Claimed: The best 14th picks from S31.

[hedgehog337 3,483]

 

*Who said being a second round pick isn't cool?*

 

 

I always like to brag about Benjamin Zeptenbergs and him being such a steal who was a part of the three-peat Toronto, the first and only of it's kind despite Zep was playing only two seasons here. Which leads into a question - was there even more successful and better 14th pick in the VHL history? I'm sure the answer is yes, so I decided to look at post-expansion drafts to not being too disappointed. Let's go.

 

 

S31 - Lucas Smith, drafted by Helsinki. There was one another Lucas Smith from the first days of VHL's existence and he was a massive steal. But that's not the case for the S31 Lucas Smith. Perhaps he never even made it into the VHL league with 170 something TPE.

S32 - Sasha Stepanov, drafted by Cologne. He was a decent VHLM player, not more. Benjamin is smiling so far.

S33 - Evgeny Namestnikov, drafted by Toronto. Now that's a first notable player on this list. And the return of @FBR only fits so well. He was a S37 champion with Toronto and even if he wasn't more successful than Zeptenbergs, he at least was on same level.

S34 - Que Cumberbatch, drafted by Quebec. This is definitely not the best player @Munk has ever created. I doubt this player was playing in VHL as well.

S35 - Queen Latifa, drafted by Toronto. Was active at some point, but not for a long time. 150 something TPE, nuff said.

S36 - Stelio Kontos, drafted by Cologne. @Hybrid1486 had much better players than this forever VHLM player.

S37 - Penis Anthony Doubligné (Hudson), drafted by Toronto. As much as Hybrid, the Kenny avatar lover @Zero had better guys in early VHL days. But at least Penis made it into the VHL league.

S38 - Percy Miller, drafted by Quebec. I think Coach D had a player with the same name in SBA? I can't say VHL's Percy was spectacular, but at least he has a S40 cup and 200 or so TPE, so he's not a completely bust.

S39 - Mike McGrattan, drafted by Calgary. Nothing special, forever VHLM player.

S40 - Christoph Klose, drafted by New York. I think he is one of the best, if not a best 14th pick in the VHL history. That draft was pretty much stacked, but @der meister still was overlooked. Good for New York as he helped them with chansing the Cup in S41. Also, Klose managed to win two more cups in Helsinki in S45-46 period. The stats are telling an entire story - nobody can touch him at this point.

S41 - Brandon Holmes, drafted by Quebec. He was somewhat a decent depth, he even managed to win the Victory Cup and NA cup. He never was something more than a bottom depth, but not a bust either.

S42 - you know who, drafted by Toronto. NEXT!

S43 - Josh Merica, drafted by Riga. Merica is a well-known sim league member, but this player was a letdown. Just a VHLM player, nothing more.

S44 - Lenny Face, drafted by New York. That wasn't a mediocre player even by @Edgar's standarts. A quite decent VHLM goalie, that's it.

S45 - Ethan Henderson, drafted by Helsinki. Even Kachur II is better than Ethan ever was. Nuff said.

S46 - Jon Panik, drafted by Stockholm. Right now @Kyle is having a solid depth in Luca Volkov, but in S46 he had another def player who was totally worse. A failed attempt to make a comeback, I'd say.

S47 - Kasey Morgan, drafted by New York. Klose in S40 was a much better case for NY than this. Forever VHLM player.

S48 - Pavel Varushkin, drafted by Toronto. @GoodLeftUndone just can't make at least a bottom depth player in VHL. This player also was a failure.

S49 - Sebastian Laine, drafted by Davos. And another player who did nothing.

S50 - Elias Forsberg, drafted by Seattle. Same thing as previous players from S43.

 

 

The next season's 14th picks also aren't the future of VHL, so I'll stop here. So what we have at end of the day? Klose is above everybody all day all night with Zeptenbergs and Namestnikov being decent steals as well. Brandon Holmes and Precy Miller are also notable not-a-bust type players.

 

 

That's it and I'm out.

 

 

6+3(?) TPE goes to Krīgars.

[Gudnason 607]

Rask Rowe kicking ass in Vegas