VSN Presents: Under 250 - Houston, We Have A Problem

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Hello, and welcome to another edition of Under 250: The VHLM Report. In this series, we will be taking a look at the trends and topics from the past week in the VHLM. What twists and turns will our minor league hold? Stay tuned to find out!

 

Talents Behind The Trophies | Minor Adjustments | VHLM Power Rankings | Around the VHL

 

The Review

 

This season is officially a strange one. It seems as though with approximately 12 games to go (give or take a few depending on team) the playoff picture is all but secure. The Mississauga Hounds, Minnesota Storm, and Ottawa Lynx are all definitely out, and the only real sense of tension at all at the bottom of the playoff picture is whether the Houston Bulls can close the gap on either of the 60-pointers: the Yukon Rush and Halifax 21st. (NOTE: The standings show Halifax as having clinched, because STHS still thinks we’re going by conference and they only have to finish above Minnesota/Ottawa. This is not the case, and they have not clinched.)

 

 

We can say with a fair degree of confidence that the Philadelphia Reapers, Mexico City Kings, San Diego Marlins, and Saskatoon Wild will be this year’s home seeds, and that the Las Vegas Aces and Miami Marauders will also make the playoffs. The question is whether Houston can make the climb to steal a spot, or are Halifax and Yukon safe?

 

The Race

 

Let’s look into the rosters of each of the three teams in question and see where they should have finished, had it not been for STHS’ inherent randomness, and determine where the race might go from here. 

 

Halifax:

 

Halifax is running a particularly thin roster, with only six forwards and four defenders on the team. This is particularly small compared to the other two - the VHLM typically runs much nearer capacity than what Halifax currently has. Admittedly, this is partially the result of recent events, as Kate Upton was traded to San Diego, a team much closer to the top of the standings, and Nolan Fowler is now a free agent after having not updated beyond base TPE. It will be interesting to see just how much of their place in the standings was driven by Upton, who was one of the better players on their roster. 

 

As it stands at the moment (and in the VHLM, volatility is the name of the game, so the roster may look different as early as tomorrow) the six Halifax forwards are Dolant Fertitta, Theodore James St.Louis, Empty, Ramarod Ramirez, Edward Kenway, and Matthew Willis. Of these, Fertitta, St.Louis, and Empty are all strong VHLM players, at or near the cap. Ramirez is adequate - he has, however, announced his retirement, so depending on how long it takes to finish out the season, he may get inactive ruled. The inactive rule may apply to Willis as well, since he has not applied beyond his base TPE, but he has joined more recently than Fowler did and is still in the wait time. This leaves us with Kenway, who is as of right now a decent left winger, but adding at such a rate that he’s likely a prospect for next season. 

 

Defensively, they have Clinton Giftopoulos, Javad Kamkar, Bahram Kamkar, and Videl Valor. Giftopoulos is a top VHLM player, although perhaps the most interesting player of note on this defense is Javad Kamkar. Not yet to Giftopoulos’ level, Javad Kamkar has been developing far faster and will prove an intriguing prospect for the upcoming season’s drafts. It’s only a matter of time before he passes Giftopoulos. Bahram Kamkar has been a little slower than Javad, and is a little newer to join the league, but still looks pretty promising moving forward. Videl Valor, like Matthew Willis, looks to be on his way to being inactive ruled - although he has added beyond base TPE and bought a little more time. In goal, Mike Sterling is a solid piece and is approaching the cap, and Loic Trepanier is a decent backup.

 

Yukon:

 

Yukon is a significantly deeper team, which also means they’re carrying around some guys that aren’t incredibly developed like Nathan Askarov, but overall this appears to be a stronger team than Halifax. They still only have four players on defense, but that’s a symptom of a league wide issue at this time. 

 

Their forwards are led off by Vick Fairchild, who is nearly capped already and will almost certainly be there by the playoffs. In fact, he might even be there by the time this article goes out. Daddy Derek and Michael Schmidt could reach the cap by playoffs as well with some luck, and Jim Allen doesn’t appear to be far behind. This is a solid crew of guys and arguably ought to be higher in the standings than they are, which might be a sign of a future surprise in the playoffs. Jonny Pacheco, The Great, and Gaspar Zakrevsky would all arguably have a higher role on Halifax than they do on Yukon, all are already pretty good and are developing at a rate that’ll likely make them two season guys for Yukon. Rounding out the forwards are the waiver signings, Guy Lambert, Ethan Kahn, and Nathan Askarov who are all maintaining activity and are decent for being newer entrants to the league.

 

Defensively, again there are only four. Kristof Welch, the best of the bunch, is similar to Kamkar of Halifax in that he’s a highly promising draftee and while he’s only a waiver signing for Yukon, he may end up skipping out on being VHLM drafted entirely if he’s at the cap by the start of the season, instead immediately reporting to his VHL team (a lot of this will depend on which VHL team it is, and how long the offseason goes for). Olof Samuelsson is a little slower in development, but is already a good player at the VHLM level and has certainly performed admirably for Yukon thus far. Germano Henchoz is a newer guy who has developed well so far, perhaps not quite as noticeably as Welch, but will certainly be a guy some team will be incredibly happy to have next season, and Roger Jone has been around the VHLM for a bit now but is a reliable, if slow earning, depth guy who puts in a quality shift. Goalie wise, Kloxified is essentially capped. He can’t really add anything more while in the VHLM, and is one of the better goalies in the league. Andrew Bowman, much like Loic Trepanier of Halifax, is a decent backup. He’s active, has added to his guy, but at the same time isn’t really about to threaten Kloxified’s spot for this season.

 

Houston:

 

Houston is the deepest of the three, and so perhaps it is surprising they find themselves out of the race at the moment, but then again they arguably have the least top end talent. It’s a weird thing that STHS does to give such a preference to having 1-2 really strong guys over 4-5 fairly solid ones, but with Halifax being as thin as they are and further selling off what they do have, maybe Houston pulls it off. It certainly seems the “fairest” result would be for Houston/Yukon to take the two spots, but at the same time that would be an unfortunate result for the actives Halifax does have, such as the Kamkars.

 

Forwards-wise, Jon Webber, Paul Webber, and Vladimir Mlinski are the top tier forwards for Houston, and none of them are locks to reach the cap by the end of the season, although they all could. The Webbers are a little better earners, but Mlinski is a recreate and more familiar with the site, and all three are guys who’ll likely be up at least next season. Eddie Dams and Bradley Senjo are possibly in the sweet spot, good players already but earning at a pace where they might be back, and Napoleon Bonaparte is developing quickly and could be a strong asset to a team in the bigs when the time comes. Craig Martin and Kid Frost were both late VHLM draftees who’ve kept active, and Houston’s been strong on the waiver wire to add Joan de Arc, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan (also seemingly a recurring theme of historical people/places). However, the last six guys look to be more promising next season than this season. 

 

Defensively, Houston is the only one of the teams listed here with six players. Jared Carter and Not A Player are the top of the bunch, and both are near enough to cap that they’ll be competitive against the players who get there, although they’ll probably both not quite manage it. Zachary Sirois is the next best but is also on the verge of getting inactive ruled, so that could be a hit to their chances as well. Jackson Richard is a prime example of the type of player that’s always so valuable to the VHLM, as he’ll be around again next season almost certainly, and William of Orange is a new addition who’s done well to get up to where he is. Usilov Valentinovich has missed a couple weeks and may also get inactive ruled, although he’s got a week longer than Sirois. Largely, this defense will depend on Houston’s ability to find Sirois and Valentinovich, although that would just bring them down to four where the other teams are. Trent Gibson in goal is a solid starter, and while Jurgis Kalvelis Blazevicius behind him isn’t breathing down his neck, he’s competent when he needs to be called upon, like the backups for the other two teams. 

 

The Assessment

 

As it stands, Halifax has the thinnest roster, but arguably a stronger average among the players they do have, while Houston has the deepest roster with a larger number of new players filling out depth. Yukon has a strong combination of both, and potentially could be dangerous in the playoffs should they get there. Depending on how the rosters look over the final stretch, it does seem a little undeserved that Houston has a gap to make up on the other two, but it might already be just a bit too far. They’re 7 points back of Yukon and 9 of Halifax, while giving games in hand up on both current playoff teams. It’s not out of reach but it’ll be a difficult task if they want to get there, and it’s more likely that the two current teams will remain in the final playoff spots.

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second week of this will be week ending 12/27