VSN Presents: Fantasy Land - A Review of VHFL So Far...

[Pifferfish 631]

@LucyXpher

 

Welcome readers, today we forego the planned PiffCast episode due to technical issues (dropped phone, broken mic, very sad), and instead we get a written piece for you all to enjoy.
 

Today we will discuss one of the many sources of uncapped TPE in the VHL, VHFL! I'm going to run through each position group's top players, taking the time to add some analysis to a few players (either over or under performing) and anyone who would be in the perfect lineup (so far). The perfect lineup consists of the top 3 forwards, top 2 defensemen, and the top goalie. 

 

**Stats taken immediately after the Jan. 4 sims**

 

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Forwards

 

#1  LW Maverick Goncalves

@leandrofg

16 GP | 10 G | 20 A | +16 | 60 H | 12 SB

4.65 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Maverick Goncalves is unsurprisingly doing very well in VHFL this season. He checks all of the boxes I'd look for in a player-- plays on a contender, leads his position group in checking, good scoring/passing gap, and a high DF rating. Moscow has been an offensive power house for many seasons running and his appearance here is nothing shocking.

 

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#2 LW Grimgor Ironhide

@FrostBeard

16 GP | 13 G | 8 A | +7 | 86 H | 6 SB

4.20 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Grimgor Ironhide is a player I have long figured due to be among the nominees for the Scott Boulet Trophy come award time, but just hasn't found a rhythm. S97 breaks that trend with a solid all around performance here as he has the second most hits among the top 18 forwards in Fantasy scoring. The plus-minus is a little shocking considering how good I expected Davos to be this season.

 

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#3 LW Toby Kadachi

@ROOKIE745

16 GP | 7 G | 9 A | +6 | 116 H | 8 SB

4.16 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Toby Kadachi is the leader among the top 18 forwards in hits but just doesn't have the same point production as his counterparts above him. Chicago is off to a hot start and his two-way game is a major part of that equation. I just wonder if his point per game pace is enough to maintain his top three status through a long VHL season 

 

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#4 C Jarmo Ruutu 

4.01 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#5 LW Wally Lose

3.73 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#6  C Severus Targaryen

3.73 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#7 C Spanish Moon Moth

3.70 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#8  RW Harry Callahan

3.62 Fantasy Points per Game

 

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#9 C Axle Gunner

@Steve

16 GP | 9 G | 12 A | +7 | 54 H | 11 SB

3.61 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Axle Gunner is a player I personally took second overall in my VHFL group and while I'm not mad at the pick, I'm a little shocked by how the race between him and Severus Targaryen is turning out. I mainly expected a pretty sizable advantage in the hit department for Axle that just isn't as prevalent as I would have predicted. Recently he has taken over the lead in the category, so maybe that continues and the lead slowly extends. Otherwise, he continues a strong offensive career and should continue to see success.

 

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#10  RW Riley Martin

3.60 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#11 C Diego Machado

3.57 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#12 C Antonia Bucatini

3.57 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#13 RW Logan Ninefingers

3.47 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#14 C George Richmond

3.43 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#15 LW Forum Content

3.41 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#16 C The Phantom of the VHL

3.35 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#17  C Raimo Tuominen

3.34 Fantasy Points per Game

 

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#18 LW Pombo

@samx

16 GP | 14 G | 13 A | +13 | 7 H | 5 SB

3.29 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Pombo is the odd case of a low hit player performing off of pure offensive production. 7 hits is pretty gnarly for the top 18. You can afford to do that, though, if you are nearly working at a 2 point per game clip with a +13 to boot. I mainly wanted to highlight Pombo just to illustrate how important hits are to VHFL forward production. Even with an almost 140 point pace, we are barely scraping into the top 18 here. Still an excellent season for Pombo so far, and I'm sure they'll take the wins of the Menace over the acclaim of being a top pick in VHFL.

 

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#36 LW Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish

@hylands

15 GP | 5 G | 8 A | +1 | 24 H | 17 SB

2.53 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Jebediah BODiA is a player I really expected a potentially underrated showing from. He has the checking to be a solid third forward, but I think he may currently be lined up with George Richmond, whomst is getting the majority of physical action in New York. It could also be noted big time hitter, Callum Gary Yannick Janser, soaking up the contact as well, but who knows. New York has also lacked some of the fire power I expected which has lead to some not-so-awesome point production team wide.

 

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#43 LW Savaisk Tzesar

@comrade cat

15 GP | 5 G | 5 A | +8 | 45 H | 4 SB

2.27 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Savaisk Tzesar is a S96 Scott Boulet Trophy nominee, known in VHFL for their depth scoring. The hitting this player does has buoyed a couple strong showings in the past few seasons, but right now the point production just isn't there. Malmo in general hasn't done much offensively as their defense and goaltending are carrying the load this season. A lack of time on the power play for the Nighthawks has also hurt their forwards in their quests to impact the score sheet, Tzesar included. 

 

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Defensemen

 

#1 D Guntis Gavilrovs

@Girts

16 GP | 9 G | 12 A | +7 | 67 H | 22 SB

4.57 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Guntis Gavilrovs is a skater I highly touted heading into last season as a potential award contender for many of the honors given to the league's defenders. This season he seems to finally be taking the leap I had expected in S96 with a very strong showing thus far. 9 goals is good for second among all defensemen which is a huge part of top placement for Gavilrovs. Playing on a strong contender in Vancouver means that plus-minus should continue to rise as they continue winning game after game.

 

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#2 D Lucy Leitner

@LucyXpher

15 GP | 6 G | 13 A | +9 | 50 H | 31 SB

4.24 Fantasy Points per Game

 

A recent trade from Riga leaves Lucy Leitner filling in the role of Jacob Stone in S96. One key difference is each of these players' linemates. Stone was played next to a bot D while Leitner is alongside Narnia Shaw @Dabnad . This has not hurt the new Nighthawk in the slightest. I'd say the biggest thing helping Leitner maintain this high ranking is the amount of penalty kill time Malmo has had, as they rank pretty highly in the league for times short-handed. PKs means shots against, and shots against mean shot blocks. It's not a crazy amount of blocks by any means, but in comparison to say, Guntis, it helps give an edge.

 

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#3 D Obuz Schneider Cabet du Bocage

4.11 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#4 D Callum Gary Yannick Janser

4.11 Fantasy Points per Game

 

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#5  D Jillian Woods

@jacobcarson877

16 GP | 10 G | 12 A | +5 | 21 H | 33 SB

4.08 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Jillian Woods is the most offensively focused defender in this top 12. On the heels of a Valiq Trophy campaign, Jillian once again is well over a point per game and leads all defenders in goals scored so far. A lack of hits continues to threaten their overall use to those who drafted them.

 

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#6 D Andrew Skilton

3.89 Fantasy Points per Game

 

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#7 D Tommy Sleeves

@dasboot

16 GP | 5 G | 9 A | -7 | 82 H | 35 SB

3.89 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Tommy Sleeves is certainly working hard to punish the opposition with the most hits for a defender. Helpful to him is a lack of other threats on offense for his team. Helsinki is quite bad so lots of shots against is expected and, as stated before, shots against mean shot blocks. 

 

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#8 D YaBoi Oven

3.87 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#9 D Erik Thorvaldsson

3.75 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#10 D Bollos de Trueno

3.64 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#11 D Lazlo Holmes

3.61 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#12 D Petit Hughie

3.52 Fantasy Points per Game

 

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#28 D Felicia Hardy

@JCarson

16 GP | 1 G | 13 A | -4 | 37 H | 23 SB

2.48 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Felicia Hardy is a player I drafted myself with delight as I expected another rather good season. The playmaking style of this defender just hasn't quite translated to high fantasy scoring as goals are way more valuable than assists here, a fact I sadly overlooked in my decision making process. More concerning, however, is the plus-minus. For a team I expected to be contending, having their top defender be a minus player is strange. That is something I knocked Hardy for during their rookie season while discussing their case for ROTY. Also, Felicia lacks the hitting I expected as it seems Grimgor is content to be the main source of punishment for the Dynamo in S97.

 

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#34 D Fradin McGryer

@Fradin99

16 GP | 1 G | 7 A | +5 | 52 H | 28 SB

2.41 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Fradin McGryer is another rather sad case, as I saw a path to great production here. McGryer has great checking ability, and finally had the likes of star defenders out of town. He just isn't involved in the offense enough. Despite players like Gunner, Targaryen, and Raikkonen clicking well and putting up numbers, Fradin just can't squeeze in and benefit from it.

 

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Goalies 

 

#1 G Jorgen Lovstrom

@Pifferfish

13 GP | 8 W | 2 SO | 24 GA | 383 SV

4.02 Fantasy Points per Game

 

*Insert Obama Medal Meme Here*

 

Jorgen Lovstrom is currently leading the VHL in save percentage which is a major help to his fantasy relevance. Sadly, I do think that comes down to earth and some of the goalie from more winning teams slowly creep to the top. 

 

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#2 G Pipo Popa

@npuBeT

15 GP | 1 W | 1 SO | 55 GA | 780 SV

3.83 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Pipo Popa is incredibly high on this list considering his meager 1 win on the season so far. With a save percentage over .930 and that singular win being a shutout, he manages to creep up to 2nd among goalies due to the ridiculous volume of shots he is facing this season. It will be interesting to see how well he fairs as the season drags on for Warsaw.

 

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#3  G 179 Ws

3.55 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#4 G Dalkr Vidarsson

3.49 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#5 G Ryan Artyomov

3.45 Fantasy Points per Game

 

#6 G Soju

3.36 Fantasy Points per Game

 

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#7  G Deadpanda

@Alex

15 GP | 1 W | 1 SO | 55 GA | 780 SV

3.18 Fantasy Points per Game

 

Deadpanda has a pretty strong case to improve in these rankings. Right now he sits below a .900 save percentage but his team has an awesome offense that has led to a solid amount of wins so far. Should he improve on the SV%, I expect him to easily jump into the top 6 of goalies.

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#14 G Aleksanteri Kaskiniemi-Kekkonen

@Snussu

14 GP | 8 W | 0 SO | 39 GA | 382 SV

2.48 Fantasy Points per Game

 

AKK is the starting goalie for one of the Victory Cup favorite teams in the Davos Dynamo. This hasn't exactly translated to points as the young goalie struggles to find his groove. The lack of shutouts so far compared to his contemporaries is also a major hindrance. I do also fear that he may play less than the 64 games he can as Davos has shown in the past a willingness to play eager backups like The Mighty Ice Wizard @Royski does seem to be.

 

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Edited January 7 by LucyXpher

[Lemorse7 1,030]

BSN is back woooo 

[Spartan 4,566]

Moscow Moscow Moscow 

[ROOKIE745 610]

I hope Kadachi is doing someone proud.

[Victor 11,055]

Goncalves, Ironhide, and Gavilrovs in one team is quite something

[Pifferfish 631]

33 minutes ago, Victor said:

Goncalves, Ironhide, and Gavilrovs in one team is quite something

I'm gonna call for an investigation, the guy who leads the VHFL in oer game scoring also happens to be the guy who runs the whole operation... I don't buy it.