VSN Presents: S95 Trade Summary

[Plate 386]

Introduction

 

A lot of trades happened this season. With so much going on, we figured it would be best to break down the summary of each team. Grade them based on their trades overall, and give you the reader the most comprehensive guide to the S95 trade list. Each team has a score from A to F. An A being the team made significant and coherent moves towards a clear goal. With an F being given to teams that missed the mark. If your team got a C, it means there was no overall positive or negative impact made towards the team during the trading season.

 

Let’s get into it, starting with the A’s and descending to the F’s. All the standings and stats were taken September 7th, and may be slightly outdated. One formatting note, some teams both acquired and traded the same asset. These are italicized. So anything that’s NOT italicized are assets the team had before a trade.

 

 

 

London United Grade - A

 

Acquired - S95 VAN 3rd, S96 SEA 1st, S97 WAR 1st

Jonny Elgar, Billy Joel, UghSike, Moritz Stauffer

 

Departed - S95 LDN 4th, S96 LDN 3rd, S96 LDN 4th, S97 WAR 1st, S97 LDN 3rd

UghSike, Moritz Stauffer, Jack Jeckler
 

London find themselves in the trio bottom barrel European pod. While London attempts to scrounge as many quality losses as possible, they look to the future with drafts and free agent signings to construct their team. A rebuilding team like this will highly value picks, especially in the early rounds. One may wonder, however, when looking at London, if that is too much value.

 

The TLDR is London gets a couple of 1sts and Jonny Elgar for a bag of pucks. This is some pretty incredible value, especially with the decent S96 draft coming around the corner. One may count the volatility of picks against the United in this regard. However, upgrading depth picks with prospects that will be ready to go soon seems like a no-brainer considering London's position. 

 

With all that in mind, I really do like London’s moves. The VHL is a league where roster spots are limited, and grabbing fewer players with higher concentrations of TPE is a viable strategy. Unfortunately, it won’t be a while that we get to see London be a viable or competitive team. 

 

 

New York Americans Grade - A

 

Acquired - S96 PRG 3rd, S96 WAR 3rd, S97 LAS 1st

Gregger McKeggegger, Steve French, Cody Toland, Jacob Smith Jr, Steve Lattimer, Toby Kadachi

 

Departed - S95 NYA 1st (Samsayz I-Smell), S96 NYA 2nd

Yaroslav Trunov, Steve Lattimer, FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist, Jarkko Laakonen, Jasper Davis

 

New York finds themselves in a very weird limbo. It’s normally not a good sign when you find yourself in a place of mediocrity. Not good enough to chain wins together to create something meaningful, but not bad enough to go for the lottery. This puts the Americans in one of the most pivotal seasons of their time. While there was a lot of maneuvering, I’ll do my best to navigate what might be New York's most important season's worth of trades in the past 20 seasons.

 

The Americans have decided to go for what we call retooling. Selling quality players for high value picks in the hopes that after a couple of seasons they can translate rapid growth into consistency. New York traded three former 90-point scorers, most of whom are on expiring contracts, to retain some value for the future of the franchise. Besides getting a boatload of picks, the Americans also acquired a couple of fledgling prospects. 

 

In all honesty, these moves don’t look awful for a team that has almost always sat themselves in the middle of the standings, even though they’ve had some incredible talent on the team. Their cup drought does force their general manager, STZ, to make some pretty bold decisions. I think this is the best retooling attempt I’ve ever seen in my time at the VHL. Even the players that were picked up, notably Kadachi, have a really good opportunity to make a relevant run at the end of their careers, assuming they stay with the team.

 

 

Riga Reign Grade - B

 

Acquired - S95 RIG 3rd (An Actual Holy Cow), S95 CGY 3rd, S96 RIG 3rd

Axle Gunner

 

Departed - S95 CGY 3rd, S96 LAS 1st, S96 RIG 2nd, S97 RIG 2nd

Oreo McFleury, Elf Shoes

 

We find ourselves face to face with the kings of Europe. The Reign are currently edging out in the battle against Moscow and Malmo. To be honest, when you have a team this strong, it’s hard to make an improvement without shipping out some high-value picks or prospects.

 

Riga are very early on in their turn out of rebuild and into competition. The ethos for the team shifted towards getting a star forward to lead the offence and fix some lingering goal scoring problems. Axle Gunner is currently sitting 8th in scoring and goals, 6th highest among forwards. While it was a steep price of the downgrade on three picks, Riga won’t need the futures for the next little while. 

 

The prospect pool for Riga’s already pretty deep and has a couple lingering prospects from the rebuilding days of a couple seasons ago. Sending off picks and players such as McFleury and Shoes does not have any negative impact on the outlook of the team. Overall, these are strong moves for a strong team.

 

 

Seattle Bears Grade - B

 

Acquired - S96 NYA 2nd, S97 LDN 3rd

Moritz Stauffer

 

Departed - S96 SEA 1st

Toby Kadachi, Jasper Davis

 

Don’t let being 4th in the North American standings fool you. Seattle is poised to make a deep run into the playoffs. If they can dodge some dangerous matchups, you could see the Bears hoist another continental cup in the 90’s. Yet when I look at the moves they made, it really speaks to me: Steady as she goes.

 

The Bears picked up two S88 rentals, Stauffer and Davis, to fill out some of the roster. Adding another layer of depth to a team that already looked competitive. While it did cost a 1st and Toby Kadachi, I’m sure the Bears aren’t too sad about sending some quality assets to re-establish chances at a 2nd cup in 3 seasons. 

 

I would conclude that Seattle made very classic moves. Shifting a player for something new and offloading a pick for a strong talent. Just to boon, Seattle ends up with the UghSike sweepstakes. I doubt that will mean anything, but if it does, then it becomes a cherry to the solid base of trades made this season.

 

 

Malmo Nighthawks Grade - B

 

Acquired - S97 MAL 3rd

Martin Kemp

 

Departed - S97 MAL 2nd, S97 MAL 3rd

 

Malmo has a pretty good spot to make a decent run this season. Trusting the team isn't a decision that I disagree with, and ultimately that's what the Nighthawks decide to do. Essentially, they traded for Martin Kemp with a 2nd. Kemp is a very strong 2nd line forward/weaker 1st line forward that finds himself producing at a ppg pace this season. In all honesty, besides that being the only trade made by Malmo, it also happens to be one of the more solid ones throughout this season.

 

 

Moscow Menace Grade - B

 

Acquired - S96 CGY 1st, S96 LAS 1st, S96 WAR 2nd, S97 RIG 2nd

FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist, Nils Andersson, Oreo McFleury

 

Departed - S95 MOS 2nd (Kokko Miskinen), S95 PRG 3rd (An Actual Holy Cow), S96 CGY 1st, S96 MOS 2nd, S97 MOS 3rd

Steve Lattimer, Leif Reingaard, Axle Gunner

 

Moscow is absolutely a menace this season. They have one of the best forward corps in the league, a star defenseman, and an amazing goaltender. There really is no facet of the Menace that needs dire improvement, so the many moves that were made here paint an interesting picture of the future of the Menace. 

 

At the end of the day, the Menace acquired a couple of veteran players to fill out those 6th forward and 4th roster spots. When you take a look at the prospect pipeline, you won’t find it’s very full. Typically, teams will push as much as they can towards cup contention, as we’ve seen previously. Moscow is taking a different approach. With some shuffling of picks, they’ve managed to snag an extra 1st rounder for this season from Los Angeles of all teams, so they will have a great shot at a lottery pick.  

 

All in all, even though the players they lost are more valuable than the players they acquired, Moscow finds themselves in a comfortable position. Roster spots on this team are hard to come by, and shipping off extra roster players doesn’t do anything negative for the team. The lottery pick should turn into either a solid defenseman to play alongside a veteran Bocage or a great piece of trade bait.

 

 

D.C. Dragons Grade - B

 

Acquired - S95 RIG 1st (David VanHousen), S96 RIG 2nd

 

Departed - S96 RIG 3rd

Ben Laas

 

Bottom teams typically buy picks and bolster the roster through futures while selling veterans. Unfortunately, D.C. barely has a team. FrostBeard essentially has a completely clean slate to work with, as there’s a handful of talent coming up from the depth charts and into potential roster territory. 

 

With the lack of assets to move in mind, the Dragons did an admiral job selling at the draft to get a depth 1st rounder in exchange for Ben Laas. Ignoring the quality of the pick, since this is a trade report, not a drafting one, to get a 1st with a rental is quite a good trade. I’m going to assume the Riga pick swap was a part of a conditional trade. 

 

Overall, the one deal that D.C. did make was a solid improvement as they look to make a move towards the future. We’ll see if VanHousen can build on a strong start in terms of development, but some early warning signs are saying he’s slowing down.

 

 

Calgary Wranglers Grade - B

 

Acquired - S97 MOS 3rd, S97 TOR 3rd, S97 TOR 4th

Jack Jeckler, Leif Reingaard, Adi Dassler, Keita Kourou

 

Departed - S95 VAN 3rd, S96 CGY 1st, S96 MAL 1st, CGY 3rd

Kyle Toms, Moritz Stauffer

 

Calgary went into this season 6th in the North American Conference ahead of the draft, needing help on both sides of the ice. Many players sit in their prime on this team. Raimo Tuominen was sitting as the best, and most improved, player on the roster. The Wranglers are in a weird spot to start their moves. They could potentially go for a playoff push, or draft some prospects and sign free agents to push for next season with the cap space Tuominen will be opening up. 

 

The start of the season saw a couple of depth purchases in Keita Kourou and Adi Dassler, Dassler being by far and away the best trade the Wranglers would make this season, it would end up with the exchange of a 1st round pick. Calgary would then double down on their chances with the Leif Reingaard and Jack Jeckler trades. 

 

Ultimately, you could read the trades made by Calgary as two 1st rounders, Kyle Toms and Moritz Stauffer, for a combination of Jack Jeckler, Leif Reingaard, and Adi Dassler. When you consider the slight upgrade from the player swapping, and the 1st round payments, Calgary fits pretty nicely on the scale. Adi Dassler should turn into a generational player for them, and I can’t see any team holding back two 1st round picks to acquire him.

 

 

Chicago Phoenix Grade - C

 

Acquired - S95 TOR 2nd (Dustin Wolf), S96 PRG 3rd

Jarkko Laakkonen, Dwight Shcrute, Ivan Ivanov

 

Departed - S96 CHI 3rd, S96 PRG 3rd, S96 CHI 4th

UghSike

 

Chicago is on the good side of a finished rebuild with a very solid long term goaltending solution in Ryan Artyomov and the star Joshua Schwarzer on the front end of the ice. Phoenix doesn’t need to do a whole lot to stay competitive on the outset of S94. Besides some deep positional changes, there’s not much to talk about with Chicago.

 

Both Dwight Schrute and Ivan Ivanov are projects that will fill out the 2nd line depth of Chicago once the top end of the team departs. However, I will say there weren’t any critical purchases. Nothing to push Chicago over the birth of a possible championship. The lack of decision could prove to make Chicago a forgettable team heading into the late S90’s. 

 

UghSike is still a prospect with high amounts of upside but low potential to do so. Drafted 5th overall by Chicago, this prospect was let go and given another chance where they currently sit with Seattle. I think moving away from this prospect, while painful, is also necessary to dock the ice time to other contributors that can make Chicago more competitive.

 

 

Prague Phantoms Grade - C

 

Acquired - Ellis Woolfenden

 

Departed - S95 PRG 4th

 

So this is going to be incredibly short and sweet. Prague has really nothing going for them, and they’re on the outside looking into contention. As the worst team in the league, by far, there’s plenty of opportunity in the future to make some waves. For the Phantom this year, however, they send one 4th round pick for an inactive player. This trade could have never happened and nothing would have changed for Prague.

 

 

Los Angeles Stars Grade - C

 

Acquired - S95 NYA 1st (Samsayz I-Smell), S97 VAN 2nd

 

Departed - S96 LAS 2nd, S97 LAS 1st

Mason Rice

 

Beating around the bush isn’t something I’m great at. I’m not in love with what’s been done here. Los Angeles does have a tunnel of talent and should be on the upswing towards relevance anyway. However, speeding the process by buying a pick two years in advance is something I have particular opinions on. 

 

Mason Rice is an inactive player, so that’s irrelevant. However, shifting your 1st two seasons earlier does mean that you’ll be competitive sooner, in theory. In my opinion, if Los Angeles believes they have the depth pieces in the system to maneuver themselves with higher end talent later, it could put them in a better position.

 

 

Toronto Legion Grade - C

 

Acquired - S95 MOS 2nd (Kokko Miskinen), S96 CHI 3rd, S96 CHI 4th

Kyle Toms

 

Departed - S95 TOR 2nd (Dustin Wolf), S97 TOR 3rd, S97 TOR 4th

Nils Andersson

 

Here we see the other kingpin of the league, the Toronto Legion. Sitting at the top of the conference, as the only team with 40 wins, gives Toronto a strong advantage at sitting back and letting things ride. While they didn’t really do a whole lot, I do think the moves they made make sense.

 

Kyle Toms is a serviceable 2nd line forward that could spend the rest of his career in a Legion uniform. Nils Andersson is a good player in his own right but hasn’t really found his own in the league so far. The picks are identical swaps, as well as the players you could argue, but so far it seems like Toms has been playing a bit better for the Legion thus far.

 

 

Vancouver Wolves Grade - C

 

Acquired - S96 CGY 3rd, S97 MAL 2nd, S97 MAL 3rd

Mason Rice

 

Departed - S97 VAN 2nd, S97 MAL 3rd

Keita Kourou, Martin Kemp

 

This is by all accounts a very strong iteration of the Wolves. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, they had to send out a couple of high-quality players in Kourou and Kemp. Both forwards have quite a bit more production left in them. 

 

It was a good problem to have, though; these 700-800 TPE players were not strong enough to crack the starting forward roster. To preserve their time, they had to be moved. So while it doesn’t look like the Wolves got the best return for them, because, let’s be honest, they gave them away for nothing, it wasn’t because they had the choice in doing so but because they had to.  

 

You could argue they had to fight a bit more for some more value going their way, but GMs are nice enough to grab a player in order to preserve their engagement with the league. While there was an opportunity for Vancouver to wiggle out some more value, I commend them for staying patient and prioritizing the playing time of the players they sent out. 

 

 

Helsinki Titans Grade - D

 

Acquired - S96 MAL 1st, S96 CAL 2nd

 

Departed - S96 CGY 2nd

Adi Dassler

 

Helsinki have found themselves in a very simple lane. Battling with London and Prague for the bottom spot of Europe, the Titans have an opportunity to go for the lottery and build a team for the future. There’s not that much to talk about with Helsinki, but the couple trades they did make (which essentially translates to one trade) had a pretty decent look. 

 

Adi Dassler is an absolute star and should continue to make waves in the VHL. In all honesty, two 1sts should have been the price tag for the player, but getting just a 1st seems like a steal.  While I understand having Dassler on the roster didn’t make sense for the long term, I would have liked to have seen more return on a player that’s obvious trade bait.

 

 

Warsaw Predators Grade - D

 

Acquired - Steve Lattimer, Merome Dilson

 

Departed - S96 WAR 3rd, S97 WAR 1st, S97 WAR 3rd

Cody Toland, Jacob Smith Jr

 

We find ourselves with the Warsaw Predators. A team that hasn’t really found themselves among the big three in the European conference. In all honesty, the Predators are in a very awkward situation. On paper, they have a very good team, but things just haven’t worked out for them. In addition, many of their critical players are in the last season of their careers. 

 

With most of the defensive core about to retire, Warsaw pulled the trigger and snagged star goalie Merome Dilson. It had the price of a 1st round pick in a couple of years when it had a strong potential of being a lottery pick. In addition, the acquisition of Lattimer cost Warsaw a plethora of value, including a couple 3rd rounders and prospects Smith Jr and Toland. 

 

Warsaw are basically forced to go for it this season. Picking up a goalie and a depth player could be just enough to make them a dark horse into the playoffs. My opinion? Warsaw needed major scoring help. I worry that even if these trades help Warsaw make it into the playoffs, the lack of goal scoring will keep them outside of the first round, and therefore these trades didn’t help their chances too much in a must-win season.

 

 

HC Davos Dynamo Grade - F

 

Acquired - S95 PRG 4th, S96 SEA 2nd, S96 LDN 3rd

Varoslav Trunov, Gregger McKeggegger, Elf Shoes, UghSike, Ben Laas

 

Departed - S95 RIG 1st (David VanHousen), S95 CGY 3rd, S96 SEA 2nd, S96 PRG 3rd

Gregger McKeggegger, Steve French, Jonny Elgar, Billy Joel, UghSike, Carson Walker Jr, Ellis Woolfenden, Dwight Schrute, Ivan Ivanov

 

Davos was pretty busy this season with the trades. However, most of these assets were acquired and moved on. You’ll see a pretty grim picture of the Davos summary here in a moment when you tally everything together. First, we need to understand the position that Davos found themselves in on the outset towards S95. 

 

Transitioning from rebuild to contender takes a very important step. You form your core players, the long-term assets that shape your team. Other players you could consider auxiliary tools. You have to fit what’s right—the player type, playstyle—and create a coherent team to work towards that singular goal—winning. 

 

To simplify the trade, these are the players we’ll consider Davos acquired; Varoslav Trunov, Elf Shoes, and Ben Laas (total TPE: 2,478). Both Trunov and Laas are short-term rentals. They have had incredible production for their positions, and Shoes looks like a solid prospect. I have no problems with these acquisitions, but let’s take a look at the long list of departures for the team.

 

Players departed: Gregger McKeggegger, Steve French, Jonny Elgar, Billy Joel, Ugh Sike, Carson Walker Jr, Ellis Woolfenden, Dwight Schrute, and Ivan Ivanov. (Total TPE 4,626). While it is more valuable to consolidate TPE onto a couple lines worth of players, the sheer total loss value of players (some are inactive, mind you) makes me scratch my head at the pursuit of glory. Many of these players are even S93 prospects with plenty of room to grow and develop. 

 

It’s clear that the strategy for HC Davos was to buy in for this season and turn the rebuild they exited into a retool. One may wonder about the success of such a strategy. It’s certainly high risk, and the only true marker for this would be if Davos wins the cup. My best guess is that it’s unlikely, and these trades were simply a massive overpayment to hedge a bet of success within the very clear short term. I give this the lowest ranking trade report of the season, with the stipulation that if they win the cup, it doesn’t matter and they achieved their objective.
 

Conclusion

But what do you think? Do you agree with my criticisms or praise? Maybe there's context that I'm missing. Let me know in the reply section (I read all my replies) and give me your thoughts. If you made it this far, please leave a rating as it lets us at VSN know the kind of content you'd like to see in the future.
 

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Edited September 10 by Pifferfish

[Banackock 8,140]

Imagine getting an F. 

[Plate 386]

49 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Imagine getting an F. 

Couldn't be me. Those trades looked questionable even for this season, then you look at the future and realize like three quarters of the D core are going to be leaving and there are minimal replacements. Free agency is gonna have to be huge.

[CowboyinAmerica 2,911]

2 hours ago, Banackock said:

Imagine getting an F. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Plate said:

Couldn't be me. Those trades looked questionable even for this season, then you look at the future and realize like three quarters of the D core are going to be leaving and there are minimal replacements. Free agency is gonna have to be huge.

 

I mean, I have a lot of questions about the framing of Davos going all in for this season... I guess by trading away a bunch of older, regressing players (McKeggegger, Woolfenden, Walker) and S93 welfare players who wouldn't make a forward core with five S93/94/95 players next season. But this point really confuses me - Jokinen is retiring (immediately replaced by Desjardins) but Laas has two more seasons and Moth has four with only final season regression?

[Banackock 8,140]

1 minute ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

 

 

 

I mean, I have a lot of questions about the framing of Davos going all in for this season... I guess by trading away a bunch of older, regressing players (McKeggegger, Woolfenden, Walker) and S93 welfare players who wouldn't make a forward core with five S93/94/95 players next season. But this point really confuses me - Jokinen is retiring (immediately replaced by Desjardins) but Laas has two more seasons and Moth has four with only final season regression?

Standings mean nothing - though, Seattle has won more too. Let’s talk finals & cups! 

[CowboyinAmerica 2,911]

3 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Standings mean nothing - though, Seattle has won more too. Let’s talk finals & cups! 

 

I mean, if you insist. It took you 20 seasons to get a cup without me.  

[Banackock 8,140]

14 minutes ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

 

I mean, if you insist. It took you 20 seasons to get a cup without me.  

Good cup win, but old man has to go back almost 50 seasons. 7 in the last 27 seasons with another 4 final losses. 25.9% winning, 40% finals making. 
 

 

 

[Plate 386]

1 hour ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

 

 

 

I mean, I have a lot of questions about the framing of Davos going all in for this season... I guess by trading away a bunch of older, regressing players (McKeggegger, Woolfenden, Walker) and S93 welfare players who wouldn't make a forward core with five S93/94/95 players next season. But this point really confuses me - Jokinen is retiring (immediately replaced by Desjardins) but Laas has two more seasons and Moth has four with only final season regression?

I wrote this article on Sept 7th so again, the standings were very different when I was writing. Alex also reached out to me but still I worry about the next few seasons for the team which is why I wasn't a fan of the trades.

[Alex 3,248]

9 minutes ago, Plate said:

I wrote this article on Sept 7th so again, the standings were very different when I was writing. Alex also reached out to me but still I worry about the next few seasons for the team which is why I wasn't a fan of the trades.

The main reason all of the prospects listed were traded was simply that the Davos roster just didn’t have space for them moving forwards, we have a good rotation of young talent coming up that will fill gaps left by retiring players, and it would provide the players with a better opportunity. We also still have a bunch of early picks coming up that will further supplement the current core. I really don’t understand your rating here…

[Spartan 4,531]

B is crazy, let me cook the league in peace

[Lemorse7 1,021]

32 minutes ago, Spartan said:

B is crazy, let me cook the league in peace

you are my lil B 

[Ahma 1,444]

tf is this Davos slander

[jacobcarson877 2,563]

This thread is making me miss doing Draft Grading!

[Spartan 4,531]

28 minutes ago, jacobcarson877 said:

This thread is making me miss doing Draft Grading!

yeah grade your draft year again

[qripll 519]

8 hours ago, Banackock said:

Imagine getting an F. 

Wouldn't you be happy to acquire Yaroslav Trunov??? It's easily W trade 

Edited September 10 by qripll

[Pifferfish 597]

5 hours ago, CowboyinAmerica said:

 

 

 

I mean, I have a lot of questions about the framing of Davos going all in for this season... I guess by trading away a bunch of older, regressing players (McKeggegger, Woolfenden, Walker) and S93 welfare players who wouldn't make a forward core with five S93/94/95 players next season. But this point really confuses me - Jokinen is retiring (immediately replaced by Desjardins) but Laas has two more seasons and Moth has four with only final season regression?

i think overall the analysis of the trades is less about who is up in the standings from their trades and more about direction, Davos has been in a rebuild for a bit and now is looking to gear up. Trading for Trunov feels like a nothing burger move to me bc i just dont see Davos as a contender this season. and Laas is fine as an addition especially to help mitigate losing Ahma next year. Just trading a lot of pieces away for essentially what amounts to being a good Dman and a rental F in what appears to be on pace as a non cup year. I think a move that would have helped this team a lot directionally this season and actually given them pretty good cup chance in a trade for Dilson, 1 more season left but huge upgrade in net, giving AKK more time to grow. i think alex's prioritizing player fun and allowing them get more PT is noble and good for the league. but in term of competitiveness doesnt mean you are making the BEST trade. i can see how this got an F, Id personally have gone a D or maybe C but im nicer. 

[Plate 386]

4 hours ago, Alex said:

The main reason all of the prospects listed were traded was simply that the Davos roster just didn’t have space for them moving forwards, we have a good rotation of young talent coming up that will fill gaps left by retiring players, and it would provide the players with a better opportunity. We also still have a bunch of early picks coming up that will further supplement the current core. I really don’t understand your rating here…

Well, I knew I'd kick up a bit of the beehive with this one but oh well. 

As stated, I gave an F for a few reasons, which I am happy to reiterate. Before I do here are some bullet points that I think are important:
- As you stated previously you had way too many prospects for the number of roster spots available + you were mitigating cap issues and therefore you simply wouldn't have had the roster spots to play everyone. 
- Some of the assets you traded away were inactives and to reinforce a healthier locker room you added a few (hopefully more active both in earning and in voice) players to ship out many other players. 

My criticism, and that's all it is, not a personal attack or demeaning of your ability as a GM, comes simply from the amount of value given up to retain a vision of continuing the rebuild. This team is still incredibly young and has the opportunity to turn the corner in the next couple of season which makes this seasons one of the more important ones of the franchise. There were A LOT of assets traded away. Two high value picks (1st and 2nd rounder) and a couple 3rds, plus TEN players totaling 4,600 TPE and in return there were three players kept (Gregger and Sike got traded away) and those players have about 2,000 TPE. 

Something that would have upgraded your grade would simply have been more pick value in return. Even a couple more 2nds would have jumped your score up to a D or even a C. If you wanted a B or an A, I think I would have expected a 1st round pick in there somewhere for S97 as a piece of trade bait for the future. This upcoming draft you have two 1st rounders and a third, but the lack of 2nds is going to make the draft top heavy, and with the number of 500-700 TPE players on the roster at the moment you're going to run into the same problem again of having too many players to fit the slots. Now, I know you can't trade two 500 TPE players for a 1000 TPE one (Unless they're max earners etc etc team needs so on).

Again, it has nothing to do with Davos and it's not a personal attack. I personally like the brand and hockey club. You have some of my favourite VHL members, @McWolf, @FrostBeard, @frescoelmo on your team. 

TLDR:

Upon trading all the players you retained about 50% of the TPE you traded away and didn't get the other 50% in pick value. That's why I gave the F.

[jacobcarson877 2,563]

I will say the raw TPA in vs. TPA out is a bit flawed considering the VHL is more about the consolidation of TPA rather than the sum total. You're trying to maximize the TPA of your top 11 players while staying below the salary cap. Player 12+ are worth essentially 0. Same goes for draft picks, the likelihood of getting a VHLer, let alone one for term generally drops off a ton by the time you cross the middle of the first round. Mid-2nds and Beyond are probably a sub-10% chance of making the VHL, let alone later than that. Although that's just my subjective understanding. I made the mistake early on in valuing later picks too highly considering my experience in the M, and failed to secure a VHLer from the draft for most of my career. I think I got one VHLer who peaked around 600TPA.

 

I will say that any good VSN article should cause conversation, and therefore you succeeded with flying colours!

[Banackock 8,140]

1 hour ago, qripll said:

Wouldn't you be happy to acquire Yaroslav Trunov??? It's easily W trade 

Any player of yours 

[Ahma 1,444]

10 minutes ago, jacobcarson877 said:

I will say the raw TPA in vs. TPA out is a bit flawed considering the VHL is more about the consolidation of TPA rather than the sum total.

yeah TPE is not the end all be all.

[Plate 386]

7 minutes ago, jacobcarson877 said:

I will say the raw TPA in vs. TPA out is a bit flawed considering the VHL is more about the consolidation of TPA rather than the sum total. You're trying to maximize the TPA of your top 11 players while staying below the salary cap. Player 12+ are worth essentially 0. Same goes for draft picks, the likelihood of getting a VHLer, let alone one for term generally drops off a ton by the time you cross the middle of the first round. Mid-2nds and Beyond are probably a sub-10% chance of making the VHL, let alone later than that. Although that's just my subjective understanding. I made the mistake early on in valuing later picks too highly considering my experience in the M, and failed to secure a VHLer from the draft for most of my career. I think I got one VHLer who peaked around 600TPA.

 

I will say that any good VSN article should cause conversation, and therefore you succeeded with flying colours!

I agree which is why I mentioned getting picks to compensate for the lost value in TPE. Again, as you said, straight up TPE swapping is a flawed argument because it ignores all other facets which are equally important. With most stats though, extremes will tell a different story. This was the only franchise that had a TPE out vs in of 50% or lower, which was on the extreme scale. And at least with picks as compensation you have a chance at getting something in return.

On that note, I wonder what the average TPE for each pick is across all of the VHLs history. Like what a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounder are all worth when you take a look at the averages in every draft. Sounds like another Plate article that I'm gonna work on for the off season ;).

 

[BOOM 8,817]

Well look at all the activity this article created. Nice. Good read @Plate and look forward to reading any other content that you produce.

[Pifferfish 597]

22 hours ago, jacobcarson877 said:

I will say the raw TPA in vs. TPA out is a bit flawed considering the VHL is more about the consolidation of TPA rather than the sum total. You're trying to maximize the TPA of your top 11 players while staying below the salary cap. Player 12+ are worth essentially 0. Same goes for draft picks, the likelihood of getting a VHLer, let alone one for term generally drops off a ton by the time you cross the middle of the first round. Mid-2nds and Beyond are probably a sub-10% chance of making the VHL, let alone later than that. Although that's just my subjective understanding. I made the mistake early on in valuing later picks too highly considering my experience in the M, and failed to secure a VHLer from the draft for most of my career. I think I got one VHLer who peaked around 600TPA.

 

I will say that any good VSN article should cause conversation, and therefore you succeeded with flying colours!

That's why I still agree with the grade range. Like, Davos essentially traded a 1st and a bunch of random stuff for Laas and a rental that I think gets them no closer to a cup