VHL History Lesson [1/2]

[Juddy 13]

This Week with David Wallace: History Lesson

 

Like our article last week, this week we are moving our focus off of Las Vegas Aces player David Wallace, to focus on the history of the VHL. We will take a quik look into the Season 66 draft to see how some of these players faired and if they are even still around. 

First overall pick was Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He has totaled 956 TPE since his start in the league and has had a good career. He has played 214 games for two organizations and has put up 80 goals and 89 assists for 169 points. He’s played 16 playoff games with 5 goals and 5 assists.

 

Julius Freeman went 2nd overall and has played all of his games for the Vancouver franchise, with 216 games played putting up 82 goals and 99 assists for 181 points. He has also amassed 843 TPE in his career. Freeman has played 35 playoff games adding 13 goals and 13 assists to his career totals.

 

The third overall pick was a bit of a bust. In the minors Shane Mars put up some really good numbers, 76 games played over two seasons and had 62 goals and 57 assists for 119 points in the minors. His rookie year in the VHL also went well putting up 46 goals and 48 assists in 72 games. He then suffered the dreaded sophomore slump, only putting up 27 goals and 33 assists in his 72 games. Then in his third year in the league he dropped off the face of the earth. He played in every game but only put up 1 goal and 1 assist. All three seasons he played for Seattle and only has made 381 TPE, which isn’t horrible but comparing him to the 1st and 2nd overall it’s a huge let down.

 

The first two picks carved out good careers for themselves but Seattle must be regretting Mars at number 3 especially with Mikko Aaltonen going at number four with his 649 TPE. He has a slow start to his career but has picked up his game as he grew and developed. In 216 games he’s totaled 79 goals and 87 assists for 166 points. He only has 3 goals and 3 assists in 16 playoffs games. He seems to not like the bright lights of the playoffs.

The top 4 were all forwards and only one miss from the four selected. Mars might’ve have been the best of the four if he kept up with the TPE of the other players, but he was unable to do so and will be lucky to find a job in the coming seasons. Helmsley was the only player on the list to play To be traded, while Aaltonen being the only one to be selected by an expansion team in the most recent draft. The Dragons got a top notch player in the expansion draft giving them a piece to build around for the foreseeable future. This was a good top of the draft, outside of Mars, and the teams involved seemed to have selected the best players at the time and for the future. Drafts can be tricky, you never know if a player will pan out to his projections. The number one pick can be a generational talent or a mega bust. Mars was a bust at where he was selected but if he was selected later in the draft he would’ve been a solid player.

[KC15 340]

Review: Nice job on a top of the draft review.  Interesting to see how well first rounders turn out.  More booms than busts perhaps reinforcing the idea that getting and retaining good draft picks is a must.