S97 Trade Deadline - Where Can Malmo Add?

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SEASON 97 TRADE DEADLINE: WHERE CAN MALMO ADD?

 

The Malmo Nighthawks currently sit as the best team in the Victory Hockey League, with a record of 36-9-1 and are currently on a thirteen game winning streak.  While that is certainly impressive and maybe even a little surprising, with Jacob Stone retiring after last season, this isn’t exactly uncharted territory for the team.  The Malmo Nighthawks won the Victory Cup, for the league’s best record, back in both Season 92 and 93, before losing in the European Semi-Final round of each respective playoffs.  

 

That brings me to the point of this article.  With this year’s theme week being the Trade Deadline itself, I really wanted to focus on the areas of improvement that Malmo could make in order to finally take a real run at the Continental Cup.  Now, I will say that I do think the Nighthawks may stand pat as the team is playing out of their mind right now, and it can be difficult to make moves when the team has no draft picks to trade.  With that being said, I live in a fantasy world and there are definitely a few areas they could strengthen prior to the upcoming postseason.  So let's take a look at some of these areas!

 

OPPORTUNITY #1: FORWARD DEPTH (6th-7th Spot in the Lineup)

 

The Malmo Nighthawks have a really strong offense, highlighted by the fact that the team has 163 goals this season, good enough for the fourth most in the Victory Hockey League.  With that being said, they are known a little more for keeping the puck out of the net and I think the team could boost their forward depth a little bit.  The Nighthawks have five forwards who are over a point-per-game with Jensen, Tzesar, Rave, MacWallace III and Kemp.  Bret Weier has filled the sixth spot in the lineup and has done an admirable job as a rookie.  With 13 points in 46 games though, the team could add another piece that could probably fill that spot during this upcoming run.  Weier can still flow through the lines as their seventh forward, as barring his inclusion in a trade, you would probably rather keep him with three of their six forwards retiring after this season.  Adding some instant offense could very well put the Nighthawks over-the-top, especially when there are numerous teams with offensive cores at a similar level on paper.  

 

OPPORTUNITY #2: ANOTHER TOP DEFENDER (2nd-3rd in the Lineup)

 

The Nighthawks have had an incredible defensive season, especially when you consider Jacob Stone retiring last year.  Their trade for Lucy Leitner has been instrumental in this, with the defender on pace for 28 goals, 95 points, 183 hits and 163 blocked shots.  She has basically come in and stepped right in the skates left in her wake, and it has been absolutely incredible. Conference Prince-de-Galles has had a second straight strong season, where he is looking to be a point-per-game defenseman while being fairly physical and strong defensively.  While not necessarily an explosive defenseman, Conference is a good skater and an excellent puck mover in addition to his impressive defensive play.  Vlad Von Carstein has been a long-time member of the Nighthawks and while he continues to be a great defender and good puck mover, he hasn’t necessarily shown the improvement you would hope for over the last couple seasons.  I will also add that Narnia Shaw has taken tremendous steps and has arguably surpassed Von Carstein in the depth chart.  He is on pace to be a 50 point defenseman as a rookie and will hopefully take some more steps to being a future top defender on the squad.  I definitely think he has that kind of potential.  So ultimately, I do think the Nighthawks could use another defenseman that can ideally elevate the second pairing, alongside Shaw, in order to give the team two cohesive and dangerous pairings.  

 

OPPORTUNITY #3: DRAFT PICKS (no…seriously)

 

The Malmo Nighthawks currently have zero draft picks to trade.  I don’t necessarily know if they have the assets right now to acquire a top defender or maybe even some forward depth, but I do think they have some prospects with value and some depth players on the team who haven’t been developing as much as perhaps they hoped.  So there is a possibility that the Nighthawks could look to try and help improve the future a bit by adding some picks.  Truthfully, probably not the most likely move with the team more focused on their Continental Cup aspirations, but I do think there is a franchise focus on trying to keep the team as competitive as possible long-term, and using draft capital is a great way to do that.  

 

OPPORTUNITY #4: BACKUP GOALIE (cause Lovstrom sucks!)

 

Okay, I am sorta kidding here, cause Jorgen Lovstrom is an absolute machine and should be the favourite for not just the Aidan Shaw Trophy (Top Goalie) but also the Scotty Campbell Trophy (League MVP).  With that being said, their bot-like backup is barely better than a mediocre VHLM goalie.  So if there is any player out there that the Nighthawks can acquire to add some goaltending depth, they really should look at it! You never know if Lovstrom has a tough start to the playoffs or catches the flu, you may just have to rely on someone else at some point down the line.  And you don’t want it to be Mr. Robot with his stiff ass.  Let us be real.  

 

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Ultimately, the Nighthawks probably will stand pat and it’s hard to blame them.  They have been incredible so far and they seem to just be hitting their peak.  With some of their top players still showing improvement and the best goaltender in the league, the Malmo Nighthawks seem destined to finally take that next step.  I have also wrote that probably about twenty times over the last nine seasons, and it really hasn’t happened at all.  So who knows? Maybe Malmo finds a way to tilt the scales a little more in their favour.  

 

 

 

1012 Words (Week 1/2)
 

Edited 18 hours ago by Advantage