S66 vs. S65 VHLM Draft Comparison

[K1NG LINUS 145]

S66 vs. S65 VHLM Draft Comparison 

#1 The Deep Ones 

 

 

The VHLM Season 66 Dispersal Draft has just concluded, and as was apparent long before the first pick was even selected, this was one of the deepest pools of prospects of all time. The hype around the players selected, as well as where they may be selected in the upcoming VHL Entry Draft is reaching a peak in the VHL community, with many remarking that this may be one of the best dispersal draft classes ever. Today we will compare just how different the Season 66 Dispersal Draft has been from the Season 65 Dispersal Draft, starting with the very last picks of both drafts. For the purposes of this article, Kolur Bjoernsson and Pascal Batz will be treated as having been chosen at the end of the 1st and 2nd round respectively, regardless of how the portal may have them listed. 

 

 

The Bottom of the Barrel 

The first glaring difference between both drafts is how much deeper the Season 66 draft went, with 90 picks over 8 rounds between 11 different teams, compared to Season 65's meager 67 picks over 9 rounds among 8 teams. Additionally, while about half of the teams passed in the final round of the draft last season, not a single team passed in the final round for Season 66. 

 

Starting with the final picks of the Season 66 draft, every pick in the 7th and 8th rounds (picks 69 through 90) were at a higher overall number than any pick in the Season 65 draft, and have no direct comparison to make. Richard Tremblay  was the very last pick at 90th overall, but appears to be inactive so far, and unlikely to pull off any surprises. Immediately preceding him, the San Diego Marlins  picked Ludvig Sederstrom and the Mexico City Kings  picked Codrick Past, both of which are already committed to moving up to the VHL, rather than skip their pick. Given in reverse order, here are the players chosen in the 8th round of this year's draft: 

 

87 LW Valgrim  MIN 

86 C Trevor Van Lagen  HFX

85 C Londortharl  HOU  

84 D Adama Traore  YUK  

83 C Luke Smartnick  LVA

82 D Daniel Spenslov  SSK 

81 LW Daniel Phantom   OTT  

80 C Alexander Roach  PHI  

 

Among these players chosen in the final round, only a few have gained any TPE at all. Londorthal last updated in February, Adama Traore last updated in March, Daniel Spenslov last updated at the beginning of April, and Luke Smartnick did a single practice facility the week before the draft.  

 

Now for the Season 66 draftees taken in the 7th and very end of the 6th round: 

79 D Khalabib Stiopic  MIS

78 D Taylor Budwaisor  SDM

77 LW Joakim Sederstrom  YUK 

76 RW Teagan Cadeau  MIN 

75 RW Fudge Popsicle  HFX 

74 D Finn Theismann  HOU 

73 C Charles Alderson  YUK

72 C Steven McBuckets  LVA 

71 LW Hayden Clarkson  SSK

70 LW Peter Schilling  PHI 

69 LW Jean ClaudePaul  OTT

68 C Scott Greene  MIS

 

As with the 8th round, many of these players have been inactive for a fair amount of time, and will likely stay that way, the real gems lie with the newly created players, especially if they can be coached and encouraged by their teams to at minimum claim the bare minimum every week, or in a perfect scenario, start hitting the point cap every week. Among the players in this list, Peter Schilling updated the week before the draft, and Hayden Clarkson updated this week, making them easily the most active among the late round picks that were all chosen at numbers beyond the draft picks of the Season 65 Draft unless the other picks can wake up and start earning.  

 

 

 

 Finding a Gem in an Inactive Stack

To begin the ACTUAL comparison, we begin immediately following the very last pick of the 6th round for the Season 66 Draft, and at the very bottom of the Season 65 Draft. For the first legitimate side by side comparisons by overall pick, we have: 

 

67 | LW Lexington Lewis  SDM | C Koen Senft  LVA 

Lewis is obviously the better player in this comparison, appearing to be active and engaged leading up to the draft, and earning TPE, while Senft stayed inactive forever and disappeared.  

 

66 | D Vilnis Balcers  OTT | D Bram Van Dijk  OTT

Similar to the last comparison, Dijk never amounted to anything, and Balcers is already picking up TPE, including after the draft, albeit very little at the moment. Of note about the inactive Dijk is that he actually played in every game last season with the Ottawa Lynx, scoring 10 points and even a game winning goal.  

 

65 | C Rick McGundy  MIN | G Domenic Villela  SSK 

McGundy’s agent is a long-time veteran in dealing with VHL players, and although his player has shown little activity, he will likely still turn out to be significantly more valuable asset than Villela, who stayed inactive and never saw the ice.  

 

64 | RW Kenji Hachimura  HFX | D Hadrian Melborn  HOU 

One of the more interesting comparisons of the late rounds, Hachimura and Melborn both completed rookie profiles after being drafted. However, after putting in that effort, Melborn disappeared, and with another agent with a star for talent representing Hachimura, it’s safe to say that Kenji is the better choice here. 

 

63 | G Nicklaus Becker  HOU | LW Tyler Quinn  PHI

Once again, the S65 pick stayed inactive forever. However, Becker may turn out to be far more interesting than his place in the draft suggests, as leading up to the draft he was claiming both practice facility and welfare. If Houston can keep him active, even if he keeps up just this pace, he will be a solid backup this season, and potentially even one of the better starters in the future.  

 

62 | D Srraxxarrakex II  YUK| LW Billy Kimber  LVA 

Yukon’s Season 66 pick was updating fairly regularly last season, but mysteriously stopped at the end of March. Kimber was also selected under very suspect circumstances, as the portal reports that he was actually selected in the Season 62 VHLM Dispersal Draft, and then chosen in the S65 VHL Entry Draft as well. However, after banking a whole 4 points after being drafted, Kimber disappeared forever. With Yukon’s pick starting off at an impressive 68 TPE, with 10 banked, he will certainly be an asset even if he stays inactive. He also put up an impressive 25 points last season, and starting with the improvements that he made throughout the season, may actually perform better this season. Yukon would be wise to try to reach out and convince him to become active again. 

 

61 | RW Jamie Taylor  LVA | C Scead Simmons  HFX 

Taylor is another promising young prospect who, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a solid welfare and practice facility player leading up to the draft. Simmons only claimed welfare and practice facility for 2 weeks after being drafted, and then went inactive. Interestingly, he somehow claimed 2 practice facility tasks in the same week, on the exact same post, but none the next week. Taylor should be a solid late round pick up for Vegas if they can keep him active.  

 

60 | D DWin Championship  SSK | LW Oskar Eriksson Ek  OTT

In this comparison we have 2 inactive players. Eriksson Ek fizzled out, never updating and never actually playing for Ottawa. Championship has not updated in March, but is already up to 78 TPE, and played almost the entire season for Ottawa, and eventually was traded to Saskatoon, earning 16 assists, and 94 points that season. If Saskatoon can wake him up and get him active again, they can make an already decent defensive core into quite a terrifying force.  

 

59 | C Thomas Kennedy  OTT | LW Kaz Uzu  MIN 

Kennedy joined late last season, and while he did not accomplish much of note in his short tenure, he did manage to consistently update and improve up to mid-April, when he suddenly stopped earning. Fortunately for Ottawa, Kennedy has not been gone for long, and could easily return and become a consistent force for them again. Uzu updated once right before the draft, likely giving Minnesota false hope, before he fell off the face of the Earth, making Kennedy a much better selection than his counterpart.  

 

58 | D Papa Gage  HFX | C Matthew Tolsma  SSK 

Matthew Tolsma was only a slight improvement over a player that would be completely inactive. His only updates consisted of claiming practice facility twice, one of which was only for a single point, and both done months after being drafted. On the other hand, Papa Gage updated quite frequently for a time before stopping in March, but was able to put up a 21 point, 142 hit season with Halifax last season, and will likely be a solid piece on the Halifax blue line.

 

[Esso2264 774]

5 minutes ago, K1NG LINUS said:

Fortunately for Ottawa, Kennedy has not been gone for long, and could easily return and become a consistent force for them again.

he's at 120 tpe now lol

[K1NG LINUS 145]

Just now, Esso2264 said:

he's at 120 tpe now lol

Written day after the draft