VHLM Mock Draft

[Gudnason 607]

The S54 VHLM Dispersal Draft is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, the day after the S54 VHL Entry Draft. Now would be a good time for a VHLM mock draft, as everyone else has been doing VHL mock drafts for the past week or two.

 

1st overall pick – Las Vegas Aces, from Bratislava Watchmen @BobertZ @Frank

With goalie Vernon Von Axelberry being the newly relocated team’s only notable asset at the time, the shocking news of Ko Kane’s age fabrication must be a major blow to Vegas’ champion aspirations. The stay-at-home defenseman will actually not be eligible to be drafted by a VHLM team until the S56 VHLM Dispersal Draft. Expected to take two highly sought after forwards with the top two picks in the draft, I now see Las Vegas taking Felix Savard first overall. Positional needs and player talent aside, having one of the VHLM co-commissioners on his team must undoubtedly be Robbie Zimmers’ secret weapon and “devious plan” that he has been relentlessly preaching as of late.

 

With the Aces currently having three of the top four picks in the draft, we could see a similar photo being taken quite early.

 

2nd overall pick – Las Vegas Aces @Smarch

The elite forwards in this draft class are too good and I can’t possibly see Zimmers picking Lyle Smallwood, yet another defenseman so early. Having said that, after having grabbed Savard first overall, I see Vegas taking the only decent left wing prospect, Rusty Trombone, second overall. The defensive-minded forward put in 11 points in 27 games for Brampton last year with limited ice time. Handed the keys to the first line and surrounded by decent talent, I see Trombone breaking out in a big way this year.

 

3rd overall pick – Oslo Storm @Bushito @gregreg

Oslo also do not have any noteworthy prospects retained from last season, as players such as Toor Diamond, Kai Abendroth, and Riley Harper are all second-tier forwards. Having said that, second-tier forwards are better than no forwards, and therefore I see the Storm taking Lyle Smallwood with the third overall pick. This two-way defenseman put up an incredible 32 points in 23 games for the Yukon Rush last season having been surrounded by talent with Yukon gearing for a Founder’s Cup run. Smallwood will be tasked with being the leader on this Oslo Storm team, and while his numbers will undoubtedly drop, his importance to Oslo cannot be understated.

 

4th overall pick – Las Vegas Aces, from Saskatoon Wild @DollarAndADream

With already their third pick of this young draft, I predict that Las Vegas will snag free-scoring rookie center Bo Boeser here. He is the only center worth mentioning in this draft at this point, and having drafted both the top center and left winger available, this could be the start of the end for the other four teams.

 

5th overall pick – Saskatoon Wild, from Brampton Blades

 

 

6th overall pick – Oslo Storm, from Yukon Rush

 

 

7th overall pick – Ottawa Lynx

 

 

The rest of the draft…

8th - Las Vegas

9th - Oslo

10th - Las Vegas, from Brampton

11th - Saskatoon, from Yukon
12th - Las Vegas, from Ottawa

13th - Las Vegas, from Bratislava

14th - Las Vegas

15th - Oslo

16th - Saskatoon

17th - Las Vegas, from Brampton

18th - Saskatoon, from Yukon
19th - Ottawa

 

 

While the draft class this year seems to be comparatively weaker than recent years, there are still numerous steals to be had. Keep in mind there could be a couple of elite prospects announcing their eligibility at the eleventh hour after they have been passed over in the VHL Entry Draft (read: S47 players retiring at preseason and recreating).

Edited April 2, 2017 by punkhippie

[Gudnason 607]

I know this isn't finished, but I'm just posting on the computer for formatting. I'm going to work now and will slowly chug away at it on mobile.

[Gudnason 607]

@Higgins first few paragraphs and conclusion already 464 words, so 3 TPE bonus please. I could just rename this MS as my pick for top three picks, but I want do the one and only VHLM mock as well.