best chance to win this year, but also not leaving ourselves too depleted for the future, so the deal would have to make sense.  I guess we’ll see what happens in time, though I’m confident that the players we have are capable of compensating for that with extra minutes right now.”

 

“Finally, looking around the league, which teams do you think will be the biggest challenge to compete with on the ice?”

 

“Well, I think Ottawa had a great draft.  I know they managed to grab a few players that we liked so I think our scouting probably revealed some similar things.  They’ve also got a pretty complete roster as well, so they’ll have the depth to get out to a good start early on.  Saskatoon and Houston, I think, will also be good this season.  Saskatoon just had a ton of picks and I think they got some great talent on that roster as well, and Houston– I mean, I just can’t count out @AJW as he’s got a knack for finding great players on waivers and in free agency so we’ll see what he can cook up this season.”

 

“Okay, one more quick question before I let you go because you mentioned AJW and waiver signings.  Last season, Lucy Leitner was a waiver signing for the Houston Bulls and was selected 3rd overall in the VHL draft by Riga, and 2nd overall by Vasteras in the VHLE.  For those who may not know, what’s your relation to Lucy?” 

 

“Yeah! So Lucy is my cousin. It was really cool seeing her get drafted so high and it’ll be fun to see how she does in Vasteras this season.  It would have been kind of cool to be a VHLM GM while she was still playing in this league, but who knows, maybe there will be an opportunity down the road to compete against one another.  Anyway, I’m really happy for her.”

 

“Great! Well, thank you for your time and best of luck to you and the 21st this season.”

 

“Thanks, Lauren.”

 

༻❁༺

 

With the first games of Season 93 in the VHLM happening today, Halifax will take on the Ottawa Lynx in back-to-back games.  In what may become a real rivalry in the Eastern Conference this season, Halifax and Ottawa will both want to claim victory first and start their seasons off on the right foot.  It’s a great opportunity for both teams to see how they measure up against one another and it’s sure to be an exciting night of action.  

 

Notes:

• I’ll be writing a bi-weekly column on the Halifax 21st this season called Pier 21 so keep an eye out for those if you’re interested in following the story of the 21st this season.  
• Game updates: Halifax took game 1 of the season against Ottawa by a score of 2-1 in a shootout, but fell in the second game of the back-to-back, 6-2.  

 

Lauren Lambert for VHL.com

03/24/24 - 2044 words

04/07/24 - 2nd claim

 

Edited April 1 by LucyXpher

[Patrik Tallinder 1,080]

Boat gang

 

Boat gang

 

Boat gang

 

 

Great article btw

[LucyXpher 554]

1 minute ago, Patrik Tallinder said:

Boat gang

 

Boat gang

 

Boat gang

 

 

Great article btw

Thanks!

BOAT GANG! 

[Grape 528]

Ottawa wins this round

[LucyXpher 554]

1 hour ago, Grape said:

Ottawa wins this round

if you can truly call a loser point winning 

[Gaikoku-hito 1,645]

    Boat Gang   

 

4 hours ago, LucyXpher said:

So Lucy is my cousin

I was assuming some evil twin sister act rather than a cousin;

[LucyXpher 554]

41 minutes ago, Gaikoku-hito said:

    Boat Gang   

 

I was assuming some evil twin sister act rather than a cousin;

lol that might be a better story now that you mention it