Claimed: Rebuilt Riga looking to move forward

[Tyler 885]

 

Riga Reign on the path to a greener pastures?

 

It's been a busy few days for the entire league but specifically for the Riga Reign of the European Conference. They have made some moves that put them immediately in to contention in that conference while also retaining their key young pieces. The first major move was with the Americans on Tuesday night. 

 

To Riga:

Phil Shankly

Essian Ravenwing

Bobby Digital

MT Power

 

To NYA:

S56 Rig 1st (3rd OV)

S57 Rig 1st

S58 Rig 1st

Ilya Kopralkov

 

Riga added three key pieces as well as one of the best backup goalies in the league while sacraficing the third overall pick this year, their first next year, the year after that and their previous backup Ilya Korpalkov. It remains a risky trade since their division is so heavily stacked with two contending teams, but what is life without some risk? You can't waste your window in the VHL and sometimes you need to make risky moves to break the window wide open. Most importantly though, the Reign were able to bust the window open without giving up prized prospects Slava Aleksei or Niko Bogdanovic, both of whom are ready to make the jump to the big leagues this year. This is likely a win-win move as New York gets themselves three solid shots at drafting a big name prospect and should speed up their rebuild considerably. For the Reign, they add a superstar number one defenseman, a great winger with still some years left in the tank who is likely to reach his peak in Latvia, while also adding number one centre Essian Ravenwing, a centre who will man the number one line. Needless to say, Riga have already put a dent in the predictions of a Davos Helsinki rematch in the Euro conference finals. They may not be favorited to make it there, but Riga will make it a hell of a struggle for whichever team they wind up facing.

 

To 

 

Luigi De Rossi

 

To 

 

S58 RIG 2nd

 

Riga made another move which seems like an easy decision for them. They added something they needed badly, a depth forward, while only sacrificing a second rounder in a future draft. De Rossi is not the best player, but for the price, it seems like a no brainer to pick up a player who can chip in 30 or 40 points while helping to stabilize the offense.

 

 

To 

 

Rights to RFA: Rudy Ying

 

To 

 

S57 HSK 1st

 

Arguably the most surprising move was trading away last year's first round draft choice Rudy Ying to rivals Helsinki for a Season 57 draft pick. The pick will likely be low although the Season 57 draft is looking like one hell of a draft, which means moving out the headache Ying for what could be a solid prospect is a good move. The draft pick could also be another bargaining chip for the team to use heading in to the season and the closer we get to the trade deadline the more valuable it could become. 

 

Time will tell how good Riga is exactly. They likely will finish in either the third or second place in Europe this year, but it can come down to a bounce here or there come the playoffs. Adding a stud number one defender was probably the biggest need for the team, and although Bobby Digital is reaching the end of his great career, he should offer one year of a stable veteran force on a young blue line. Adding two top line forwards to a young team should also make the team in to a force to be reckoned with, and not to be taken lightly.

 

Roster as of today:

 

Phil Shankly - Essian Ravenwing - Luigi De Rossi

???? - Fredinamijs Krigars- Slava Aleksei

 

Bobby Digital - Niko Bogdanovic

Alexander Thrower - ????

 

Markus King

MT Power

 

 

[Da Trifecta 1,902]

Good luck this season bud

[Gudnason 607]

33 minutes ago, KGR said:

Good luck this season bud

 

Yes indeed.

 

Axelsson - Cornerstone - Schmeckeldorf

Jenkins - Shepherd/Ying - Zayn/Dortch

Klingberg - Barnyashev

Ron

Moon