VHL S70 Top 25 Players, Part 2: 20-16

[McWolf 3,116]

 

VHL Top 25 Players

Part 2: 20-16

 

Day 2, part 2. It’s day 3, actually. Sorry about that, this offseason is moving fast and it’s tough to keep up. Anyway, we hope you all liked the first part, in which some players probably surprised you a bit. Let’s keep it up today with part 2, in which you’ll find one player who fell a lot from last season’s ranking and four who are new to this list. Enjoy!

 

 

20. Gritty

 

One of Moscow’s proud free-agency signings Gritty is here. Selected 4th Overall in S65, Gritty hasn’t been the highest-earning player but he surely has been an amazing addition to Moscow’s high-flying squad. Last season, Gritty finished almost point per game with career-high 68 points in 72 games played. A great showing for a player that wasn’t really able to shine that much in both Vancouver and Davos. With 7 points in 11 playoff games last season, Gritty showed the ability to be there when star players like Jet Jaguar might not have the best time on the ice.  Some might argue that Gritty doesn’t have a huge technical prowess to be the best player on the ice all the time but he has the willingness and the mind to be there and support his teammates day in and day out. Added to that, while in Moscow, Gritty has slightly turned his aggression down and who knows, maybe next season because of that he will be rated even higher in this Top 25 list. 

FrostBeard

 

19. Ryan Sullivan Jr

 

The first overall pick of the Season 64 Entry Draft, Ryan Sullivan Jr has been a bit of a journeyman, which you rarely see from a top pick. Originally drafted by the New York Americans, he was moved to Toronto, then again to Malmo. A Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy winner in Season 64, Sullivan also won the Jake Wylde Trophy with Toronto in Season 67 as the league's top defensive defenseman. A switch to left-wing after being traded to the Malmo Nighthawks resulted in an offensive explosion, a career-best 33 goals and 70 assists for a staggering 103 points. However, just as quickly as the offensive prowess came, it vanished. His production in Season 69 (nice) was cut by more than half, scoring just 48 points. Sullivan's prime may be past him now, but he still remains a dangerous player, especially with Malmo loading up for a serious push at the Continental Cup, which places Ryan Sullivan Jr at #19 on our list.

Doomsday

 

18. Guillaume Fontenette 

 

This French defenseman is ready to step into the forefront of the Helsinki Titans organization as their top defenseman by TPE, as well as the fourth-highest overall. A true steal, Guillaume Fontenette was drafted at 30th overall in the S66 VHL draft. Fontenette struggled to make his mark in his first year on the Helsinki roster, only managing a total of 14 points. However, in an era dominated by offensive defensemen, it is difficult to stand out when you focus on the defensive aspect of the game. Fontenette proved this faulty in season 69, as his 166 shots blocked was the best in the league, in addition to improving his offensive output significantly to 66 points on 13 goals. Fontenette is known for being a danger from the blue line, having sniped 9 of his goals from the power play. It will be interesting to see how the Frenchman handles the step up to the first defensive pairing; odds are he’ll do just fine. 

Mr_Hatter

 

17. Pat Svoboda

 

Pat Svoboda is a true 200 ft. player who is just as visible on defence as he is on the points sheet. Pat came up just short of a point per game in S69, but he had 39 shots blocked, which is impressive for a forward. After four straight seasons in the playoffs, it looked as though he might finally raise his first cup. Riga came up just short, but it is arguable that they got even stronger over this offseason with the acquisition of another top-level goaltender. Expect Svoboda to rack up assists this season with the addition of a couple of high-quality offensive prospects that he will likely share ice time throughout the season.

Erik Summers

 

16. Shawnomir Jagr

 

Following the release of last year's list from which he was left out, Shawnomir Jagr promised he would enter this edition straight at #1. We hope he is satisfied with entering it at #16 instead. He truly showed the full extent of his skills during this past season, as he broke out and scored 33 goals and 50 assists, for a total of 83 points, good for 8th in the league in points. The Vancouver Wolves forward's previous career high was 45 points, which might earn him a consideration for the Dustin Funk Trophy, though the sudden upgrade might be largely due to the fact that he now shares a line with two elite goalscorers in Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Julius Freeman, when he was limited to second-line minutes in the previous campaigns. Still, as long as the three play together, we can expect all of them to appear near the top of the goals and points leaderboards at the end of the season, which is a testament to how good each of them is individually and a proof that Jagr deserves to finally appear on our Top 25 Players list.

McWolf

 

What do you guys think of this part? Any of you want to predict they should be #1 next season? It worked for Jagr, as he made it into the list for the first time straight after saying it. What’s the saying? If you believe it hard enough, it might become real? Something like that, anyway.

 

People mentioned: @eaglesfan036 @gorlab @Advantage @okochastar @StamkosFan @TheLastOlympian07 @Beaviss @rjfryman

[okochastar 97]

16 hours ago, McWolf said:

Top Players

Fontenette 

 

[McWolf 3,116]

1 hour ago, okochastar said:

 

putting pressure on your back

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

16 is not 1

next season ill be number 1