What the draft Means for Mark Gebauer

[Sova 53]

Today I will try and give you an in depth look into who should draft Mark Gebauer and why, we will take into consideration the current roster, future goals and of course other top prospects.

We will start by taking a look at the New York Americans and then go down the draft order until we took passed most teams. So let's get right into it.

Note before reading this the VHL forum shows players on wrong rosters and I might have missed some of that so that kinda ruins this whole thing but well here we go anyway.

 

New York1st & 3rd overall

New York posses the number 1 and number 3 draft pick in this yeards VHL entry draft and they are coming off a disappointing season for the fans and were only able to win 18 out of their 72 matches which puts them at exactly 25% win rate. They are starting to become comfortable at the bottom of the league as they have been struggling for the past two seasons after finishing second in season 61.

So as you would expect by their results this team is looking to make upgrade offensively and defensively and thanks to a great GM they are in a perfect positioning to do so holding two of the top 3 picks in this years VHL entry draft. Their first overall pick almost certainly will be spent on Ryan Sullivan JR. who has been making a lot off buzz this year and many think he is going to be one of the next top VHL defensemen even though his stats only place him at 5th best in the VHML he seems to be incredibly more talented than most of his competition and its more of a question when he will unlock his true potential and become the force of nature that he has shown he can be.

So with that out of the way, we can take a look at the options New York has for their second pick. With the defence improved drastically with the pickup of Ryan Sullivan New York should be looking to get some more offensive threads on the ice as they currently only have 2 right wingers on their roster which should put Elias Dahlberg and Mark Gebauer high upon their list for potential picks at 3rd overall or maybe Joel Ylonen but his rate of improvement has been less consistent and so I would assume they make the choice between Dahlberg and Gebauer. Drafting a second defenceman so early also makes little sense in my eyes since except if Piotr Jerwa would still be available since he is the only other 200+ Defenseman in this draft while there are multiple 200+ offensive options.

I personally think that New York should Maybe consider trading their top pick for either more picks next season or 3 top 5 prospects instead of 2 top 3 prospects since they lack depth and need players at multiple positions instead of focusing on plugging a few of their holes with high quality players.

For Mark that means he could end up being picked 3rd overall if the Americans decide to get add an offensive player rather then a defensive one which would put him on a team with capable wingers and a great defensive player in McWolf which might help unlock Marks goal scoring capability and enable him to become a real threat in the offense by relying on his teammates to create possessions and opportunities.

 

HC Davos 2nd & 6th overall

Davos was not so happy with the draft just like they were unhappy with their last season's performance. Davos had a 30% chance of getting the 1st overall pick in this year's draft what could have turned out to be a big deal. Last season Davos struggled significantly and were only able to get 15 wins under their belt which puts them at last in the league. Davos also has the worst goal differential by a margin of 50 so they seem to have a lot to work on but Davos is looking to turn things around with this seasons draft. Since Davos currently has 2 defenders with more than 300 TPE to draw from it is unlikely they will draft Piotr Jerwa and neither are they in dire need of goalies so Davos seems to be looking at expanding their offensive capabilities.

Davos desperately needs new wingers since both of theirs are still under 200 TPE so picking Dahlberg at second almost seems like a no brainer. With their 6th overall pick they then probably are going to try and snag another offensively minded player such Joel Ylonen or John Madden depending on who is still available.

All in all it seems rather unlikely Mark would ever end up in Davos since he either needs to be picked at 6th overall or over Dahlberg which both seem to be quite unlikely options considering that two of the top 6 prospects are goalies and Mark ranks at 4th overall in terms of TPE, but it is a possibility.

Playing for Davos would involve Mark playing behind Elias Sobek for the beginning of his career until he is able to move to the 1st line but then he probably quickly would become one of the top players on the team may be accompanied by one or two more rookies that will play their first full season of VHL with him. This seems like Davos is picking up a new core and they will have to decide carefully which players to build it around since this could decide the future of their franchise for the next couple of seasons.

This seems to be one of the best teams to see Mark develope into a franchise player but comes at the cost of not having an extensive supporting cast and losing early on.

 

Toronto  4th overall

Toronto barely managed to cling the playoffs and lost in the first round and are now looking to become a real contender in the near future and to do so they will try and add a few vital pieces to their team and make everything click and win a championship lead by Stopko. Toronto has incredible depth when compared to some of the other teams which allows them to focus on making upgrades at a certain position as they are building on a very solid foundation. 

The first line of this team consisting of Ironside Arroyo and Louth is incredible as they all have earned over 650 TPE and their defence looks solid with 3 players over or close to 400 TPE.

Toronto might look to make an upgrade to their second offensive line which could come in terms of either Elisas Dahlberg or Mark Gebauer.

Both of these top prospects would spend a long time in the shadow behind the first line but it would also allow them to learn from them and to be on the ice with great teammates which would improve their production considerably.

This might be the most likely position for Mark to end up in as Elias might be picked up 2nd overall while New York uses their pick on another Defenseman which leaves Toronto with almost no choice but to pick Gebauer if they are looking to improve their offense, since the next offensive player has 10 TPE less, a slower earning rate and plays the same position.

Mark would be playing in the second line right from the beginning together with Trepanier and Lavar Ball which would put him on a line with a former teammate and two capable wingers which might transform the 2nd line of Toronto into a solid line that can lift some of the weight from the shoulders of their stars.

 

Quebec 5th overall

Quebec, similar to Toronto, seems to be on the verge of becoming a real contender as they lost to Riga in the 2nd round this year. Quebec is stacked at LW, C and D the only short term improvements can be made by drafting an RW that would work with Wayed to fill that gap in their Lineup and it should be the dream for any young RW to end up in this team will probably start winning as soon as that player reaches their full potential and would make them one of the star players while playing with fantastic surrounding cast, but as long as Mark doesn't transition into playing RW this would be one of the worst Teams for him to draft him as he would be stuck riding the bench for the foreseeable future and once he gets his opportunity the team will probably be rebuilding and loosing again so there is really almost no reason for either party to want to work together. Quebec doesn't need Mark and Mark doesn't want to ride the bench for multiple seasons.

 

Calgary  7th overall

After a tough loss in last years playoff finals Calgary is looking to make the most of their current situation and take over the VHL and win a Championship. Just like Quebec Calgary should be looking to pick up an RW which would make John Madden a feasible pick at 7th overall even though he is sitting at 9th overall in most draft rankings. Being drafted to Calgary would make him the 3rd option at center behind a young quickly improving prospect and an experienced old veteran. Calgary seems to be better than Quebec but Mark would massively profit from moving to RW if we was playing for Calgary as well if that is possible Calgary seems like a picture perfect destination for the young player since he will be improving alongside top prospects while being lead by some of the best veterans in the league which would allow him a seemingless transition into a leading role as soon as the older players retire and he might even be on a winning team for his entire career. All in all, Calgary seems to be the team destined for greatness in the near future if things go smooth and they can find the last puzzle piece and if that happens to be Gebauer his career seems to be one step closer to becoming one to remember.

 

Riga  8th overall

The reigning champions Riga is the last team that has a pick in the first round and therefore their roster is more than solid. There is little use for them adding another center as they have two quickly developing prospects and one veteran that is doing great work all in all its unlikely, but more than possible, Mark is going to fall so low in the draft but if he does I doubt that riga will pick him up as they might set their sights on some other player such as Piotr Jerwa if he is still available but from here on out there are so many moving pieces since they might draft Mark just to trade him for a profit to a team that they can use a higher pick on a different top prospect but this remains to be seen.

 

All in all, Mark probably is on the radar of more than one GM but only as a second option behind other players. Any team that drafts Mark probably will turn out to be happy with their pick since his progress has been very steady over the last few months and he seems to be keeping that pace up. Mark himself has stated on several occasions that he doesn't have a preference in terms of which team he ends up and he still is adamant about that dismissing any accusations of preferring one team over another, but he should be a first round pick which already takes some teams out of consideration and as we have just had a look at which teams he fits best with there are some that make more sense and some that would seem to be an interesting choice since Mark has little intention of riding the bench from now on. In the end, it all is going to be finally answered in the draft and it is going to be interesting for sure but it might not be one of the greatest nights for Mark.

 

 

 

Word count 2045 I will claim this for the weeks ending 23rd 30th 6th and 13th

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

I think this is a pretty accurate look at what we will be seeing tomorrow night! Love that you are adding to the Draft hype

Edited December 17, 2018 by BladeMaiden

[Sova 53]

Looking back it wasnt off by that much so i guess the prediction worked out

[Sova 53]

last claim