If you were GM picking class of '03 now

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wedge

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Oct 4, 2004
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here's my top 30

1- Eric Staal
2- Nikolai Zherdev
3- Dion Phaneuf
4- Nathan Horton
5- Tomas Vanek (really like the guy)
6- Marc-André Fleury
7- Jeff Carter
8- Patrice Bergeron
9- Ryan Suter (not that he has disappointed, just being surpassed by others)
10- Dustin Brown
11- Braydon Coburn
12- Zach Parise
13- Ryan Getzlaf
14- Mike Richards
15- Andrei Kostitsyn
16- Milan Michalek (too many injuries. 2 lost years of development)
17- Corey Perry
18- Ryan Kesler
19- Mark Stuart
20- Eric Fehr
21- Brent Seabrook
22- Patrick O'Sullivan
23- Steve Bernier
24- Anthony Stewart
25- Shea Weber
26- Dan Fritsche
27- Marc-Antoine Pouliot
28- Jeff Tambellini
29- Brent Burns
30- Patrick Eaves
 

DKH

The Bergeron of HF
Feb 27, 2002
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neelynugs said:
i think bergie started to get respect after the show he put on at the WJC...i also think staal will turn out to be a much better scorer than bergeron, although i think PB will be the better two-way player.
If the NHL returns to pre 1995 hockey when hockey had offense and didn't need an enema- I'd say Staal could put up Bobby Smith type numbers. Maybe a little less but 25-33 goals and 50 to 60 assists. He's got some balls too. I watched him like a hawk and he battles and isn't shy at all about going in heavy traffic areas.

Bergeron I can a guy who anchors a second line but is really a number one player in coaches and fans hearts. He's got that Chris Druryish Colorado feel to him. When his career is over and hopefully it was a healthy one- you'll see many overtime and GW goals. I can see his next 10 year/78 game average at about 28 goals and 42 assists.

I hate (in a respectful way) the Habs but Bergeron would have been outrageous back in that late 70's four Cup run on a line with Risebrough and Tremblay. He is scarey how fearless he is- he just keeps coming at you and doesn't turn away. I hope he plays more of the first half way (passing game) and less of the seek-and-destroy game he started getting into at the end after his shoulder injury.

Again, as Bruins season tix holder what can you say about a guy who prior to the shoulder injury got 3 first stars in a 4 game stretch at home. I played alot (hog and hated to back check) but the guy I go with played high level and with many NHLers and we used to sit there and be shocked at Bergeron's game. We used to watch and wait for him to crash but he never did. Many times we looked at each other and said he's fricken playing better than Thornton tonight. Amazing. but I can understand the feeling- its hard to fathom and you have to see him regularly to believe it.
 

kasper11

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gars59 said:
oh this player play on first line , speak english , and play n-a hockey style

Difference is they earned first line ice time. Vanek started the season on the 4th line, but played his way up. Kastytsin couldn't beat out Duncan Milroy and Jason Ward for ice time. Not saying that Kastytsin is a bust, but he hasn't shown enough yet to be ahead of some of these other players. As far as playing a NA style, what do you think the NHL is?
 

Roger's Pancreas*

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Ryderama, I like your list overall except I feel that Richards should be ahead of Getzlaf. It's not entirely a homer vote, there is still logic to it. When Getzlaf played in the AHL he didn't make the impact that some expected after having a great season in the WHL. Richards on the other hand exploded during the OHL playoffs and came to the Phantoms to make an immediate impact. In his second professional game he scored a short handed goal, two games later he tied the Phantoms alltime playoff record for short handed goals, he then went on to score a point plus per game and only raise his stock by playing every situation possible.
 

PanthersRule96

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Kaizer said:
Well, my ranks based on their success from last 2 seasons and future expectations.

1. Zherdev
2. Staal
3. Bergeron
4. Suter
5. Phaneuf
6. Carter
7. Brown
8. Parise
9. Richards
10. Coburn
Oh wow, no horton? I know his injury problems could pose a threat to how good he could be but before he was hurt, he was a force in the NHL and has proven more than everyone aside from Staal and Zherdev. Horton showed also that he has the ability to physically control a game. His shoulder was supposedly going to FINALLY be allowed a FULL recovery which was stupid to not let it recover in the first place. If he can avoid injuries, Horton COULD be the best out of the draft class, which is a reach to say that, but he most definitely would be top 3 or 4 of his draftclass if he can perform as good as he did before he was hurt.
 

Kaizer

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PanthersRule said:
If he can avoid injuries, Horton COULD be the best out of the draft class
If he can I WOULD be the first person to edit my rankings.

Horton is one of my favorites but consecutive shoulder injuries for power forward at his age are unnormal.
 

MN_Gopher

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Are we matching teams up to players or just the top x? Vanek arguably is the best pure goal scorer. While others are much more complete. I do not see Buffalo passing him up. Where as Bergeron, Staal, Suter and Phaneuf seem to have the most well rounded games so far. Carter had a great run on a hot team, nice to see what he does in a full season before i jump on. MAF might have the most fututre impact, but i think it will take a few seasons to see his full potential.
But my top: 5
Thomas Vanek
Ryan Potulny
Danny Irmen
Gino Guyer
Mike Vannelli
 
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Bruins4Ever

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MN_Gopher said:
Are we matching teams up to players or just the top x? Vanek arguably is the best pure goal scorer. While others are much more complete. I do not see Buffalo passing him up. Where as Bergeron, Staal, Suter and Phaneuf seem to have the most well rounded games so far. Carter had a great run on a hot team, nice to see what he does in a full season before i jump on.
But my top: 5
Thomas Vanek
Ryan Potulny
Danny Irmen
Gino Guyer
Mike Vannelli


Wow. Just wow. :shakehead
 

sawtooth420

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Kaizer said:
Well, my ranks based on their success from last 2 seasons and future expectations.

1. Zherdev
2. Staal
3. Bergeron
4. Suter
5. Phaneuf
6. Carter
7. Brown
8. Parise
9. Richards
10. Coburn
Besides Phaneuf, MAF has more potential as an impact player, and is the most promising goalie than any goaltender recently drafted other than Kari Letonen (I think MAF will be better, especially with the new goalie restrictions being implemented). His first month in the NHL was amazing despite playing on the most pourous defense in the league, and yes he has had some growing pains, but it's not like Luongo, Dipietro, and others were overnight success stories. I mean MAF is only 20! Give him a few years and he could be a top 3 goalie in the league. Tell me if you would rather have a top tier goalie or an all star defender or forward. Personally, I dont think Staal and Horton will be all that magnificent. They will be good, but MAF has the potential to be one of the best. This alone makes him a top three pick without hesitation.
 

Kaizer

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sawtooth420 said:
Tell me if you would rather have a top tier goalie or an all star defender or forward.
When you asked me about top tier you mean MAF ? :biglaugh: Yes, I'd rather have top tier goalie, but MAF isn't top tier goalie and he has to study a lot even to become a starter in NHL. About what top tier goalie are you talking ? :D
Top-10 and even Top-3 are impact players. When they join team in 1-2 years after draft they're alredy good players and can be compared with other NHL'ers. MAF isn't, IMO. That's why I didn't put him into Top-10. May be he'll turn into something good but it's gonna be long road to NHL success as for every other goalie.
 
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wedge

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jmelm said:
Ryan Stone cracks the first round if this draft is re-done.
I always forget him

I would put him at 29, Burns at 30 and put Eaves out...

Eaves in the secound round.. wow, what an amazing draft!!!

Panasonic Youth said:
Ryderama, I like your list overall except I feel that Richards should be ahead of Getzlaf. It's not entirely a homer vote, there is still logic to it. When Getzlaf played in the AHL he didn't make the impact that some expected after having a great season in the WHL. Richards on the other hand exploded during the OHL playoffs and came to the Phantoms to make an immediate impact. In his second professional game he scored a short handed goal, two games later he tied the Phantoms alltime playoff record for short handed goals, he then went on to score a point plus per game and only raise his stock by playing every situation possible.

I agree with you, but I see Getzlaf as a future 1st liner while Richards will be a great 2nd liner. It's just about potential, but it's very close between both.
 

BobMarleyNYR

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May 2, 2004
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Knighttown said:
Of course, hindsight is 20:20, but that great group of 1985's is now getting old enough to look back and see how you would have done it differently. Grades are based on whether the player would have been picked a number of spots earlier or later if the draft were held today:

1. D. Phaneuf- 9 A+ (Cal)
2. J. Carter- 11 A+ (Phi)
3. M.A. Fleury- 1 B- (Pit)
4. E. Staal- 2 B- (Car)
5. N. Horton 3 B- (Fla)
6. N . Zherdev 4 B- (Col)
7. R. Suter 7 B (Nas)
8. R. Getzlaf 19 A+ (Ana)
9. T. Vanek 5 B- (Buf)
10. C. Perry 29 A+ (Ana)
11. M. Richards 24 A+ (Phi)
12. Z. Parise 17 A (NJ)
13. H. Jessiman 11 B- (NYR)
14. B. Coburn 8 C+ (Atl)
15. M. Michalek 6 C (SJ)
16. A. Kastitsyn 10 C+ (Mon)
17. M. Stuart 21 A (Bos)
18. D. Brown 13 C+ (LA)
19. E. Fehr 18 B (Was)
20. M.A. Pouliot 22 B+ (Edm)
21. R. Kesler 23 B+ (Van)
22. A. Stewart 25 B+ (Fla)
23. R. Nilsson 15 C+ (NYI)
24. B. Seabrook 14 F (Chi)
25. S. Belle 30 A (St.L)
26. B. Burns 20 C+ (Min)
27. S. Bernier 16 F (SJ)
28. P. Eaves 29 B (Ott)
NR B. Boyle 26 F (LA)
NR S. Tambellini 27 F (LA)

Great drafting by Philidelphia and Anaheim with 2 A+. Missed oportunities for SJ (F, C) and LA (2 F's and a C+). Inexcusable for teams like Toronto to not be in this draft.

Not a bad list, but I'd have Staal and Zherdev ahead of Phaneuf only because they're proven. It's a case of Doug Weight, Ilya Kovalchuk, Scott Stevens, IMO... but now knowing Eaves' ceiling, I wouldn't pick him till the 2nd. Bernier has an F?! And Jessiman's/Michalek's developments have been too rocky to accurately judge them. If you could do this with the 2nd round it'd be impressive.
 

Jason MacIsaac

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1.) Dion Phaneuf
2.) Eric Staal
3.) Nikolai Zherdev
4.) Ryan Suter
5.) Jeff Carter
6.) Marc Andre Fleury
7.) Thomas Vanek
8.) Nathan Horton
9.) Zach Parise
10.) Brent Burns
 

sawtooth420

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Jun 20, 2005
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I never asked you anything. If you want to give your opinion, well, that is fine. However, it has taken years for some of the best goaltenders to develop. I think MAF is ahead of the curve just on talent alone. Dipietro is finally coming into his own after about 4 years. MAF is way ahead of him when he was drafted. Kari is going to be the man, but he also has over a year's worth of development on MAF. Luongo has taken five years to become who he is. You think Horton, Staal, anyone else on your list etc. is going to be top tier? I highly doubt that Horton and Staal will even be all stars ever imho. Phaneuf and Carter have more potential than those two. When teams draft players, they draft for the future. Very few will ever have an immediate impact. In just his first month in the league, MAF showed that ability despite clearly being on the worst team. He single-handedly kept the Pens competitive in games they should have been blown out in. MAF was thought to be the best goalie prospect in the draft in the past ten years. Give him another year, maybe two, in the ahl and he will almost guaranteed be a perrenial all star for years to come soon there after. I'll bet he makes more of an impact before horton or staal. I think Phaneuf and Carter were the steals of the draft, Zherdev also should be top 5, but I would still take MAF top three because he has the potential to be great and a difference maker. The same can't be said for six players in your top ten i.e coburn, brown, brown, parise, richards etc..
 

Letang fan 58

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May 12, 2004
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A couple things that I notice about what people think about this draft,

I totally agree Phaneuf has moved up to a number 1 or 2 draft spot, I dont think that Stall has moved upwards of where he has been drafted.

How come no one has mentioned Eric Fehr moving up??? the guy since the draft has only had 2, 50 goal seasons....been named the WHL player of the year....won a scoring crown...and helped lead his team to the WHL finals.

Not to mention Ryan Stone....One of if not the best 2 way forwards in junior hockey.

Shea Webber most certainly would have moved up to the first round as well.
 

HuskyFlames

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BobMarleyNYR said:
Not a bad list, but I'd have Staal and Zherdev ahead of Phaneuf only because they're proven.

You got to be kidding about the proven thing..Stall has played ONE full season and had 31 points..and all of a sudden that is considered "proven" in NHl standards? Zherdev played 57 games and is proven as well? Until ANY of these players play 3-5 full seasons and START making real impacts on a top line level...I wouldn't consider ANY of them proven.
 

Hawker14

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Oct 27, 2004
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1) dion phaneuf
2) nikolai zherdev
3) jeff carter
4) tomas vanek
5) eric staal
6) nathan horton
7) patrice bergeron
8) marc-andre fleury
9) ryan suter
10) andrei kostitsyn
11) brent seabrook
12) mike richards
13) zach parise
14) ryan getzlaf
15) eric fehr
16) anthony stewart
17) braydon coburn
18) milan michalek
19) dustin brown
20) brent burns
21) corey perry
22) shea weber
23) patrick o'sullivan
24) shawn belle
25) ryan kesler
26) danny richmond
27) steve bernier
28) dan fritsche
29) ryan stone
30) patrick eaves
 

King'sPawn

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Knighttown said:
Great drafting by Philidelphia and Anaheim with 2 A+. Missed oportunities for SJ (F, C) and LA (2 F's and a C+). Inexcusable for teams like Toronto to not be in this draft.

Not for me to judge the other prospects, as I haven't seen too much of them... but you're seriously selling LA short. Boyle and Jessiman are both huge projects who aren't expected to make an impact any time soon... Boyle got team MVP for Boston College in the playoffs, including 27 points in 40 games as a Sophomore. Jessiman had 2 points in 12 games as a Junior; I know he was injured, but what has Jessiman done to warrant a B- while Boyle, who has done nothing but improve, get an F?

Meanwhile, why has Tambellini suddenly scored an "F"? He redeemed his "27 points in 39 game while injured" season with a "57 points in 42 games" showing.

I don't have a problem if you don't consider Boyle or Tambellini top 30 prospects... however, I DO have a problem with them being labeled as failures. Either you don't know about them or you just don't care about the facts.

And I won't even bother wondering why Brown gets a C+. Him and Gleason were the only two players who showed heart during the playoffs; he was also the second leading scorer on a "stacked" team, and this is him after recovering from two ankle injuries the season before.

Were the Kings the best drafters for 2003? Probably not... but they certainly weren't among the worst.
 

The Mars Volchenkov

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Mar 31, 2002
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I think Eaves would stick in the first round. He's put up better numbers every year in college. He was one of the top players on Team USA when they won gold at the World Juniors and they clearly missed him this last year. The knock on him his draft year was that he was always hurt, otherwise people had him going higher.
 

Jacob

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Feb 27, 2002
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pavel datsyuk said:
He's played more games than Carter... ;)


after his last surgery, they expect a full recovery.
IMO you can't have a full recovery from 3 major knee surgeries in succession. Not to mention two years of lost development.
 

Sabes

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My Top 40:

1) Nikolai Zherdev
2) Eric Staal
3) Dion Phaneuf
4) Marc-Andre Fleury
5) Nathan Horton
6) Ryan Suter
7) Patrice Bergeron
8) Thomas Vanek
9) Jeff Carter
10) Ryan Getzlaf
11) Milan Michalek
12) Zach Parise
13) Braydon Coburn
14) Dustin Brown
15) Andrei Kostitsyn
16) Mike Richards
17) Corey Perry
18) Eric Fehr
19) Patrick O'Sullivan
20) Brent Seabrook
21) Mark Stuart
22) Shea Weber
23) Anthony Stewart
24) Marc-Antoine Pouliot
25) Ryan Kesler
26) Steve Bernier
27) Dan Fritsche
28) Patrick Eaves
29) Jeff Tambellini
30) Shawn Belle
31) Loui Eriksson
32) Brent Burns
33) Hugh Jessiman
34) Ryan Stone
35) Jim Howard
36) Robert Nilsson
37) Kevin Klein
38) Stefan Ruzicka
39) Jeremy Colliton
40) Brian Boyle

Flame Away
 

Knighttown

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Jun 4, 2005
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King'sPawn said:
Not for me to judge the other prospects, as I haven't seen too much of them... but you're seriously selling LA short. Boyle and Jessiman are both huge projects who aren't expected to make an impact any time soon... Boyle got team MVP for Boston College in the playoffs, including 27 points in 40 games as a Sophomore. Jessiman had 2 points in 12 games as a Junior; I know he was injured, but what has Jessiman done to warrant a B- while Boyle, who has done nothing but improve, get an F?

Meanwhile, why has Tambellini suddenly scored an "F"? He redeemed his "27 points in 39 game while injured" season with a "57 points in 42 games" showing.

I don't have a problem if you don't consider Boyle or Tambellini top 30 prospects... however, I DO have a problem with them being labeled as failures. Either you don't know about them or you just don't care about the facts.

And I won't even bother wondering why Brown gets a C+. Him and Gleason were the only two players who showed heart during the playoffs; he was also the second leading scorer on a "stacked" team, and this is him after recovering from two ankle injuries the season before.

Were the Kings the best drafters for 2003? Probably not... but they certainly weren't among the worst.

Ademittedly, I was a little hard on the Kings, (probably b/c I'm an Oil fan), as they put themselves in position to draft a nucleus that could have made them a contender for a decade. Bottom line, I think they could have done better. Don't pay too much attention to the letters for people at the top or bottom of the first round. Someone like Boyle and Tambellini, who I had falling only slightly, to the top of round two, automatically got F's for falling to NR. Just a silly and arbitrary system. With the improvement of Bergeron, Weber and company, a few first rounders had to be knocked out and they were my picks. Others might be Eaves, Pouliot, Belle etc..

As for Brown, I don't have him falling that far, just to 18. I just happen to like guys like Perry, Getzlaf and Parise more.
 

Knighttown

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Jun 4, 2005
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Sabes said:
My Top 40:

1) Nikolai Zherdev
2) Eric Staal
3) Dion Phaneuf
4) Marc-Andre Fleury
5) Nathan Horton
6) Ryan Suter
7) Patrice Bergeron
8) Thomas Vanek
9) Jeff Carter
10) Ryan Getzlaf
11) Milan Michalek
12) Zach Parise
13) Braydon Coburn
14) Dustin Brown
15) Andrei Kostitsyn
16) Mike Richards
17) Corey Perry
18) Eric Fehr
19) Patrick O'Sullivan
20) Brent Seabrook
21) Mark Stuart
22) Shea Weber
23) Anthony Stewart
24) Marc-Antoine Pouliot
25) Ryan Kesler
26) Steve Bernier
27) Dan Fritsche
28) Patrick Eaves
29) Jeff Tambellini
30) Shawn Belle
31) Loui Eriksson
32) Brent Burns
33) Hugh Jessiman
34) Ryan Stone
35) Jim Howard
36) Robert Nilsson
37) Kevin Klein
38) Stefan Ruzicka
39) Jeremy Colliton
40) Brian Boyle

Flame Away

Interesting that not one person I've seen has "drafted" Pouliot higher than Parise. If you'll remember, Oil fans were crying for them to pick Parise at 17 but they traded down with NJ to pick Pouliot. Also picked up a 3rd rounder, JF Jacques, who is pretty solid. What do you think, good move/ bad move?
 
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