My biggest enemy

[qripll 518]

 

As some of you might have noticed, Arcane hype train is still a thing. Hello Spartan! And I am pretty sure once you opened Spotify chart, you saw this lovely soundtrack climbing up and passing Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars and other music giants. If you didn't, listen to it now! But obviously, this article isn't about music or my Arcane reviews. 

 

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BUILD SOMETHING NEW

 

 

I stepped in DC Dragons with exactly the same thought. And so far, I've been strongly confident about how the team is going through the rebuild. My first season as a GM is coming to its logical end now. I have no idea how team ended up playing with 3 roster players in S95, nevertheless, I would never think of ever becoming in charge of VHL franchise in such an exhausted condition. "Enjoy 2.5 years of rebuild" was a fair point from one of my vhl community mate but I took that challenge and there are a few thoughts how it's been and how it will be in my opinion. Actually, there are not a lot of changes between S95 and S96. According to the standings and statistics Dragons were even worse in: points percentage (P%): .250 vs .271, goals against (GA): 280 vs 273. Don't get me wrong, I expect Dragons to be at the basement for a few seasons to collect enough good future assets. With this season being almost over for the whole league, it's now pretty clear which picks from the previous draft were definitely good and a complete waste. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that YOURE NOT FUCKING RETIRING @twists was the gem that nobody saw or didn't want it to be seen. He was projected top-10 pick but due to some invisible reasons fell off into my hands. With 18th overall selection, YNFR got drafted by DC Dragons. At this moment, he is top-5 player ranking by TPE scale. Is it a daylight robbery? It is, but do not call the police. They won't help you. Talking about first round pick, I am glad that I didn't trade down as most GMs wanted to get my 3rd overall pick. Brandon Petan Jr @sadie spent 2 full seasons in VHLM: 178 points in 163 games. No matter what happens, Brandon will be a key player and true leader on and off the ice. This forward duo that will join us in the offseason will be awesome fit to Konstantyn Shevchenko. These days drafts are tempting to be tight, 2nd round picks are frequently useless and taking 2 great forwards on the same draft is a luxury that most teams can't afford. This regular season was extremely successful for Dragons prospects and here are some examples: 

YOURE NOT FUCKING RETIRING - leads the league in points (96), goals (48), plus/minus (45!), and hat tricks (4). T-5 in powerplay goals (12), T-7 in game winners (8). I strongly believe, he is gonna win Mitch Higgins Trophy(MVP) apart from reserved (and well-deserved!) Ethan Osborne and Alex Chershenko awards. 

 

Brandon Petan Jr - T-8 in points (78), T-2 in goals (40), the most shooting player (385), leads the league in shorthanded goals (2), T-2 in game winners (10). 

 

Einar Mathiesen @xsjack - leads the league in assists (60), points among defencemen (87), T-3 in +/- (32), T-3 in powerplay goals (13). 

 

With this bunch of cool guys there are a few that haven't been ahead of the VHLM but it doesn't mean I won't get use of them. Recently acquired Masa Akimoto @Hokikeijot from Davos is 395 TPE at the moment. And as consistent welfare player, he will step in with 420-430 TPE next season. Scrungle Bungle @Novanod is going to set the sight of his retirement soon, luckily, we finally see 21st overall of S91 draft making the VHL roster. And they definitely will be useful parts of rebuilding franchise. More than that, DC Dragons have some active prospects that are potentially roster players as they hit minimum TPE floor, but it is too early to say which team they will start play next season for. 


Draft picks in our hands: 
S97 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd

S98 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd

 

We are in the position where only moving crucial pieces will bring us some good future assets. However, 5 roster players is the thing which gives you two options: be shit so hard and trade everyone or keep someone alive in the locker room as you don't want it to be a graveyard franchise. I chose the second one and despite some pessimistic expectations, team was pretty alive and with at least 3 prospects arriving in the roster it is going to be even better. 

Predicting VSN pre-draft rankings and picks for each 1st round pick, I'd say that I really love this draft and there are plenty of opportunities out there. Having a pick in top-10 is a guaranteed top player, reflecting to the previous VHL Draft there were a few bad picks that were not worth its position, but I am not going to hurt GMs' and players' feelings. I would love to believe that these picks make me wrong one day. Being tremendously sentimental, I am into drafting some guys that are supposed to play together: Bubbles duo and newcomers - @flyersfan345 and @SMYLS4. Both options seem reasonable of course, but it depends on your pick. With 4th overall, I doubt I will go for projected 9th / 10th player selection without a specific goal. No offense. If I were LA, damn, that would be hard choice. They have 6th and 9th overall picks, which mean they have miserable chances to draft Bubbles brothers, nevertheless, I definitely agree that they are interested to get two irl friends that let managers know how excited they would be to make a VHL debut together. In fact, going for them means leaving a few proven users behind which are also more consistent and skilled in terms of TPE. Luckily for New York Americans, they have got 2nd (original LA's 1st round pick) and 10th overall picks. Being a contender with top-3 pick on the draft provides a lot of opportunities to get better right now with a proven or promising key player on entry-level contract or draft franchise guy who will step in a season. Both ways are great, and I am sure STZ would love to trade with LA often in the future. As I mentioned earlier, there are a few guys from top-10 VHL S96 Draft I don't consider future key players, in comparison, I strongly believe every top-10 pick of S97 will have a huge impact on its team. I would recommend you make up your own VHL Mock draft and share it with us. There are definitely a lot of shadow things going on behind the scenes right now that we can't see but I assure you this draft will take his place in history. 

 

I am not still sure about this offseason trades and moves, as it could be completely a hurricane and a change of scenery for some roster players. Konstantyn Shevchenko @der meister is the most valuable asset and more than that, he is the face of our franchise right now. The guy who is supposed to make DC Dragons great again and lead us in a few seasons in the playoffs surrounded by YNFR, Brandon Petan Jr and other high-end prospects. Since the first day of being a GM, I have been asked what the price is for Shevchenko. And that is the question I ask myself. It is always hard to trade your beloved players, that were with you from the start, however seasons go, team changes and one day I will have to trade my best players, awesome locker room guys and probably my player as well as I am in charge of a franchise, and I understand keeping veterans till the end means digging the team deeper and deeper. I feel that hard choices are coming, even though I can't complain about that at all. I joined VHL with the willingness to be a GM one day, I made it happen and now I am among the top tier GMs. I won Victory Cup as a player and a captain, won back-to-back WJC and World Cup gold medals as a GM, and now it is the time to raise new generation of VHL winners. I declined around a dozen of offers on Shevchenko but none of these were really worth moving my best player. On the other hand, I have never had an idea of trading him in the middle of the season. And with upcoming offseason, I am wondering what it the best way to make team future brighter. Unfortunately, 1 top pick per draft is not enough for such a huge rebuild I have to deal with. At least, I suppose I'd love to get another first round. Surely, feeling the momentum that says it's time to move on and rebuild smoothly or trade your favourite player for more future assets is the experience I will go through, and I hope I will succeed; this article has to be a reminder to myself that sometimes...

 

 

 

...TAKING A LEAP FORWARD MEANS LEAVING A FEW THINGS BEHIND.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~1550 words
 

[qripll 518]

Claim 1/3

[Spartan 4,530]

Hi Qrip, thanks for the summon with the elite soundtrack!

 

DC's definitely an interesting place to be, it's very much a scorched earth rebuild from when you took over but you're approaching it pretty well and I think as long as you keep players interested, having them stick around and develop puts your future together. You're right though that getting one quality pick per draft isn't going to help things that much - that's pretty much the situation a third of the league has been in for a few seasons now. It's up to you to get out of that rebuilding status and I'm looking forward to what you do moving forward!

[Ahma 1,443]

Always a dance with you

[qripll 518]

29 minutes ago, Ahma said:

Always a dance with you

Say no more. I am drafting you!

[Enorama 2,039]

Stromae appearance on the soundtrack caught me by surprise, it's sweet.

 

I'm personally partial to Wasteland and To Ashes and Blood.

[Ahma 1,443]

16 hours ago, qripll said:

Say no more. I am drafting you!

I hate you

[sadie 937]

stromae is the best

dc is also the best

continental cup 

[flyersfan345 49]

Awesome draft perspective from a VHL GM. I should probably mention though that @SMYLS4 and I are not packed players the way the LaFleurs are, though we may be better in the same spot because of the podcast and segments.

[qripll 518]

Claim 2/3

[qripll 518]

Claim 3/3