Oh, the times (and rosters) they are a-changing [1/2]

[Spade18 1,305]

I wrote this for the mag, but the issue was delayed so here you go.

 

There were slight whispers of movement, but you must run before you can walk in the VHLM.

The trade market EXPLODED (relatively) Monday night seeing Saskatoon scoop up every draft pick from here to tomorrow, and two heavy hitters beef up their respective line ups.

The first trade of the day was as follows:

To Yukon: 

 

C- John Stronk @Beerfridge

LW - Veran Dragomir @Velevra

 

To Saskatoon: 

 

Yukon S60 1st Rounder

Yukon S60 2nd Rounder

 

The centerpiece of this trade is obviously Veran Dragomire.  Dragomir is a lock to be taken first overall in the upcoming VHL draft.  He will drop into the left-wing spot on the first line and provide a scoring touch that Yukon had somewhat been lacking.  Dragomir started his career with The Aces before he was drafted, and Yuko has not only brought on the premier scoring threat in the league, but also a standup guy in @Velevra, who is a pleasure to have in the locker room.  Yukon has been the favorite pretty much since the get go, and this move solidifies an offense which compliments their solid defensive core.  The second player coming from Saskatoon is John Stronk.  By no means is John Stronk an “also ran”.  I know @beerfridge from the EFL and know that he is a hard worker and dedicated player.  Stronk will slot immediately into the 2^nd line and provide scoring depth for the Rush.  Going the other way in the trade are Yukon’s 1^st and 2^nd round picks in the VHLM draft.  While they are looking to be late round picks, they will allow Saskatoon flexibility to round out their lineup.  Considering the next trade coming up, perhaps these moves will allow Saskatoon to be the landing spot for the Vilhjalmsson Triplets as they’ve expressed that they will only play together?  Time will tell.

 

The second deal of the quote, unquote, trade deadline saw Dragon McDragon and Otto Axelsson head to the strip in exchange for the Aces first 3 draft picks. 

To LVA 

 

Dragon McDragon @JardyB10

Otto Axelsson @Dangles13

 

To SSK 

 

S60 LVA 1st

S60 LVA 2nd

S60 LVA 3^rd

 

I can first hand tell you that I reached out to Goon about Dragon McDragon on the first day of the season.  The Aces have needed a helping hand on defense all season.  Dragon is one of the top TPE defenseman in league and will take over the #1 D spot for Vegas.  When I saw that The Rush had acquired more scoring, I decided to inquire about Axelsson as well. He comes to Vegas as the now TPE leader for the Aces.  His scoring touch and silky passes will be a huge boost to a team who has been very hot and cold when it comes to scoring this year.  Dragon and Otto are both on the last year of their VHLM time, So the Aces giving up 3 picks in the upcoming draft really signifies that they are all in on this year.  The picks, again, give Saskatoon an opportunity to dominate the draft.  8 of the first 15 picks will go to the Wild. So, if you’re looking on a team to bet on next year, my money is on the wild.

 

While these two blockbusters are the only two trades that have gone down so far, I am hearing backroom rumblings of another trade in the works.  The VHLM have only a few days left before the trade deadline, so the pressure is on to make those moves come to fruition.

In other “inside the VHLM” news, there have been rumblings behind the scenes about possibly shortening the length of time a season take.  LET THIS NOT BE CONFUSED WITH TAKING AWAY GAMES.  The amount of games would remain the same under the proposed change made by Beaviss back on February 27^th.  The amount of games simmed at one time would simply increase, shortening the length that each season would take by about one week.  There were positive and negative arguments on both sides, but more than half of the voters were in favor of the change. 

Even though there was a lengthy discussion on it and the idea obviously gained traction in the community, I’m hearing from multiple sources that the idea has not been broached in the discussions of the blue team.  I for one am a big supporter of the current regime, but seeing the positive reaction the idea received, it worries me slightly that topic has not even been formally discussed by the people who have the power to make changes.  This is one of the areas that I think the VHLM is being underutilized.  The blue team could test out league changes, such as shortening the season, in the VHLM for a season to see how it would work.  Utilizing these “test years” could provide invaluable insight in to possible flaws in these new designs, and perhaps even open our eyes to positive changes we didn’t even realize would be by products of these ideas. Having a minor league is such a great advantage that I believe we as a community need to use properly in order to better our league.  We need to stop viewing the VHLM as an extension of the VHL and begin viewing it as its own league that we can mold and change to hep better the VHL.

[Gooningitup 1,290]

Well technically u cant say u made the deal because of Yukon lol. Because we had closed if u replied earlier than me and Yukon who also targeted Axelsson

[Dangles13 373]

Boy, did you get hosed. Axelsson is garbage.

[HellBillyXIII 61]

Review: word count is good. Ive seen 3/4 takes on this trade so far (wrote 1 myself) and they all seem to agree this trade was good for all parties.