VHL Insider Trading

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VHL Insider Trading
WRITTEN BY STEVENSTAMKOS91
 
This article series covers the world of VHL transactions. It has been used to discuss potential and past trades, free agent signings, and draft day excitement. This is written by the Magazine staff member who might be connected with the ongoing behind-the-scenes activities in the VHL.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Molholt

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Future Free Agents

Welcome back to another edition of Insider Trading. With the off-season coming to an end the craziest part of the year for player movement is almost over. All the teams have built up their rosters for another campaign for the Continental Cup. It leaves Insider Trading with little content to talk about or to hype up because most of the big moves have already taken place and we will see very limited movement through the season as most teams are close to the league salary cap. This week I will take a very early look at the upcoming free agents for next offseason. Before I start I will say that these players are now in a position to sign a contract extension and it is possible that none of these players could be free agents. I will go through just a few of these free agents this week.

First off there is the Calgary Wranglers and they will have two solid players who could both hit free agency. Pretty much every team in the league would be looking to add Chico Salmon or Felix Zamora because they will both be in their primes and will provide more offensive power for any team. It is more likely that they will resign with Calgary and be traded off for draft picks to help the rebuild before they leave. Sticking with the North American conference we switch over to the Seattle Bears. A possible free agent coming up could be Sergei Brovalenko. I’m not sure how many teams would be interested in adding Brovalenko, but I’m sure at least half the league would make an offer for a player of his caliber. Other Seattle players to look for would be Sebastian Ball Jr. and GIYGAS.

In Toronto there is a possibility that Teemu Lehtinen and Smooth Jive could both test the free agency waters next offseason as well. Realistically there is probably a very small chance of this happening as both have grown into being two of the Legions best forwards. I could only see them testing free agency if there was no cap room left to sign them in Toronto due to them having the rest of the roster already locked up. I’m positive that their general manager would facilitate them and make cap room either way. To round out the North American conference we have New York and Quebec City. New York literally has no players worth mentioning at the moment and Quebec has one player that isn’t already signed for Season 35. Yuri Grigorenko has already gone to free agency two times in his career as he has played seasons in Calgary, Helsinki and Quebec City. Could the Grigorenko sweepstakes open back up this coming off-season?  It is definitely something to keep an eye out for and even if Grigorenko wanted to go back to Quebec it may not be an option as cap space becomes a problem for the Meute. That is just a rough overview of possible free agents for next season and in reality none of these players could actually be unsigned by then.
 

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im a bad person

 

 

LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

 

Hello fellow VHL players I would like to personally welcome you back to Insider Trading. Some of you may know me from around the league as a new guy, but I think my insider knowledge of the general manager’s mind is up to par with anyone else. This week I will just take a general look over the league because it’s been a while and it’s hard to recall a lot of recent events since the S35 doomsday event.

 

In North America is seems that Calgary, Toronto and Quebec City are set with their current rosters. Looking onto the future though, next season there will be a drastic change in the North American conference. Toronto will still have the workhorse in goal with Remy LeBeau, but a large investment of theirs will be retiring and they will have to replace Smooth Jive through internal development or via trade. There is no question that Toronto will still be competing come next season as one player retiring does not set them back too far in terms of the other teams in the league, which could also be taking large hits. A team that is taking more hits than Toronto is Calgary. They are set to lose Labatte, Marcellin and Rybak. These three players are not replaceable unfortunately, which means that Calgary management has to start preparing for a rebuild this off-season. Then we have Seattle who is patiently waiting for their turn to make the playoffs in the competitive conference. They will have to deal with a possible hit if Brovalenko does go to free agency and leaves the franchise. Quebec City may run into a little bit of cap troubles, but their team is still young and they will be a dominant force in North America.

 

In Europe things are much different; we have 2 rebuilding teams that will be looking to start winning a lot of games come Season 36. Vasteras and Davos will have large goals and aspirations next season as they have both built a solid core of players through the draft and trades. Both will have goalies that are developing at an exponential rate and will soon be some of the best in the league as the older tenders retire. Both teams are young and will have the cap space to spend on a big player if any become available in the off-season through free agency or trade. Riga is basically in the same boat, but two to three seasons earlier. They are just starting their rebuild in Season 35 and will likely be looking to lose the majority of their games next season to get back into the VHL draft lottery. Cologne isn’t growing as quickly as Vasteras and Davos, but they have had a head start and will be making it their goal to take a playoff spot in Europe. Helsinki will be getting older, but they have a diverse group of players ranging from S28-S34 draftees. Next season will be a crazy one in Europe, but we still have this season in front of us so instead of getting too far ahead of myself I will stop now.

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UFA Helsinki Style

 

Welcome to another edition of Insider Trading. This week I will focus on the free agency market for this off-season again. The Helsinki Titans are one of the best teams in the league this season, but are facing some tough decisions in the front office as they look to the future. Helsinki has four big players that are extremely important to the club that will be eligible for free agency this off-season. They represent each position on the team with Odin Tordahl and Ethan Osborne as the forwards, Willie Weber on the blue line and Tuomas Tukio as a UFA goaltender. The chances that all four would go to free agency would be low, but if any of them did it would be a major loss for the Titans.

 

Odin Tordahl arrived in Helsinki after a trade with the Toronto Legion before the start of Season 34. He was brought in to inject some youth into the forward core for the Titans and bring some power to the second line. He had a good season and started his journey into becoming a two-way forward in the VHL. This season he has 10 goals, 27 points and 104 hits through 31 games. It seems that he has embraced the role of two-way forward on the top line with Anatoli Zhumbayev and Ethan Osborne. Osborne is in a contract year as well after five seasons with the team. He took over as a rookie captain and has won multiple top leader awards in the league. This season he is playing in the prime of his career and has put up 41 points to lead the Titans so far. His importance to the team cannot be overlooked as a leader, player and personality, much like Tordahl, he has found a niche in Helsinki as a playmaker.

 

On defense the big UFA will be Willie Weber. He was in the same draft class as Tordahl and was taken by the Helsinki Titans in the first round. After a developmental season in the VHLM he joined the Titans for their cup run in Season 34 and played a very important role as a rookie. He was looked upon to be a main offensive and defensive contributor on the blue line. He delivered and is now in his second season with 15 points and 77 hits in 31 games. His importance to the club continues to grow as Ryan Sullivan will retire and Weber could make this his defensive core if he were to resign. Finally we have Tuomas Tukio a player who many see as inconsistent at times. The truth is that he can put up 50 wins in any given season for the team. His importance to the club may not be as big as Tordahl, Osborne and Weber, but his contributions to the team and relationship to the GM are both crucial in getting him resigned. Helsinki can make room for all four of these players and will likely start negotiations with them very soon as they continue to ice championship calibre teams into the foreseeable future.

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Insider Trading: Commissioner

 

Hey VHL this week I’m going to have something a little different to talk about. As the league gets back up and running, a little slower than we had hoped, things will be getting back to normal soon. This week I’ll be doing an Insider Trading based on admin issues for the league and forum. There are a few things on the agenda currently and they include ‘Super Cup’, forum skinning, boosting activity, recruiting and hosting costs.

 

First off it is my hope that a Super Cup type event will be officially announced sometime this week. Super Cup will involve everyone on the board in all kinds of different capacities and will shake up the off-season. Being drafted is one of the best moments of a player’s career in the VHL and it may only occur once every eight or nine seasons for some of us. Why not have an event every few seasons that includes a draft to get people interested and engaged into winning with “temporary” teammates. After all this site is all about having fun, building a player and meeting new people and friends. This event basically goes hand in hand with boosting activity as well. I know I haven’t been the most active on the new board yet and I have my excuses, but in reality I’m just not as engaged as I was before after having such a long break. No more excuses though as I want to see the VHL keep growing into this new era.

 

On the topic of the forum template it seems that the skinning group has come in a dead end in the past week or two. I know it is a lot of work to skin for a new forum and the expectations are high after seeing the amazing mock up so there is a lot of pressure for the skinner. I tried downloading and installing pre-made templates and seeing how they look, but it just isn’t the same as having a custom design. If the worst comes then I’m sure a downloaded template could suffice with a good VHL banner. If anyone is interested in skinning and has patience, can handle pressure, and is excellent at graphics they should post or message a commissioner, I’m sure the TPE pay would be A+ too.

 

Now I’ll move onto recruiting. In the past I have had zero incentive to recruit people and I’ve never actually considered trying to seriously recruit anyone. The TPE reward was too low and didn’t make any sense. A single new member has the potential to become a commissioner in only 10 seasons, I’m living proof as I worked my way up in the league starting as a petty scrub in Season 22. If a recruit is active and does point tasks weekly they are a valuable asset to our community. The recruiter needs to have incentive to recruit, but to help these players. We need to see a major increase in TPE for recruiting. Finally I will talk about the cost of running the forum and hosting. The forum itself is ~33$ Canadian per month and I unfortunately cannot front the bill. I’ve always been happy to donate 15$ a season and will continue to pay for the host. We have a nice reward for people that donate and hopefully you think the VHL is a valuable asset to invest a few dollars every now and then so that we can pay for the hosting costs. This has been a special edition of Insider Trading with your host Higgins.

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Out of the Spotlight

 

Hello to my loyal listeners out there and welcome back to Insider Trading. This article has evolved over time to become someone of a freelance article because it is hard to constantly make up rumours especially after the trade deadline and when we are still weeks away from the off-season goodness of the league. Normally I make articles highlighting potential free agents and I have already done that for this off-season, but this week I want to look at the opposite. I will look at players who have stayed with the team that had drafted them for all of, or most, their careers. These players don’t get Fan 590’s written about them in the off-season and aren’t the centers of attention of hype for a big free agent signing, but that is fine with them. They don’t get to have the feeling of every team pulling for them in the free agency period. These are the loyal players of the current VHL and their commitment should be recognized.

 

First off we have Volodymyr Rybak of the Calgary Wranglers. This is a player who has spent eight seasons with the team that drafted him from Season 28 until Season 35 where he will retire. He has been a main player for the Wranglers for eight solid seasons. It isn’t hard to stay on a team if they stay competitive, but we have seen players leave Calgary via free agency in the recent past with Yuri Grigorenko. Rybak committed himself to Calgary and has helped them in winning a Continental Cup championship as one of the best left wingers in the league. Rybak makes the general manager’s job easy because he is a constant for the Wranglers as other players have come and gone over the seasons.

 

Next we have another Season 28 draftee who has become a steal in the VHL and that is Brody Hodgson. I truly wish I could take credit for drafting him to Helsinki, but that was one of the few positive impressions that Claudio’s reign as general manager left on the franchise. Hodgson is in his seventh and final season with the Helsinki Titans as he is set to retire. He will leave his mark in the Titans record books as he continues to climb in all individual statistics and will finish with a guaranteed spot as the Titan to play the most games for the franchise ever. Brody Hodgson was a valuable part of the rebuilding Helsinki Titans team and stuck with them even after a management change. He worked hard and it all paid off in Season 34 when the Titans won the Continental Cup. Hodgson may have never went into the spot light for his statistics or free agency, but he was a solid center in the league and he was constantly close to the top in points.

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PLAYOFF MVP

 

First off I would like to congratulate the Quebec City Meute. It takes a lot of commitment and effort by a team to hoist the Continental Cup and you have all accomplished that this season, some for the second time. This article is going to focus on the award for playoff MVP. If we had to choose the final three for voting it would be Ethan Osborne from Helsinki, Skylar Rift and Wesley Kellinger who are both on Quebec. Since Quebec won and Osborne didn’t blow out the competition, we can narrow it down quickly to Rift and Kellinger. Rift the goalie and Kellinger the first line center are both very important to their clubs and both play crucial roles on the team and in the playoffs. Here is my argument for Wesley Kellinger to win the playoff MVP award this season.

 

Kellinger finished the playoffs with 17 points in 13 games as he led Quebec. He had a total of 7 goals and 10 assists. He also had the highest plus/minus on the team at +7, which proved how important to the team his offensive and defensive play was in beating Calgary and Helsinki. Kellinger also had a faceoff percentage of 57.40%, which is extremely good for a top line player. He was winning key draws for Quebec and gaining position through these face-offs. His shooting percentage is crazy high as well as he finished with 14% of his shots finding the back of the net. Firing at that high of a percentage against Alexander Labatte and Tuomas Tukio, who have maxed attributes, is impressive. Now let’s get into the bread and butter of why Kellinger should win the playoff MVP. He showed up in the big games and played the best of all the players on the ice. In the finals Tuomas Tukio was beaten 20 times in six games. Kellinger was a factor in at least 12 of these goals in the finals as he had 5 goals and 7 assists in the six game final series. He posted two points per game on the biggest stage and was the key factor in Quebec City winning the continental cup. Without Kellinger you can essentially take away over half of Quebec’s goals. In game five and the deciding game six, he put the team on his back after Helsinki managed to tie the series at 2-2. Kellinger was having none of that and decided to win the series by himself in essence.

 

Why not Skylar Rift? He didn’t need to play that well in the finals. Helsinki’s goaltender was getting lit up like the fourth of July and like a Christmas tree at the exact same time. The fact of the matter is that Rift let in 15 goals in the finals in only 6 games. Hardly a playoff MVP performance if you were to ask me. Quebec’s offense, mainly Kellinger and of course his teammates, were able to outscore Helsinki in a high scoring series. Rift didn’t win any games on his own, except arguably game 4 of the North American conference and he still allowed two goals in that game. I urge you to vote for whom the difference maker was in the big games, and that was Wesley Kellinger.

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Quick hits: Draft and Free Agency

 

Welcome back to another edition of Insider Trading. This week I will be looking at the off-season and some of the big moves that teams could be looking to make. We had a few minor and relatively major trades so far between Riga, Vasteras and Cologne. Draft picks have been moved up and down the board as Riga wanted to move up in the draft and Vasteras had more of a quantity over quality approach to acquiring picks and players. Cologne moved out Zach Cuff this off-season as well as he joins the Vasteras Iron Eagles who have a large forward core now, which is led by Willem Janssen. Cologne wanted to free up some roster spots and salary cap by moving Cuff and gained some future assets as well. Cologne may not be done yet and could move out some more veteran type role players this week.

 

The draft is set for this weekend and it should be fun to see where everyone lands. I usually follow the draft class more closely, but this season was crazy and I didn’t have any picks so I really have no idea where players will end up. Speaking of drafts the Super Cup draft is finally finished and it was quite the fail. It took a solid week to get through 15 rounds, which is a ridiculous in my opinion. Next time Super Cup comes around I hope that it will run much smoother with six general managers who can do a live draft and have it completed in one night. There has been a week long delay since the finals, which isn’t good for the league at all. Back to the VHL Draft this off-season, usually on draft nights the VHL would get its peak user traffic and the old forum would crash and take multiple refreshes to reload. This will be the first live draft on the new forum and I will be monitoring our resources used to make sure we don’t go down.

 

Free agency is opening up this Monday and it’s expected to be a good one with players like Chico Salmon, Felix Zamora and Odin Tordahl seemingly available for teams to bid on. Salmon has already announced that he will do a sign and trade with his current team the Calgary Wranglers, but he will make his decision on where to be traded to during free agency. Felix Zamora’s rights were traded to the Seattle Bears and he could sign a deal with Seattle before free agency opens, but it appears he will at least test free agency before signing any papers. Odin Tordahl has been offered a one season contract by the Helsinki Titans, but also looks to be hitting free agency. Tordahl is just coming off his entry level contract and has already won a Continental Cup. The Titans will try to retain their best power forward that they obtained in a trade only two seasons ago from Toronto. That’s all for now, next week I will take a closer look at how teams did in the draft.

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Merry Christmas from Insider Trading

 

Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas go out to everyone in the VHL. We had a crazy year in the league that included switching to a new forum. I’m happy that mostly everyone has embraced the changes and no one ever complained too much in the process. The VHL is a unique community as everyone worked together to bring the league back up after a disaster. We all came together for one goal, the survival of the VHL. Six years is a long time for any forum community on the internet, let alone a sim league! Things started off a little slow, but over the past month I have seen activity increase, which is evident when checking the posts per day statistics. I hope in the future we can entice more first generation players to join the league and experience the awesomeness that I have gotten to experience with you all.

 

Now back to Insider Trading this is going to be one heck of a week with a lot of ‘gifts’ with bows tied onto them ready to go to a VHL team. Of course I’m talking about free agency, with players like Odin Tordahl, Chico Salmon, Teemu Lehtinen and Felix Zamora all being available. I could speculate where they will go, but really it would just be a guess at this point. It seems like they are fielding offers from the majority of teams and will make their decisions in the next few days before Season 36 begins. The Season 36 VHL Entry Draft had some of the highest TPE players ever with many players having over 200 practice hours at the draft. Riga made a big splash at the draft picking up multiple first round draft picks to kick start their rebuild.

 

The Twelve Days of Christmas competition is officially over and the results are in. I would like to thank everyone who didn’t complain along the way, it was a unique idea and I wasn’t sure how the VHL community would take to it as we are all used to quick and easy competitions for TPE. We had almost 500 responses for the entire competition over the twelve days, which equals to over 40 responses per day. It was great to see that many responses and that they stayed constant over the two week period. I had fun setting up the hidden clues around the board, but I wish we were still on SMF because I would have had hundreds of more possible threads to hide stuff in! I think the prizes were worth the effort put in for the competition as some of the clues were tough, but others were simple. I hope you all enjoy the free doubles week this week and have a very Merry Christmas VHL!

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172

 

The Time is Right for Cologne

 

The Cologne Express hockey club is currently third in the European conference with a record of 3-2-1. They are currently one point ahead of their rival, the Vasteras Iron Eagles. The story of Cologne is an interesting one, but I will be looking at their future and what could be next for the franchise. There are plenty of options for a team in Cologne’s spot and they include rebuilding, staying the current course, or buying players. Rebuilding takes a long time and there is never a guarantee it will be successful and the rebuild could fail, forcing the team to start from scratch all over again and again. Staying the course is an option that allows a team to add prospects to their system with mid to late draft picks and try to develop them into their VHL system. Staying the course works well for a team with depth and if older players retiring can be replaced through draftees or cheap trades. Buying players is another risky venture, but it can have great rewards. Buying players on the market by trading away draft picks and prospects is an age old mentality of teams on the verge of being cup contenders and it can be quite successful.

 

This article was sparked when the Cologne Express decided to trade away a young center by the name of Davey Jones. It definitely weakened the Express, but they made sure to get a replacement player back in the trade along with two 1^st round draft picks. This trade encompasses a mixture of the ‘rebuild’ and the ‘staying the course’ ideologies. They gained picks by trading a good player, rebuild mode, but they added a player to replace Jones, staying the course mode. It isn’t the right time for the Cologne Express to rebuild in my opinion and they did well to get a full roster to ice even with trading Jones. Davey Jones was going to walk via free agency and had become somewhat of a headache for Cologne management. Cologne gained a ton of assets for a player who was a pending UFA in the coming off-season.

 

I think the Cologne Express management team should consider the ‘buying players’ method this upcoming off-season. They realistically have three to four seasons left to compete at a high level, but without more star power on their roster they may only be the number two or three team in Europe each season. Cologne gained more firsts to add to their own firsts with the Jones trade and have enough assets to make a major play for a superstar on the market this coming off-season. The past few off-seasons haven’t had any sellers, but this off-season could be different with Helsinki’s run possibly coming to an end or Quebec getting heated with a little touch of cap hell. The time is coming for Cologne to take a risk and trade their draft picks for star players, they have the assets to do so and they will be able to seriously contend for a Continental Cup for the next three to four seasons either way. Cologne has a chance to do something special if they are willing to pay the price to acquire players to put them over the top next off-season.

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Goalies are limiting trade options

 

The Victory Hockey League could see an upcoming period of two to three seasons with not many major trades. It started last season with only a few trades and virtually none that will happen throughout the current season because all the teams are close to the cap and the price of fringe actives is ridiculously high because all the teams, aside from Calgary, believe they will compete for a cup within the next two seasons. I think the problem with so few trades is the amount of goaltenders in the league right now. Every day there is a possibility of any team winning because every team has a goaltender that is active, aside from Calgary again, but they have Brookside who will be coming up from the minors next season.

 

The oldest goalies in the league still have three seasons remaining before they are forced to retire. That means that the older teams will be hesitant to sell off players if they can’t move their star goaltenders because their goalies can keep them competitive even with a limited roster. All seven other teams in the league have even younger goalies with Chekhov, Bagelface, Moher, Szatkowski, Wahl, Smyl and Brookside. They all have anywhere from eight to four seasons left barring any early retirements. That leaves the three older goalies Rift, Tukio and LeBeau who look to be all sticking it out for their full careers with only one possibly retiring soon. All these goalies shouldn’t deter people from creating as a goalie though, strange things have always happened in the VHL, people go inactive or retire early and there will always be a spot for an active goalie even if they have to be a backup for one season after they are drafted. All the goalies are limiting the trade market as no one wants to sell off their main pieces with an active goalie they can’t move to any other team because all ten teams have a franchise goaltender for the first time in forever.

 

If a team didn’t have a goalie it would be possible for someone to make a big trade and acquire a Taylor and Chekhov combo or an Osborne and Tukio combo to put them over the top. Either way there will still be trades in the VHL, they will just all be in the off-season because teams won’t be buying at the trade deadline to add multiple high paid players at a discounted salary. It will be a slow period of big trades in the league during the next few seasons and last couple as well. An example of a team not rebuilding because of a goalie is the New York Americans and Benjamin Glover. The offers they got for Glover were laughable so they decided to keep competing up until Glover’s last playoff game when he retired. Now there won’t be any offers for goalies at all so it will be pretty easy to justify keeping a goalie and all their players until the goalie retires.

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174

 

Seattle needs a big trade this off-season

 

A few weeks ago on Insider Trading I wrote about the Cologne Express and said how next season will be there season to compete by making a blockbuster trade to bring in a big name player. The Seattle Bears could be in the same boat as Cologne by the time the off-season starts later this year. Both Cologne and Seattle are looking from the outside of a playoff spot in the European and North American conferences. Seattle is only one point back of New York, but Cologne is ten points back of Vasteras. I still believe that Cologne can make the playoffs and definitely think Seattle will be in the post-season. It isn’t Cologne’s time to win and the same goes for Seattle this season. Seattle is a younger team, but if they make the right offer for a few star players in the off-season they can bring in the veteran leadership they desperately need.

 

Right now the Bears have five forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender to create a core that is young and will continue to grow each into Season 37. If Seattle had the assets to trade to acquire two big players on forward this off-season they would instantly move into serious contention for the Continental Cup. Sometimes bold moves have to be made to sell a bit of the future and with draft picks becoming more and more questionable in the VHL the time is right to trade a first that could be tenth overall for that superstar veteran player. Of course for Seattle to be able to add a player through trade there needs to be a seller in the league, which is the hardest part to find. Even if there is a seller there should be fierce competition for star players from teams with cap space such as Cologne and Seattle or even the up and coming teams that want to make an instant impact like New York and Riga.

 

Building through minor trades and by drafting can usually take you so far, but a big trade is what puts a team over the edge and creates Continental Cup champions. Trading is always easier said than done, especially with the current state of the VHL with every team having an active goaltender, which I covered in last week’s edition of the magazine. On another note this season has been dull on the rumour and trade front. There were murmurs of Kameron Taylor being available for trade, but I don’t think Cologne management is ready to give up yet especially since Taylor has two more great seasons after Season 36. The biggest thing has been the influx of players in the S36 VHL Draft class, which has been awesome so far. Next week I will take a closer look at the draft, lottery teams and the players available.

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175

 

Early look at the draft

 

This week on Insider Trading we will take a closer look at some of the Season 37 draftees and the teams that currently hold first round picks. This draft could pan out to be one of the best classes in at least the last five seasons or even more depending on how the players develop after the glamour of the draft as past. As of right now there are 33 players in the draft in total, which does include some players who have earned no TPE so far, but it seems that over half of the draft class can be considered active in some way. This means we could see some active players actually be drafted in the early second round. With that in mind it means that the first round will be excellent and there will actually be some tough choices for the general manager’s to make.

 

As of right now there are five teams, half the league that hold first round picks in the draft. New York holds three, Cologne and Riga have two each and Calgary, Helsinki and Toronto each hold one. That leaves only two teams that aren’t in rebuild mode with draft picks, Helsinki and Toronto. It may be possible for one of these teams to trade away their first round pick in this draft because they technically won’t need to add a young player right now. The obvious top two picks are Tom Slaughter and Slaeter Fjorsstrom, many believe that New York and Riga are high on each player respectively, but other teams could win the lottery and try to land one of these recreates for themselves.

 

A lot has been talked about the goaltenders of the Season 37 class because only a few days ago it seemed that no matter where they were drafted they would need to wait at least two full seasons to get a starters position. With the recent retirement of a goalie it leaves a hole in the league for one goalie to step in earlier than previously predicted. The team without a future goalie is Quebec City, but they don’t have a first so it is unlikely they can draft one of the two big goalies, Olynick or Salo, without trading one of their key players which would hurt them. The better choice for Quebec would be to go after a Tukio, a proven winner nearing 1,100 TPE, who would replace Rift and play for two seasons before Quebec would likely sell off their players to gain assets for a rebuild in Season 39. They could also go for Chekhov if he is available who is younger but not as developed as Tukio. This means Helsinki or Cologne, or both could be looking at drafting a goalie like Salo or Olynick with their first round picks. On another note there is one player who has been shooting up the draft rankings recently and that is Lars Strummer. Other players who have been making an impact recently are Konstantin Azhishchenkov and Kai Randal who are positioning themselves to go in the middle of the first round it seems. Players have been moving between the first and second round predictions as well and these include Marcus Bjorkstrand, Jakob Linholm and the recently declared Logan Laich. Since this draft has a lot of solid choices, the first round could come down to positional needs rather than straight up TPE like some previous drafts.

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176

 

Ruining that Chemistry

 

The trade deadline has come and gone and we saw a more than a few transactions. There were a lot of minor deals made, like a three-way trade that seemed to have been made for a laugh, too bad no one did though. Over the last week we saw a lot of Cologne and Vasteras making moves as one team wanted to bolster up, while the other accepted their fate as missing the playoffs. Since these trades that have seen Cody Inko and Keiji Toriyama go to Vasteras for essentially two first round picks it hasn’t been a perfect picture for the Iron Eagles. The struggle is real as Vasteras has lost their ten point lead on Cologne in the standings as they are 2-7-1 in their last ten games and Cologne is now two points back from taking third in the European conference. When a team that, on paper, isn’t the greatest but is playing phenomenal it is likely due to great player builds mixed with chemistry that STHS likes. Making trades to send out these players and bring in new “better” players based on TPE can throw a wrench into a successful season. Look at the Season 32 Helsinki Titans, a strong team, who added the great Phil Rafter at the trade deadline and everything went to hell. Live and learn I suppose, but the loss of two 1^st round draft picks isn’t something you can forget about for a while.

 

Moving onto the future the league is in an interesting spot. The Quebec City Meute is in need of a goaltender and they have three options. Trade for a draft pick to draft a rookie goalie, trade for Evgeni Chekhov or trade for Tuomas Tukio. Depending on which path they choose the dominoes will fall it a completely different direction. The Helsinki Titans are reported to be entering a rebuild this off-season, but anything can happen in the VHL. It looks like for the first time in a few off-seasons there will be some big name players on the market though. With Anatoli Zhumbayev, Willie Weber, Ethan Osborne, Naomi Young and Tuomas Tukio all being potentially available, any team could invest and become a contender out of a pretender instantly. Of course players like these never come cheap, but draft picks are always question marks in this league, especially picks in the later first round. This off-season there will be a lot of changes in the league I know that for certain, but in which direction is still too hard to predict. Teams will be growing impatient with their rebuilds, like Seattle, and others will have an insane amount of cap space with all rookie contracts. I think we can all look forward to the coming off-season, it should be one of the best.

[Higgins 3,618]

177

 

This off-season save Vasteras

 

This off-season is going to be insane. That is a statement that I have rarely said over the history of the league. By now we have all heard about the draft and how it promises to be a doozy, at least when comparing it to the last few drafts. This draft has a handful of recreates that are dominating the mock drafts based on their reputation on building players and being well known. In the other hand we have first generation players mixed with some recreates who haven’t quite had super successful players previously. In previous editions I have also talked about the draft side story featuring the goaltenders, which should create a good subplot to the draft. It’s hard to go too in depth of the entry draft right now because the picks still are not decided with the playoffs and draft lottery still a huge mystery.

 

Certainly the draft isn’t all we have to look forward too. There could be multiple changing of the guards as a few general managers will be stepping down and making way for their successors. This adds a different dynamic to the off-season as these new general managers come in with a fresh perspective of what they want their team to look like. This could prompt a whole bunch of trades and moves we normally wouldn’t see in the off-season with the status quo of general managers. On a VHLM note there will also be a team moving from Vasteras, Sweden to Russia. I think it is a good idea so that there is only one team in Vasteras in the future, I am not sure why there was two teams in the city everyone seems to hate for so long. Speaking of Vasteras there are rumours that the VHL team could also relocate this off-season. I think that would be a stupid move. We have damn fine logos and Vasteras plays an important role in this league. Not every team can be ‘loved’, it just won’t work. If Vasteras moves there will be a new team as the league’s punching bag and I can estimate that it would be the Cologne Express or the location Vasteras moves to. How fun is it to have a bunch of teams that everyone loves anyways? That sounds pretty boring to me. Sure, Vasteras has made some mistakes over the past couple of seasons, we all know how STHS works and it can be an unkind beast. Players with over 1,000 TPE can suck (insert my player as an example) and teams built to make the playoffs can fall flat all based on computer simulation. It would be a piss poor decision to move Vasteras because of recent struggles and I certainly would never stand behind the idea.

[Higgins 3,618]

178

 

Tons of Rumours!

 

This week on Insider Trading we will be looking at some players that could be on the move this off-season and try to determine where they may end up. First off we have the Toronto Legion who are more of a buyer at this point in time, but could still move out a player as a cap dump. Teemu Lehtinen is a player that may be cut due to his higher salary and lower activity level. A team that has a lot of cap space that needs a second line forward could bite on Lehtinen. Staying in the North American conference there is another forward on the Seattle Bears that will likely be moved if they need more cap space as the team comes into their prime. Seattle is also a buyer, but they could move someone like GIYGAS. A team that needs a depth second line forward could add GIYGAS for a higher second round draft pick. Calgary isn’t a team that has any players to sell off, but they do have a first round draft pick that they are reportedly looking to trade to move down a few places in the draft. It will be interesting to see where the first does end up because it was originally Seattle’s, who are currently heading into a game seven with Quebec City. Finally in the North American conference is New York who may be looking to move both Simon Tremblay and Xin Xie Xiao. Tremblay would be another depth forward for the second line of a competing team and XXX could be a franchise player for a team coming into their prime or out of a rebuild currently.

 

Moving over to the European conference we will start with the Riga Reign. Last week there were rumours that Damon Tyrael could be moved for an equal player, but those rumours have died down mostly. Riga is clearly more of a buying team at the moment, who could move some of their future draft picks this off-season. The Davos Dynamo are rumoured to be shopping around OdinTordahl. Tordahl signed as a free agent with Davos and has a player option to go to free agency again, but it looks like Davos will try to trade him. This is one of the weirder rumours for sure because Tordahl signed with Davos for free and may now be traded from Davos so they get something in return for him leaving. In Helsinki it looks like most of their roster will be available barring maybe a player or two. They won’t be looking to make player for player trades as they are probably looking for draft picks to start a rebuild. The Cologne Express could be a team that benefits from all these sellers. They are still a young team with two seasons of serious competing left and could use a few seconds to add second line depth and use their multiple first round picks to add an all-star player or two. Of course Cologne could also sell, but the market may not be what they were hoping. This just in, Matt Bentley has been rumoured to possibly being traded to Moscow, this is crazy because it means Vasteras would be relocating, more to come soon! That’s it for this week on Insider Trading, all of these are just rumours and we look forward to the off-season!

[Higgins 3,618]

180

 

Beneficiaries of the Helsinki Trades

 

After all the dusts finally settles on yesterday’s ‘fire sale’ in Helsinki we can now take a closer look at how everything played out. The sellers were the Helsinki Titans and they devised a plan to control the market beginning as far off as last off-season. Helsinki had star players and questionable depth on their roster for Season 36, but when asking teams that had possible depth the asking price was sky high for 400 TPE welfare players (a first round draft pick). Instead of trading their firsts the Titans GM decided it would be smart to keep all their own draft picks instead of overpaying for a few inactives for one season. Helsinki certainly could have extended their run for two more seasons if they exhausted all of their first round draft picks to get a few second liners, but you have to realise when it’s best to start over and get the most in return. Now the Titans have 10 first round draft picks in the next three seasons, which should set up the next era nicely. The trades were highly calculated by the GM, to get the most return and to fit under other teams cap, and went off all within an hour as we saw five high profile players go to new teams. Some of these trades were negotiated over the last week, but some go back to the beginning of Season 36.

 

Now onto the buyers, this group included four teams, Davos, Toronto, Quebec City and Seattle. Davos was looking for a replacement for Odin Tordahl and they went out got Naomi Young. Even without this trade they likely would have easily taken the top spot in Europe. On the other side of the Atlantic we saw the Toronto Legion add winger Anatoli Zhumbayev, who is fresh off a career best season and Beketev Trophy. The Quebec City Meute added the infamous Titans goalie Tuomas Tukio who is hoping a change in scenery can turn his luck around. Finally the Seattle Bears traded for Ethan Osborne, who led the VHL in goals last season and is a frontrunner for many major awards, and Willie Weber who is one of the best defenders in the VHL. That is how it all shook out yesterday as the trades started to fire off. Now the question remains who benefitted the most from adding players? Davos replaced Tordahl and Quebec City replaced Skylar Rift. Obviously these moves are very important for the teams but it leaves them on par as the same great teams. The biggest beneficial net gains were definitely Toronto and Seattle. Toronto picked up that superstar forward they have been looking for since Season 34 with the Jive trade and having a player like Zhumbayev makes a world of difference on an already deep offensive core. Seattle addressed a need on defense by adding Weber after moving two defenders to forward last off-season. This Seattle team almost didn’t make the playoffs last season and with the addition of Ethan Osborne they are hoping he can spark their offense like he did for Helsinki last off-season. Overall the Bears had the biggest benefit from the Helsinki ‘fire sale’, but they were the weaker of the teams before the trade so it might just put them on an equal playing field with some of the other teams now.

[Higgins 3,618]

184

 

Trade Deadline Special

 

Insider Trading. It’s a phrase that can be perceived as a negative in a specific context. The fact is that Insider Trading can make me a lot of money, or TPE in the VHL world. I have a good reputation for breaking trades in this league. Just take a moment out of your busy day to look at my recent track record. I knew about all the trades from the Helsinki Titans that happened in the off-season. I had the inside scoop and I tried to warn you, the reader, many times in this magazine article. With my new found fame I have been bumped down to the lowest position on the magazine crew, but I’m back on my pedestal for a special Insider Trading article.

 

The Season 37 trade deadline is approaching us and it was just announced by JardyB10 that it will be on April 7^th. Trade deadlines have been pretty boring in the VHL to be honest with you. This season there are two playoff teams that have more than half a million in available cap space. They are the Vasteras Iron Eagles and the Riga Reign. There are also two selling teams, who are the Cologne Express and the Helsinki Titans. The big questions that Riga and Vasteras will have to ask themselves are as follow; can we compete with Davos in a seven game series and is our window of competing closing.

 

The players who are on the table from Helsinki are Roberto Martucci and Teemu Lehtinen. Both of these players are playing for the league worst Titans this season and would be extremely motivated to move to a cup contending team. They could add depth as second or third line forwards to both Riga and Vasteras and they shouldn’t be too expensive either. Cologne is a more interesting story this week as they have been a competitive team, but they have never been favourites since coming into the league in Season 31. It’s obvious that they are either retooling or rebuilding, depending on who you talk to, and they have a good chunk of their roster on the block. Captain and all-star Kameron Taylor highlights the group that also includes all-star Malcom Spud, depth forward Guido Schwarz and goaltender Evgeni Chekhov. With a sixty percent discount on salary at the trade deadline for the buying team all the players I have listed in this article could potentially be traded.

 

As long as the prices aren’t sky high on the players available I believe we will see multiple deals on the trade deadline. Both Helsinki and Cologne will be looking for prospects and future draft picks at this point and Riga and Vasteras have the assets. With all this said I could also see there being no trades this week. Riga has time on their side, but this could be their season to really add some pieces to make a run before the salary ‘cap hell’ sets in. I can’t say that Vasteras has time on their side, but after recent trades by their GM and criticism I highly doubt he will trade any more high draft picks. Thanks for reading and remember not to get too excited for the trade deadline in the VHL, they are notoriously lame.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

261

 

Hello, I'm your new writer for the VHL Magazine. I will write about the past and future transactions of the VHL. My name is Shawn Howard and this is what I brought to you this week with some interesting news about the possible free agents that might come our way this off-season. Enjoy.

 

Possible Free Agents? (North American Edition)

 

Calgary Wranglers: 2 (1)

 

The Wranglers boast a pretty solid roster heading into the playoffs which is tops in the N.A Conference. As of today 2 players who are without contracts heading into the off-season. Hudson Backenbauer and Bismarck Koenig. However, Koenig has been offered a contract extension in which we can all assume he will accept. So that leaves them with Backenbauer leaving in the off-season. Hudson was acquired from the Toronto Legion for a Season 47 Calgary 3rd Round Draft Pick. So far this season Hudson has 10 goals and assisted on 14 for 24 points but is pointless in 12 games with Calgary. It is almost safe to say Calgary will let him walk. The team is also losing Jake Wylde to forced retirement as he is in his 8th season so they will need a defenseman to replace him.

 

Total Contracts S45: $31,875,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $24,000,000 ($8 million cap space)

 

New York Americans: 4

 

New York is going into the off-season with 5 possible free agents. 3 of which are coming of entry level contracts and all 4 players have not been offered contracts. The biggest name that is Tyson Stokes who came along with Bruno Wolf from Quebec. Stokes so far has scored 23 goals and assisted on 40 for 52 points, 44 of which came while being on the Quebec City team. The Americans will seem to be going on a major rebuild as they also have 3 players retiring including start goalie Niklaus Mikaelson and star forward Bruno Wolf who will be forced to retire after 8 seasons. Benjamin Dupont has called it quits after this season to focus on his personal life and his former player agent has brought in a goalie to bring in Atticus von Braxton IV to replace Mikaelson. The 4 players coming of entry level deals are E'Twaun Delicious, Jorma Ruutu, Golden Jedtsson and Chuck Goody. Ruutu is leading this foursome in points with 71 in 62, followed by Delicious with 68, followed by defenseman Jedtsson with 55 and finally Goody bringing up the rear with 21 points.

 

Total Contacts S45: $29,850,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $9,750,000 ($22.25 million cap space)

 

Quebec City Meute: 6

 

Quebec is in the same boat as the Americans with 5 possible free agents. However, unlike the Americans they are in full rebuild mode. Most of these players are just warm bodies to fill the roster and get to the cap floor more or less. These warm bodies are doing pretty good though and are making a case to be resigned in the off-season. Mario De Rossi, Andrew Erikson, Lucas Nykvist, King Czar III, Danny Schneider and Jed Mosley will be leaving. De Rossi is leading the free agent bunch with 58 points in 62 games including a team high 31 goals. Erikson has scored 21 goals and assisted on 35 for 56 points. Nykvist was signed late and is at 32 points in 45 while Schneider has only 10 points in 45. De Rossi, Erikson and Nykvist should be reconsidered for contracts next year as they are making the best out of a bad situation. Jed Mosley doesn't have his 500K count against the bunch should be on his way out none the less.

 

Total Contracts S45: $25,125,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $6,500,000 ($25.5 million cap space)

 

Seattle Bears: 5

 

Seattle has about 5 free agents but 1 will be forced to retire as this is his 8th season in the VHL. The biggest free agent is Jakub Rhinehart. He has 44 goals and 39 assists for 83 points in 64 games. He currently has a NTC to go with a cap hit of 2.5 million. The other players who a set to become free agents are just roster fillers who are here because Seattle is in a rebuild. Dirk Firkley, Larry Esposito and Steve Tremblay all carry cap hits of 7 million while AIM-11 comes in at 2.5 million. AIM-11 is the only one worth a mention as he has 22 goals and 54 assists for 76 points. The other 3 combine for 73 points 

 

Total Contracts S45: $26,000,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $9,000,000 ($23 million cap space)

 

Toronto Legion: 5

 

Much like the rest of the North American Conference, Toronto is in a rebuild and has 5 free agents going into the offseason. Most notably, Max Moholt who is making 4 million this year. He has scored 44 goals and assisted on 45 for 89 points in just 64 games. Alistar Graves, Joseph Roy III, Zachary Young and David Blind are the other free agents. Blind however, will retire at seasons end. Roy III has 27 goals and 44 assists for 71 points. He may warrant a new contract as he has great chemistry with Molholt.

 

Total Contracts S45: $24,700,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $2,000,000 ($30 million cap space)

 

Top North American Free Agents:

 

Center Bismark Koenig

Center Tyson Stokes

Right Wing E'Twaun Delicious 

Left Wing Jorma Ruutu

Defenseman Golden Jedtsson

Right Wing Jakub Rhinehart

Right Wing Max Molholt

Edited October 14, 2015 by StevenStamkos91

[BOOM 8,807]

 

[Molholt 2,185]

Nope, looking good!

[Molholt 2,185]

261

 

Hello, I'm your new writer for the VHL Magazine. I will write about the past and future transactions of the VHL. My name is Shawn Howard and this is what I brought to you this week with some interesting news about the possible free agents that might come our way this off-season. Enjoy.

 

Possible Free Agents? (North American Edition)

 

Calgary Wranglers: 2 (1)

 

The Wranglers boast a pretty solid roster heading into the playoffs, which is tops in the North American Conference. As of today, there are 2 players who are without contracts heading into the offseason. Those players are Hudson Backenbauer and Bismarck Koenig. However, Koenig has been offered a contract extension, in which we can all assume he will accept. So That leaves them with only Backenbauer leaving in the offseason. Hudson was acquired from the Toronto Legion for a S47 Calgary 3rd Round draft pick. So far this season, Hudson has 10 goals and has assisted on 14 others for 24 points, but is pointless in 12 games with Calgary. It is almost safe to say Calgary will let him walk. The team is also losing Jake Wylde to forced retirement, as he is in his 8th season, so they will need a defenseman to replace him.

 

Total Contracts S45: $31,875,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $24,000,000 ($8 million cap space)

 

New York Americans: 4

 

New York is going into the offseason with 4 possible free agents. Three of them are coming off of entry level contracts and all 4 players have not been offered contracts. The biggest name that is Tyson Stokes, who came along with Bruno Wolf from Quebec. Stokes, so far, has scored 23 goals and assisted on 40 for 53 points, 44 of which came while being on the Quebec City team. The Americans will seem to be headed toward a major rebuild, as they also have 3 players retiring, including start goalie Niklaus Mikaelson and star forward Bruno Wolf, who will be forced to retire after 8 seasons. Benjamin Dupont has called it quits, effective after this season to focus on his personal life. His former player agent has brought in a goalie, to bring in Atticus von Braxton IV, to replace Mikaelson. The 4 players coming off of entry level deals are E'Twaun Delicious, Jorma Ruutu, Golden Jedtsson and Chuck Goody. Ruutu is leading this foursome in points with 71 in 62 games, followed by Delicious with 68, followed by defenseman Jedtsson with 55 and finally Goody, bringing up the rear with 21 points.

 

Total Contacts S45: $29,850,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $9,750,000 ($22.25 million cap space)

 

Quebec City Meute: 6

 

Quebec is in the same boat as the Americans with 6 possible free agents. However, unlike the Americans, they are in full rebuild mode. Most of these players are just warm bodies to fill the roster and get to the cap floor more or less. These players are doing pretty good though and are making a case to be re-signed in the offseason. Mario De Rossi, Andrew Erikson, Lucas Nykvist, King Czar III, Danny Schneider and Jed Mosley will be leaving. De Rossi is leading the free agent bunch with 58 points in 62 games, including a team high 31 goals. Erikson has scored 21 goals and assisted on 35 for 56 points. Nykvist was signed late and is at 32 points in 45 games, while Schneider has only 10 points in 45. De Rossi, Erikson and Nykvist should be reconsidered for contracts next year, as they are making the best out of a bad situation. Jed Mosley doesn't have his 500K salary count against the bunch, but should be on his way out none the less.

 

Total Contracts S45: $25,125,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $6,500,000 ($25.5 million cap space)

 

Seattle Bears: 5

 

Seattle has about 5 free agents, but 1 will be forced to retire, as this is his 8th season in the VHL. The biggest free agent is Jakub Rhinehart. He has 44 goals and 39 assists for 83 points in 64 games. He currently has a no-trade clause to go with a cap hit of 2.5 million. The other players who are set to become free agents are just roster fillers who are here because Seattle is in a rebuild. Dirk Firkley, Larry Esposito and Steve Tremblay all carry cap hits of 7 million, while AIM-11 comes in at 2.5 million. AIM-11 is the only one worth a mention, as he has 22 goals and 54 assists for 76 points. The other 3 have combined for 73 points. 

 

Total Contracts S45: $26,000,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $9,000,000 ($23 million cap space)

 

Toronto Legion: 5

 

Much like the rest of the North American Conference, Toronto is in a rebuild and has 5 free agents going into the offseason. Most notably, Max Molholt, who is making 4 million this year. He has scored 44 goals and assisted on 45 others for 89 points in just 64 games. Alistar Graves, Joseph Roy III, Zachary Young and David Blind are the other free agents. Blind, however, will retire at seasons end. Roy III has 27 goals and 44 assists for 71 points. He may warrant a new contract as he has great chemistry with Molholt.

 

Total Contracts S45: $24,700,000

Total Projected Contracts S46: $2,000,000 ($30 million cap space)

 

Top North American Free Agents:

 

Center Bismark Koenig

Center Tyson Stokes

Right Wing E'Twaun Delicious 

Left Wing Jorma Ruutu

Defenseman Golden Jedtsson

Right Wing Jakub Rhinehart

Right Wing Max Molholt

 

My edits. Check the numbers on NY/Quebec - it seemed like they were off but I may have messed up!

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

262

Hello and welcome back to another edition of Insider Trading. Last week we went over the North American free agents so now it is time to look at the other conference, the European Conference. This was the Conference that had all the drama as all five teams had a great chance of competing. Now let's get on with it shall we?

Cologne Express: 4

The Cologne Express have 4 possible free agents going into the off-season. One will be definitely be gone as retiring netminder Brock Waldron will on his way out freeing up 4.5 million. Koji Yamazaki is another free agent who seems to be on his way out as he or his player agent have not been on for awhile. This looks to be another 3.25 million off the books but the Express should be concerned about losing Yama as Nicklas Karlsson is retiring. Losing Yama would be a big blow on the defensive side has he blocked 103 shots and ate up 25 minutes of icetime per game. Nicklas Karlsson frees up 2.5 million from his retirement and the Express will be hard pressed to replace his 90 points from the backend. Two other interesting free agents come the off-season are Tyrone Williams and Rift Pajodcast as both have player options. Both have a combined 5.25 million cap hit and both combined for 87 points. I think the Express have an off-season of decisions to make with all these losses. All is not lost though, as Sandro Clegane will come up to replace Brock Waldron.

Helsinki Titans: 6

The Helsinki Titans will have six possible free agents going into the off-season. The biggest names are Christoph Klose, Brady Stropko and Wolfgang Strauss. Klose and O'Malley formed a solid duo this year which led to Klose scoring 38 goals and assisting on 58 goals for 97 points. That is not to underestimate the work Stropko did this year. He was 1 goal shy of 50 as he scored 49 and assisted on another 47 for 96 points. Wolfgang also had a very fine season scoring 39 and assisting on 47 goals for 86 points. All these players had career years and will be looking for raises coming into the off-season. The other 2 free agents are coming off entry level contracts. Thomas Duddy finished last in team scoring with 15 but also just average 15 minutes a game. Theo Matsikas is the other player coming off his entry level and had a very decent season scoring 8 goals and assisting on 26 goals for 36 points, just 6 points behind 1st overall pick Phil "Scrub" Hamilton. The last free agent is VHLMer Franklin Romanowski. The Titans have some big decisions to make as there will be a lot of teams calling for the likes of Klose, Stropko and Strauss. It will be interesting to see what happens here.

HC Davos Dynamo: 3

The Dynamo have 3 free agents as they head into the playoffs and later into the off-season. James Faraday may be the biggest name here and his re-signing will be crucial to the Dynamo future. He finished 3rd in scoring with 26 goals and 60 assists for 86 points. He also laid the hurt down on the VHL with 386 hits. He is a force to be reckoned with. Oskars Harumpf is another big name who may be leaving the Dynamo as he scored 26 goals and assisted on 50 for 76 points. He also won an amazing 60% of his face-offs. It would be a big loss defensively to lose Oskars. Finally we come to Patrik Demko who has been offered an extension but as yet to accept. Demko played most of the season in Quebec before being traded to the Dynamo. He only had 16 points in 22 games in a purple jersey. The biggest loss is not a free agent loss however, as leading point getter Devin Sundberg has retired. 

Riga Reign : 5

Riga is coming off a sweep at the hands of the HC Davos Dynamo. They go into the off-season with 5 free agents. Only 2 of them however, are on the main roster. The biggest name is Milos Denis who finished 6th in team scoring. He is a veteran though, and the team would miss his leadership qualities if he were to move on in the off-season. He scored 25 goals and assisted on 35 goals for 60 points. Not bad for a guy in his 7th season. The other free agent is depth defenseman Brandon Holmes. He didn't set the world on fire in terms of offence but he was solid on the back end with 124 shots blocked. He is just entering his prime and should command his fair share if he hits the open market. The final 3 are players who are in the VHLM. MC Hammer, Josh Merica and Casper Soloman. MC Hammer has established himself as a VHLM legend and Josh Merica has just signed as a free agent with the Moscow Red Wolves. Soloman, I must say I don't know much about and let's be real, no one really cares.

Stockholm Vikings: 5

Stockholm is coming off a disappointing campaign in which they didn't make the playoffs. They also have 5 players who have not signed a contract to play next year in Stockholm. The biggest name is Lord Karnage who led the way with 47 goals and 63 assists for 110 points. His player agent happens to be the GM of the Vikings so it's only a matter of time before he re-ups with the Vikings. Blake Campbell is another big name set to hit the open market. He is their number 1 goaltender but had somewhat of a down year going 29-27-8 with a save percentage of 0.912 and a goals against average of 2.62. He is coming off his entry level deal and should command more than the 3 million he earned this year. The other 2 free agents on the main roster are Shadu Rathod Jr. and Severin von Karma. These two player are solid piece of the puzzle on the Vikings as both got 65 points and 63 points respectively and both could be in for raises as the free agent market opens up because everyone loves depth player in the VHL. The last player on the list is Erik Hedman who has established himself on the VHLM circuit with the Saskatoon Wild forming a solid duo with MC Hammer.

Top European Free Agents:

D Koji Yamazaki
LW Tyrone Williams
C Rift Pajodcast
RW Christoph Klose
RW Brady Stropko
C Wolfgang Strauss
RW Milos Denis
G Blake Campbell

Edited October 22, 2015 by StevenStamkos91

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Hello everyone, welcome back to another edition of Insider Trader. This week we will look at a mock draft of the Season 46 VHL Entry Draft. There is a total of 37 draftees for this draft or pretty close to 4 full rounds. Well now let's get started: 

1st Overall: Toronto Legion - Left Wing Zach Parechkin - 235 TPE (60 Banked)

Zach Parechkin is the best prospect in this draft and for good reason. He has the most practice hours earned plain and simple. Every week he is looking to get better which proves he has a strong work ethic. So far in his draft year he has 78 goals and assisted on 85 goals for 163 points in just 72 games. He scored more than a goal per game this year which is very impressive. The next highest point scorer was MC Hammer who had 158 but he is a VHLM veteran. Zach also led his team, the Bern Royals, in playoff scoring this year with 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points in 10 games. His year came to a crashing halt to the Moscow Red Wolves in the European Conference Finals as the Bern Royals were swept. Zach Parechkin and Max Molholt will look very good on a line together next year.

2nd Overall: Seattle Bears - Right Wing Shawn Muller - 166 TPE

I predict Shawn Muller will go 2nd overall because the Bears have a very solid up and coming defenseman with Arcturus Mengsk so GM Mike will draft possibly Jakub Rhinehart's replacement in Shawn Muller. The Bears have a solid cupboard of prospects with RW Jace Hines, D Bubba Nuck, C Maxim Dechamps and G Ryan Price. Adding RW Shawn Muller to this bunch will only improve the future of the team. In his VHLM season, Shawn Muller scored 31 goals and assisted on 35 goals for 65 points in 72 games. This is well behind the top prospect in Parechkin but Moscow had a lot of options up front and GM Shawn Howard tried to spread the offence around which led to some of the top prospects getting a little underwhelming numbers. However, the Moscow Red Wolves just finished sweeping the Bern Royals and Shawn Muller has 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points in 4 games. This is more than Zach Parechkin had in the series as he scored just 3 goals. Muller would look good playing with current teammates Arcturus Mengsk and Jace Hines in Seattle

3rd Overall: Toronto Legion - Defenseman Saul Hackett - 174 TPE

The Toronto Legion currently have no great defenseman prospects or have any defenseman on the roster so I would expect them to take Saul Hackett who is the arguably the best defenseman available in the draft. Saul has quietly racked up the practice hours this year and has quietly put up 10 goals and 34 assists for 44 points in Brampton. Those aren't eye popping numbers but in reality the Blades team was middle of the pack at best. He led he team in shots blocked with 84 and he laid the body with 196 hits proving he is a physical specimen. He currently is a point per game in the playoffs with 3 goals and 9 assists and 12 points. He is currently awaiting game 7 which will be played tomorrow as thy take on the Saskatoon Wild who are led by VHLM veterans (aka inactives). He also currently leads the team with 47 hits in the playoffs further proving he isn't afraid of the physical game. He would do great things being the number 1 defenseman with Max Molholt and Zach Parechkin.

4th Overall: Seattle Bears - Defenseman Jeff Hamilton - 160 TPE

Seattle has Arcturus Mengsk and Bubba Nuck in the pipelines but how could they pass up an opportunity to add a third to the defenceman pipeline. I was tempted to put Pete Stockton here but the Bears have Jace Hines and Maxime Deschamps and already have Shawn Muller drafted so, why not have 3 great defenseman. It would also have been interesting to have the Moscow connection with Arcturus Mengsk, Jace Hines, Shawn Muller and Pete Stockton. Jeff Hamilton was the 2nd highest scoring defenseman in the VHLM after Arcturus Mengsk. He scored 34 goals and assisted on 92 goals for 126 points. He was also a very strong +70 and blocked 67 shots good enough for 2nd on the team. He again finished 2nd on the Royals in playoff scoring behind Zach Parechkin again. He scored 5 goals and assisted on 6 goals for 11 points in 10 games. He was disappointed in the sweep to the Red Wolves. 

5th Overall: Toronto Legion - Defenseman Oliva Diamond - 125 TPE

This pick turns out to be need over the best player available. Pete Stockton is still on the draft board but the Legion need defenseman badly and Diamond arguably the best one left could be chosen here. Diamond spent the season in the VHLM with the Oslo Storm. She played very well this season showing she can defend against men and wasn't afraid of their shots. She blocked 90 of them and was third on the team in hits with 155. She also scored 14 goals and assisted on 24 for 38 points. She was disappointingly a -1 though. In the playoffs the Storm met up with the Bern Royals in the Conference Semi-finals. They lost in 6 games in which Diamond could only muster 2 assists. It was a disappoint end to an otherwise good season.

6th Overall: Riga Reign - Right Wing Pete Stockton - 169 TPE

The Riga Reign will be delighted to see Stockton drop all the way to 6th overall for them to pick up. There is no way he drops much further than this if he is to drop at all and the Reign are none the happier if this happens. Stockton has been very good all season. He is currently playing for the VHLM leading Moscow Red Wolves who are in the VHLM Finals. In the regular season, Pete scored 33 goals and assisted on 34 goals for 67 points. The Red Wolves had a lot of forward who were fighting for ice time so the GM decided to spread the offence around instead of favouring one line. In the playoffs Pete however has only assisted on 2 goals for 2 points. The lack of production in the playoffs may be what is hurting him in draft stock (a little punny? no? ok I tried). 

7th Overall: Toronto Legion - Center Sean Blacker - 157 TPE

The Toronto Legion also lack at the center position and will look to fill that void with Sean Blacker. Blacker spent the year with a very good Bern Royals team. He broke the century mark with 36 goals and 75 assists for 111 points. He somewhat underwhelmed in the playoffs putting up only 2 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in 10 games. Barring any free agent signing and departures he could end up as Toronto's 2nd line center or possiblt the 1st line center. He will be set up pretty well with Max Molholt and Zach Parechkin flanking him on the wings.

8th Overall: New York Americans - Defenseman World B. Free - 118 TPE

The New York Americans have 4 defenseman under contract for this past season. 2 of them are possible free agents. So the logical choice here would be drafting defenseman World B. Free. He would form a solid duo with Biggu Kyanon now and in the future but he may be sent back to the VHLM for one more season. World was drafted 8th overall by the Moscow Red Wolves too in the VHLM Dispersal Draft. So far in his VHLM career he has broken the century mark once with 23 goals and 78 assists for 101 points. Free and Mengsk have been a formidable duo as they finished 1-2 in regular season scoring and are currently 1-2 in playoff scoring. He has 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points. He proved he can play great with a great defense partner so I wouldn't expect much differnt if him and Biggu Kyanon are matched together in the near future. 

9th Overall: Toronto Legion - Left Wing Jordan Maverick - 136 TPE

The Toronto Legion will end up with the 9th overall selection as I predict Helsinki to win the VHL Championship therefore giving Toronto 9th overall. To add to their growing stable of prospects the Legion will get Maverick who is no slouch in this draft. He was plying his trade with a pretty good Bern Royals team. He played in the shadow of 1st overall pick Zach Parechkin most of the season and that didn't phase him as he scored 37 goals and assisted on 53 goals for 90 points. He would be a solid depth winger for the Legion possibly as soon as next season or he will go on to dominate the VHLM against next year. Either way the Legion will be happy going forward with wingers such as Max Molholt, Zach Parechkin and Jordan Maverick. 

10th Overall: Seattle Bears - Center Jory Rose - 116 TPE

With only Maxime Deschamps in the pipeline at the center position the Bear will go ahead and draft Jory Rose who is with the VHLM powerhouse Moscow Red Wolves. He scored 24 goals and assisted on 51 goals for 75 points in 72 games. He only won 51% of his faceoffs though and that will have to improve by the time he reaches the next level. In the playoffs he has scored 1 goal and assisted on 4 goals for 5 points. His faceoff percentage has dropped way down to only 34%. Seattle would have high hopes for Rose to pick that up if they envision him centering new franchise winger Shawn Muller in a few seasons. 

2nd Round

11th Overall: Seattle Bears - Forfeited

12th Overall: Toronto Legion - Forfeited

13th Overall: Seattle Bears - Right Wing LeAndre St.Pierre - 120 TPE

14th Overall: Toronto Legion - Right Wing Niels Skovgard - 113 TPE

15th Overall: Stockholm Vikings - Center Kol Mikaelson - 82 TPE

16th Overall: HC Davos Dynamo - Defenseman Jon Panik - 82 TPE

17th Overall: Cologne Express - Center Jonathan Killeen - 77 TPE

18th Overall: Stockholm Vikings - Defenseman Benjamin Tumack - 65 TPE

19th Overall: Calgary Wranglers - Defenseman Zach Voss - 66 TPE

20th Overall: Helsinki Titans - Goaltender Cooper Supernaw - 59 TPE

 

Edited October 29, 2015 by StevenStamkos91

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

264

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of Transaction Central or Insider Trading, whatever Molholt wants to call it these days. With the off-season set to go into full swing with the Season 46 VHL Entry Draft set to go this Wednesday, we shall look at some trades that pre-date some of these very members here on the site. Maybe a few trades will take place here on Monday up until Wednesday that will change up the whole draft order. These trades that we will look at today did just that all the way back in Season 1, just before the Season 1 VHL Dispersal Draft. 

To 
Season 1 Amstel 1st Round Pick - 6th Overall
Season 1 Amstel 2nd Round Pick - 11th Overall
Season 2 Amstel 4th Round Pick - 29th Overall

To 
Season 1 Calgary 1st Round Pick - 1st Overall
Season 1 Calgary 2nd Round Pick - 16th Overall

The Result:
The Calgary Wranglers did the unthinkable and traded 1st overall. Most people were caught off guard with this decision by then GM Brett Slobodzian. Slobodzian's reason was quite simple actually. He would rather have picks early in the draft (6th and 11th) than having pick number 1 and wait a long time for pick number 2 (1st and 16th). With these 2 picks, the Calgary Wranglers would shape up their dynasty in the early years. With the 6th overall selection, the Calgary Wranglers selected Hall of Famer, Scott Boulet. With the 11th overall pick, the Calgary Wranglers selected goltender Drew Barclay. Both these players played major roles in years 1-3 (Barclay left in Season 4), making the Wranglers the 1st dynasty in VHL History. Scott Boulet would play 432 games in his career, all with the Calgary Wranglers. In these 432 games he scored 349 goals and assisted on 388 for 737 points. This is ranked tied for 36th all time in VHL History. He is actually in the top 25th all time in goals coming in at 23 but his assists are lacking coming in at 73rd all time. However, Mr. Boulet legacy is not in his points, assists or goals, it is in his dedication to the site in the early years and to being a great 2-way forward. He has a trophy named after him and has his name enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Drew Barclay on the other hand, is a winner plain and simple. This may be attributed to playing on such a great team like the Wrangler but his all time career stats look like this: 101 wins - 17 losses - 4 overtime losses. That is amazing, plain and simple. His save percentage of 0.898 maybe not look that great, but compare that to the likes of Maxim Desny an Matthew Pogge its not that bad as they only had save percentages of 0.908 which is 0.010 better than Barclay. He may not be the best goaltender in VHL history, but he is one of the winning-est. The 4th round pick was later traded away.

Going the other way in the trade was 1st overall pick goaltender Robert Sharpe and 16th overall pick defenseman/center Petr Shirokov. Robert Sharpe gets a bad rep when really he never stood a chance. Even if he had an amazing career and won all these things, he will always go down in history as the player picked before Scotty Campbell. He finished with a career record of 144-100-21 and a save percentage of 0.889 and a G.A.A of 3.10. During the early years of the VHL it was hard on goalies as there were a lot of high powered offence with very little defence. Sharpe is actually tied for 42nd in wins with Hall of Famer Maxim Desny. In my honest opinion Sharpe should be a Hall of Famer. He is tied with or better than a few of those goalies who are in the Hall of Fame. Its been 45 season since the VHL started, maybe its about time we give Robert Sharpe his due. The other man involved in the trade is one of the first inductees into the Hall of Fame and that man is Petr Shirokov. He started out as a centerman but after a need for his team, he made the switch to the back end. He played in only 290 games but 121 goals and assisted on 213 goals for 334 points. As far as I can remember, I'm pretty sure he was only around for 4 seasons, 2 of which for Amstel and then moved about like a nomad. 

Verdict:
The winner of this trade is the Calgary Wranglers. Even though Scott Boulet and Petr Shirokov are Hall of Famer's which basically write them off as equals, but you can't. Scott Boulet played his whole career with the Calgary Wranglers winning back to back championships with them. Drew Barclay finished 69-3 in his season with the Wranglers. Robert Sharpe played in a suspension filled season with Amstel while Shirokov played in 2 seasons. Based on this Calgary wins the 1st trade in VHL History. 

GM Brett Slobodzian - 1-0
GM JJ Krever - 0-1

To 
Season 1 Hamilton 1st Round Pick - 2nd Overall

To 
Season 1 Vasteras 1st Round Pick - 8th Overall
Season 2 Vasteras 2nd Round Pick - 16th Overall

The Result:
The 2nd overall pick turned out to be some guy named Scotty Campbell. He not only helped the Vasteras IK franchise win the inaugural Continental Cup over the powerhouse Calgary Wranglers, but he started writing the VHL record books in the process. He is the all time leader in goals, assists and points. With 2nd place in those categories are 151 goals behind, 59 assists behind and 268 points respectively. Scotty Campbell is the true superstar in the VHL and no one will ever break his records in those categories simply because of the parity in the VHL nowadays. There have been plenty of great players in the VHL but there is only 1 Scotty Campbell.

The 8th overall selection became defenseman David Night. He was a pillar in the early years of the VHL, trailblazing the way that defenseman should be built. He was arguably the 1st great defenseman. He would help shape the Hamilton Canucks into a respectable franchise despite the struggle of the early years. In 504 career games, David scored 164 goals and assisted on 370 goals for 534 points in his career. He is a Hall of Famer as well in his glorious career. The 2nd Round Pick also turned into a defenseman. That defenseman is the lost Staal brother. Alex Staal was selected by the Hamilton Canucks at 16th overall and spent a couple seasons there if memory serves correct. In his 431 games, he scored 57 goals and assisted on 232 goals for 289 points. Neither of these players though helped the Hamilton Canucks win a Continental Cup, unfortunately. 

Verdict:
Well when you acquire the greatest player in VHL history, you probably win that trade hands down. In this case it is true. Scotty Campbell won a Continental Cup with the Vasteras IK while David Night and Alex Staal couldn't do the same with the Hamilton Canucks. They didn't even make it to the finals as well if my memory serves correct. All in all, I believe GM Brett Noiles wants this trade back. 

GM Lucas Tannahill - 1-0
GM Brett Noiles - 0-1

To 
Season 1 Calgary 5th Round Pick - 33rd Overall

To 
Season 1 Vasteras 5th Round Pick - 40th Overall
Season 1 Vasteras 6th Round Pick - 41st Overall

The Result:
Vasteras traded up in the draft to select Aaron Hill 33rd overall. Who? Exactly, Aaron Hill played in only 1 season with Vasteras scoring 7 goals and assisting on 20 goals for 27 points. His claim to fame might be winning the Continental Cup over the Wranglers and being the 2nd name on the All-Time Stats list. 

Calgary proved to be shrewd at trades so far acquiring Hall of Famer Scott Boulet and then followed up that trade by trading for 40th and 41st overall. These picked proved to be great depth players in defenseman Shawn Howard and RW Cody Banks. Cody Banks had a very good career for a 5th rounder and spending most of his career with the Wranglers. Anyway, he scored 118 goals and assisted on 173 goals for 291 points. The 40th overall picked turned out to be journeyman defender Shawn Howard. Shortly after being drafted, Calgary released the defender so he never played a game for the organization. 

Verdict:
This trade almost turned out to be a wash for both teams. Calgary released the best player in this trade in Shawn Howard. Cody Banks played more for Calgary than Aaron Hill did for Vasteras so this turns out to be a win for Calgary.

GM Brett Slobodzian - 2-0
GM Lucas Tannahill - 1-1

To 
$500,000

To 
Season 1 Vasteras 7th Round Pick - 56th Overall

The Result:
Vasteras traded away the 56th overall pick for 500K. Nick Ovechkin was shortly released after being selected

Verdict:
Vasteras wins this because they recieved 500K for a 56th overall pick that never played a game for Amstel.

GM Lucas Tannahill - 2-1
GM JJ Krever - 0-2

There we have it folks, 3 pre-draft trades that happened before the VHL ever played its first game. I hope you enjoyed this edition. For VHL magazine, I'm Shawn Howard aka StevenStamkos91.

Edited November 3, 2015 by StevenStamkos91