S95 VHL Entry Draft Early Preview - Part 1

[CaptainSB 117]

I thought I'd have fun and look at prospects throughout the season and do an early season preview of the players. As of today, I see a clear distinction of the the top tier and the tier below. Here is a quick look at the 10 players that make up the top elite tier prospects. For this exercise I have used tpe earned as of today and they are the prospects that make up all the 135 tpe and above and I feel are locks as the top 10 picks in the draft. So let's take a look at this group as a whole so far. The sad news for this class is there is no 1st gen user that cracked the top 10. So unlike 2 seasons ago, this looks to be the first draft in a while where we get 0 first gen players in the top 10 picks. Of the ten, let's break the positions:

 

Goalies: Greg_Di (260 tpe) and Ricer13 (162 tpe) are the two main players. They should no doubt go in the top 5 but may only drop if the position needs of the teams drafting in the top 5 aren't there. This is one good draft to need goalies.

 

Wings: der meister (213 tpe), Phil (202 tpe), Tim Robinson (190 tpe), Jubis (161 tpe) and Diacope (135 tpe) all created and have stood above the rest of the pack. Der Meister, Phil and Tim Robinson of course are the elite of the elite so those three look like locks in the top 6 picks.

 

Centers: None

 

Defensemen: aimkin (207 tpe), Anthique (160 tpe) and RileyL (159 tpe) make up the three amigos on defense. It is a big of a drop afterwards so teams will need to go grab one most likely in the top 5 to get one of the three.

 

Similar to mock drafts in other sports, I would create a power ranking as of follows based on position, tpe earned and user from my limited experience and exposure and I plan to update this each week as a fun exercise. Here is the look at the top 5 prospects first:

 

1. Spider Panda (Ricer13), Goalie for Miami
Current the GM of Miami and former GM of Calgary, Ricer needs no explanation as a VHL HOF. 2,645 reputation on the forum alone gives him the GOAT status. Hailing from South Korea, Spider Panda is known to be a great locker room guy. He has strong rebound control and puck tracking. But what makes him the top prospect is his weird obsession with wanting to fight crime! You get to draft a HOF user, top goalie and a real crime fighter. It screams 1 OA in all draft picks so whoever gets the top pick will rush to the podium to make this pick.

 

2. Konstyantyn Shevchenko (der meister), Right Wing for Mississauga
My prior pick to go 1 OA in the VHLM draft, Shevchenko Der Meister rivals Ricer13 for top user status as a fellow VHL HOF. His forum reputation is 2,968 which is higher than RIcer13. Standing 6'7" tall and weighing right around 215 pounds this Ukrainian-born forward is a beats among boys. His body and strength is his strongest feat. But what drops him a tad behind the top prospect is his player's attitude. He is being viewed as a mercenary / hired gun willing to do work for the highest bidder so that will cause GMs to be wary of how long he will stay with the team he is drafted. His stock will most likely fluctuate the most during the season.

 

3. Ahsoka Tano (aimkin), Defensemen for San Diego
Aimkin is making a name for herself as a future HOF user. The player is even doing better. The number 1 pick in the VHLM draft, Tano could easily go top 2 if not with many GMs liking to go with the more veteran players with the top 2 picks. Tano is a nomad from Greenland who grew up in Canada. Her background story is remarkable. She credits her decision of playing defense as likening her to be the line of defense when her father and brothers went out for a multi-day long hunt for food, and she was left to help protect the older women and younger children. With that responsibility and mission, you can bet Tano to be the top defensemen in this class and an easy top 3 pick.

 

4. Phil Sakic (Phil), Left Wing for Miami
The third VHL HOF user with an astonishing 5,041 reputation score, Phil is the man! His player Phil Sakic was just the second overall pick in the VHLM draft and is leading Miami early in the season. Sakic is already known for his "What's that Racket?" series and has gained a big following early in his career. He is a teen sensation and is actually related to the Canadian HOF Joe Sakic though all we know of his origin story is a famous dad, barn in the UK and then..... a baby sensation. Hmm... seems like I've read this in the Bible somewhere. Anyways after representing a Canadian team in his short stint, he has taken his talents to the US and is excited to run wild here before attacking Europe and then his eventual VHL home. This kid screams top 3 talent as well so it'll be interesting to see which of the top 4 actually doesn't make the top 3.

 

5. Roger Eagles (Greg_Di), Goalie for VHLE Rome 
The phenom who jumped the VHLM draft to go directly to the VHLE, Greg_Di is the top earner so far in this class.He is that next tier of top user like Aimkin and looks to go into the HOF with this player Eagles. He is the latest prodigy of the Eagles family from Poland. He was born for this role having grown up in this top tier family and has been winning everywhere he has played growing up. Anyone drafting Eagles will be getting the loyal fan base of the Eagles family and be part of the future legacy.

 

Next will take the look at prospects ranked 6 to 10.

 

6. Tim Robinson (Tim Robinson), Left Wing for Miami
7. Alphonse Desjardins (Anthique), Defensemen for Ottawa
8. Boris Bone-Breaker (RileyL), Defensemen for Halifax
9. David Pastanap (Jubis), Right Wing for Houston
10. Meghan Dancalot (diacope), Left Wing for San Diego

Edited June 2 by CaptainSB
Learned Ricer was GM of Miami and not Calgary