This post is a continuation of this post: https://simulationhockey.com/showthread.php?tid=118575

Now that the prospect showcase has finished, we now look back at one of the contributors to the Yetis cup run: Jeff Larsson, the teams' designated PK specialist, a player who just put up 9 points in 20 games in the first half of the season, missing expectations. But let's back up from the cup, and go over the whole tournament:

FIRST 20 GAMES: 4G 5A 9P

Jeff Larsson started with a bang getting the teams' first goal in the tournament, giving them a 1-0 lead in a game that would turn into a shootout win. He wasn't able to keep up the production, only getting 8 points in the 19 remaining games of the day. Scouts were unsure of whether this was because of incorrect deployment and usage, not enough ice time, or Larsson underperforming. The points weren't coming, but his game rating of 66 was very solid, which meant the points weren't coming that much, but he was playing solid hockey. Could he turn his game rating into points? They got their answer the next day.

LAST 20 GAMES: 4G 3A 7P

Jeff just didn't produce at a high level in these games, as he got slightly more ice time he still was on PK1 so he still had an excuse, and his coach not using his skating abilities to the fullest. He kept up the same 4 goals that brought him almost to a 1G/60m pace but lost 2 helpers in these games. More skeptics arose, even though his game rating was still at 66, which is a very solid pace for 40 games, which made him one of the best in the tournament. He wasn't using his point-scoring abilities, but he planned to use the playoffs to show off his real potential when it matters most.

PLAYOFFS: Bo3 format, 1G 2A 3P

Jeff Larsson once again started out with a bang and got an assist in the first game, a 4-2 win over the Sand Lions. He remained scoreless other than that helper throughout the entire playoffs until game 3 in the playoffs, where he was able to get a goal and an assist for 2nd star of the game in the 5-2 win over the Aztecs for the cup. The final scouting report worked on by both scouts in the previous post is here:

"Jeff Larsson throughout the regular season was ok to a guy just looking at points, a solid middle-six forward with PK time, 16 points, with the 8 goals standing out the most as solid middle-six production. However, scouts see more than points, and analytics show that Jeff was the 10th best player at this tournament (game rating), but point production is still important even with a high game rating. That being said, there are reasons why his point production didn't really change as he still had no PP time, was the main penalty killer on the team, and was used as a setup guy when he was scoring at an ok rate. All in all, Jeff's draft stock shouldn't change a whole lot because of the regular season; the playoffs are when it counts and Jeff really proved himself there. His defensive play in the playoffs was probably one of if not the best on his team, with a +2 rating and a whopping 68 game rating, which is incredible. In fact, he was tied for 4th in the playoffs for game rating, so he played amazing, and therefore I think his draft stock should have risen immensely. His point production is still a talking point amongst scouts, as he put up 0.5ppg which doesn't seem like it should be paired with a 68 game rating. The reason for this is he got many great scoring chances, his defensive game was almost spotless, and a 0.5ppg isn't all that bad, as no one in the playoffs was able to put up 1ppg. Another talking point is if you are playing well but have 1 point in 5 games, you have to switch things up and that's what Jeff did in the final game of the tournament, switching up his game and getting the 2nd star with a goal and a helper to help get the 5-2 win and the cup. Even though if you remove those points they still win 3-2, his offensive impact on plays was still there, and his great defensive play that game. This tournament even by me, the negative scout, was thought of as a bad showing by Jeff Larsson, but if you look at advanced analytics and really watch his defensive play, you can see that he played this tournament probably better than any other tournament he's played in. Nothing but praise for Larsson!"

Other scouts had this to say:

"His analytical performance was a treat to watch, even if we didn't get all the flashy plays" 

"Jeff really turned a solid showing in the regular season into one of the best showings in this tournament with his playoff performance, this really upped his draft stock in my book"

"Larsson really showed upside more than anything; the sky is the limit for his potential"

Larsson had this to say:

"I did great according to some random analytical stat, but did you really think I would do badly in a tournament with high stakes? You don't know me if you did. I always turn it up when it matters most, and we won the cup. I'd like to thank my teammates for making this a great tournament to play in, and Mr. Pleyel, and Mr. Catalano of the Yoshis and Mr. Wall of the Lions for making the experience better in the chat during the games, as well as the guy running the YT channel who made me coach and talked to us in chat. I hope you had as much fun as I did, and any of those guys in the chat are reading this, I regret playing Dino in game 2."

Thanks for reading this and if you are a scout or a GM reading this, read the room and what all the scouts are saying: PICK LARSSON!

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