Draft Needs

[Alex 3,383]

The Season 99 VHL draft is set to be a weird one, not only is it one of the shallowest draft we’ve seen in a while, there is some bright spots the draft hits a hard wall towards the end of the first round as the quality of players takes a hard nose dive. Today we’re going to take a look at the teams who hold top 10 picks in the draft, their draft targets, and a brief look at their seasons as a whole. To start off, as far as classes go, the start of this draft has 5 defensemen, with all of the top 3 being D, the highest end forward at this point in time is Igor Sokolov who is 30 TPE behind the top 3. We could likely see them jump up the order on draft day if the team selecting 1^st doesn’t need defensemen. As of right now below is the current draft order:

 

1. Chicago Phoenix

2. Warsaw Predators

3. Los Angeles Stars

4. Malmo Nighthawks

5. Vancouver Wolves (via Prague Phantoms)

6. London United (via D.C. Dragons)

7. London United

8. Vancouver Wolves

9. HC Davos Dynamo

10. Los Angeles Stars (via Helsinki Titans)

11. D.C. Dragons (via Seattle Bears)

12. D.C. Dragons (via Toronto Legion)

13-16: TBD

Warsaw Predators

Warsaw was guaranteed a top 2 pick this draft and with 3 selections in the last draft they managed to get a future number 1 defensemen and a top end forward, but after that there isn’t too much. Warsaw is coming off an abysmal season which at this point of their rebuild is reasonable. Warsaw is likely to go off the board a bit with their pick since they do have a top defenseman already and could very well reach to get a top center to go alongside Kovar since Trokker has fallen off. Otherwise, they could very well take the top defensemen to have a true powerhouse top 2 D in a few seasons

Potential Draft Picks: Zara Wolf (C – @Banackock), Titus Cunningham (D – @thadthrasher), and Krister Von Casar Tzesar (D – @Komrad)

 

Chicago Phoenix

Chicago had a very similar season to Warsaw, as the race for last was a close one, in stark contrast though, Chicago is just at the start of their rebuild and only have one top end prospect with Victor von Doom and have set their focus on the S100 draft. With that being said they are more than likely looking at one of the top 3 defenseman here as they start their rebuild.

Potential Draft Picks: Titus Cunningham (D), Krister Von Casar Tzesar (D), and Additional Pylons (D – @courtjestr19)

 

Malmo Nighthawks

The Malmo Nighthawks are in a bit of a weird spot, they have 1 truly elite prospect in Cardinal Copia @Beketov, but outside of that they have a bunch of middling prospects and roster players. Prior to Yor Bjorven retiring, this would have 100% been their landing spot, but with them retiring, Malmo likely will be looking at whoever is left of the top 3 defenseman, or Sokolov as they ended up dropping to 4^th overall via the lottery.

Potential Draft Picks: Titus Cunningham (D), Krister Von Casar Tzesar (D), and Additional Pylons (D), and Igor Sokolov (RW – @Kisslinger)

 

Vancouver Wolves

With 2 picks in the top ten the Wolves are likely poised to win this draft and will likely be in kind of a BPA situation in this draft since their window is now and having prospects coming up will help their cap situation. Id’ have them taking a forward and a defenseman to maintain some balance.

5^th: Additional Pylons (D), David David (D – @Knight) and Igor Sokolov (RW)

8^th: Florida Man II (LW – @Florida Man), Boing Boing (RW – @slothfacekilla)

 

Los Angeles Stars

With the 3^rd longest playoff draught in league history, the Stars are in a very difficult spot, they do have two top end defensmen of the future already on their roster, and a future starting goalie with LaFleur. However, Roger Eagles is likely seeing their career tumble down a dark path as the 4^th best goalie in the league only started 50 games last season, and will likely see that number continue to drop unless there is a trade. As for forwards LA has no notable prospects so that will more than likely be their direction here.

Potential Draft Picks: Igor Sokolov (RW), Zara Wolf (C), and Boing Boing (RW)

 

London United

I really like what London is doing, their forward core is young, and does need another top end prospect, and they probably need another defensemen as well, this is likely where their trade from last season as they moved the 3^rd overall pick is haunting them. With their back-to-back selections in this draft they likely try to accomplish this.

6^th/7^th: David David (D), Florida Man II (LW), John Cowgill (C – @FlyingWV), and Zara Wolf (C)

 

HC Davos Dynamo

Similarly to Vancouver, Davos is in their competitive window, however in contrast, they have several top end prospects coming up, all of which are forwards. So, they’ll likely be trying to draft a defensemen at 9^th, but it’s more of a question of if anyone will be left.

Potential Draft Picks: David David (D), and Chase Breeze (D – @C-Breeze)

 

Since I need 125 more words to hit two weeks of claims, here’s how I would rank the top prospects:

1^st – Additional Pylons

2^nd – Krister Von Casar Tzesar

3^rd – Titus Cunningham

4^th – Igor Sokolov

5^th – Zara Wolf

6^th – Boing Boing

7^th – David David

8^th – John Cowgill

9^th – Florida Man II

10^th – Chase Breeze

11^th – Komi Kamal

12^th – Takashi Borisyuk

13^th – Family Mart

14^th – Viener Schnitzel

15^th – Patrick Finnegan

16^th – Roger Lamothe

17^th – Cameron Squires

18^th – Dan Bacle

19^th – Finnegan Tex Simms

20^th – Ivan Grovnikov

 

There you have it, if you have any bold predictions or feedback, please let me know, I think I did a decent job assessing team needs, but we should be in for a weird draft as there’s literally the top 9 players, and then everybody else.

 

1005 words

[Alex 3,383]

claim 2

 

[Florida Man 668]

My unbiased sources tell me Florida Man II is going first overall

[RJMW 174]

Krister top 1!!! Whoever passes on him will regret it for centuries!!!

[C-Breeze 117]

6 hours ago, Florida Man said:

My unbiased sources tell me Florida Man II is going first overall

 

I see what you did there.

 

My totally fictitious sources say he might prefer being drafted to another club!  

[Knight 1,342]

Love some S99 draft hype. 

[FlyingWV 54]

21 hours ago, Alex said:

The Season 99 VHL draft is set to be a weird one, not only is it one of the shallowest draft we’ve seen in a while, there is some bright spots the draft hits a hard wall towards the end of the first round as the quality of players takes a hard nose dive. Today we’re going to take a look at the teams who hold top 10 picks in the draft, their draft targets, and a brief look at their seasons as a whole. To start off, as far as classes go, the start of this draft has 5 defensemen, with all of the top 3 being D, the highest end forward at this point in time is Igor Sokolov who is 30 TPE behind the top 3. We could likely see them jump up the order on draft day if the team selecting 1^st doesn’t need defensemen. As of right now below is the current draft order:

 

1. Chicago Phoenix

2. Warsaw Predators

3. Los Angeles Stars

4. Malmo Nighthawks

5. Vancouver Wolves (via Prague Phantoms)

6. London United (via D.C. Dragons)

7. London United

8. Vancouver Wolves

9. HC Davos Dynamo

10. Los Angeles Stars (via Helsinki Titans)

11. D.C. Dragons (via Seattle Bears)

12. D.C. Dragons (via Toronto Legion)

13-16: TBD

Warsaw Predators

Warsaw was guaranteed a top 2 pick this draft and with 3 selections in the last draft they managed to get a future number 1 defensemen and a top end forward, but after that there isn’t too much. Warsaw is coming off an abysmal season which at this point of their rebuild is reasonable. Warsaw is likely to go off the board a bit with their pick since they do have a top defenseman already and could very well reach to get a top center to go alongside Kovar since Trokker has fallen off. Otherwise, they could very well take the top defensemen to have a true powerhouse top 2 D in a few seasons

Potential Draft Picks: Zara Wolf (C – @Banackock), Titus Cunningham (D – @thadthrasher), and Krister Von Casar Tzesar (D – @Komrad)

 

Chicago Phoenix

Chicago had a very similar season to Warsaw, as the race for last was a close one, in stark contrast though, Chicago is just at the start of their rebuild and only have one top end prospect with Victor von Doom and have set their focus on the S100 draft. With that being said they are more than likely looking at one of the top 3 defenseman here as they start their rebuild.

Potential Draft Picks: Titus Cunningham (D), Krister Von Casar Tzesar (D), and Additional Pylons (D – @courtjestr19)

 

Malmo Nighthawks

The Malmo Nighthawks are in a bit of a weird spot, they have 1 truly elite prospect in Cardinal Copia @Beketov, but outside of that they have a bunch of middling prospects and roster players. Prior to Yor Bjorven retiring, this would have 100% been their landing spot, but with them retiring, Malmo likely will be looking at whoever is left of the top 3 defenseman, or Sokolov as they ended up dropping to 4^th overall via the lottery.

Potential Draft Picks: Titus Cunningham (D), Krister Von Casar Tzesar (D), and Additional Pylons (D), and Igor Sokolov (RW – @Kisslinger)

 

Vancouver Wolves

With 2 picks in the top ten the Wolves are likely poised to win this draft and will likely be in kind of a BPA situation in this draft since their window is now and having prospects coming up will help their cap situation. Id’ have them taking a forward and a defenseman to maintain some balance.

5^th: Additional Pylons (D), David David (D – @Knight) and Igor Sokolov (RW)

8^th: Florida Man II (LW – @Florida Man), Boing Boing (RW – @slothfacekilla)

 

Los Angeles Stars

With the 3^rd longest playoff draught in league history, the Stars are in a very difficult spot, they do have two top end defensmen of the future already on their roster, and a future starting goalie with LaFleur. However, Roger Eagles is likely seeing their career tumble down a dark path as the 4^th best goalie in the league only started 50 games last season, and will likely see that number continue to drop unless there is a trade. As for forwards LA has no notable prospects so that will more than likely be their direction here.

Potential Draft Picks: Igor Sokolov (RW), Zara Wolf (C), and Boing Boing (RW)

 

London United

I really like what London is doing, their forward core is young, and does need another top end prospect, and they probably need another defensemen as well, this is likely where their trade from last season as they moved the 3^rd overall pick is haunting them. With their back-to-back selections in this draft they likely try to accomplish this.

6^th/7^th: David David (D), Florida Man II (LW), John Cowgill (C – @FlyingWV), and Zara Wolf (C)

 

HC Davos Dynamo

Similarly to Vancouver, Davos is in their competitive window, however in contrast, they have several top end prospects coming up, all of which are forwards. So, they’ll likely be trying to draft a defensemen at 9^th, but it’s more of a question of if anyone will be left.

Potential Draft Picks: David David (D), and Chase Breeze (D – @C-Breeze)

 

Since I need 125 more words to hit two weeks of claims, here’s how I would rank the top prospects:

1^st – Additional Pylons

2^nd – Krister Von Casar Tzesar

3^rd – Titus Cunningham

4^th – Igor Sokolov

5^th – Zara Wolf

6^th – Boing Boing

7^th – David David

8^th – John Cowgill

9^th – Florida Man II

10^th – Chase Breeze

11^th – Komi Kamal

12^th – Takashi Borisyuk

13^th – Family Mart

14^th – Viener Schnitzel

15^th – Patrick Finnegan

16^th – Roger Lamothe

17^th – Cameron Squires

18^th – Dan Bacle

19^th – Finnegan Tex Simms

20^th – Ivan Grovnikov

 

There you have it, if you have any bold predictions or feedback, please let me know, I think I did a decent job assessing team needs, but we should be in for a weird draft as there’s literally the top 9 players, and then everybody else.

 

1005 words

 

Reviewing Draft Needs: I found this article really helpful, and am somewhat suprised to see that my player John Cowgill is in the top 10 prospects, which is nice to see. I would love to end up in London, so I do hope this article's predictions play out, pretty neat to see the inner workings of the VHL clubs and what they need and where they are lealing going with their drafts. If I go top 10 in this draft i'll be very happy with that outcome, all though I can tell it'll be towards the bottom, as defense seems to be the priority for most teams. Also Zara slot's ahead of me as the first C off the board, which makes sense, I am a bit newer to the league, a little hard to catch up to the vet's that are eligible for this draft. So far I've max earned every week since joining, and I fully intend to keep max earning going forward, so in my humble opinion I do think i'll offer value towards the end of the top 10 picks. I loved the article, 10/10 for sure. Keep up the good work on disecting the thoughts of the big clubs.