Preparing for the draft.

[Peace 1,562]

The VHL and VHLM finals are almost over -- or rather they will be over by Friday I'd hope -- so the draft is obviously just around the corner; not quite over the horizon, but like a sunrise or sunset, you know it's inevitably coming. 

 

We'll mark the time as 'Soon(TM)', as no announcement has been made on when it'll take place, but the hype is already slowly building thanks to Gorlab posting his 'don't draft me unless you draft him' thread and addressing it to all VHL general managers. It seems like there's nothing that sparks league interest than a spicy piece of forum drama to read up on, and the lopsided defensive duo provided that by threatening each individual GM via tags, so it'll be interesting to see what happens to them. 

One destination is unlikely though... Toronto.

Oh I could use two defenders, no doubt, but so could literally any other VHL team at this point.

 

The distance between the Legions' first and second round selections make the risk far too great, so I can safely say we're not going to draft the two players who put weeks of effort into their names, and the only other teams that have viable assets in the draft that could 'make it happen' are Calgary and Vancouver. Calgary could chose R and L with the fourth and seventh overall picks, while Vancouver could decide to make the selection later in the draft with their two first round picks as well... assuming both fall to there. 

Besides the drama, Toronto has prepared for this draft in two separate ways. 

Firstly it's important to understand your draft tendencies by exploring your history, but somehow stay away from over analyzing it to a point you start doubting your abilities. Toronto's draft 'luck' hasn't been all that great -- as I've explored in the past -- considering three of the prospects we've selected were considering quality at one point. Micheal Mac disappeared, which stunned another VHL GM; Gainer got too busy with real life, and broke away from what boils down to a time-consuming hobby on the internet; and Graves went MIA after moving into a new home with a difficult newborn. 

Had Graves, Gainer and Mac remained active... Toronto's drafts would have been considerably better, but sadly that's not the case, and is an argument every VHL team can make. At the end of the day, somewhat similar to a real NHL draft, GMs are rolling a dice on each first generation player they draft. People who've recreated come with a natural raise in their draft stock, since the majority have proven they'll stick around with a player and keep earning attribute points. 

Secondly...  I honestly think pre-draft interviews are an important tool we can use to measure a users interests and ideals, and in my opinion it serves that purpose quite well.

 

My shortcoming was quite evident after the S72 VHL Entry Draft, although it wasn't something I could truly follow up on until this season (as I only had a first round pick in 73), I've found it certainly helps narrow down a draft list. 

 

I strongly believe I could have avoided some of the 'busts' by just expanding how large the net I cast was, and by that I mean simply messaging more people with these pre-draft interviews in comparison to the past. I would send out ten maximum in years prior, but this time I've sent out over thirty, and I've gotten some really awesome replies. The recruitment teams efforts to quadruple how deep this draft class is absolutely helps, but I should have been sending thirty PMs to prospects in the first place.

It won't stop a Gainer from leaving because life is too chaotic, it won't stop a Graves leaving from being overstressed, and it won't stop a Frence from imploding... but it certainly reduces the chance, and that's something I've come to enjoy about this process. 

Is that enough for a media spot now? 



 

[ThePerfectNut 563]

Too risky. If one leaves, the other leaves with him. (Even though Edwin is a forward now)

 

Sooo Vancouver finna get L, R and Emi Rune on a team damnnn

[ROOKIE745 610]

Review: A good well paced article on you understanding yourself at the draft. A good look back on previous drafts and forward to future drafts, understanding your tendencies as you put it is important. Spelling as far as I could tell is all good and while I have a hard time putting my finger on it the pace on your posts are always so good, you always keep me entertained the whole way through. You point out your shortcomings with the lack of interviews while also understanding that life sometimes life gets in the way, as to why some important prospects disappeared. "Busts" are going to happen but we can reduce the chance of that happening by pre-draft interviews and getting to understand the player before hand. 9/10