2003 Re-Draft #2

[GFS]

#1 - Pittsburgh - Shea Weber

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[TheOllieC]

The only way I don't take Eric Staal here is if we can go back and pick Kopitar over JJ as well.

So Staal.

 

[What the Faulk]

Staal, still. A case could be made for Getzlaf, but I'd probably even take take present day 75 point Staal over him

 

[Anton Babchuk]

stall

 

[nobuddy]

impeach estaalo but not here

 

[DaveG]

It's still Staal. The only other two players I'd even consider here are Getzlaf and Suter.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Call me crazy, but I'd take Pavelski

 

[TheOllieC]

Call me crazy, but I'd take Pavelski

I need an explanation for this.

 

[Novacane]

Call me crazy, but I'd take Pavelski

You're crazy.

 

[nobuddy]

Call me crazy, but I'd take Pavelski

You're crazy.

 

[JClaus33]

As much as people complain about him, he has accomplished a lot since he was drafted, still the points leader from this draft by a wide margin. I'll take Staal

 

[Stickpucker]

Suter or Perry would be my other options. Perry is a big winger with a lot of nasty + scoring touch. Pretty rare combo. Would do either of those if we had Kopitar as someone above said.

 

[What the Faulk]

Nashville had Suter AND Weber and got exactly nowhere. It's hard to build around franchise defensemen.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Nashville had Suter AND Weber and got exactly nowhere. It's hard to build around franchise defensemen.

They also got Kevin Klein out of that draft, iirc.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Nashville had Suter AND Weber and got exactly nowhere. It's hard to build around franchise defensemen.

I don't necessarily agree with that. First, the Predators made the playoffs every year but 1 from 05/06 through 11/12 (6/7 years) so they didn't get exactly nowhere. Secondly, their lack of "winning it all" is because Nashville didn't augment those guys with enough talent on offense. No team can win the cup with only a few talented guys. For instance, LA picked Doughty at #2 and built a team with him as one of their star players but they also had a lot of players around him (Kopitar, Williams, Carter, Brown, Gaborik, Quick, etc...). Boston has also been built around Chara also and has had success, but he has a lot of solid players around him.

Even building around Eric Staal, the Canes have made the playoffs only 2 out of 7 years over that same stretch so have a worse track record than Nashville. And they wouldn't have had a cup win had they not gone out and got players through trade/UFA like Williams, Whitney, Stillman, Hedican, Gerber, Weight, Recchi, Cullen, A. Ward, etc.... to augment a guy like Staal.

You can build around a franchise defenseman and have success, but whether it's a franchise defenseman or franchise center, you can't win it all if you don't augment the team with more talent.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Nashville had Suter AND Weber and got exactly nowhere. It's hard to build around franchise defensemen.

So because Nashville couldn't figure out how to draft a forward it's hard to build around a franchise defenseman?

How many "franchise" defenseman are in the league right now? Say 10 maybe.

Doughty
Subban
Weber
Sutter
Chara
Keith
McDonough (arguable)
Pieterangelo


If I'm missing any tip top guys let me know. How many of those teams made the playoffs? All but one? It is not at all difficult to build a team with a franchise defenseman. Not in any way.

 

[TheBigKahuna]

Go ask Pens fans if they'd rethink their first overall in 2003!

Honestly, I'd take Getzlaf over Staal. Or Suter.

 

[What the Faulk]

Nashville has also won, what, two playoff series in their history?

I don't disagree with your premise in that any team needs complimentary players to build around, I'm just saying it comes easier to build around forwards than defensemen. Forwards have more of an impact on the game, anyway.

Plus, defensemen seem to bust more than forwards. For every Doughty there's a Barker. For every OEL, there's an Ellerby. Jack Johnson, Erik Johnson, Zach Bogosian, Karl Alzner, Luke Schenn, Victor Hedman, Erik Gudbransson, Adam Larsson are all top 5 picks in the last 10 years. They vary from good but not great to outright busts. Most are on their second or third team.

Drafting defensemen is like drafting running backs. The good ones are great, but you can still get decent guys in the later rounds.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Go ask Pens fans if they'd rethink their first overall in 2003!

Honestly, I'd take Getzlaf over Staal. Or Suter.

He did. It's in the 1st post. They took Weber.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Call me crazy, but I'd take Pavelski

Well the plus side to that would be they would have been terrible for a while so they might have wound Doughty.

Otherwise, you're crazy.

 

[nobuddy]

So because Nashville couldn't figure out how to draft a forward it's hard to build around a franchise defenseman?

How many "franchise" defenseman are in the league right now? Say 10 maybe.

Doughty - Kopitar, Gaborik, Carter, Richards, Quick
Subban - Vanek, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Price
Weber -
Suter - Parise, Koivu, Pominville
Chara - Bergeron, Krejci, Rask
Keith - Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa
McDonough (arguable) - St. Louis, Nash, Stepan, Lundqvist
Pieterangelo - Backes, Tarasenko, Oshie


If I'm missing any tip top guys let me know. How many of those teams made the playoffs? All but one? It is not at all difficult to build a team with a franchise defenseman. Not in any way.

Added explanations for why the ones that are in the playoffs are in the playoffs. You can't build around franchise defensemen and have nothing at forward like Nashville did for so long. When Nashville actually had a great forward group in 06-07, they did very very well. When their best forward was David Legwand, Steve Sullivan, or Colin Wilson things weren't so great.

Not disagreeing with you at all, just clarifying the points both of you were making.

 

[What the Faulk]

So because Nashville couldn't figure out how to draft a forward it's hard to build around a franchise defenseman?

How many "franchise" defenseman are in the league right now? Say 10 maybe.

Doughty
Subban
Weber
Sutter
Chara
Keith
McDonough (arguable)
Pieterangelo


If I'm missing any tip top guys let me know. How many of those teams made the playoffs? All but one? It is not at all difficult to build a team with a franchise defenseman. Not in any way.

Most of those guys aren't "built around". By building around, I mean drafting a guy high and then filling in the pieces. Doughty is really the only one that fits the criteria. The Blackhawks are built around Toews and Kane. The Canadiens around Price etc.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Most of those guys aren't "built around". By building around, I mean drafting a guy high and then filling in the pieces. Doughty is really the only one that fits the criteria. The Blackhawks are built around Toews and Kane. The Canadiens around Price etc.

I guess it's just semantics then. Almost all of the best defenseman in the league make the playoffs on a fairly regular basis. That's what I'm saying. That's not a coincidence.

 

[What the Faulk]

I don't disagree with that. I'm just saying, if I'm basically starting over, I'd look for a forward over a defenseman. For example, if I were Pittsburgh in 2003 with their 2003 roster, the benefit of hindsight, and faced with this choice, I'd probably take Staal or Getzlaf over Weber. Same if I were in Carolina's spot and Fleury still went first.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Suter. Knowing what we know about Eric's inconsistency issues now, I can't justify picking him in a redraft.