VSN Presents: Under250- Building A Powerhouse in the VHLM: Mexico City Kings

[fromtheinside 1,290]

Under250: VHLM Review - S75 #1  |  VHL Weekly Review- Nov 23/20  
The Bootcast- Prelude  |  75  |  VSN Presents: Season 75 Future Watch

 

 

We are at the halfway point of the S75 season in the VHLM and this season will be remembered as one of the most competitive years in league history. Literally three quarters of the league is a legitimate playoff threat and there aren't many days where teams can look at their schedules and feel too confident about their upcoming matches. It's been stressful, yet super fun to watch teams jockey for position amongst their respective conferences. The standings are flip-flopping almost daily after every sim. However with that being said, there are two teams that are truly a tier above the rest. Let's take a look!

 

 

 

In the West the Mexico City Kings have dominated their campaign, sporting the best record in the entire league. On top of that they are in the harder conference of the two. Out East, the Philadelphia Reapers are the toast of the town and are undoubtedly the most lethal offensive team in the league. Both these teams are undisputedly the cream of the crop this season. While there is significantly more parody throughout the whole league this year, the Western Conference is undeniably the harder of the two. Even the Houston Bulls who are in last place pose a consistent threat, quite simply put there are no easy matchups. The East is no joke either. While definitely weaker in the bottom half of the standings,  the top 3 teams are all serious playoff contenders. But now let's focus on the meat and potatoes of this report. The Mexico City Kings are currently the leagues top team, the final boss as it were.  But how did they get here? Certainly not by dumb luck. It was an arduous process that started multiple seasons ago. Without further ado, let's deep-dive into the process of becoming a powerhouse in the VHLM!

 

 

 

General Manager- @Hylands

Assistant General Manager- @rory  

 

Roster Breakdown

 

Returnees:  To my surprise, there really isn't a huge list of returning talent from Season 74.  Of the entire 22-man Kings roster, only five players returned for a second stint. While the quantity may not be high, almost all these players are absolute core members of the Kings squad and are essential to their success. The first player is the starting goaltender @Xflexz Markus Emerson Jr.  Emerson created in Season 72 but was taken by Las Vegas in the S73 Dispersal Draft. his time in Vegas was short lived as he was traded to Mexico fairly quickly, and he has been there ever since.  After a limited backup role in S73, Emerson took over as the team's starting goalie last season. Despite Mexico not being a very strong team last year, Emerson posted respectable numbers and showed a glimpse of things to come for S75. Jumping back to present-day, Emerson is arguably the top keeper in the league this season, boasting a 29-4-3 record with a ,912 save percentage, a sparkling 2.22 GAA with 3 shutouts to boot. Any hockey franchise given the "powerhouse" moniker surely has a rock solid netminder, and Emerson is no exception. Another returning player was top line center @Firekiss Chris Foley. Mexico scooped Foley up off waivers in his initial rookie season. Foley must have made a great first impression because the Kings immediately gobbled him back up in the S74 Dispersal Draft. The playmaking center absolute tore up the M last season, posting 85 points (28G, 57A). Although he isn't producing at that pace this season, he really doesn't need to be as the team is much more deep and there are scoring threats on every line. And the last, but certainly not least player I would like to highlight is none other then@jhatty8 RJ Thatcher.  RJ actually follows the exact same career patch as his linemate Foley. Breaking into the ladder half of S73, he was taken by the Kings off waivers, and then immediately redrafted by them in the S74 Dispersal Draft.  The second part of the dynamic duo had an incredible sophomore season putting up a mammoth 86 points (43G, 43A). While Foley's numbers have dipped a bit, Thatcher continues to put up numbers at a torrid pace. He's averaging over a point per game (51 in 42GP), and of his 24 goals this season, 7 of them are game winners! Thatcher is unquestionably the leader of this squad and the Kings will need a big post-season from him if they want a shot at the Founder's Cup.

 

 

 

Draft:  The S75 VHLM Dispersal draft was loaded with an astonishingly vast amount of talent. This was largely thanks to the S74 Recruitment Drive that brought a gigantic wave of rookies into the VHL system. If there was ever a year to load up on some extra draft picks, this was the one. And the Kings did just that. The trend biggest trend in this draft was defensemen going early and often. After 3 of the first 4 picks in the draft were blueliners, Mexico was on the clock with back to back picks at 5 and 6. They continued the trend and snatched up two franchise d-men in @kevinscix Kevin Wu and @Beaviss Hulk Hogan Jr.   The Kings knew what they were getting in Wu having picked him up off waivers in S74. In his rookie campaign  Wu managed almost a point per game pace putting up 59 points (21G, 38A) in 61 games. For a rookie defenseman, those are some great numbers. With the other pick at 6, Mexico took the closest thing to sure thing in the draft when they called Hulk Hogan Jr's name. Taking a VHL commissioner re-create is never a bad idea, and let me tell you something brother, HH Jr was no exception.  Coming off a stunning championship run in Miami, Hogan Jr will also bring a winning pedigree to the Kings that will surely help them in the postseason this year. 

 

In the second round of the draft the Kings turned their attention to offense.  At 15 they somewhat surprisingly took @TMGSosa Jakob Sosa. While I would have expected a winger to get taken first, you can never have too many centers especially since you can slot them in at wing also if needed. Also this pick continued the trend of Mexico taking players they had in S74. While only posting 17 points in 40 games during his rookie season, the Kings must like Sosa's other intangibles that don't show up in the stat sheet. Given the trend of drafting past players again, I'm sure they knew what they were getting in Sosa and we're excited to have him back.  Three picks later the Kings were back with 2 more straight picks, and the first of which is one I would speculate to be one of the steals of the draft. At 18th overall the Kings took @youloser1337 Justin Lose. Ironically, Lose was a Philadelphia Reaper product from S74, but the Kings had the foresight to scoop him up in the middle of round 2. Lose had a respectable rookie year, but has truly blossomed into a high-end impact player this season. He's been at the 250 TPE cap for over a week now and he is producing massive points for the Kings, already sitting at 46 points (20G, 26A). I think getting Lose at that point in the draft was a major steal and Lose compliments Chris Foley's playmaking abilities nicely.  With the second of their back-to back picks Mexico shifted focus back onto defense when they took Finnish defender @monttu Teppo McBighit. Teppo came into the league last season right around the trade deadline with Houston. As his name would imply, he is a physical shutdown defenseman that checks addresses alot of the needs Mexico still had.  While there were some flashier and higher TPE options still available on the board at this point of the draft, Teppo has fit in nicely for the Kings. The last player I'd like to highlight came in the third round.  With pick 29, the Kings went with another elite offensive winger by the name of @Callahan John Callahan Jr.  Callahan Jr. has been a consistent TPE earner and rounds out Mexico's top 6 forwards perfectly.  After being a late signup in S74, Callahan was actually teammates with Justin Lose in Philly.  Whether that  went into the decision of drafting him is unknown, but their chemistry this year has been undeniable. 

 

Free Agents/Waivers:  While most of their core was established via the draft and returning players, there are still a couple noteworthy pickups the Kings have made this season that absolutely help bolster their team depth. The biggest addition, and perhaps the most peculiar is the signing of journeyman defensemen @LefLop King Kruul. Kruul's career path is undeniably one of the strangest I've seen in my short time during the VHL. He played an entire rookie season all the way back in S68 when he signed with the San Diego Marlins. He enjoyed multiple successful seasons in the M, even winning a cup in S72 with Saskatoon and taking home the Ryan Sullivan Trophy for being the league's best defensemen! Kruul's career was off to a Hall-of-Fame level start but then he went inactive. For three seasons Kruul literally played no games, and his player has been around so long, he's actually accumulating depreciation in the VHLM! Perhaps either Hylands or Rory has a connection with him and convinced him to come back for a season or two before his player retires? Hard to say exactly how the transaction went down, but when it was all said and done and the dust settled, the Kings came away with a top 4 defensemen for their roster. As for waiver signings this season, there have been a couple but one specifically leaps out at me. This week longtime community member @Motzaburgerrecreated a new player after coming off of a hiatus. MacGruber is a defensemen and thanks to the TPE carryover rules, he is starting with a base of 120! Talk about a nice head start on your player's career. Even if Motza just does the bare minimum from now until the end of the regular season, Mexico will have added themselves a quality depth defender to bolster their blueline.

 

All things considered, you really do need a lot of things to sway in your favor to get a perfect recipe for success like how the Kings have. Having a few elite pieces returning for another year mixed with drafting remarkably well in what was one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. On top of that, adding a couple longtime members of the VHL community via free agency and waivers to reinforce an already strong foundation is really just the icing on the proverbial cake. Getting all this to fall in line is much easier said than done and even after doing all this, it's important to remember at the end of the day this is a simulation league and even with a powerhouse such as this one, you aren't guaranteed a cup at the end of your season. Look no further than the S74 Halifax 21st if you don't believe me on that one. That wraps up my breakdown of the Mexico City Kings franchise. I will be back in a couple weeks to take a closer look at other developing stories in the VHLM.  Until then, thanks for reading! 

Edited December 6, 2020 by fromtheinside

[Dom 1,445]

My bet is Mexico VS Miami in founder cup final and Mexico win in 6

[hylands 845]

Loved reading this in-depth review on how we got to where we are today!

[fromtheinside 1,290]

16 minutes ago, Hylands said:

Loved reading this in-depth review on how we got to where we are today!

 

What I learned from researching this and doing the piece was that you guys really like to stay loyal to guys who got their start in Mexico. I like that you find young talent you can trust and try to keep em around... good stuff

[mattyIceman 1,213]

3 minutes ago, fromtheinside said:

you guys really like to stay loyal to guys who got their start in Mexico

I started in mex, where mah blo

[youloser1337 1,106]

1 hour ago, fromtheinside said:

At 18th overall the Kings took @youloser1337 Justin Lose. Ironically, Lose was a Philadelphia Reaper product from S74, but the Kings had the foresight to scoop him up in the middle of round 2. Lose had a respectable rookie year, but has truly blossomed into a high-end impact player this season. He's been at the 250 TPE cap for over a week now and he is producing massive points for the Kings, already sitting at 46 points (20G, 26A). I think getting Lose at that point in the draft was a major steal and Lose compliments Chris Foley's playmaking abilities nicely.