Way too early S74 VHLM predictions (like the S74 draft hasn't happened idk how I expect these predictions to be very good at all)

[jpsd 77]

 

Season 74 VHLM Predictions

 

Standings

 

1st - 4th

These 4 teams are split in half in terms of how their rosters will be constructed. Half are retaining a solid amount of players that have room to grow, the other two will be building a team almost solely off their draft picks. 

 

Las Vegas - 1st (S73 - 6th)

Although they don’t have a massive stockpile of picks like Halifax, Vegas is going to be keeping a lot of their players from season 73, many of which have been very active and will keep improving over the offseason. They also won’t be losing many key pieces that got them to the playoffs in 73.

 

Ottawa - 2nd (S73 - 4th)

Ottawa is another team that will be keeping a lot of players from the previous season, they also have a decent number of draft picks to fill out the rest of their roster. However, they will be losing quite a few key pieces to the team, like Ajay Krishna, their starting goalie, which is why I have Vegas edging them out.

 

Halifax - 3rd (S73 - 12th)

Halifax will be going into season 74 fresh off a terrible performance the previous season. Halifax, however, looks poised to be one of the top teams for several seasons. Halifax GM, Dil, has been stockpiling draft picks and currently possesses 14, 13 of which are in the first 3 rounds. Assuming the players drafted perform to their potential, Halifax should have no problem maintaining a top 5 finish, at least, for the next few seasons.

 

Yukon - 4th (S73 - 11th)

Yukon are in a similar position to Halifax, they have been making moves to get draft picks for the upcoming draft. They haven’t managed to get as many as Halifax, though they have the same number (14), only 8 are in the first 3 rounds. They also currently have worse goaltending than Halifax.

 

 

5th - 9th

For me 5th to 9th are a toss up between the 5 teams, however I think that the teams I have up till 8th could all finish as high as the top 3.

 

Mississauga - 5th (S73 - 9th)

Mississauga is another team that has performed poorly recently, but have gained draft picks to start building a really good roster from. They don’t have as many high picks as Yukon and Vegas, but they have the most overall picks in the draft at 15.

 

Houston - 6th (S73 - 2nd)

Houston is one team that should be able to find success without a ton of draft picks, or even a lot of players staying down. Houston has just the right amount of players that should be staying down, and just the right amount of draft picks, to have a competitive team.

 

San Diego - 7th (S73 - 5th)

San Diego is in a similar position to Vegas, in the amount of great players they’ll have staying on their roster, but I don’t think they have as many of those players as Vegas, and they also don’t have any picks within the first 3 rounds of the draft. Despite having them in 7th, they could finish in a much higher position than this.

 

Philadelphia - 8th (S73 - 8th)

Philly is another team that will have a lot of solid players that will be staying down, however, they do not have many draft picks to back up the roster. Despite having them in 8th I think the success of this team depends on how many of their current players are able to develop quickly. This is a team that could finish in the top 3 if all their players grow quickly, and their draft picks are used effectively.

 

Minnesota - 9th (S73 - 3rd)

Minnesota is similar to Houston in terms of the balance between current players and picks, but they just don’t have enough high overall picks to put them higher than 9th. Depending on how many of their players stay on the roster, I think Minnesota could finish as high as 5th.

 

 

10th-12th

These 3 teams are the ones I think are locked to be out of the playoffs or at the very least, guaranteed to be out in the 1st round of the playoffs.

 

Saskatoon - 10th (S73 - 7th)

Saskatoon has been competitive long enough to be comfortable being out of the running for the cup. They have many key pieces going up to the bigs in season 74, and don’t have many draft picks this draft. Saskatoon is the only one of the bottom 3 teams I think have a possibility of making the playoffs.

 

Mexico - 11th (S73 - 10th)

I almost feel bad for Mexico, in fact, I do feel bad for them. After finishing 10th in season 73, they are the only team that is pretty much locked to be out of the playoffs in back to back seasons. With only 1 pick in the upcoming draft, and hardly even having a roster, the only thing keeping Mexico from being at the bottom of my rankings is a story I think would be funny.

 

Miami - 12th (S73 - 1st)

As I just mentioned, one of the 2 reasons I have Miami in last is because I think it would be funny to see a team go from 1st to 12th in 1 season. The second reason, however, is because they will be in a similar position as Mexico at the end of these playoffs. Almost every single one of their players will be graduating to the VHL and they have 8 picks in the upcoming draft, all of which are in round 4 and beyond.

 

 

Stats

Individual player stats are a lot harder to predict than overall standings because of the factor of individual TPE earning. Regardless, I am going to do my best, with minimal explanation.

 

Forwards

Measured solely off points, I have pretty broad point totals, all being multiples of 5, to make it easier on myself.

1. Kasey Tamm - LW - LVA @kesytamm

60 G - 60 A - 120 P

Tamm had an extremely good first season in the VHLM, and assuming both them and Waters stay down and on Vegas they could form an elite duo that could tear up the minors next season.

 

2. Tim Waters - C - LVA @Siddhus

20 G - 95 A - 115 P

Waters is the perfect center to compliment a goal scorer like Tamm, in his first VHLM season he had 53 assists and only 8 goals, with some more improvement and an improved Tamm, he could easily have over 100 points.

 

3. Jonas Stormsson - LW - HOU @Kyle

55 G - 55 A - 110 P

Stormsson did not have a very breathtaking season, but they were also overshadowed by several other big names on Houston. Stormsson could be one of the capped players to start off and should have a great season making major improvements points wise to season 73.

 

4. Wolf Weiss - C - OTT @Matmenzinger

50 G - 55 A - 105 P

Weiss is the most likely of these players to play in the VHL in season 74, but if they stay down they’ll tear up the minors on an Ottawa team that could be very good. Last season he had more assists than goals despite having a better shot, and that could have had something to do with the make-up of the Ottawa roster, but regardless, Weiss should have a great year.

 

5. Brian Strong Jr. - C -SSK @Wheaties

45 G 55 A - 100 P

I think Strong’s performance will depend on the team he has around them, with the Vegas players I think the team they’ll have will do very good, but with Strong and Saskatoon it is hard to say. This is a player that could drop or rise in the stats department if they have a quality team around them.

 

 

Defensemen

I am going to rank who I think will be the top 5 defensemen in terms of all around play, shots blocked, hits, +/-, not just points.

 

1. Gabriel Akerstrom - LVA @Mason

90 P - 100 Hits - 110 SB - 50 +/-

Akerstrom is another Vegas player who I think will come in to next season and contribute heavily to their team’s success. Akerstrom is a great two-way defenseman who should have well rounded stats, with some improvements on their previous season.

 

2. Muffbeav - LVA @.sniffuM

95 P - 70 Hits - 75 SB - 45 +/-

I feel like I’ve been very biased towards Vegas and their players here, but depending on who Muffbeav plays for in season 74 they could have a fantastic season. Although being at a low TPE right now, .sniffuM, is obviously very active and will hopefully be looking to bring pride and a lot of points to the Muffbeav name.

 

3. Eoin Byrne - YUK @LatinViking

75 P - 90 Hits - 120 SB - 35 +/-

Byrne did not have a lot of success on a struggling Yukon last season, but after staying very active and having a large amount of growth, Byrne should see massive improvements on both ends of the ice.

 

4. Shawty Nananana - HOU @Grape

75 P - 75 Hits - 85 SB - 35 +/-

Nananana, what a name, was a part of a very dominant Houston team which should see regression in season 74, regression is not something Shawty should see as an individual player though. Perhaps overlooked by other defenders on Houston, Shawty did not receive a lot of play time, but in the upcoming season they will be a top pairing D which will factor in to any improvements Shawty has made.

 

5. L - PHI @gorlab

50 P - 100 Hits - 100 SB - 50 +/-

Despite the name, L, should not want to take any of those, and will be a big factor in whether or not their team pushes for a championship. This is a player that is hard to predict, with the only thing to go off of being a 92 DEF stat, I can only assume L will be a DFD. Currently at a lower TPE, L should see huge growth over the offseason.

 

 

Goalies

Are something I’m not even gonna try to predict this early on, and with goalie stats being pretty even anyways.

 

 

Season 73 was somewhat off season in the VHLM, a lot of point totals were lower than previous seasons, which made season 74 hard to predict. Maybe a lot of players' stats will shoot up and we’ll see another couple players with 60+ goal seasons again. Were this to happen it would be exciting, but would ruin my predictions… But seeing as these predictions are pretty dependent on a draft that hasn’t happened yet, and players who haven’t decided which league they’ll be playing in, the predictions will likely be pretty bad anyways.

 

and @Dil because his team might be good and was mentioned directly.

 

1700-1721 words depending on what is counted as a word

[jpsd 77]

claimed for week ending Sept-06 (week 1/3?)

[LatinViking 33]

Great job, but I moved to Yukon from Miami around S3

[Crstats23 340]

Honestly this is crazy I love how you explain why teams are ranked where they are like explaining main reason for Vegas above Ottawa is goaltending 

[UnkemptCL4PTP 86]

I will be staying with Yukon for one more year

[Siddhus 72]

Imagine thinking my player will be good, smh my head

[jpsd 77]

Claimed for Sept-13 (week 2/3)

[jpsd 77]

Claimed for Sept-20 (week 3/3)