The Future Four

[ConnorMcdavid 180]

     New York - The New York Americans are a rebuilding team that really won’t compete for a few seasons. That said, they have a group of young men that most teams don’t and this is setting themselves up to return to the Playoffs and to contender status before too long. Those young men particularly are the three rookies on the backend led by their “veteran” presence in sophomore Guy LeGrande.

 

     While they are very inexperienced, their talent potential is off the charts and should they stay together in the long term, will give New York a defence group most GM’s just dream about.  I took a long look into these four and will dive deep into each of the four players highlighting how they got there, where their potential is and their outlook on their season and careers ahead.

 

Guy LeGrande @Steve

7G 19A 26P 30.35MPG 10H 54S 55SB

 

     The veteran presence of the defence core, Guy was originally drafted by the HC Davos but part way through his rookie season Guy was unsettled with the lack of ice time he was seeing and made a bold move requesting a trade. Davos, accepting this unfortunate reality found a trade partner and soon enough, Legrande was on his way to North America to play for New York.

 

     As he took to the ice for his sophomore season, Guy was tasked with leading a very inexperienced group of defence. The team was going to struggle as they gained experience but Guy was guaranteed to get a boatload of minutes, something he wanted more than anything else. 

 

     Now even with an abundance of opportunity and a growing skill set Guy couldn’t have expected an absurd amount of success. Yet, here he is with a cool twenty-six points through twenty-one games! That’s absurd! New York has a special talent and a special person on their team and someone who will cornerstone their defence for seasons to come!

 

Lance Flowers @CowboyinAmerica

2G 16A 18P 28.91PPG 72H 36S 44SB

 

     Lance Flowers was drafted second overall last season behind only the consensus top pick Condor Adrienne. Early in the year, Lance was actually leading in the discussions to be first overall pick in the S68 draft. Through no fault of his own, Lance eventually lost that title but what he didn’t lose is his talent and potential. New York got a gem here and is hoping to reap the rewards as soon as this year.

 

     Having a defence group that really didn’t exist until the draft, Flowers comes into the New York organization being handed first line duties and a ton of ice time. He’s expected to be the physical presence on that pairing offering some grit and a ton of talent to complement the aforementioned LeGrande.  He would kill some penalties, play some big power play minutes and face top lines every game at even strength. That’s a lot to ask for of a rookie!

 

     Facing top talent before he has a chance to grow into the VHL player he really wants to be would usually mean a rough year for any player put in this situation. Fortunately for New York, Lance isn’t just any player. Lance has bolted out of the gate to start his career, scoring near a point per game pace through twenty-one games, laying down some thunderous hits while being a plus player against the VHL’s best! If Lance can continue this production and keep this high a level of play, he is very likely to be considered for Rookie of the Year. This would be a great accomplishment, one of what Lance hopes can be many in his career ahead.

 

Keven Foreskin @Esso2264

3G 9A 12P 27.32MPG 73H 32S 51SB

 

     Right in line with his teams rebuild, along comes Keven Foreskin, Esso’s GM player. Keven earned well through his one season in the VHLM to a point where he would have been a top ten pick in the S68 draft had he not been a GM Player. Keven has a solid all around build going currently that affords him good defence instincts, toughness and enough offence to contribute. Keven really has left it wide open to develop his career any way he chooses as time goes on.

 

     Keven is the third stud defence behind LeGrande and Flowers and because he is a GM player, is a key defender in that he won’t be hard for the GM to please in regards to getting his fair share of ice time, role etc. Keven hopes to continue to develop into a steady defender as he is placed in a second pairing role.  He should still receive plenty of ice time all around on both special teams and at even strength. 

 

     Keven has come as advertised so far early in his career as he has contributed a respectable twelve points in his first twenty-one games.  He been a physical force on the back end with his seventy hits already, while also getting down to block fifty-one shots from reaching his goaltender. Keven has been a good value defender early on but will have to watch his tendency to take penalties as he currently sits at fifty penalty minutes on the year. It’s hard to contribute when you are in the box that often. 

 

Fredrik Elmebeck @Elmebeck

1G 7A 8P 27.41MPG 9H 22S 25S

 

     The last of the future core four, Fredrik is an exciting prospect in his own right.  Frederick was selected by New York with the ninth selection in the S68 draft and for good reason.  Frederick has the potential to develop into a smooth skating, offensive weapon on the back end while being dependable in his own zone.  

 

     Frederick will start his career on the second pairing along side Foreskin. He should receive plenty of minutes in his rookie season with no one pushing him from below in the depth chart. That’s not to say the ice time isn’t warranted, but Frederick at least won’t have that worry on his mind and can instead focus on improving his game as he continues to develop. 

 

     A solid start for Frederick to his rookie season has seen him score eight points already in twenty-one games. Frederick does not play a physical game however as he has just nine hits registered on the season.  As anticipated, he is receiving plenty of ice time at above twenty-seven minutes per game.  Frederick should continue to contribute from the back end as he is put in offensive situations which will allow him to finish his rookie season flashing his immense potential.

 

     After looking closer at these four young defencemen, we can see how much potential New York really has on the back end. This is a team that has been set up well by @Esso2264.  It will be exciting to see how these four grow together and drive the future of this New York team.

 

     On behalf of VSN and all the great writers there, it’s been my pleasure to bring the insight into the future. 

 

     My name is Trevor Van Lagen and I’ll catch you all again next time.

 

Edited September 25, 2019 by VanCanWin

[ThePerfectNut 563]

Forwards and goalies next baby

[Steve 1,951]

Much thanks to VanCanWinkle for recruiting me to this sim. Nice article and much appreciated.

[Dalton Wilcox 85]

Nice article and I'm excited to play for this team.  But what about me :( 

[ConnorMcdavid 180]

34 minutes ago, Dalton Wilcox said:

Nice article and I'm excited to play for this team.  But what about me

You’re killing it too for New York but I was just looking at the defence. Maybe I’ll do another article on the rest of the team yet

[Dalton Wilcox 85]

2 minutes ago, VanCanWin said:

You’re killing it too for New York but I was just looking at the defence. Maybe I’ll do another article on the rest of the team yet

Hah, I didnt even notice it was just defense lol.  Nice work and I'm looking forward to it if you ever do one.

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

dammit, another former Davos player is a leader on his new team