S71 Future Watch: NA Conference

[Patrik Tallinder 1,087]

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new series on VSN, where we take an in-depth look at the prospect pools of each VHL team. We will be looking at the top prospects, the overall depth of the groups, and some prospects that may be more under the radar. This article will cover the North American Conference, and an upcoming article will cover the European Conference. Without stalling any further, let’s get started.

 

 

CALGARY WRANGLERS | 6th in NA | 12th Overall

Top Prospect: Justin Goatman - S70 2nd Round (24)

 

Calgary gets the bottom spot in both the conference and the league for a simple reason; they only have one prospect. If that one prospect was a star in the making, this ranking would surely change. However, that isn’t the case. S70 second-round selection Justin Goatman collects the 2 TPE from practice facility nearly every week, but rarely anything else. The only capped TPE he’s earned is from free weeks, which doesn’t inspire confidence that he will one day play in the VHL. That said, he did ask a question on how to improve his player on the DASLN podcast recently, and he could quickly turn into a potential VHL player if he takes their advice.

 

 

DC DRAGONS | 5th in NA | 11th Overall

Top Prospect: Xavier leFlamant - S71 2nd Round (20)

 

While DC does have more than one prospect, they essentially share the same problem as Calgary, given the fact that all except one of them are inactive. The one who isn’t is Xavier leFlamant, who looks to be a very solid prospect for them. He consistently earns around 8 or 9 TPE every week, adding to a nice playmaking build that could be pretty intriguing to the Dragons, especially with so many shoot-first type forwards in the league today. With over 250 TPE, leFlamant will graduate to the VHL this offseason, and we will get to see the impact he then has with DC.

 

 

NEW YORK AMERICANS | 4th in NA | 10th Overall

Top Prospect: Richard Penisson - S71 3rd Round (28)

 

Yes, that does make the bottom three prospect pools in the league all part of the North American Conference. It also makes up the league’s three teams with only one significant prospect. It’s a bit ironic how New York was placed above DC because of a prospect DC sent to them through trade not long ago. That prospect is Richard Penisson, who surprisingly fell to 28th overall in last offseason’s draft. He has wasted no time in proving his worth to the teams who passed on him, leading the VHLM in points by a wide margin so far. Like leFlamant, he projects to be in the big league next season, but I do feel like Penisson does have a bit more potential, which explains my placement of New York over DC. S70 draftee Elias Ostling also updated somewhat recently, though he hasn’t shown VHL potential to this point.

 

 

TORONTO LEGION | 3rd in NA | 6th Overall

Top Prospect: Jeff Blaze - S71 2nd Round (18)

 

Now, we finally get to look at an actual group of prospects, not just one. Although he is only third in TPE among Toronto prospects, I believe Jeff Blaze leads this group because of his consistency for a pretty long time now. Both Dick Cheezy and Damien Wolfe have had recent periods of inactivity, though they both look to be back on track now. All three prospects earn a steady 6 to 8 TPE a week on most occasions and are over 200 TPE. This gives me confidence that they will all be in the VHL as soon as next season, and will bolster Toronto’s forward group, even more, joining other young forwards like Killinger and Magnum. The only inactive prospect here is former first-round selection Justin Graves, who could be a real force in the unlikely case he comes back. Overall not much star potential here, but with presumably three future VHL players, Toronto has a pretty good looking group of prospects here.

 

 

SEATTLE BEARS | 2nd in NA | 3rd Overall

Top Prospect: Zyrok12 - S71 1st Round (12)

 

Prior to the S71 Draft, Seattle had a grand total of zero prospects. How they went from that to the third-best prospect pool in the league is pretty impressive to me, even if the picks were relatively high. It was difficult putting them above Helsinki in the overall rankings, but I just don’t feel like the Titans’ group has the upside of this one. Starting off with their top prospect, Zyrok12 is an S71 defenseman with tremendous potential at both ends of the ice. His TPE earning has stayed remarkably consistent, and it reflects in his fast growth as a player, already being VHL ready. He is on pace for more than 100 assists this season in Yukon, and will surely be an impact player in the future for Seattle. 

 

Next up is Ray Sheilds, who just recently became the AGM in Mississauga. He is an incredibly versatile centre, with next to no holes in his game. He’s been able to build his player this way because like Zyrok, he has regularly earned high amounts of TPE. He is ready for the pro league, and his trajectory leads to another impact player on Seattle’s hands. Defenseman Bo Burrows looks to have a fair amount of upside as well, with his physical play and cannon of a shot on full display this season. His 268 hits actually rank 2nd in the league at the moment. While I say his TPE earning hasn’t necessarily been consistent, I mean that in the best possible way. He always has a base of 6 TPE every week, and frequently earns around 8-10. This is another player who will almost surely be a VHL regular and will be a good player for Seattle down the line. To cap things off, we have Erik Hjalmarsson, who is more of a practice facility player, though he has shown some willingness to earn more TPE near the start of his career. 

 

Anyways, there’s no denying that Seattle has some really good players on the come-up, and their prospect pool is one of the league’s best.
 

 

VANCOUVER WOLVES | 1st in NA | 2nd Overall

Top Prospect: Joe Proto - S71 1st Round (8)

 

With the number of players this prospect pool has, you would assume the rest we’ve covered so far are puddles. Vancouver, while also being one of the top teams in the VHL, boasts a staggering ten prospects. What’s even more interesting is that I would only deem one of them completely inactive, although Cummins Aulhovere is definitely getting to that point. He was inactive for a while before returning for three weeks, and now he’s been gone for an equal three weeks. When he is active, he earns anywhere from 6 to 13 TPE, which is obviously on par with some of the better prospects in the VHL. Only time will tell if he can remain active though.

 

The Wolves, as it stands, have two VHL ready prospects. The more high-profile player of the two, Joe Proto, has a remarkable 359 TPE and has never missed out on one capped TPE in his career so far. He also just earned the Las Vegas GM position, establishing himself even further in the league. Proto is a fantastic two-way player who can put the puck in the net, and he will surely be one of the favourites for S72’s Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie. The other VHL ready prospect for Vancouver is Isak Sjostrom, an S69 goalie who is prepared to take on the backup role once Finn Davison retires. His TPE earning has been a bit inconsistent lately, but Vancouver doesn’t need him to be a star. Sjostrom perfectly fits the role that they will need after this season, and he and Spyro should be a great duo for many seasons to come.

 

With three consecutive picks in the S71 Entry Draft, Vancouver selected Blake Bridges, Xavier Hills, and Raiens Grasis. For me, it’s a toss-up between Hills and Bridges for who here is the best prospect. Bridges has been a bit more consistent lately, but Hills being able to claim 6 TPE for welfare is a big advantage that could see him end up the better player. Grasis has steadily earned practice facility every week but has never once earned capped TPE up to this point, which isn’t a sign of a potential VHL player. It will be fun to see who comes out of this group as the best and if they will one day put on the Wolves’ jersey.

 

Two more players who heard their name called earlier that day in the S71 draft were Squirrely dan and Kazimir Komarov. They have both progressed nicely, and are both poised to be VHL players one day. Squirrely dan earns a healthy 10 or 11 TPE every week and has put together a more balanced build for himself. Komarov is an interesting player because he came from a family with great roots in the VHL. Despite this, his TPE earning leading up to the draft wasn’t the best, and he fell to the third round. But since then, he has started to really kick it into high gear, earning 12+ TPE in four of his last five weeks. I see both of these players becoming nice pieces for the Wolves.

 

The last prospect I want to cover in this article is one that may be quite under the radar to most of you. Defenseman Hunter Harrison went undrafted in last offseason’s draft and was signed as a free agent about a month ago. Since then, he has earned 40 TPE in four full weeks. His 2 TPE last week isn’t a great sign, but for an undrafted prospect, Harrison could definitely become a steal.

 

 

In the next article, we will look at the European Conference’s top prospects. I wish all these prospects the best in improving their players, and hope to see them in the VHL one day!

 

Not long ago, we just saw many of them at the WJC! Here at VSN, we have plenty of coverage surrounding the tournament, as well as other great league-related content. Here is some of our most recent work:
| VHL Weekly | VSN Radio | VHLM Weekly | Talents Behind The Trophies |

 

Players Mentioned: @Goatman @BarzalGoat @bluesfan55 @Elias Östling @NyQuil @goldenglutes @Laflamme @Zyrok @Zetterberg @Walter Fizz @Erik @BoucherFan12 @Proto @Austin2997 @Blake Bridge @inflastud @raiens @jacobaa19 @Gooningitup @I'll change this later

 

 

[Zetterberg 863]

Seattle's prospects are basically just the Yukon Rush's current team

[Beaviss 4,958]

thanks for the fluffing

[gorlab 4,321]

that banner graphic go hard as fuck

[bluesfan55 103]

vhl gms are dumb