Pat Svoboda Excited for the VHL Draft

[StamkosFan 72]

An overhead view of team delegations attending last year's VHL draft.

 

The VHL entry draft is set for Tuesday of this week, and right winger Pat Svoboda is making a last minute push to climb the draft board. His training has been described as "frenzied" and "manic" by some who witnessed his nonstop workout routine, but that's the kind of dedication that many VHL scouts want to hear about. The Swede had an excellent rookie campaign in the VHLM after coming over to Canada for marital reasons, and he is VHL-bound after surpassing TPE limits for VHLM eligibility. Reportedly, Oslo had contacted Svoboda about taking him first in the VHLM entry draft, but he lowered his head and dug in his heels; he didn't want to spend another year in the minors. And now, sitting at 215 TPE with more incoming, he is one of the top prospects in his draft class according to live rankings. Whispers based on online chat room public conversations suggest that Svoboda is buddying up with Quebec since his wife is Canadian; he even flashed his rudimentary French knowledge in the hopes of impressing, drawing groans from the Americans. However, the 6'5'' sniper forward insists that he is willing to play for any team.

 

"My goal is to increase my draft stock as much as possible over these last few hours, and to go as high as possible in the draft. Don't get me wrong, I would love to play for Quebec if they pick me, but I've also talked to other teams like Davos and Helsinki. My family is more open to moving to Scandinavia now than a few months ago, so Helsinki would definitely be nice, to be closer to home. I visited Finland a few times as a kid so I know what a beautiful country it is and how friendly its inhabitants are," said Pat Svoboda. "And there's still time for teams that haven't reached out to take notice of me, and I'm open to playing for them if they draft me. I've heard, for instance, that New York has interest in me, but I haven't heard from them. So we'll see what happens; I'm cool with wherever I land on draft day."

 

Since the last live draft rankings update, Svoboda has soared 25 TPE up the chart, and is looking to add more to his total. If he completes all his weekly tasks, that'll add an additional 19 TPE, and that's before the holiday bonus is factored in. Svoboda phrases it as "being unwilling to settle for mediocrity"; he intends to apply the TPE to the STHS god mode attributes; skating, defense, and scoring. He has the potential to immediately make a splash in the VHL and to electrify a line with his scoring touch. GMs can never get enough of those game-breaking players, and to have a player with his skills and the advantage in size? It is no wonder he is drawing media attention, and it would be unsurprising if a team was willing to take a chance on the Swede early.

Edited December 17, 2018 by StamkosFan