(HFNHL) Columbus Draft 2010 and system review

[Ohio Jones]

I went into the 2010 draft with no first-round pick, despite having owned at least three at different times (including my own, twice) - most recently trading down to acquire veteran winger Jamie Langenbrunner. So that short-term move left me without any real chance of adding the top-end talent my farm system needs.

But it wasn't a complete wash. A draft day swap with Sean Gaffney's Rangers had me move down from the 46 position to add 56 and 63 to the previously acquired 50th. All other picks had been moved in my retooling, so today's three are my only picks this year.

2/50: LW Jason Zucker (US U-18 - USHL) -- 59th to MIN

I was hoping Johan Larsson would still be on the board for me when I traded down, but my disappointment when he got taken at 48 (I think?) was eased when I realized Zucker was still on the board.

This feisty checking winger doesn't offer much upside, but I think he could still slip into the first 40 selections in the upcoming NHL draft if a team falls in love with his intangibles.

He's not going to light it up, and he's not big, but he's got a history of winning wherever he goes. He's a coach's dream: hustle, compete level, grit, leadership, awareness, responsibility in three zones - he's a pure team player. If he fills out even a little bit he's going to be a championship-calibre shutdown winger.

2/56: RW Devante Smith-Pelley (Mississauga - OHL) -- 42nd to ANA

Sticking with the character theme, Smith-Pelley is another leave-it-all-on-the-ice winger. He joins Andre Petersson and Andrej Nestrasil as the only natural right wing prospects in our system.

Smith-Pelley scored at nearly a point-per-game pace in the OHL this season, but his NHL future will be as a hard-hitting third-liner similar to a young Kirk Maltby.

At 5-11 and over 200 pounds, he's incredibly strong and solidly built. Despite his bulk he is a swift and agile skater with a non-stop motor and surprisingly good hands. His powerful core and low centre of gravity help him win battles in traffic, and he's strong on the cycle. He should be able to produce in a third line role while killing penalties and keeping opponents looking over their shoulders.

3/63: D Patrik Nemeth (AIK Jr. - SWE) -- 41st to DAL

The least certain of my selections this year, Nemeth is a big-bodied blueline project who has a long way to go before he could be considered a legitimate prospect. I honestly don't know that much about him, but with two wingers already added, no centres of note still on my list, and the intriguing Mark Alt getting picked a couple of spots earlier, I took a gamble.

Nemeth appears to have some potential: his 6-4 frame should support another 20-30 pounds, and he shows good mobility for a big man. He will need a lot of polishing, but there are glimmers of potential at both ends of the ice. What little I've seen reminds me of Henrik Tallinder, but I'd welcome the comments of those who have seen him more (Ville? Martin?).

So that does it for the Jackets' draft - no home run picks in there, but hopefully a player or two who can be useful going forward. Here's how the farm system looks:

Traded away this season:
C Derek Stepan
D Brendan Smith
C Adam Henrique
C Maxime Sauve

Graduated:
G Semyon Varlamov
L/RW Nikolai Kulemin
LD Carl Gunnarsson
LW Max Pacioretty

Farm System:

LW:
Blake Geoffrion
Carl Klingberg
*Jason Zucker
Jerome Flaake
Trevor Smith (C)
Dane Byers
Rob Klinkhammer
Levko Koper
Tim Branholm

C:
Zach Boychuk (W)
Andrei Loktionov (W)
Patrice Cormier (RW)
Gabriel Dumont (LW)
Nate Davis
Michael Swift
Dave Labrecque

RW:
Andre Petersson
*Devante Smith-Pelley
Andrej Nestrasil
Jere Sallinen (C/W)
Mathieu Tousignant (C)

LD:
Ryan McDonagh
Dylan Olsen
Nick Holden
Jamie Hunt
Constantin Braun
*Patrik Nemeth
Alexei Emelin
Sebastien Piche
Nate Schmidt
Nico Manelius

RD:
Charles-Olivier Roussel
Eric Gryba
Justin Schultz
Corey Fienhage
Sean Lorenz

G:
Mike Lee
Leland Irving
Marco Cousineau
J-F Berube

Click to read more...

 

[HFNHLOilers]

short draft for you but some solid picks

 

[Ohio Jones]

NHL selections were all in the ballpark, so no surprises there (pleasant or otherwise) -- but I'm pleased with where the guys went.

Nemeth 41st overall to Dallas -- While I'm still not sold on Nemeth myself, it's nice to see an NHL team with a decent record of selecting and developing prospects taking him 22 spots earlier than I did. Dallas has some puck movers in their system, but there's a dearth of defensive blueliners, so Nemeth moves quickly to the top of that list. The Stars' first-round selection was Jack Campbell - they desperately needed a good young goalie, so hopefully Campbell lives up to his remarkable potential, and provides a strong presence in net behind Nemeth in the years to come. For now Nemeth will likely graduate with AIK to the Elitserien, unless he is lured over to the CHL.

Smith-Pelley 42nd overall to Anaheim -- Devo fits well into the Ducks' pedigree, and he offers a unique combination of skill and grit that helps him stand out in their system. The Ducks' first-round selections were a plummeting Cam Fowler and Emerson Etem, so they clearly went for skill as a priority. Smith brings some of that with soft hands, so although he won't be creating plays so much, perhaps he can finish off plays from the likes of those two prospects, or at least be creating space with his wrecking ball style. Devo is the closest to the NHL based on his physical maturity, style of play and level of competition, but the Ducks have a pretty well-stocked roster so they won't be anxious to rush him, and will hopefully give him the time to continue to develop his skills in Mississauga and Cincinnati.

Zucker 59th overall to Minnesota -- The Wild can't really be considered a winning organization, but that also means there's not a ton of competition in their draft pool, so he should get every opportunity to make a contribution. The Wild traded up to select him, so one assumes they have their sights on big things from him. The Wild's first-round selection was Granlund, so they'll need players with speed and grit to line up with him. Zucker may not have size, but he has speed and grit aplenty. He'll have time to continue to develop his game, as he heads to Denver next season.