Season 39 Entry Draft Top Prospects Interview

[Mike 708]

 

Sorry really late on this was trying to do an interview with a ton of prospects but only 3 responded so I gave up.

 

The VHL Draft Rankings have reached out to a number of prospects in the Season 39 VHL Draft.  Only a few of them were available for the interview unfortunately.  The rest of the prospects contacted have either blown us off completely or are very busy in their final preparations leading up to the draft.  Whatever the case may be we sat down with three of the top prospects in the draft Miller, Stokes, and Kojiyamazaki.  These three make up some of the biggest names in the draft and potentially a one, two, and three selection at the top of the draft.  The drama is real with the new guy on the block, the returning player agent, and the favorable but occasional miss from the other returning agent.

 

We at the VHL Draft Rankings wanted to get a better look into the psyche of a VHL draftee.  The insecurities players face, the rollercoaster of emotions, and find out if general managers around the league actually reach out to players.  We learned quite a bit from these three and have blown some draft secrets into the open for all to see.  For your enjoyment and pleasure please read on for an excerpt of our riveting interview with Miller, Stokes, and Kojiyamazaki.

First we have a quick two part question have any of you been contacted by any VHL teams yet? Which of the teams that haven't contacted you yet would like to hear from?

Miller - I actually haven't been contacted by any teams yet which I find a little odd but it is at an off time. I did reach out to Helsinki, knowing how many picks they have in the upcoming draft, and got a response but no GM's have come to contact me specifically.

 

Stokes - Yes, I have been in contact with a few of the VHL teams about the possibility of playing for their franchise. There have been some fun and interesting talks that have occurred and I thank every GM that has reached out and displayed their interest in myself. Of course there are teams that I am more interested in than other but I will keep that to myself for now. The teams that I am interested in going to the most have a draft selection high enough to select me have all been in contact with me. Now I just have to wait until draft day to determine where I end up.

 

Kojiyamazaki - Thanks for the question and am happy to answer them for you. I have had some very basic discussions with a couple of teams, namely Helsinki, Calgary and Cologne. The dialog was mainly initial interest, any issues playing for that team etc. As for teams that have not yet made contact, I will be happy to play for any VHL team, but it would be nice to hear from the teams that do have interest, rather than feel like just a player that can be drafted by them.

Wow that is very interesting insight from each of you.  Pivoting without a good transition speaking of the draft what are your expectations?

 

Miller - I don't want to get my expectations too high but knowing my agent and knowing that I've practiced more than anyone else in the draft I'm expecting to go early first round.

 

Stokes - I expect to be drafted in the top three for sure. There is one specific team that I would love to end up with but if it does not shake down that way, I will understand. This is the VHL and anything can happen from now until draft day and nothing is guaranteed as of now. The club that I'd like to end up with has a great management team with a great group of young players that I could grow alongside. I hear that the atmosphere of playing in that city is one of the best in the league so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

Kojiyamazaki - I keep seeing the draft rankings and mock drafts which place me inside the top 5. I would ideally like to indeed be in that top 5 and maybe even creep up to 3.

 

Over the last many years we've seen how the draft in every major sport is getting more and more publicity and hype. In the NFL Draft we see the top prospects invited to New York only to see a handful get disappointed and fall down the draft board. What is the point in the draft where you say wow I can't believe I have fallen this far? In other words what pick would be considered a disappointment for you?

 

Miller - I'm not sure I would use the word disappointed but I would be surprised if I fell as far as 5th. There are a lot of top guys from different backgrounds that can all go early so it's more than possible that I could slip down the list a bit.

 

Stokes - As stated earlier, I fully expect to be drafted with one of the top three selection, but if that does not happen and I fall past the number five overall selection, that would be a big disappointment for myself. I have worked hard to prove that I am one of the best talents in this draft class and hopefully it pays off. If I do happen to drop that far on the draft board, it would just give me more motivation to prove GMs that they made a huge mistake in not selecting me when they had the chance to do so.

 

Kojiyamazaki - Like I previously mentioned, if Yamazaki falls out of the top 5 I would be surprised and a little disappointed, although it wouldn't have an impact on my activity or enjoyment of the VHL.

Is there any teammate or player(s) currently in the VHLM that you would love to join in the VHL with someday?

 

Miller - I've really enjoyed being on a line with Tremblay, whose rights are owned by Cologne. I'd certainly be interested in playing with him again in the future. I also think having a chance to play with Faraday, knowing his agent, would be really great.

Stokes - The one player in the VHLM that I would love to have the opportunity to play on the same team in the VHL one day would have to be Jackson Miller of the Moscow Red Wolves. Jackson is a committed player who does whatever it takes to help his team succeed. Without him, there is no way that Moscow would be in the position that they are in now, tied at two games a piece with the Turku Outlaws in the European Conference Finals. I have heard that he is also a great teammate who makes the locker room a fun place to be in. If we end up on the same VHL team, we could develop into a dominant dynamic duo.

 

Kojiyamazaki - As of right now, no. I am concentrating on building a good defenseman and while I wish everyone both in the draft and in the VHLM all the best, it's not something I am actively thinking about to be honest.

 

There we have it with just weeks away from the draft and things ramping up for the final push we are still learning new things about these young prospects.  Hopefully for us and them we see a lot more of these great players in the VHL sooner rather than later.  Stay tuned next week for our final mock draft where anyone’s guess is as good as ours.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Mike

[Motzaburger 1,590]

dat nykvist do

[Mike 708]

dat nykvist do

 

You were one of the people i msged

[Motzaburger 1,590]

You were one of the people i msged

 

oops i saved as a draft

 

*actually i typed it out and I didn't send and it didn't save

Edited July 3, 2014 by Motzaburger