If the S64 Draft Happened Today [1/2]

[Toasty 57]

 1st Overall - D, Ryan Sullivan Jr

Although Dahlberg has now overtaken RSJr in TPE, I still believe that the New York Americans made the right choice in drafting him first overall. Sullivan ended fit nicely into a very top-heavying team in New York, as the partner for Joe McWolf that the Americans needed. Sullivan is also far less controversial than Dahlberg and doesn't command such a big salary. The Americans could have gone for Dahlberg but it would have been far more risky, because he seems less loyal than Sullivan and could have left to test out UFA after his ELC expired.

 

  2nd Overall - LW, Elias Dahlberg

Considering how much the Davos GM talks about Dahlberg, it's not really a surprise here. Dahlberg is now the best player from his draft and although he is often getting in trouble, the Davos GM was willing to take that risk. Dahlberg is proving himself as an elite talent for Davos this season and if he didn't have such a bad attitude, he would be way out in front of Sullivan now in my rankings. My guess is Dahlberg disagrees with this list.

 

 3rd Overall - RW, Pat Svoboda

With the fact being that New York now would have their top defenseman, I think the obvious choice would have to have been Svoboda. He is now way ahead of Ylonen in TPE and New York was able to grab themselves a first line center this season, which screwed Ylonen over. If New York had taken Svoboda, he could be riding high with Carles Puigdemont, but instead he is in Davos with his old Ottawa teammate, so I'm sure he's happy anyways. Ylonen was a poor pick by New York and he is starting to look like a bust.

 

 4th Overall - RW, Diljodh Starload

Calgary did end up grabbing Starload with the 7th pick in the draft, but he now looks to be a lot more valuable than he did at the time. A second year in juniors, where he exceeded beyond his peers, seems to have pushed him ahead of many of his draft-class mates. If Calgary had an interest in Starload, they would have picked him earlier this time, to be safe. In the real S64 draft, Calgary drafted center, Mark Gebauer at this position, and while he is still a good prospect, he is not really what you would want from a 4th overall pick. Gebauer's development seems to be slowing down a substantial amount and was picked up by Moscow in the expansion draft. It only makes sense that Calgary would go for their franchise player in Starload with their first pick.

 

 5th Overall - RW / C, John Madden

If the Vancouver Wolves (Formerly Quebec City Meute) had the S64 draft to do over again, the first thing that they would change would be their first selection. Pat Svoboda, although he seemed like a good prospect, had no interest in playing for Vancouver and wanted out badly. His morale was non-existent through all of S64 and he only scored around 16 points with Vancouver, over the course of 50+ games. Svoboda, like Dahlberg, has had some attitude issues and it would have been better for Quebec to steer clear of them. Before the draft, there had been lots of rumours circling of Madden going to Vancouver, and he seemed like he wouldn't have minded. With Madden, Vancouver would have still gotten their right winger, minus the attitude.

 

 6th Overall - D, Piotr Jerwa

6th Overall is where Madden ended up going, but with him in Quebec and the other top draft picks dropping in the ranks, Davos would have taken Jerwa to fix their need for defense, as they did, only this time it would be with the 6th pick that they selected him. Jerwa was unhappy about falling out of the first round and he would likely be fine if he was selected at 6. He would not feel the need to leave the organization and he would be inspired to play for his new team. Jerwa would likely still put up the same numbers as a rookie, possibly better ones.

 

 7th Overall - C, Joel Ylonen

Ylonen at 7 makes a lot more sense to me and I think unfair pressure was put on the man in the weeks leading up to the draft, because he was on a hot streak, but in my opinion, even back then, he should have been taken no higher than 5th overall. With all the hype of being a top 3 pick and trying to keep up with the 1st and 2nd picks while also trying to stay ahead of everyone below you, 3rd overall would be like the worst possible place to be taken. If Ylonen went to Calgary, they would still get the center they need, but at a lower cost. Ylonen had a good rookie season too and would mesh will with Starload and Revchenko on the first line. To me, Ylonen was never an elite prospect but he is still very very good and would have an easier time passing for a seventh overall pick without the criticism.

 

 8th Overall - D, Jagger Philliefan

When Riga picked Kyson Blake at 8, it seemed like a solid pick and nothing was out of the ordinary, but over time, Blake has fallen off the radar and has shown very little sign of development over the last few months. With Crimson and Randoms both being on the left, Riga is no longer in need of a left winger and their need for second-pairing defensemen is much stronger. At the moment, Riga has Bolt Vanderhuge and Dylan Nguyen on their second pair, neither of whom are nearly as good or have as bright a future as Philliefan. Not only would Philliefan be the perfect fit in Riga, but he is also one of the best players available, so this to me is the obvious pick for them.

 

Conclusion

Feel free to let me know if you want to see more of these types of lists, maybe for the later rounds or maybe for other draft years. It is rare that I am able to write a serious article on VHL but this is something I enjoy doing. I'll probably do another one soon, either on S63 picks or rounds 2-5 of the S64 draft. First media spot on VHL too so thank god I got that monkey off my back. See y'all later!

 

1,173 Words

Claiming for March 11-17 and 18-24

Edited March 17, 2019 by Toasty

[McWolf 3,115]

@Esso2264 bust

[Esso2264 774]

wow lower than @Thranduil thats trash

[Esso2264 774]

but im also a lazy fuck so idk why i got 3rd lmao

[Nykonax 1,564]

6 hours ago, Toasty said:

 1st Overall - D, Ryan Sullivan Jr

stopped reading once i saw this.... smh

[Peace 1,532]

3 hours ago, Nykonax said:

stopped reading once i saw this.... smh

 

You can read? 

[Thranduil 293]

3 hours ago, Esso2264 said:

wow lower than @Thranduil thats trash

oof, that is

 

Madden's a bitch

Edited March 16, 2019 by Thranduil

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

I agree with this. Dahlberg shows up more on the scoresheet and is overall a better player than RSJR, but NYA didn't need Dahlberg so I agree that RSJR still goes 1st just based on that. This said, Dahlberg is still better

[Spade18 1,305]

On 3/16/2019 at 6:14 AM, Toasty said:

 

 3rd Overall - RW, Pat Svoboda

With the fact being that New York now would have their top defenseman, I think the obvious choice would have to have been Svoboda. He is now way ahead of Ylonen in TPE and New York was able to grab themselves a first line center this season, which screwed Ylonen over. If New York had taken Svoboda, he could be riding high with Carles Puigdemont, but instead he is in Davos with his old Ottawa teammate, so I'm sure he's happy anyways. Ylonen was a poor pick by New York and he is starting to look like a bust.

 

 

 

The guy, who it was unilaterally agreed to have been FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY from the all rookie team last year, was a bust.

 

 

OK.

[Dil 1,760]

On 3/18/2019 at 7:57 AM, Spade18 said:

 

The guy, who it was unilaterally agreed to have been FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY from the all rookie team last year, was a bust.

 

 

OK.

Nah he a bust

[Esso2264 774]

56 minutes ago, DilIsPickle said:

Nah he a bust

i do bust on people

[Dil 1,760]

4 minutes ago, Esso2264 said:

i do bust on people

Can confirm

[Toasty 57]

week 2/2

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Review

Nice recap of the draft and where you think players should be. I always like these kinds of articles because there is no right or wrong way to do them. it is all opinion based and it creates discussion.