A Look at Goaltenders in the S66 Draft [1/2]

[K1NG LINUS 145]

A Look at Goaltenders in the S66 Draft 

 

According to Tagger’s live draft rankings and week 3 mock draft, there are 97(!) players eligible for the upcoming draft. Among them are 8 goalies, most of whom will be valuable additions to VHL and minor league teams. While some VHL teams have young and established elite net minders, such as Riga’s Kallis Kriketers, Davos’s Finn Davison, and Calgary’s Brick Wahl currently holding down their back end, other teams may be more interested in picking up a young goalie prospect in the coming draft.  

Possible Openings in the VHL 

 

Seattle Bears: 

Roger Sterling is one of the more talented goaltenders in the very stiff competition of the VHL. Currently near the top among goalies in save percentage, goals against average, and shutouts, Sterling has proven invaluable for Seattle. While at the moment the bears only have a fourth round pick in the upcoming draft, and they are unlikely to use that pick on a goaltender at the moment, if they end up acquiring a late round pick they may decide to pick up a young and active goalie like Clayton Park or Juan Juandice that can develop in the minors while Sterling continues to reign in the crease.  

 

Moscow Menace: 

With starting goaltender Justin Cole taking a serious slide in activity and performance, Moscow will definitely be eager to land a solid goalie to start their next season. While they may opt to trade or try another avenue to land a starter, it may be a good idea to try to draft one of the more talented goaltenders available in this draft, with Owen May if he is not already taken, or possibly take a gamble on Wendy Kandee Cain. 

 

Toronto Legion: 

While Johnny Havenk Carison has been very solid for Toronto, the Legion may decide to pick up a different backup to replace JB Rift, who will be coming up on free agency after S66. However, with no draft picks to speak of going into this draft, it will be very difficult to draft a goaltender, which they will likely still not do even if they do acquire picks.  

 

New York Americans: 

Ismond Kingfisher’s impressive stats and abilities make him one of the key cornerstones to New York’s tight goal differential, and a major factor in many close games. Kingfisher has consistently proven himself to be an elite goaltender throughout his career, and he will likely continue his success in New York for the foreseeable future due to the long-term contract that he has been signed to. However, New York may be interested in grabbing a young goalie in this draft to develop for the future. While drafting a goalie may not be at the top of their list with the single draft pick they have, they may be interested in grabbing up and coming goaltender Kolur Bjoernsson to be mentored by Kingfisher and developed into a future star.  

 

Riga Reign: 

With Kallis Kriketers in net, Riga has been a dominating force in the VHL. However, with the great season that he is having, and free agency coming up, there is a chance that they may not be able to re-sign him. If that is the case, the Reign may wish to use one of their draft picks on one of the young goaltenders mentioned in this media spot as insurance, and potentially flipped for more value at a later time.  

 

Malmo Nighthawks: 

The VHL’s newest team will likely need to grab the best goaltender they can as quickly as possible in this draft. With a surplus of offensive talent available, they will probably be able to get away with choosing a goalie in the first round. Tagger has listed Owen May as being their choice in the first round, and that is the most likely choice given what they have to choose from. Alternatively, Malmo may delay picking a goaltender until a later round, opting instead to develop a younger goaltender like Bjoernsson, Juandice, or Park, and instead trading to acquire another team’s more developed and established back up goaltender to be their starter. Letting a netminder like JB Rift, or Vancouver’s Joe Nixon, or a slim chance they may pick up one of the Davos Dynamo’s backups. Although, the Wolves may be unlikely to give up Nixon, who is likely to take over Tristan Iseult’s starting position within a couple seasons if he sticks around.  

 

Calgary, Davos, Riga, and Vancouver, while unlikely to grab a goaltender, would not be foolish for grabbing one of these young developing goalies for the purpose of building up a solid reserve of talent, as well as helping these young prospects better develop into future stars of the VHL. With an expansion draft coming up as well, these teams may be much more focused on grabbing forwards than usual, and with the massive depth of forwards and defensemen in this draft, every team may be willing to take more risks and make more surprising gambles on potential draft gems than in previous drafts.  

 

It should be noted that these musings do not account for outside factors such as forward and defensive depth, goalies already developing in the VHLM, as well as potential tanks and big sales that may happen early in the season. It will be especially interesting to keep a watch on some of the less statistically impressive and obvious picks, but still interesting new goalies that have the potential to become highly sought after gems in this long draft, including Kolur Bjoernsson, Juan Juandice, and Sunny Burst.

 

Although Owen May and Clayton Park are on just about every team’s radar, teams should still keep an eye out to grab any of these potential late round steals. Wendy Kandee Cain and Luke Derion, although having more TPE than some of the others mentioned, may be more risky picks due to their recent inactivity. If they return, however, they would certainly still have a big head start ahead of some of the newer and still developing goalie prospects.  

 

Word Count: 1004, Weeks Ending 04/07/2019 and 04/14/2019

Edited April 5, 2019 by K1NG LINUS

[hedgehog337 3,483]

1 hour ago, K1NG LINUS said:

However, with the great season that he is having, and free agency coming up, there is a chance that they may not be able to re-sign him.

 

you just reminded me to re-sign my own players

[oilmandan 688]

NYA G generally pushes Kingfisher for starting time and has in the past outplayed him. May take quite the prospect to gain traction in the New York crease

[K1NG LINUS 145]

Claiming for week of 4/14 (1000+ words)

[Renomitsu 934]

Review - Very few complaints here. I thought this article was well-written and generally well-formatted, outside of the "Possible Openings in the VHL" - I'd like to see that subtitle either centered or bolded/italicized so that it has greater importance visually - otherwise it seems out of place or as an incomplete phrase. This is hard topic to cover with the goalies in this upcoming draft, especially with expansion!