Claimed: Trust Toronto's Process

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Just Some Article About Some Things

 

That's another season in the books for Toronto, and the Legion are gearing up to start Season 55 as an up and comer. Season 54 saw a team relying heavily on the shoulders of Torstein Ironside and Roman Sokolov manage to make the playoffs, but only because of the lackluster teams in North America. Ironside and Sokolov had pretty decent rookie seasons in Toronto, and so did Jean-Claude Girard, as far as his practice hours were concerned.

 

Now, this off-season, the Legion added a piece via trade, and managed to take some great up and coming assets out of the draft.

 

The Toronto Legion held both 2nd and 5th overall heading into the S55 VHL Entry Draft, and decided to give up 5th to acquire a more VHL ready player. That player is right winger Verner Reinholdt, who had made it clear he wanted out of the Calgary Wranglers organization. This was somewhat of an easy grab for the Toronto Legion, who will need a winger with a good pedigree heading into the future. Without a whole lot of wingers in the draft with talents like Reinholdt, giving up 5th overall for him was a simple task. Although, they could have had Jake Scheel, who the Wranglers wound up picking at 5th, which was Toronto's intention as well. We will see how these players' careers pan out.

 

Coming in via the GM Player rule, Saskatoon Wild center Bo Boeser also joins the Toronto Legion. This instantly puts Toronto's young offensive core on the map, having a one-two punch of Boeser/Reinholdt right out of the gates. Boeser comes out of the VHLM as one of the league's top 3 players, and was close to winning a championship before losing to the big Las Vegas Aces. It will be interesting to see what kind of offense these two players can provide together. Maybe a Molholt/Parechkin dynamic is hoping for too much, but you cannot stop me from dreaming.

 

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In the draft at 2nd overall, the Legion picked up defenseman Dexter Lane. The player comes from a big player agency, and his commitment has shown to be a 2nd overall type of player. His interest in the Toronto organization also put him right on the radar for the Legion, and after another VHLM season, he will be a great D partner for Roman Sokolov. A lot of people expected to see centerman Rudy Ying go to Toronto at #2, but going with defense is a safe bet too.

 

With their next pick, in the 2nd round, Toronto picked up right winger Daring Do. He will also be spending another season in the minors, but has recently made his claim to be better moving forward. Daring fell off a little bit in the practice area, but wants to do better there, and the Legion feel confident in him. He also is a Saskatoon Wild alumni, just like Boeser, so there is chemistry there. Toronto will surely be watching his progress in the VHLM in Season 55.

 

A late pickup as well is BeanSobie's Ryan Hamilton. If Hamilton can surprise everyone and come back to be an active guy, then Hamilton could be a steal. This would require some persuasion from Toronto brass, but we've seen it done before with Jean-Claude Girard. Although, in Girard's case, it did not last forever, but Travis Boychuk is still confident.

 

Another late pick was Hodor. Nobody is sure who Hodor is, or where he went. Maybe he needed to hold the door, or maybe he is just stumbling around Westeros, but this was always a "take your chances" kind of pick anyhow. Hodor? Hodor.

 

So, with Daring Do and Dexter Lane being promising prospects in the minors, that leaves a core team in the VHL. Bo Boeser, Verner Reinholdt will be up front, while Roman Sokolov will remain the quarterback on the blue line, with JC Girard providing depth. Torstein Ironside will once again hold down the fort, and then a litter of free agent depth pieces will surround them. Another developing season? This is likely, but the Legion could possibly make the playoffs again, and maybe Boeser can surprise with Sokolov and Reinholdt's help to win the rookie trophy.