VHL Fantasy First Quarter Break Down [1/2]

[omgitshim 899]

 

We're one quarter of the way through the VHL season, so let's take a look at how our fantasy teams are shaking up so far. Since each group has 6 teams consisting of 3 forwards, 2 defenders, and 1 goalie, we're gonna take a look at the top 18 forwards, 12 defenders, and 6 goalies so far. That means if you have someone who is not on this list, you probably made a bad choice. Granted, due to currently having 9 teams in the VHL, the schedule is no longer balanced, so some teams (namely Toronto and New York at 20) have played an extra game while Seattle (at 18) is a game behind. So when appropriate, I will also highlight the guys who probably would have made the list had the number of games been equal. But that's enough rambling, let's get into the list!

 

Forwards

 

1.       Oyorra Arroyo, Toronto: 66.8

2.       Beau Louth, Vancouver: 65.4

3.       Veran Dragomir, Seattle: 63.2

4.       Sebastian Ironside, Seattle: 61.0

5.       Elias Dahlberg, HC Davos: 61.0

6.       Rylan Peace, HC Davos: 60.2

7.       Jake Davis, Vancouver: 57.0

8.       Mark Gebauer, Moscow: 54.4

9.       Matt Thompson, Seattle: 53.4

10.   Vaydar Odinsson, New York: 52.0

11.   Kronos Bailey, Helsinki: 50.6

12.   Podrick Cast, Riga: 49.8

13.   Edwin Preencarnacion, Riga: 48.4

14.   Leph Twinger, New York: 48.0

15.   Ryuu Crimson, Riga: 47.8

16.   Vesto Slipher, Helsinki: 46.8

17.   Randoms, Riga: 46.0

18.   Evan R. Lawson, Toronto: 45.8

 

In a completely stunning development, the current league leader in goals and points is also the leader in fantasy points. Of course, it helps that Toronto has played an extra game. If you take a look at per game averages though, you'll find that it's actually Veran Dragomir is leading the way in fantasy points per game so far, racking up 3.51 per game compared to Oyorra Arroyo's 3.34 (and in fact, both Beau Louth and Sebastian Ironside are beating out Arroyo with 3.44 and 3.39 as well). The biggest surprises though are likely the Davos boys. Both Elias Dahlberg and Rylan Peace were actually 1st and 2nd when I looked earlier this week, but still 5th and 6th is pretty damn good for players who went undrafted in some of the groups. Jake Davis rounds out our group of forwards averaging 3+ points per game (though common 1st overall pick Matt Thompson and Moscow's first player Mark Gebauer are both close as well). The other most common 1st overall pick, Podrick Cast, has not faired quite as well, failing to meet the 50 points mark so far this season. The top rookie amongst forwards is Kyson Blake, who is just outside these rankings at 45.0 fantasy points. Meanwhile the biggest bust so far has been Roctrion King. The move to Helsinki has not been kind to him, and he has dropped all the way to 49th amongst forwards with a paltry 16.6. To the four people who picked him: you're probably not winning this season. An interesting side note: while Riga has the most players on this list with 4, none of them cracked the top 10. Seattle however got 3 all in the top 10 while no other team even had more than 2 on the list. Calgary is nowhere to be found, and after Jasper Canmore (who comes in 20th at 44.6) got traded, you have to go all the way down to 35th to find Wlodzimierz Zajaczkowski with 33.2. There's actually 3 Wranglers in a row there with Diljodh Starload and Roll Fizzlebeef coming right after.

 

Defensemen

 

1.       Robert Malenko, Toronto: 74.4

2.       Joseph McWolf, New York: 72.2

3.       Maxim Kovalchuk, Seattle: 69.2

4.       Paolo Nano, Moscow: 65.4

5.       Elasmobranch Fish, Calgary: 64.6

6.       Alvaro Jokinen, HC Davos: 62.6

7.       Marvin Harding, Vancouver: 61.4

8.       Samuel Gate, Vancouver: 58.0

9.       Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen, HC Davos: 57.6

10.   Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette, Toronto: 56.4

11.   Dan Montgomery, Helsinki: 54.6

12.   Lando Baxter, Calgary: 54.4

 

As you may or may not have noticed, with the way our scoring system is setup, defensemen tend to be higher scoring than forwards. While I used 3 points per game to signify an elite forward, here we actually have Piotr Jerwa not even on the list averaging 3.01. Of course, that's due to playing for Seattle, and he's actually above Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette, Dan Montgomery, and Lando Baxter on a per game basis. Our top rookie here is Elasmobranch Fish, who is also the first Calgary player mentioned in this article. Coming straight out of the draft to land in the top 5 is pretty impressive. Fortunately for everyone, there wasn't really a big trap pick for defensemen like there was for forwards. The worst pick was the guy who got the retired David Kiaskov, but assuming that gets sorted out like it usually does, the worst pick so far is Jagger Philliefan, who is sitting in 23rd with 43.0 points. I hope Philliefan will give the one guy who picked him some nice love later on. Overall, no team had more than 2 players on this list, and only Riga was shutout completely (though Ryan Kastelic clocked in at 14th with 53.6, so he's within striking distance). Also, shoutouts to Moscow bots COL D1 and COL D4 for both averaging more than 1 point per game. Soon the robot revolution will be upon us all.

 

Goalies

 

1.       Finn Davison, HC Davos: 55.51

2.       Johnny Havenk Carison, Toronto: 54.85

3.       Roger Sterling, Seattle: 52.71

4.       Ismond Kingfisher, New York: 51.57

5.       Justin Cole, Moscow: 49.73

6.       Kallis Kriketers, Riga: 47.13

 

Goalie stats are a bit more skewed than skaters due to the fact that not all of them have started every game for their teams. Commonly picked names like Alexander Pepper and Tristan Iseult have both sat out 8 and 7 games, respectively, as a smart kneejerk reaction by their teams for failing to meet the backup goalie quota last season. Actually I should probably tag @Beaviss so he realizes that Joe Nixon needs 1 more start this season before he forgets. The best way I could think of to try to factor for that was to use just their starts for the points per game metric, which is imperfect since despite only starting 11 games, Pepper has seen action in 16 total. Still, this is probably the best way to handle it. Regardless, neither Pepper or Iseult make the cut even in a points per game basis. In fact the only notable changes are Roger Sterling swapping with Finn Davison for the top spot, and Kallis Kriketers switching with Ismond Kingfisher for the 4th spot. The key takeaways I've found in this analysis is that getting shutouts is huge, but failing that, being a goalie on a bad defensive team can work in your favor. Top rookie Justin Cole has given up the most goals this season with 69, but playing for the expansion team, his defense just let's him get pelted. He has 649 saves this season; for comparison, Finn Davison is the only other goalie who even has had that many shots taken against him (which explains why he tops this list).

 

 

1200 words, using for week ending 3/10 & future week TBD when there's no doubles week in some league

Edited March 10, 2019 by omgitshim

[Nykonax 1,550]

39 minutes ago, omgitshim said:

5.       Elias Dahlberg, HC Davos: 61.0

6.       Ryland Peace, HC Davos: 60.2 

suck it @Peace

[Beaviss 4,949]

1 hour ago, omgitshim said:

Actually I should probably tag @Beaviss so he realizes that Joe Nixon needs 1 more start this season before he forgets.

 

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

This was very helpful. I hope you continue to do this for the coming seasons although it is probably quite a bit of work. Thanks for the fantasy help and keep up the good work