Claimed:Evaluating the Draft Stock of a Backup Goalie

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I was going to say that Edwin Threencarnacion will wrote the book on how to be a backup goalie, but apparently it was Jake Maddox

 

Heading into what is probably the most anticipated draft since the Season 40 Draft that saw active players drafted as late as the third round, the Season 52 Draft looks to be stacked with lots of promising young talent after seasons of somewhat underwhelming draft classes. However, one player in particular has added a little more intrigue to the draft by declaring that he will refuse to start any more than eight games. Edwin Threencarnacion was originally slated to enter the league as a center, but under persuasion from his then GM Ron Dayne III, he agreed to move to goalie in order to fill a void for the team. However, with Dayne stepping down from the role of GM for the New York Americans, Threencarnacion is no longer tied to the franchise meaning he will enter the Season 52 Draft. Not content with sticking to norms for the position though, Threencarnacion has declared he will only allow teams to use him in a backup capacity, something which has never been openly declared before in VHL history (and if that’s not the case, it’s no longer available to view, so you’re wrong). So what does that mean for the Dominican’s draft prospects?

 

Will GMs ignore Threencarnacion’s demands?

While Threencarnacion has maintained that he will not be willing to start at goalie for any team, there will likely be GM’s who will either attempt to slot him into the starting role without his permission or will attempt to persuade Threencarnacion to change his mind. We’ve already seen something similar in the VHLM Draft as the Oslo Storm bravely elected to draft Threencarnacion third overall despite already stating his intent to become a backup. Luckily, Threencarnacion cares very little about the VHLM and has allowed his VHLM GM to use him as he sees fit, but considering he didn’t state this until after he was drafted, it proves that there are GMs out there who will want to utilize Threencarnacion as a starter regardless of what he’s said to the media.

 

The other factor to consider is whether GM’s will not pay enough attention to be aware of Threencarnacion’s plans. Edwin has no plans to seek out GM’s prior to the draft to remind them of his intentions, so if a GM who isn’t super active misses these articles and does not send Threencarnacion a message stating his interest, there is a chance that we may see him taken earlier than expected just out of a lack of attention being paid by the GM.

 

How many players will stay active prior to the draft?

Considering Threencarnacion could end up playing as little as eight games per season, you would have to assume that if there are active players available ahead of Threencarnacion available to select, regardless of TPE counts heading into the draft, that they will be selected before a backup goalie. With the hype surrounding this draft, you would expect at least ten players to maintain full activity heading into the draft, so it’s difficult to see Threencarnacion selected any earlier than the second round. In addition, there may be some inactive players on the cusp of making the VHL that GM’s may consider ahead of Threencarnacion if GM’s believe they can return them to activity.

 

Prediction

Based on what I’ve written above, I’m going to conclude that Threencarnacion will be my latest drafted player in the VHL (Encarnacion went fifth overall, Reencarnacion first overall) and it shouldn’t even be close. In fact, I am anticipating that my player will not be selected until at least the middle of the second round.

[Jericho 917]

Claimed