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Claimed:I could be a total dick if I wanted to


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Well, we’ve got ourselves quite a situation now haven’t we? Fresh off a 100 plus point season which ranked him fifth in the VHL in points, Edwin Reencarnacion will be hoping to finally put forward an acceptable playoff performance for the New York Americans. However, looking a bit further ahead lies a much more interesting situation, his expiring contract and with it his impending entrance into free agency. Now, let’s be clear right off the bat, it’s pretty much set in stone that Reencarnacion will re-sign with the New York Americans when they eventually offer him an extension. But let’s just take a second to ponder how much of a glorious dickhead I could become by joining another team in Free Agency. I mean think about this for a second; I’ve pretty much been guaranteed full control of the Americans once Chris Miller steps down from the role, I was their first overall pick in Season 44 and I am not only currently the team’s best performing player but also their best player in terms of TPE and TPA. Could you imagine how they would feel if they lost me for absolutely nothing? Let’s have a look at the three teams that would make the best stories if I were to join them in Free Agency:

 

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Stockholm

 

Stockholm have had a rough go of things over the last two seasons. Despite having several high quality players on their roster (such as Jerrick Poole, Lord Karnage and Jody 3 Moons), they’ve found themselves lacking the necessary depth required to compete with the other teams in the European Conference. One big reason for their failings this season was the loss of goalie Blake Campbell in Free Agency to the New York Americans, and it’s that transaction that would make a move for Edwin that much more entertaining. When Blake Campbell entered Free Agency, there were initially plans for a sign and trade deal to take Campbell to the Americans. However, the general managers of the two teams failed to reach a deal as the Americans were not prepared to give two first round selections and a second round selection for a player who actually was not under contract. With no trade options available, Campbell decided to instead join the Americans in Free Agency, leaving the Vikings without a goalie. As a result of this transaction, future trades between the two teams seem to be out of the question due to the Vikings annoyance that the Americans talked with Campbell about joining the team in Free Agency without a trade taking place, although the general consensus is that the Vikings got what they deserved by attempting to use intimidation tactics in order to have Campbell agree to a sign and trade when he wasn’t under any legal obligation to do so.

 

So could you imagine if arguably the Americans greatest player right now moved between the same teams for the same price but in the opposite direction? I don’t think Chris would be particularly happy if I moved to any team in Free Agency, but I think he’d be most pissed off if I joined Stockholm solely because of the relations between the two teams based on what happened last offseason. Also, funnily enough I explicitly told Chris that if I were to leave Americans one day, it would be through a sign and trade deal, so the comparison to the Campbell saga is very much real! It would be likely though that such a move would continue to be of little benefit to Stockholm or Reencarnacion. One of the team’s main problems is their high salary-per-player count, so paying Reencarnacion $4.5 Million per year would leave even less room for the team to sign the depth they need to compete.

 

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Seattle

 

Seattle endured an expectedly difficult Season 46, picking up just 4 wins in the entire season which is the least number of wins a team has had in a season since we made the transition to the current board in Season 35. Seattle’s rebuild has been one of the slower ones, as this makes the third consecutive season that they’ve missed the playoffs (the longest active streak in the VHL) and that run could continue a little while longer depending on whether the team can acquire a goalie in the near future. However, to see what would make a signing to Seattle so interesting, we have to go back even further than their last playoff appearance to Season 42. After numerous previous activity problems, a failure to offer his draftees any entry level contracts prior to the start of Season 42 saw then Seattle GM Tyler Barabash set to lose his job, with the VHL administration hoping to replace him with someone who could more reliably complete GM activities. While Barabash would end up staying on as GM after a strong show of support from his Seattle colleagues, the original plan was for Ron Dayne III to take over the Bears GM role, which would see Edwin Encarnacion (then in his final year) join the Bears as the team’s franchise player. Ultimately, after only one more season, the same activity issues that plagued Barabash earlier came back once again and it was made clear that Season 43 would be his last as Seattle Bears GM. By the point that the hunt for a new General Manager for the Bears went underway, the now named Reencarnacion had found himself as a lock for first overall in a weak draft class, meaning that the New York Americans (who held the first overall pick) were going to demand a lot of compensation for any transition to the Bears, effectively ending any hopes for Ron Dayne III to take over the job he had been pencilled in for in Season 42.

 

At least had Reencarnacion joined the team as the Bears franchise player in Season 44, the Americans could have gotten a lot of compensation, but we now theoretically have a situation where he could join the Bears for absolutely nothing (albeit without Ron Dayne III as his General Manager)!

 

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Quebec City

 

After making the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, the Meute failed to make the playoffs this season which ended the longest active playoff streak in the VHL. The way this happened though came under a lot of scrutiny; while already in a playoff position they released three inactive players, signed a free agent with no TPE/TPA and traded one of their better performing players for a third round selection. As these moves led to the Meute dropping out of the playoffs and allowed the rebuilding Toronto Legion into the playoffs for the first time since Season 43, some VHL critics have accused the Meute of “tanking” in an effort to get an opportunity to draft consensus first overall selection for the Season 47 Draft Jon Sleeman, with some even asking for action to be taken against Quebec for it. In truth, while I can get the potential frustration that Toronto might have, I feel this would only warrant a punishment if every team went actively out of their way to compete, which clearly (looking back at VHL seasons gone past) is not the case. In addition, I think the fact that players may be more hesitant to joining a team in Free Agency that actively stopped themselves from competing is punishment enough, because nobody really wants to join a team that isn’t trying.

 

So wouldn’t it be great if Edwin Reencarnacion just came in with this pro-tank mentality and joined the Meute? Not only could this be considered a slap in the face to those who’ve actively tried to stay competitive even during rebuilds, it also sends Reencarnacion to a rival North American conference team that could end up challenging just as the Americans are entering their prime.

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3 minutes ago, Molholt said:

No Toronto? Not even in a hypothetical? 

 

WELL OK THEN

I'd say on the dick-move rankings, Toronto probably come in at #5, just behind Calgary on the basis of being a North American Conference team, with the edge going to Calgary based on them currently having a goalie.

22 minutes ago, XaviYEAH! Woods said:

I'd say on the dick-move rankings, Toronto probably come in at #5, just behind Calgary on the basis of being a North American Conference team, with the edge going to Calgary based on them currently having a goalie.

 

You're gonna get the Bret Hart treatment for this. 

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