Analysis of VHLM teams: Part 1 - Defense

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So I'll break down each team by positions and see who's what as far as contending, and who projects favorably into the season, in 3 different 590s (since they can't be used in one long one like regular media). First I'll do defense - I'll use anyone on the team that has TPE, if that's fewer than 4, I'll use inactives with 30 TPE to get to 4 or to finish off what they have, whichever comes first.

 

Defense:

 

Ottawa - Evgeni Komarov (173/active/will cap) Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen (126/active/will cap) Gregor Rasputinov (68/inactive) Jonathan Hill (56/inactive)

Oslo - Jagger Philliefan (193/active/will cap) Dallas Jones (127/active/should cap) Donat Szita (110/banned) Finn Schaefer (30/inactive)

Vegas - Eric Parker (190/active/will cap) James Lombardi (128/inactive) Basaraba Moose (56/welfare active/unlikely to cap) Mitch Matthews (63/welfare active/unlikely to cap) Juri Rykonen (50/inactive)

Halifax - Bolt Vanderhuge (115/active/should cap) Max Coffey (53/inactive) Jad Clapperton (47/inactive) Hadrian Melborn (44/active/unlikely to cap)

Saskatoon - Burnt Toast (76/inactive) Alexander Kachur (43/inactive) Brett Ewing (32/inactive) Sidhu (30/mostly inactive?)

Yukon - Robert Renner (55/inactive) Jesse Sublime (35/inactive) Also listed is BB Nat, but he has used up his eligibility years.

 

So by pure TPE, assuming that both the "will cap" and the "should cap" categories cap, Oslo seems to be the best defensively after the acquisition of Jagger Philliefan. Why Dallas Jones is in the should cap category is it's a Trifecta player, and those haven't tended to last long recently, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt since he's on his own team and Oslo is competing. Two capped defensemen, plus a 110 essentially-inactive, is a good top 3. Schaefer isn't great as a 4th, but I expect they'll double up on the 3 good ones until they can sign a new guy.

 

Ottawa and Vegas both look interesting and it'll be a matter of depth between the two. Ottawa with two caps to Vegas' one, but as both Moose and Matthews are at least welfare active, it stands to reason they'll be somewhere in between Rasputinov and the cap. So which is better, two caps and two decent inactives, or one cap, a good inactive, and two actives that should end up around where the inactive is? The edge between the two might be found in who can recruit better players to join their team as they enter the league.

 

Halifax is well back of Ottawa and Vegas but still has a decent group, led by Bolt Vanderhuge. Vanderhuge does a lot of affiliate welfare, which is worth as much as a PT, but on occasion he hits regular welfare. He's also been pretty consistent over his time here. Ultimately, I see him capping, even though he's a bit farther than most of the other guys who will cap. Melborn will be an interesting one (and despite the slight TPE deficit as of now, I expect he's with Vanderhuge ahead of Coffey and Clapperton in the lines). Depending on how active Melborn is, this team could actually pull relatively close to Ottawa and Vegas defensively.

 

Saskatoon and Yukon are well back and will be relying primarily on inactives. An interesting case is Sidhu for Saskatoon, who hasn't claimed a single TPE yet but has also done the fantasy league, so he's at least still floating around in some capacity. If Peace can get him active, that'll be a huge get for them, and potential trade bait down the line. Burnt Toast might also be traded as the best of the inactives.