Looking Ahead to the Draft

[Mason 81]

 

Looking Ahead to the Draft

 

With the conclusion of the VHL playoffs yesterday, we enter the offseason and the next major item in the league's calendar becomes the VHL Entry Draft that will be taking place this week. For Gabriel Akerstrom, it's a very exciting time. As someone who missed out on the draft process last season and joined the VHLM during the course of the regular season, it's a novel feeling to be involved in this kind of event and something that he has been looking forward to for a long time. As a young player who is confident in his ability to help change a franchise's long term trajectory and play a big role on a team that accomplishes great things down the line, knowing where he will begin his career in the VHL certainly makes for a very exciting development. When it comes to working out which team is a likely destination for him however, that's a little bit more difficult. It's understood that Gabriel and his player representatitves have had some productive conversations with a few different VHL franchises, so there's certainly some interest from scouting departments in what he can bring to the table. 

 

With the landscape of the VHL notably different following last season's expansion that added four new teams into the league, there's a wide range of situations that Gabriel could find himself joining. There's certainly a lot of obvious appeal to joining a team with a proven track record that will offer a good chance of success immediately. Gabriel has no problems spending some time in a limited role if needs be while he finds his feet if the team has a lot of depth at defense that they're able to utilise. Additionally, the chance to go to a newly founded team and immediately become a big part of the team's immediate present day look also is something that's definitely appealing. While it may mean that there's a longer wait before Gabriel finds himself playing on a high level team and challenging for a cup, this is outweighed by the excitement of being able to forge a legacy as part of a new team.

 

The different scenarios both have their positives and negatives, but as long as Gabriel ends up at a team that has a clear plan for the long term and management that can get a team behind them and set the team up successfully, then Gabriel has nothing to be worried about. The prospect of being a part of the VHLM Dispersal Draft is also incredibly exciting. Although the long term impact of the VHL Draft means that there's definitely more significance in that one and how it plays out, the chance to be a part of two in one offseason certainly adds to the fun of it all, and it's going to be interesting to see how that one plays out. All in all, it looks like it's going to be a very important week in the scheme of Akerstrom's career, and it'll be a lot of fun to see how it plays out!

 

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[Blazzer 759]

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