Christmas Articles

[Christmas 138]

What We Learned: Next Year’s Send-Downs

The Moscow Red Wolves took care of business as most expected, but the time for celebration is quite short, as the VHL draft will be upon us shortly and we will see the VHLM’s top rookies earn a place in the VHL for a number of lucky teams. Some players will remain with their VHL teams, but there will be some who will remain with their VHLM teams for another season. This year has a lot of potential for top send-downs, and it should be very interesting to see how the league plays out with these guys getting a second year to hone their skills for another Founders Cup Run.

There are most likely going to be five players who will be forced to graduate to the VHL. Parechkin, Hackett, Stockton, Muller, and Hamilton. They are close to the talent-level that will prevent teams from even thinking about dropping them back to the VHLM. After that there are a number of high-level talents who could light up the league next season. Sean Blacker, the Irish prodigy who finished with 111 points will need to take the brunt of the work with Parechkin and Hamilton gone. Thankfully he has Jordan Maverick to help him out, the forward who scored 90 points himself with the Royals. Olivia Diamond will need to make some big improvements going into next season, finishing with a putrid 38 points on the Storm. World B. Free will be a big contributor for the champion Red Wolves next season, as his rookie year saw him score 101 points. After that you got guys like Jory Rose, Niels Skovsgard, Leandre St. Pierre, and Mathieu Baptiste who are almost expected to do some great things in their second VHLM seasons. That isn’t even including the late-bloomers who will surprise all of us and turn the VHLM into a great league to watch.

All in all, there are a good number of talents who should be returning to the VHLM after being drafted, which is a great sight to see. Not only does it mean there is some growth in the VHL in general, but it also means the VHLM will be getting back to the seasons where there was competition all across the board. That is something it needs desperately.

What we Learned:

Bern Royals: Lots of talent on the roster, but could not convert it to a Founders Cup. With some of their top talent leaving for the VHL, it will be even harder for them to win it all. Expect a trade out of them very soon if they are in the contending mood. 

Brampton Blades: Unfortunately, they were dominated by the Red Wolves in a quick four game series, and I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised. 

Bratislava Watchmen: Apparently Sir William Covington bought an island. Not sure how he was able to do that on VHLM salary, but one would think he would be more concerned about his team’s lack of compete last season.

Moscow Red Wolves: After drubbing the competition all playoffs, St. Pierre seems to be looking for some relaxation heading into the draft. He and his teammates could dominate next year if he keeps training.

Oslo Storm: Apparently Olivia Diamond is a big Pokemon fan. Honestly, I didn’t even know Pokemon was still a thing. Interesting.

Ottawa Lynx: This team needs the dispersal draft badly.

Saskatoon Wild: Some wonder if Jonathan Killeen is worth the risk going into the VHL. Short answer? Absolutely.

Yukon Rush: This team probably needs the dispersal draft more than Ottawa. Holy cow.

[Christmas 138]

What We Learned: New Kids on the Block

The VHLM dispersal draft has come and went, and already we are starting to see which new faces are going to potentially make an impact in the VHLM next season. The first overall pick was a surprise to some, but a pick the Lynx organization felt they needed to make in Atticus Von Braxton IV, their next big goalie for the upcoming season. Jeff Hamilton, arguably the best player of the draft came in at second overall, and has demonstrated he wants to be the next Brampton all-star in S46. Ottawa picked again and grabbed LeAndre St. Pierre, one of the most prolific wingers in the league. Another RW in Pete Stockton was grabbed by Brampton, this one with scoring as a premium. Olivia Diamond came in as the second defenseman to be picked, and a very balanced defenseman at that. From there we saw a mix of wingers, defensemen, and goaltenders get picked up in the first round with Joel Jarvi, Vincent Virtanen, and Cooper Supernaw picked up.

The second round brought some very big steals, as Ottawa grabbed an up-and-coming David Hamilton to support St. Pierre on the left side. Bratislava snatched up the best center of the draft in Tom Lincoln, one who is incredibly talented on the offensive side of the puck. Ottawa grabbed another winger in Jonathan Stark, and Bratislava picked Bjorn Kobayashi to supplement the offense that is expected to be created by Lincoln. Sir William Covington was potentially the biggest steal of the draft for Saskatoon, however, as he has spent a lot of time in training camp after the draft, putting himself up at a level comparative to the best center Tom Lincoln. After that there were some names who have yet to make a big splash, but could very well be prolific players in the VHLM.

Right now, it is very hard to determine who a winner is, but as it stands the real winners are the fans. There is a lot of talent in this draft, and including those who are going to be sent down from last year there will be a ton of talent to go around between all the teams in the league. It is going to be a great year in the VHLM and these young bucks are the reason why.

What we Learned:

Bern Royals: After missing out on their chance for the Founder’s Cup, the Royals were able to convert their two first round picks into some decent talent. Olivia Diamond (formerly of the Oslo Storm) should be a big contributor early.

Brampton Blades: With their cup run, they added some big talents to help them do it once again. They are a big threat to make it to the finals once again. 

Bratislava Watchmen: Tom Lincoln could be the best player of the draft when all is said and done, but not a lot of high-profile picks, which makes us wonder what is going on in Bratislava with their rebuilding process.

Moscow Red Wolves: As expected, Moscow made absolutely no noise in the draft. They should be okay with that considering they destroyed everyone in the playoffs.

Oslo Storm: No picks and no noise in the playoffs last season. Oslo may be looking at a real difficult season if Bratislava can get their act together in any capacity.

Ottawa Lynx: As I said before, they needed this dispersal draft very badly. With some new blood injected in the locker room, they should get some life going on to potentially make a run in a year or two.

Saskatoon Wild: Sir William Covington has put his island up for sale after finding out he has been taken by the Wild in the dispersal draft. Must be hard to deal with something like that after all the work he put in with the Watchmen.

Yukon Rush: Congrats on Chris Fekete in the draft. Oh, wait. He was a late second rounder? And how did your team do last season? I’m not even mad. That’s amazing.