VSN Presents: S96 Trade Deadline Recap

[LucyXpher 1,578]

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On Monday, November 11th, the VHL's Trade Deadline came and passed with a modest amount of activity-- 5 trades in total in the two weeks leading up to the date.  It may not have been the flurry of activity that this point of the season is sometimes known for, though the trades we did see certainly shuffled the deck a little and set the stage for the stretch run and the immanent VHL playoffs.  So without further preamble, let's dive into the VHL's Trade Deadline and see what it says about the direction of the teams who opted to participate in S96.  

 

November 8th

 

The first real Trade Deadline movement occurred between the New York Americans and the Los Angeles Stars.

 

New York receives:

D - Moritz Stauffer @GoodLeftUndone (S88 - Retiring)

 

Los Angeles receives:

S97 LDN 2nd

S97 NYA 3rd

 

New York, who has achieved moderate success with a solid roster this season had a hole to fill in their defense.  With a playoff berth in sight, the Americans' GM @STZ opted to acquire a rental player in Moritz Stauffer who will be hanging it up at the end of S96.  Stauffer becomes the 2nd highest rated defender by total TPE, after Callum Gary Yannick Janser, and fills the fourth spot on the New York blueline as they push to secure a place in the playoffs.  Stauffer, whose career high in points was 72 in S94 with Calgary, now joins his 6th VHL franchise, hoping for one more chance at a Continental Cup.  Stauffer previously won the Cup in S90 with Prague and will bring that championship pedigree and experience along with him.  Since acquiring Stauffer, the Americans hold a respectable record of 12-7-1, and Stauffer has collected 16 points in those 20 games.  

 

Los Angeles, on the other side, received two S97 picks-- the London 2nd rounder being the more valuable of the two as it could turn out to be the 17th overall pick if the lottery goes their way.  It's a decent return on a retiring player for a team who is outside the playoff picture this season and is currently in the midst of rebuilding toward future success.  In the S97 draft, Los Angeles now holds four 1st rounders and three 2nd round picks which should help them, at the very least, collect a quantity of prospects that could build them up in seasons to come.  

 

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Shortly after the New York/LA deal, Helsinki and Seattle entered the fray with a surprising trade that saw the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy frontrunner, Ahsoka Tano, move to the Seattle Bears

 

Helsinki receives:

D - Sunset Moth @McWolf (S91)

S98 RIG 1st

S98 SEA 3rd

S98 LDN 3rd

S98 SEA 4th

 

Seattle receives:

D - Ahsoka Tano @Aimee  (S95)

 

The biggest piece in this trade is the one going to Seattle, and that is the rookie blueline sensation, Ahsoka Tano.  As a rookie with Helsinki, Tano collected 43 points in 47 games and was leading the way in the rookie scoring race.  This trade represents an upgrade on defense for Seattle, both now and in the future, as Tano projects to be a top defender in the VHL for seasons to come.  With 11 points in 20 games for Seattle since the trade, Tano has slowed down in production a little bit while she's seen her ice time reduced on a more complete defensive corps, though she projects to be a top defender for the team going forward.  The slight production drop also hasn't hurt her Stolzschweiger chances much as she still leads the race with 57 points-- 6 more than the next highest rookie scorer.  

 

For a rebuilding Helsinki team under new management in S96, the return for Tano features a solid player in Sunset Moth who can immediately step in and fill the hole left by Tano on the blueline.  Moth is now up to 9 points in 19 games with Helsinki.  And while the ceiling on Sunset Moth certainly seems lower than Tano's, Helsinki also managed to secure some draft picks-- most notably the S98 Riga 1st.  While the two 3rd rounders and the 4th represent a chance to select a late round sleeper pick, the 1st is likely the only pick here that will amount to a potential player.  For Helsinki, the hope will have to be that Riga takes a step back in S98 in order for this pick to be further up the draft order.  Alternatively, @McLovin could opt to flip the pick for further capital in the S97 draft.  As it stands, Helsinki is loaded up on late picks in S98, but only has one pick in each of the four rounds in S97.  For a team that seems to be bottoming out, the plan seems to be to sell anything and everything that isn't nailed down and to reset.  Unfortunately for Helsinki fans, the team likely hasn't hit rock bottom quite yet.  If I was Sunset Moth, I'd probably think twice before buying a forever home in Helsinki.

 

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November 10th

 

On the day before the Trade Deadline, Davos and DC made a true hockey trade-- a one-for-one player swap... sorta.

 

HC Davos receives:

D - Joseph Dubois @Dubois (S90)

 

D.C. receives:

D - Masa Akimoto @Hokikeijot (S93)

 

In this deal, Davos received the only VHL level player in Joseph Dubois-- now their 5th defensemen as the team apparently wanted more depth at the position going into the playoffs.  The jury is still out on how much playing time Dubois will actually earn on this Dynamo defense, but it certainly positions Davos to be able to ice a better roster should they run into penalty trouble going forward, and maybe there's a future trade to be made in the offseason.  Dubois had 21 points in 50 games for DC, but has yet to score in 16 games with Davos.

 

On the other side of this deal, DC collects yet another prospect to add to their already extremely populated prospect pool.  While Akimoto has yet to reach the VHL, the potential is there to become a solid defense option if GM @qripll can unlock it.  Akimoto currently has 44 points in 61 games for the VHLM's Ottawa Lynx.  

 

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November 11th

 

And then the Trade Deadline arrived with Vancouver and Warsaw opening the day with a spicy trade that featured some hotly debated conditions-- which were ultimately resolved.

 

Vancouver receives:

G - Olober Syko @Spartan  (S91 - Retiring)

 

Warsaw receives:

S98 VAN 4th

Conditions: If Vancouver makes the S96 playoffs, S98 VAN 4th becomes Vancouver's next available 2nd. If Vancouver wins the S96 Continental Cup, S98 VAN 4th becomes Vancouver's next available 1st.

 

With their sights set on a deep playoff run, Vancouver went out and acquired the VHL's top statistical goalie, and didn't have to give up much to get him.  With the Wolves basically a lock for the S96 playoffs, the S98 4th will almost certainly be upgraded to a 2nd round pick.  If Vancouver can go all the way and win the Continental Cup, that 2nd will become a 1st in either S97 or S98-- Warsaw's choice.  The only downside for the Wolves is that they only have one crack at it with Syko who has decided to call it a career early at the end of this season.  It's a pretty straightforward trade for Vancouver, however, as the cost of acquiring such a dominant goaltender-- even for the remainder of S96-- is relatively negligible.  And even if they win and have to pay up the 1st, I'm sure their GM @Frank won't mind too much since they will have achieved their goal.  

 

On the other side, Warsaw does well to recoup an asset for a goaltender who was finished after this season anyway.  Sure, the Predators might make the playoffs, but even with Syko they were not likely to get far as the team had many other holes to fill as they continue their rebuild.  Overall, it's tidy work from @N0HBDY to pull value out of an outgoing Syko.  

 

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Closing out Trade Deadline Day, Calgary and Toronto made a swap that saw longtime Legion defender Bobby Bob on the move in exchange for another VHL veteran.  

 

Calgary receives:

D - Bobby Bob @Baby Boomer (S88 - Retiring)

 

Toronto receives:

S97 TOR 3rd

D - FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist @STZ (S88 - Retiring)

 

With Toronto sliding out of the playoff picture and a management change immanent, they opted to move franchise defender Bobby Bob to Calgary for a chance to go all the way with North America's top team. In return they receive a 60 point defender in FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist who-- like Bob-- will be retiring at season's end.  The legion also picked up a Toronto 3rd rounder in the swap which may or may not result in a roster player for the future.  

 

For Calgary, there's currently only a 7 point difference between Bob and Analfist, however Bob should be a slight upgrade to an already strong blueline.  While Analfist has the slight advantage in defensive acumen, Bob possesses the skating, puckhandling, and offensive instincts to make him a slightly more potent option for the Wranglers as the playoffs approach, while giving up very little defensively.  

 

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And that's all for the VHL Trade Deadline folks!  While it certainly wasn't as spicy as Trade Deadlines past, it gave us some insight into the direction of teams as they load up or sell heading into the last couple weeks of the season.  Only time will tell who the real winners and losers are.

 

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LucyXpher

1600+ words

 

Edited November 18 by LucyXpher

[McLovin 470]

Helsinki is going through it rn 

[LucyXpher 1,578]

2nd claim - 12/08/2024