Claimed: Off-Season of Question Marks? [1/2]

[Frank 5,209]

Off-Season of Question Marks?

 

This article may be a bit premature since the VHL finals and VHLM finals are still on going but I thought it would be best to discuss some of the topics facing each VHL team going into the Season 57 Off-Season. Right now there are a lot of teams on the cusp of being competitive and some still in the middle stages of their rebuilds. As far as fading veteran teams I would put Helsinki, Quebec and Riga all in that category while still having a decent few players in their primes. 

 

 

In Season 56 Quebec finally won their first championship in 21 seasons. After two straight finals appearances. They're in the thick of it again currently tied 2-2 in the finals versus the Reign.  

 

 

Calgary Wranglers

The Wranglers may be the most intriguing team this off-season as GM Austin Gow is stepping down and it's uncertain who will be taking over for him if anyone. There is also talk of the VHL contracting at some point in the future. So unless someone steps up they may be a candidate to be contracted to the dismay of older members who refuse to take leadership roles. As far as their roster goes they have a nice mix of prime players but maybe a few too many inactive tweeners at this point. I would expect Calgary to have to make another bold move to separate themselves in the North America conference. They also have question marks with their current roster as Jacob @Higgins, Felix Savard and Luca Volkov @Kyle are all unsigned and potential UFAs. 

 

Verdict: A rebuild may be the best chance for the future of this franchise, I suspect they would of been much more competitive the past four seasons had they not made that trade with Helsinki. 

 

New York Americans

Lead by Ike Arkander the Americans boast one of the most impressive young cores in the VHL. At this stage they are just beginning to form what many expect to be another ultra competitive roster much like we saw in the days Chris Miller was GM. New York will see continued develop from Casey Jones @der meister, Sergei Komarov @Gooningitup and Arkander. As well as improvement from prospects such as Launchpad McQuack. Fujimoto will provide leadership until the team becomes competitive again. Can Vince Wong @STZ continue to stock pile assets or will his need to be competitive cause him to fast track his rebuild? After all New York much like Davos owns a wealth of quality draft picks. 

 

Verdict: Stand pat and allow the young guys to develop and grow as team. Use picks to compliment the core when they're ready. 

 

Quebec City Meute

In an off-season where GM Frank Chadwick flipped John Locke, Fook Yu and several first rounders for retiring forward Diana Maxwell @Strtlght, veteran Lee King Snatch @Smarch, Pablo @Kesler and rookie Keaton Louth @Beaviss. Quebec's biggest issue was exposed, by loading up and running the pay roll straight to the cap ceiling Quebec had no room and thus had trouble scoring all season long. They stole 1st place in the NA riding the coattails of Apollo Skye. Quebec will lose Pierre Gaudette and Diana Maxwell to retirement. Quebec's GM has been unpredictable at times in his tenure but the sense is after signing free agent goalie Marcel St-Laurent that they may be rebuilding. 

 

Verdict: Quebec needs a rebuild, waiting may cause them to fall into the Calgary, Cologne or Stockholm purgatory. Some in Quebec feel as though Skye @Velevra and Jokinen @jRuutu deserve one more shot at a cup though. 

 

Seattle Bears

After an off-season in which GM Blake Campbell @Banackock attempted to re-shape the roster by acquiring reigning Playoff MVP Fook Yu @tfong and center Peter Quill @Green. His team started off the season blazing out of the gates but leveled off and eventually fell flat. Another playoff miss will cause some around the league to question the moves made but the foundation is there and I think a strong off season should push them back into the playoffs and easily into contention for the Continental Cup. With McAllister @CowboyinAmerica leading the way the time to win is now.

 

Verdict: Buy buy buy. Avoid rentals and depreciating players. Continue to compliment the players acquired the season previous. 

 

Toronto Legion

The Legion have been a fairly quiet team in recent seasons as GM Travis Boychuk @DollarAndADream looks to build from within without hurting the future of the franchise. They acquired Guntis Petenis which was likely what allowed them to earn a spot in the Semi Finals. But he has retired and Toronto has a lot of holes on their roster. They have stars in Boeser, Sokolov @Beketov and Ironside. But perhaps too many complimentary players. It may be time for Travis to step up and move some futures to put his team over the top. With how weak the Season 58 and Season 59 drafts appear to be, now may be the best time to do it. 

 

Verdict: Buyer, might have to lose some depth to improve the top line talent of the team. 

 

Cologne Express

Under new leadership in Chris Miller @ADV the Express have begun a full fledged rebuild and have very nice pieces in Shawn Brodeur @TheLastOlympian07 and at center in Chase Keller @Kendrick. With not much in the way of trade-able assets it will be an off season of wait and see in Cologne as the rebuild chugs along. Much like New York they should probably continue to draft players and let them develop but may need to wait a bit longer to move picks to compliment the core they form. 

 

Verdict: Make picks and move veteran players when possible.  

 

Davos Dynamo

A season removed from a finals loss to the Quebec City Meute. Davos' new GM Tyler Owens @Tyler has turned over the roster and began a full fledged rebuild to put his stamp on the team. Davos much like the other rebuilding teams is in a wait and see mode as their prospects and draft picks come to fruition. Jeff Gow @Fire Hakstol and Ko Kane @BluObieZ are already making impacts in the VHL but prospects like Matt Denning @jvd and Burger King will need more seasoning (no punt intended). They do however have some prime trade candidates in Diego Jokinen @Ahma and Rhett Degrath. 

 

Verdict: Sell off Degrath and Jokinen and continue developing young talent and making most of draft selections. 

 

Helsinki Titans

Helsinki has been fairly quiet the past two off seasons but with new leadership emerging in Benoit Prevost @boubabi as he seemingly takes the reigns from Mitch Higgins @Higgins. It will be interesting to see which path he takes with the Titans. As many have seen them as underachievers these past two seasons after winning back to back Continental Cups. Prevost much like Chadwick has been unpredictable at times but he also has a level head and looks to get the most out of any deal he makes. Helsinki has a nice mix of up and coming players in Jack Sheppard and Ay Ay Ron as well as talented veterans like Schmeckeldorf @Corco, Moon @KGR and Cornerstone.

 

Verdict: Look to acquire improvement where possible or gut the roster and begin a rebuild. I think Helsinki still has enough life out of this core to continue being competitive. But a rebuild may allow them a better opportunity at a cup again the future. 

 

Riga Reign

After going from a team with seemingly no direction to a team with Continental Cup aspirations GM Benjamin Zeptenbergs @hedgehog337 should be a applaud. He continued to add onto the pieces he acquire from New York to off-seasons ago and we expect more of the same this off-season. I don't think a Cup win will change their plans moving forward as they hope to get the most out of King, Shankly @Phil, Krigars and Bogdanovic @Jonessee27. They should continue to boast one of the deepest teams in the VHL next season. I do believe they will need to replace Essian Ravenwing if they want to continue to dominate as they did in Season 57. 

 

Verdict: Continue bolstering line-up but with an eye to the future. 

 

Stockholm Vikings

After Chris Miller tried a quick turn around with the Vikings and it failed in almost shocking fashion as they dominated the regular season and came crashing down in the playoffs. GM Tyler Barabash @Bushito has taken over and stripped the roster. With the rebuild under way I see a core that mirrors New York with a strong presence in net in Norris Stropko, as well as a talented defense in Boner and Johnsson @Quik. Again much like New York they should continue to develop their core and make improvements without affecting the future of what they've built already. 

 

Verdict: Make draft choices and sell off veteran players when possible. Some more growing pains are expecting see Davos and New York. 

 

 

What are your predictions for this off-season? Comment below. 

 

 

Claiming for Marcel St-Laurent weeks of Nov. 27 - Dec. 3, Dec. 4 - 10, Dec. 11 - 17.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Frank

[Gooningitup 1,290]

Wonder who will step up for Gow and Calgary 

[boubabi 4,725]

I'm not the gm tho

[Frank 5,209]

Just now, boubabi said:

I'm not the gm tho

It's a GM facade. 

[hedgehog337 3,483]

11 minutes ago, Frank said:

What are your predictions for this off-season? Comment below. 

 

Will do actually lol. 

 

Calgary - competing again, it's not like it will be hard to re-sign all these potential FA's

NY - compete due to having Fujimoto there. 

Quebec - done. 

Seattle - competing. They need a good goalie though to achieve a success. 

Toronto - what Frank said. 

 

Cologne - rebuild

Davos - might compete due to having DeGrath on roster and having 88 first picks. Depends on Helsinki.

Helsinki - it will be hard to replace Axelsson and bring some depth too, but not impossible. Still think they're out. 

Riga - compete. 

Stockholm - rebuild. 

 

6 minutes ago, Gooningitup said:

Wonder who will step up for Gow and Calgary 

 

[Gooningitup 1,290]

1 hour ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

Will do actually lol. 

 

Calgary - competing again, it's not like it will be hard to re-sign all these potential FA's

NY - compete due to having Fujimoto there. 

Quebec - done. 

Seattle - competing. They need a good goalie though to achieve a success. 

Toronto - what Frank said. 

 

Cologne - rebuild

Davos - might compete due to having DeGrath on roster and having 88 first picks. Depends on Helsinki.

Helsinki - it will be hard to replace Axelsson and bring some depth too, but not impossible. Still think they're out. 

Riga - compete. 

Stockholm - rebuild. 

 

 

 

Unsure of what that meme is if its intreged or scared lol

[hedgehog337 3,483]

2 minutes ago, Gooningitup said:

 

Unsure of what that meme is if its intreged or scared lol

 

*intrigued

[Gooningitup 1,290]

1 minute ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

*intrigued

 

Sorry my english still is not perfect

[hedgehog337 3,483]

2 minutes ago, Gooningitup said:

 

Sorry my english still is not perfect

 

Neither is my English. Btw, my previous post was an answer too. 

Edited December 3, 2017 by hedgehog337

[BOOM 8,745]

Nice read Frank. I always like GM insight and thoughts.

[Kesler 1,514]

Real question should be, who gets Gaudettes stall?

Edited December 3, 2017 by Kesler

[Ahma 1,428]

Kindly asking you to frick off, let's make it clear:

 

I'M. NOT. LEAVING. DAVOS.

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Ahma

[Frank 5,209]

12 hours ago, Ahma said:

Kindly asking you to frick off, let's make it clear:

 

I'M. NOT. LEAVING. DAVOS.

 

Calm down Satan.

[Ahma 1,428]

13 hours ago, Frank said:

Calm down Satan.

NO

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

Great read, this was very interesting and well thought out and covered every team. It was well written and I loved that you gave every team a big question they had to answer. It was interesting to see how it all played out after Contraction. Good job Frank