Quick Vegas post season wrap [1/2]

[oilmandan 686]

The Las Vegas Aces season came to a surprising end this past week as they were beaten by the Ottawa Lynx in the Wild Card Series of the VHLM playoffs. The Aces finished a whopping 30 points ahead of the Lynx in the regular season standings, but it was thought by many that Ottawa had underperformed during the year and it was apparent in the playoffs. And as they say, at the start of the playoffs, everyone can win any night.

 

At the start of S63, it  looked like the beginning of a rebuild for Las Vegas, they went into the draft with only a few roster players and minimal draft picks. It was up to new GM @jubo07 to try and make a quick overhaul in the ultra fast changing VHLM.

 

The Aces had what was widely considered a solid draft, securing several important pieces for the season. 2nd round pick Jorgon Weyed ended up being the teams captain, he scored 48 goals and had 97 points. 3rd rounder Randoms hit 30 goals and was a physical force every night. Perhaps one of the biggest steals in the draft was 4th round selection Joel Ylonen. Ylonen came out of nowhere to finish with 29 goals and 83 points, good for 2nd on the club. They were also by far the most active in the free agency market, scooping up many big pieces along the way.

 

Although early on it appeared that Yukon and Saskatoon were both going to be the most serious contenders, Vegas held off selling off their valuable assets, instead opting for deals that would help both in the present and future. Star netminder Brick Wahl was going to be lost in the offseason, so he was swapped for Kevin Weekes, who will return in S64. These shrewd moves put Las Vegas in a much position heading into this summer as opposed to the previous one.

 

With its own first round pick in the upcoming draft and another six picks altogether, Vegas can add even more pieces to take a run at the Founders Cup.

 

Assistant GM Dan Wilinsky commented on his thoughts on S63. “Heading into the draft, our roster cupboard looked pretty bleak and bare. We had no goalie and other than James Lombardi, not too many proven, active players. The draft was tough too, as we had to wait a long time to pick. Luckily we got Weyed, he knew our system and what we wanted to accomplish. Things progressed real well after that. We definitely exceeded expectations from that of the year. Were going to lose a few very good players in the draft once again, but well be able to hopefully replace them and improve on this year. Having a goalie in place, helps a bunch. We had to scramble a little bit and then Wahl fell into our lap. This year we have to take the next step and win a round or I think we will all be a little disappointed.

[Nykonax 1,550]

3 hours ago, oilmandan said:

one of the biggest steals in the draft was 4th round selection Joel Ylonen

Im glad you said one of, because we all know Dahlberg was the biggest steal.

 

Nice article though

[oilmandan 686]

14 minutes ago, Nykonax said:

Im glad you said one of, because we all know Dahlberg was the biggest steal.

 

Nice article though

Dahlberg who?

[diamond_ace 3,106]

32 minutes ago, oilmandan said:

Dahlberg who?

Dahlberg the leading scorer in the league, that you guys somehow all let fall to me at 17? Maybe that one

[oilmandan 686]

21 hours ago, diamond_ace said:

Dahlberg the leading scorer in the league, that you guys somehow all let fall to me at 17? Maybe that one

If you knew hed be that good, youd have snapped him up in the first round. Randoms was a good bet with a VHL GM for a user..... still never heard of this dahlberg character you speak of though lol

Edited December 9, 2018 by oilmandan

[diamond_ace 3,106]

3 hours ago, oilmandan said:

If you knew hed be that good, youd have snapped him up in the first round. Randoms was a good bet with a VHL GM for a user..... still never heard of this dahlberg character you speak of though lol

I didn't have a 1st. 17th overall was the first pick I had. I would probably have taken him mid 2nd - proven users were still the relatively safer bet to an extent, but I definitely thought he was worth going well earlier than he did, and was happy no one else took him. I remember @McWolf and I talking when the draft was happening and being surprised he was still there

[oilmandan 686]

We were hoping hed last to 19. Was a toss up between him and randoms at 16 for us. We were ecstatic to get Andrew Taylor at 30 too. He had his rookie profile and bio done and was like a week or two in. And then he disappeared. 

[diamond_ace 3,106]

3 minutes ago, oilmandan said:

We were hoping hed last to 19. Was a toss up between him and randoms at 16 for us. We were ecstatic to get Andrew Taylor at 30 too. He had his rookie profile and bio done and was like a week or two in. And then he disappeared. 

We were a little mad to miss out on Leander Foxxe, and in hindsight, significantly happier with that

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

STHS is a fickle beast sometimes. Playoff Randomness is a regular occurrence. Nice article talking about LV and their playoff run. approved.