Reviewing Halifax 21st Draft [1/2]

[ColeMrtz 571]

VHLM Weekly

Article by: Riley Johnston

 

The most recent VHLM draft saw the beginnings of a new Halifax based franchise begin to take shape. Luckily for the expansion team the draft was incredibly deep, allowing them to pick up a lot of young talent. Today we dive into who will establish the franchise this upcoming season.

 

1st round, 3rd overall, 160 TPA Defenseman Tzuyu

With their first pick Halifax looks to build a back end that can help fill out their front end too. Tzuyu is a talented puck moving defenseman, her short run in the VHLM last season doesn't give a whole lot to go on, but her playstyle looks promising to help generate offense out of the back for Halifax.

 

2nd round, 9th overall, 65 TPA Right Winger Nikita Flipachyev

A sniper in the most definitive sense, Flipachyev looks to be the goalscorer in Halifax this coming season. With no previous VHLM experience the Russian Rookie may very well become the next scoring phenom out on the ice.

 

2nd round, 12th overall, 145 TPA Defenseman Shawn Glade

Another veteran offensive defenseman, Glade has played an entire season in the VHLM before being drafted to Halifax. His numbers prove promising, ending the regular season +52 with 27 points. Glade also proved to be a key playoff players, averaging 1.1 PPG in the playoffs.

 

3rd round, 15th overall, 76 TPA Defenseman B.B. Nat

Continuing to build a strong D core, Nat put up crazy numbers in the VHLM last season, scoring 71 points in 72 games. There are some concerns about Nat playing too aggressively, with his +- coming out to only +16, but paired with a defensive defenseman Nat will prove a powerful addition to the back end.

 

4th round, 21st overall, 40 TPA Goaltender Cole Mertz

Mertz is the first of two goaltending prospects Halifax acquired during the draft. Mertz relies on speed over technique to make saves, making him a high risk/high reward player for the time being. Given time to develop though he may become a starting goaltender for Halifax in the coming seasons.

 

4th round, 23rd overall, 47 TPA Center Mike Lavallee

Lavallee is a very well rounded rookie center, there's no real holes in his play other than him being inexperienced. If he continues to develop in the way he is now Lavallee will prove to be an excellent power forward for the team.

 

6th round, 32nd overall, 30 TPA Left Winger Aaron Butcher

Halifax waited until late in the draft to start developing offense, and as a result we see a lot of prospects with potential, but not a whole lot to assess them on. Aaron Butcher is one of those players. We expect to see a lot of growth out of him but right now it's hard to determine the direction he will go.

 

6th round, 33rd overall, 36 TPA Center Hunter Kidd

Kidd played a season with the Las Vegas Aces last year, and didn't prove much. He posted a 13 point season, ended with a -21, and ultimately showed little to no development. This will be a hit or miss pick for Halifax, as Kidd may not develop at all. Should he start to develop though, Halifax will have landed themselves a nice addition to their offense.

 

7th round, 39th overall, 0 TPA Center Nathan MacKinnon

There's nothing to be said about MacKinnon, he may exhibit growth later but as of right now he hasn't even shown potential.

 

8th round, 47th overall, 32 TPA Goaltender Tyler Smith

The second goaltending prospect out of the draft for Halifax, Smith is a well rounded goalie who similar to Lavallee, is only lacking in experience. Given time Smith will become an outstanding goaltender in all aspects, and is expected to grow into a potential starter for Halifax.

 

9th round, 51st overall, 30 TPA Defenseman Jeremy Myalls

An interesting prospect, Myalls looks as though he will grow into a strong defensive defenseman within a few seasons. Should he develop quickly he could be the perfect pairing for B.B. Nat to counter his aggressive style of play.

 

10th round, 57th overall, 0 TPA Goaltender Potato

Akin to MacKinnon, there's nothing to be said about Potato.

 

(This article was written on the 10th so any TPA after that point will not be reflected)

Edited August 13, 2018 by ColeMrtz21

[LordTony 35]

Glad to be part of this team! So excited for the future! 

[Baozi 1,638]

I think you have genders confused.

 

Tzuyu---->

[ColeMrtz 571]

42 minutes ago, tfong said:

I think you have genders confused.

 

Tzuyu---->

My bad, fixed

[ShawnGlade 1,007]

I loved this piece! But I thought I could throw my hat into the ring here

 

1. Shawn Glade is my own player, as I'm sure every other team is painfully aware and didnt draft me

 

2. TPA -> TPE

 

3. Guys like MacKinnon and Smith I have actually heard from, so I wouldn't write them off just yet

[ColeMrtz 571]

53 minutes ago, ShawnGlade said:

I loved this piece! But I thought I could throw my hat into the ring here

 

1. Shawn Glade is my own player, as I'm sure every other team is painfully aware and didnt draft me

 

2. TPA -> TPE

 

3. Guys like MacKinnon and Smith I have actually heard from, so I wouldn't write them off just yet

Some guys go inactive with banked so I figured TPA would be better, I was going off my own info so MacKinnon and the like I assessed off of what I saw in their player page. 

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Review:

Nice to look back on articles like these and compare them to how things are now!

Great insight.