A Historic Season For All The Wrong Reasons (And Deep Dive Into VHLM Asset Management)

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A Historic Season For All The Wrong Reasons (And Deep Dive Into VHLM Asset Management)

 

 

The Las Vegas Aces are having an incredibly historic season this year in the VHLM, but as those who watch the M know, it is not for any good reason, and today we'll take a look at what led to this predicament they find themselves in, and what lead to this even being possible in a developmental league.

 

To put it plainly, the Aces suck right now. Like, bad. They're currently 2-42-4, a point percentage of a staggeringly low 0.083%, and a goal differential of -185 through only 48 games. To top it all off, they're on a sixteen game losing streak where they have barely scored double digits worth of goals in that span. One could ask how this team, who only two seasons ago were at the pinnacle, the absolute top of the mountain of the VHLM, constantly dominating in offensive numbers, setting franchise records and riding win streaks left and right, have fallen so far from grace and are now at the precipice of becoming an absolute joke.

 

The answer is simple: Poor asset management by yours truly. GMing in the VHLM is vastly different to GMing in ANY form, across any league, in any capacity. From NHL franchise modes, to the top dog GMs in the VHL, there is nothing quite like the M. I took the job during the start of a harsh rebuild. The Aces were in a constant state of inconsistency, never being good enough to go all the way, but being too good to tank or earn high picks. They were in management hell, where nothing short of a miracle or decisive action one way or another would shake the foundation. I came in, and I took the path of going all in. I recruited a bunch of people, built an offensive superteam that lasted for 3 seasons (which in the M might as well be 10), and took them all the way to the Finals (we don't talk about the ending of that playoff run though.) 

 

The problem became that I didn't predict how suddenly the rebuild would come, as my mind was still set in that of a traditional GM's, in which you can flip aging assets for younger underdeveloped talent, or picks. The thing is about high end talent in this league however is that once they hit the summit of the talent pool in the league, that being a mere 200 TPE, they're gone almost immediately after to the E. I'm not gonna go on a long winded tangent about how I feel like the E is an unnecessary gap between the pros and the minors, but you can understand my surprise when HALF my team ended up not being able to come back after our best season with that squad. To any potential future GMs in the M, heed my advice. Asset management in the M is incredibly difficult, across the board, not just in player management. Plan eight moves ahead in every regard. Pick minimum requirements in the draft and a waiver system that definitely favors winning and already stacked teams over empty roster teams add to the difficulty of an already incredibly micromanage intensive process, and to excel in this league requires patience and serious luck.

 

That'll do it for my tangent and this theme week article however. I'd love to hear thoughts in the responses on asset management, potential improvements the league or GMs like myself can make to improve upon existing systems and ways to make teams like the Aces more appealing to waivers and draft picks so historically bad seasons like this are a rarity in a developmental league. Thanks for reading!