Young First Gens Destined for the Hall

[Enorama 2,002]

I'll be reviewing some of the younger players in the VHL and some of the up-and-coming prospects in the VHLM. No, I'm not going to go by the VHL's dumbass definition of first gen, where if you're inactive for three seasons, you become a first gen when you come back, I mean real first gens.

 

I'll use S68 as my cutoff for "young" because I don't have all day and that's the year the Dragons joined the league so of course I paid no attention to anything at all before then. I was going to consider cutting it off at S71 as well, just because the creates (especially the first gens) are just too difficult to predict after just a week of S72 creation, but there's actually one specific guy I wanted to shout out.

 

S68:

Luciano Valentino @Kekzkrieg

His stats don't exactly scream generational talent, but he's been a huge part of a young Dragons team; signing a lifetime deal, earning himself a letter in just his second season, and moving up to being currently tied for 2nd in his draft class by TPE. As D.C. improves this season and next, watch for his personal stats to do the same, and if he heats up in the latter half of his career, he could have a solid shot at the Hall.

 

Raymond Bernard @Mr_Hatter

A Moscow team that, although they're old, could actually compete for a long time would be what would drive Bernard to the Hall. He's improved hand over foot in his three seasons of VHL play, and it isn't hard to imagine him resembling a Kallis Kriketers, where he's a steady starter for a team that seems to be able to compete for forever. His lack of games played in his first two seasons may knock down his career win totals a bit, but if Moscow's dominance is any indication (the EU looks to be even weaker next season), he'll be able to make up those wins, no problem.

 

S69:

Guy Lesieur @KC15

Yeah I'm out here pimping a Dragon again. I was actually pretty reticent about including him at first, but after looking a little harder at this draft class, I found that he seems to be leading all wingers in points this season. Soren Jensen has taken a huge step back this year after his Stolzschweiger-winning rookie campaign, meaning Lesieur is only 7 points behind him on their respective careers. Add to that that Lesieur has already doubled his point totals from last year, and this guy could trend upwards hard enough to find himself a place in the Hall.

 

Guy Sasakamoose @Cxsquared

Just like Lesieur, Sasakamoose has also doubled his point totals from his rookie season with games yet to play. This argument is slightly harder to make than some others, because Sasakamoose is earning at a premium welfare pace now, but this is an overall not-so-strong draft class, so if he continues his current trend, he's destined for greatness.

 

Erik Summers @Erik Summers

With the S70 Stolzschweiger more or less stashed away in his trophy cabinet already and the #1 spot on Helsinki's blueline his for the foreseeable future, Summers would seem a lock for making a run at the Hall of Fame. What hurts his chances, however, is having spent his post-draft season in the VHLM, meaning that at most, his VHL career will only have 7 seasons when it's all said and done.

 

S70:

Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745

Similar to Summers, Hextall's chances will be hurt by playing a maximum of 7 seasons in the VHL, but when it comes to goalies, they're often eased into the starting roles these days anyways, so if Hextall is able to step right in to the starting slot in Toronto (there's no reason to think he won't), then his GP deficit will be nearly completely erased.

 

S71:

Joe Proto @Proto

We've all seen how he's skyrocketed up the draft rankings, grabbed himself an AGM slot, and overall just been very active, so it isn't hard to see how he could carve himself a spot in the Hall before his career winds down (which is still like 8.5 seasons away). Being a crazy active first gen doesn't necessarily mean you're destined for greatness, however, as Kastelic will go down in the Hall of Very Good, and Puidgemont and Risteneen went inactive fairly quickly after their drafts. Proto's best chance might come if he finds a happy spot in activity, rather then flashing out early on before his career can even really get started.

 

S72:

Connor Tanner @Keygan

Yeah, it's way the hell too early to talk about the S72 class at all, barring the big boy recreates, but Tanner is a prospect to look out for. Capped with a vengeance in his first week and is going to do his best to make a run at 1st overall. Yeah that's definitely a stretch right now with all the recreates in the draft, but everyone said the same thing about me before I became the first first gen to go 1st overall in something like 30 seasons.

 

851 words. Can't be assed to come up with 149 more so I guess this is just good for my theme week claim for Kastelic (3/1).

Edited February 24, 2020 by Enorama

[Mr_Hatter 1,603]

tytyty

[DarkSpyro 859]

[Enorama 2,002]

9 minutes ago, Spyro said:

 

Had to cut it off somewhere, mate. I did consider including you, but I think you're just stuck behind Eagles for too long.

[McWolf 3,114]

52 minutes ago, Enorama said:

S72

effin' lmao

[Enorama 2,002]

2 minutes ago, McWolf said:

effin' lmao

 

56 minutes ago, Enorama said:

Yeah, it's way the hell too early to talk about the S72 class at all

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Enorama

[McWolf 3,114]

3 minutes ago, Enorama said:

 

 

yeah I saw, I just lol'd anyway. I asked Muff to make SS Hornet future HoFer sig too

[Keygan 18]

Never too early to mark me for a HOF bid.

[Renomitsu 932]

Diggin' the love for @Cxsquared. He'll be doing work for whatever team he's on long after Hackett is gone.

[Big Mac 310]

11 hours ago, Enorama said:

S68:

Luciano Valentino @Kekzkrieg

His stats don't exactly scream generational talent, but he's been a huge part of a young Dragons team; signing a lifetime deal, earning himself a letter in just his second season, and moving up to being currently tied for 2nd in his draft class by TPE. As D.C. improves this season and next, watch for his personal stats to do the same, and if he heats up in the latter half of his career, he could have a solid shot at the Hall.

 

Raymond Bernard @Mr_Hatter

A Moscow team that, although they're old, could actually compete for a long time would be what would drive Bernard to the Hall. He's improved hand over foot in his three seasons of VHL play, and it isn't hard to imagine him resembling a Kallis Kriketers, where he's a steady starter for a team that seems to be able to compete for forever. His lack of games played in his first two seasons may knock down his career win totals a bit, but if Moscow's dominance is any indication (the EU looks to be even weaker next season), he'll be able to make up those wins, no problem.

No Sigard Gunnar no like