VHLM TRADE REVIEW-Las Vegas and Ottawa

[nymets5 11]

Late last night, the VHLM saw its first trade after the S61 draft, which was this past Sunday. The Las Vegas Aces traded Sam Hynes, and a second and third round pick to the Ottawa Lynx for next season for rookie defenseman James Lombardi, who was a ninth round pick in the S61 draft. This seams like a lopsided trade in favor of the Lynx, but lets dive a bit deeper into this trade.

 

For the Lynx, James Lombardi is a 25 year old defense man entering his first season in the VHLM. At the draft, Lombardi only had 34 TPE, which is why he slipped so far in the draft. Either way, Lynx general manager diamond_ace was very high on him and his entire draft class as a whole. In the 11 picks that the Lynx had, five of them were used on defenseman and Lombardi was the lowest TPE player by 7, which shows how deep of a draft they had. The Lynx also drafted a 135 TPE goalie Kallis Kriketers, which makes up for any deficiencies they have on the blueline. Despite being an active player, Lombardi was a 3rd pairing guy and the Lynx felt that they could flip that into a large haul.

 

For Aces fans, there could be a bit of outrage about this trade. Lombardi was only a ninth round pick, and they shipped off a second and third round pick for him. But there are some other factors that make this trade better. The Aces get Hynes off of the roster, who was one of five inactive players on the roster. That is a lot for one team, so it makes sense to pay a premium to acquire a player that will be any active member of the team. Lombardi is set to be on the second defense pair this season, as well as special teams ice time.

 

The scouting report of Lombardi is that he is fairly undersized at 5'10, but makes up for it by being an solid skater. His game is modeled around his skating, as well as his passing. Lombardi also enjoys hitting people and is pretty strong and figures to get stronger. His shot is not very good yet, and needs to improve if he wants to be the point man on the powerplay. Statistically, Lombardi should get around 20-30, with most of them being assists. He is fairly disciplined, but some checks will cross the line and send him to the box, as most physical defenseman are.

 

At first glance, this trade does seem lopsided in favor of the Lynx, and understandably so. Trading two high round picks and a player for one late round player does seem like a steal. But there are benefits for both sides. The Lynx do a great job drafting year in and year out, as proven by this prior draft. But they do take on an inactive player, which is a nuisance. For the Aces, they get a player to fill out there second pairing, and also get to dump one of their inactive players. The Aces defense was looking weak heading into the draft, and while they were able to add a couple quality pieces, it still was not very good. Adding another defenseman, who at the time at the article had 48 TPE, is important. The backend is still a question mark for this team, but not as much as it was previously. I still think this trade is better for the Lynx, but the Aces still made a smart move.  

[diamond_ace 3,106]

You're a good active member and you always hate dealing away good active members. Glad you understand that I had to do it though, and good luck in Vegas and on whichever VHL team you eventually end up on when you promote.

[jacobaa19 191]

I think youll make it a decent trade in the long run especially if we win a cup