Rookie Experience: Samsayz I-Smell

[CaptainSB 117]

Going in the first round of the. VHL draft and the second pick for LA, the Stars select defensemen I-Smell to help fortify a defense and join last year's sensation Erik Thorvaldsson next season. The team is hoping with future picks already traded that these two are the pillars of the LA Stars for the next 5 to 8 seasons. The duo will be looking to complement each other and give the opponents different looks. While Thorvaldsson will be really defense heavy, I-Smell has been adding to his offensive arsenal and hopes to develop it another level in the VHLE.

 

I-Smell is in a group of star defensemen in the S95 class and all three will be competing for ROY honors in the following season. Ahsoka Tano, Alphonse Desjardins, Einar Mathiesen, Boris Bone-Breaker and Samsayz I-Smell make up the five star defensivemen in the class. Tano has more veteran presence and poise so she will be the favorite but I-Smell along with the other 3 have a chance to create enough noise in their rookie seasons by scoring points and blocking shots that the voting will be close and probably not decided until the final week of the season like the VHLM award was decided. 

 

So what can you expect from I-Smell when he makes the leap? We need to look at the past rookie of the year nominees. The three nominees were Antonia Bucatini, David Slezak and Tom Dufour. Bucatini led the league as a center at 92 points scored followed by Dufour. Slezak was the top goalie. As you can see no defensemen was ranked high. Of the rookie defensemen, the one that stood out the most is Lucy Leitner so realistically having a season similar to her would be a nice achievement. The difference is Lucy is more scoring oriented while I-Smell will be a little more balanced between offense and defense. But 50 points and 200 shots blocked seems like a realistic target and being a top 3 rookie defensemen will be his goal.

 

The team he joined in LA is really primed to grow, develop and flourish together. The team had consolidated the picks to the last 3 rounds and has those all developing together from wings to defensemen to goalies. The offensive wings are led by Pombo, The Phantom of the VHL and Wally Lose who were all S94 class. The defense will rely on Erik Thorvaldsson of the S94 class and I-Smell of the S95 class. And the goalie is rookie Roger Eagles, who although they are in the S95 class will be making his debut in the VHL this season. 

 

This is exciting times to be a young star in LA and I-Smell will look to join the team next season and be a part of that 6 man future.

Edited August 7 by CaptainSB