VHL Season 59 Retrospective Re-Draft

[McWolf 3,111]

VHL Season 59 Retrospective Re-Draft

 

 

Preface

I said I'd do it again if I had the time. I had a blast doing this last time around, but I wasn't aware of everything going around. I actually learned a lot about the league and its short-term history by looking back at the S58 Draft. This past season was fun, I've been fairly active, talked to a lot of veterans and learned even more about the league. So, this time, I come way more prepared than last season. This isn't 2-week old McWolf doing a big flashy article because Beaviss told him to. This is 2-month old McWolf doing it because he wants to and he looked forward to do it for the whole offseason. So, now that I got a bit of time on my hand, here it is.

I'm going to continue with the template I used last time; I will be re-drafting Season 59's Entry Draft. I still think that re-drafting 4 years ago is a good timing. Players have had 4 years to show us if they were worth the spot they were taken in, but they also still got 4 more prime years to pursue cups and individual awards. We're analyzing their careers while we are right in the middle of it, so things could change, but they probably won't change too much. Actives will probably stay active, inactives will definitely stay inactive. Even then, if an active goes astray now, the 400 TPE they would have gotten by now would still beat the crap out of someone that was drafted inactive and that stayed inactive throughout their career.

 

 

Context

The Season 59 VHL Entry Draft took place on February 13th, 2018. It occured after the conclusion of Season 58, that saw the Riga Reign dominate the regular season. As was the case last season, they were led by the dynamic tandem of Fredinamijs Krigars and John Locke, who both scored north of 50 goals and 120 points. Krigars ranked 1st in assists , Locke ranked 1st in goals and they ranked respectively 1st and 2nd in points. The Reign could once again count on solid goaltending by Markus King as they finished atop the regular season standings with 117 points. The Toronto Legion and the Seattle Bears were the only serious contenders for the title, but both came short, finishing the season with 113 and 111 points, respectively. The Helsinki Titans and the New York Americans completed the playoff tree, as they both finished 4th (with 86 points) and 5th (with 83 points). On the other side of the standings, the HC Davos Dynamo, the Quebec City Meute and the Calgary Wranglers were far behind the last two playoff teams, respectively finishing the season with 26, 42 and 58 points. The lottery eventually left the top of the draft board as it was, with Davos picking twice to start the night (with their pick and the Meute's pick, acquired 3 seasons prior), followed by the Wranglers and the Titans.

 

Come playoff time, the Reign were once again fairly dominant. They disposed of the Wild-Card-winning Americans in 5 games to reach their 2nd Continental Cup finals in a row. They faced the Seattle Bears, fresh off a 7-game semi-final series against the 2nd placed Legion. Both teams won every home game through the first 5 games of the series, meaning the Reign arrived in Seattle for game 6 with a 3-2 lead in the series. They won the game and got to carry the Cup around the ice in front of disgruntled Bears fans after a brilliant performance by Markus King, the eventual Daisuke Kanou Trophy winner.

 

 

Season 59 Entry Draft

 

Round 1

1. HC Davos Dynamo selects Joseph Bassolino

2. HC Davos Dynamo (from QUE) selects Brandon Hood

3. Calgary Wranglers select Evan R. Lawson

4. Helsinki Titans select Marcel St-Laurent

5. New York Americans select Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette

6. Toronto Legion selects Varis Tribuncovs

7. HC Davos Dynamo (from SEA) selects Kevin Knight

8. HC Davos Dynamo (from RIG) selects Ebi Shpeen

 

Round 2

9. HC Davos Dynamo selects Corey Guimond

10. HC Davos Dynamo (from QUE) selects Le'Sean Coutzen

11. Calgary Wranglers select Batman

12. Helsinki Titans select Theo Karlsson

13. New York Americans select Dustin Evans

14. Toronto Legion selects Gary Goose

15. Calgary Wranglers (from SEA) select Elfon Ashelf

16. HC Davos Dynamo (from RIG) selects Joona Makela

 

 

Season 59 Retrospective Re-Draft

 

1. Joseph Bassolino (C) @Smarch

Original pick: 1st by the HC Davos Dynamo

Draft TPE: 155

Current TPE: 693

 

Bassolino was 1st in the pre-draft ranking, he was draft 1st overall, and he is still, hands down, the best player in this draft class, 4 years later. The centerman only spent one season in the minors prior to the draft, when he scored 2 goals and added 20 assists in 72 games, which leads to the question: Why was he selected first overall? Of course, the answer lies within the TPE and the fact that Smarch is a VHL veteran. He knows how to build a good player and, despite the slow start to his career, Bassolino is starting to show just that. He scored over 29 goals and 68 points in 3 straight seasons and was an important piece of Davos' S61 Continental Cup run. He has yet to produce a superstar caliber statline, but he still has 4 seasons to make that happen. This offseason, Bassolino joined Riga through free agency, meaning he might line up with great offensive threats in Podrick Cast and Edwin Preencarnacion.

 

 

2. Evan R. Lawson (LW) @diamond_ace

Original pick: 3rd by the Calgary Wranglers

Draft TPE: 63

Current TPE: 479

 

Another pick, another VHL veteran off an alright VHLM season. Evan R. Lawson was on the lowside on draft day, when it comes to TPE gathering, but the Wranglers GM chose to trust him. He began his VHL career as a depth defensive forward, but quickly grew to become a great two-way forward with a knack for dropping bodies. He just had his best offensive season, as he scored 32 goals and added 40 assists in 72 games, though his hits total dropped from 212 in S61 to 58 in S62. Lawson is just back from a Continental Cup winning season, as the Wranglers put behind their S61 finals defeat to Bassolino's Dynamo and beat the Meute in 7 games. I wouldn't exactly say Lawson played a huge part in the Cup run, but in series so close as the finals, every little thing counts and his 12 points in 13 games were definitely important for the team's success. Look out for him to continue to develop in Calgary, as the team is still among the favourites to win it all this season.

 

 

3. Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette (D) @FacePuncher

Original pick: 5th by the New York Americans

Draft TPE: 122

Current TPE: 398

 

LPL2 was drafted by the Americans, but was almost immediately dealt do the Meute, as part of a 3-way trade with the two teams aforementioned and the Reign. A very defensive defenseman, LPL2 finished 2nd in the VHLM with 294 hits and 12th with 90 shots blocked in S59, as he spent one more year in the minors after the draft. He continued to be a physical defensive force to be reckoned with following his promotion to the Meute the following season. 3 seasons into his VHL career, he totals 803 hits and 431 shots blocked, ranking in the top 10 in both stats in all but 1 season (he was 22nd with only 108 shots blocked last season). He'll continue to do the dirty work for the Meute for 2 more seasons, as he was extended for 2 seasons during the previous one.

 

 

4. Brandon Hood (LW)

Original pick: 2nd by the HC Davos Dynamo

Draft TPE: 126

Current TPE: 213

 

The quality of draftees drops drastically between LPL2 and Hood. We went from 2 important pieces on championship teams, to a heavy-hitting defensive defenseman to, well, career borderline roster players. Hey, at least they are in the league, right? Brandon Hood was drafted 2nd by the Dynamo, and basically stopped developping from that point moving forward. He barely reached the depth player talent tier. However, he shows good stats for a depth player, as he recorded between 5 and 9 goals, and between 19 and 33 assists in the 4 seasons he played with the Dynamo or the Legion so far. Where he really excels, though, is in the shots blocking department. Hood blocked the total of 419 shots in 288 games, making him one of the more efficient defensive forwards in the league. The lack of development in the last couple seasons means he won't ever grow as an elite defensive forward and that he won't ever had offensive prowesses to his defensive talent.

 

 

5. Varis Tribuncovs (C)

Original pick: 6th by the Toronto Legion

Draft TPE: 66

Current TPE: 175

 

Varis Tribuncovs follows in Hood (baby) footsteps, as he also became nothing more than a depth piece for the team that drafted him. He needed 2 more years of development in the VHLM before making the jump in the VHL, and it ended up being a rather quiet jump. His best statline was his 16-goal, 9-assist rookie season. One thing is does good, however, is deliver bone crushing hits. From 55 in his rookie season, he was up to 110 hits last season. He is not a speedy goalscorer and a good playmaker, but he still makes good use of his limited icetime with what little he can bring to his team.

 

 

6. Marcel St-Laurent (G) @Frank

Original pick: 5th by the Helsinki Titans

Draft TPE: 135

Current TPE: 111

 

Starting with this pick, we are looking at players that have yet (or won't because they retired already) to make their VHL debut. Most of the players below this that are still active are promising to be career VHLMers, until the point where their team replaces them with flashy kids with higher potential and, let's be honest, anyone starts with more potential than career VHLMers. I won't bother to comment on them or even to rank them. Consider this very pick the last one of the actual re-draft, and if you really want it to go for the whole 2 rounds, just order them in the actual draft order yourself. St-Laurent, like everyone past this point, hasn't player a single game in the majors. But, I'm ranking him above the rest of them, for what could have been. He developped well in the VHLM, but then stagnated at the VHLM starter level, up until he prematurely retired.

 

 

Afterword

Well, this was.. something? If the Season 58 Re-Draft was underwhelming, this one was even worse. No offense to Smarch or diamond_ace, but their players are far from being superstars despite their high TPE totals. They still got 4 years to grow into better players, however, so I'm not throwing the towel on them, and I'm going to blame their slow starts on the team surrounding them for the most part. Both got drafted by teams that dominated in the last couple of seasons, meaning their 500+ TPE made them mere depth pieces on championship-winning teams. But, with seasons going by, players leaving for retirement and some change of sceneries, they both could blossom into the stars of their team.

Where this draft really lacks though, is after the 3rd best talent in the draft, which would be Lespineau-Lebrunette. Hood and Tribuncovs are career depth pieces on bad teams and the other 11 players drafted combine for 0 games played in the VHL. Hopefully, the Season 60 is better in terms of star quality and, most of all, depth.

Until next season. Thanks again, Beavs, for the idea. McWolf out.

 

---

 

Word count; 1,9k

Will claim in weeks ending on Oct. 21, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4

[diamond_ace 3,106]

You can't be too upset taking either me or Bassolino. For that matter, given the quality of the draft on the whole (as in, not much) you can't really be too upset taking LPLL at 5. Hood was a big swing and miss as was Laurent. The interesting case for me is Shpeen, because that could easily have been Marvin Harding but for a few seasons, since Shpeen was Muffins.

(Also, I'm kind of glad Tribuncovs never worked out, was not a fan of the member)

[McWolf 3,111]

See, I didn't even know Shpeen was Muffins. You sometimes make terrible players, bud.

[diamond_ace 3,106]

To be fair, a lot of vets have a guy that was a failure. Let's not bring up Vaclav Hrdina, for example (other than to point out that there was a reason I had 63 TPE at the draft with Lawson, and that reason was no carryover)

[Banackock 7,638]

Weak draft compared to the last few seasons. Back then, that was bad - yes, but normalish sometimes. 

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

6. Marcel St-Laurent (G) @Frank

Original pick: 5th by the Helsinki Titans

Draft TPE: 135

Current TPE: 111

 

 

How did you manage negative tpe frank?

[McWolf 3,111]

1 minute ago, Green said:

6. Marcel St-Laurent (G) @Frank

Original pick: 5th by the Helsinki Titans

Draft TPE: 135

Current TPE: 111

 

 

How did you manage negative tpe frank?

 

was asking myself the same thing lmao

[Victor 10,534]

God damn no wonder we contracted.

[.sniffuM 1,741]

2 hours ago, McWolf said:

See, I didn't even know Shpeen was Muffins. You sometimes make terrible players, bud.

 

I had an update thread that went untouched for 2 weeks and then watched Boubabi run Boom out of the league so I decided this comeback attempt wasn't worth it.

[Tyler 881]

2 hours ago, diamond_ace said:

Hood was a big swing and miss as was Laurent

 

Not really? He had the second most TPE and was updating every week. Can hardly predict someone leaving the site all together when they show no signs of it.

[diamond_ace 3,106]

2 minutes ago, Tyler said:

 

Not really? He had the second most TPE and was updating every week. Can hardly predict someone leaving the site all together when they show no signs of it.

Not referring to "at the time"

[McWolf 3,111]

Claiming for week ending in Oct 28

[McWolf 3,111]

Claiming for week ending on Nov 4