Is the 2007 draftclass really that bad

[SniperTom]

Hi,
first I must clerify that I haven't been able to watch any of the drafteligble players for 2007 myself, that´s why I turn to you guys. Is the class of 2007 so weak in terms of elite prospects, cause thats the feeling I get when reading posts here and articles at scouting services etc. I mean statistically Gagner and Kane are dominating the OHL and both seems to make it to wjc their draft year.(Last year Toews was the only one for Canada and US had Mueller, E J and Kessel) Esposito shows that he can put up good numbers without Radulov. Couture has started to produce big time after his injury. Ellerby, Voracek, Alzner and Petrecki also seems to have a good year. Is the OHL for example a much weaker league this year than last year? I would be glad to hear some arguments explaining why this year is weaker, if that's the case..

Thanx

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[Nich]

i have actually heard that this years draft is deeper than most....not in top end talent like the last couple of years. but deeper none the les. i could be wrong.

 

[Louis Houde]

the 2007 draft is very deep, many good players can be drafted in the second round insted of 'projects'.

The 2007 draft is also very weak on top talent, there is no Malkin,Crosby or Kovalchuck this year..

So very bad teams like Flyers,Coyotes wont have a superstar next season and teams like Red Wings,Canadiens or San Jose will obtain a good player in the late first round.

 

[Kafka]

I asked a similar question last year. The concensus was that the 2006 draft wasn't a good one. Good top 5, but drops rapidly after that. A guy like White picked by the Habs in the third round was expected to go at the bottom of the first round even if its upside is the one of a third/fourth liner energy guy. The 2007 draft is apparently like the 2003 and 2005 drafts in term of deaph, but doesn't has any superstar (Esposito was expected two years ago to become one), but he didn't developped has expected.

 

[Vikke]

Figures, once the Flyers suck, there's no one to draft.

 

[PhoPhan]

Same goes for Phoenix.

 

[nags]

Yhey say the same thing every year. This year's draft will be as good as any other year. The difference may be in where the strengths are. I believe we will have a strong group of D-men this year, whereas last year, the strength was at forward.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

Just because there are no guys like Malkin, Ovechkin and Crosby in it doesn't mean it lacks have top end talkent. Those guys are ELITE, very few draft years has guys like that.

There are still alot of potential superstars in this draft, just not generation talents.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

If there was a "generation talent" in every draft, they wouldn't be "generationl talent" players to begin with.

Besides, this talk happens every year - we go from "this is a deep class" to "OMG, this is a weak class" and back and forth; eventually someone will ask if this is the worst draft class in the last 10, 15, 20 years (or ever), and someone else will probably ask if this is the best draft class in the last 10, 15, or 20 years (or ever).

 

[Abyss]

If there was a "generation talent" in every draft, they wouldn't be "generationl talent" players to begin with.

Besides, this talk happens every year - we go from "this is a deep class" to "OMG, this is a weak class" and back and forth; eventually someone will ask if this is the worst draft class in the last 10, 15, 20 years (or ever), and someone else will probably ask if this is the best draft class in the last 10, 15, or 20 years (or ever).

a week after the draft people will be talking about how amazing the top 5 players picked are.

 

[firstroundbust]

after reading the thread with the december rankings by McKeens, it seems that the top ten this year is looking weaker than 06, and that now alot of the potential first rounders have some question marks.

 

[Kafka]

Same goes for Phoenix.

Do you really want a list of players who were available when Phoenix drafted Blake Wheeler ???

 

[itshomerdoh]

Do you really want a list of players who were available when Phoenix drafted Blake Wheeler ???

Wow, that's some bad drafting:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr000790.html

 

[turnbuckle*]

The depth is not looking that great.

After the top 20 or so, there's a group of 50 or so prospects that right now are looking like second or third round talent at best. I'm not sure that makes it a deep draft, just a draft with lots of second and third round talent as opposed to top-end talent.

The only position where it could be argued that the depth is better than last year is on defence. After Johnson there was little consensuslast season, this year it's pretty much agreed that Alzner Ellerby, Blum, Katic, Shattenkirk and Petrecki will be first round picks, perhaps even top 20 selections.

As well - any of the top six from last year would all arguably be the top pick this season.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Do you really want a list of players who were available when Phoenix drafted Blake Wheeler ???

I realize many people thought Wheeler was a serious stretch at his draft position, but he is a project who is getting better and better every year. I'd wait until he joins the Yotes before slagging on him.

 

[PhoPhan]

I've been happy with his development so far. There isn't really anyone drafted after him who is lighting the world on fire, and Blake has shown a lot of promise. He was a project when drafted and, in the 2 and a half more years he'll spend in Minnesota followed by one or two in San Antonio, he'll be a contributing top 6 player.

 

[Darth Milbury]

I've been happy with his development so far. There isn't really anyone drafted after him who is lighting the world on fire, and Blake has shown a lot of promise. He was a project when drafted and, in the 2 and a half more years he'll spend in Minnesota followed by one or two in San Antonio, he'll be a contributing top 6 player.

Meszaros, Wolski, Smid, Tukonen, Radulov, could all be great. That said, talking about a kid being a bad draft while he still in the NCAA (and producing at a nice clip for a great team) is a bit of a stretch.

I suspect that, in the end, PHX will laugh last on this one.

 

[boredmale]

Meszaros, Wolski, Smid, Tukonen, Radulov, could all be great. That said, talking about a kid being a bad draft while he still in the NCAA (and producing at a nice clip for a great team) is a bit of a stretch.

I suspect that, in the end, PHX will laugh last on this one.

I always have a sneaking suspicion the Islanders were going to draft Wheeler. Milbury promised a "big suprise" for there pick before the draft, then once our pick came we picked a guy who was roughly rated to go where we picked him which mos likely means the player that was supposed to be a suprise was picked ahead of us.

As for this years draft class, from everything i read, it seems like it's deeper then normal, which should make the trade deadline more interesting because las year was not considered a deap drat hence alot of teams unloading 1st and 2nd rounders. Last year it was consideed that the top end(first 12 or so guys) was great but it dropped pretty quickly after that.

 

[PhoPhan]

Meszaros, Wolski, Smid, Tukonen, Radulov, could all be great. That said, talking about a kid being a bad draft while he still in the NCAA (and producing at a nice clip for a great team) is a bit of a stretch.

I suspect that, in the end, PHX will laugh last on this one.

I hate to derail this thread any further, but I would say Meszaros and Smid would be redundant on this team. Wolski, Tukonen, and Radulov have all shown flashes, but as I said before, they haven't really lit the world on fire. Wheeler will, at least, be mentioned in the same breath as these guys. Of course, no one will mention any of the other teams in this draft who took less controversial picks who may not work out as well.

Okay, back to the original topic.

 

[usiel]

the 2007 draft is very deep, many good players can be drafted in the second round insted of 'projects'.

The 2007 draft is also very weak on top talent, there is no Malkin,Crosby or Kovalchuck this year..

So very bad teams like Flyers,Coyotes wont have a superstar next season and teams like Red Wings,Canadiens or San Jose will obtain a good player in the late first round.

I would agree with this. Its still early in the season evaluating 2007 draftees but does appear that this draft will have nice depth but no ferraris at the top.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Wow, that's some bad drafting:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr000790.html

I'll give you that one on pre-2004 but I really like the list of players accumulated over the last three drafts.

 

[Oilers Chick]

My two cents:

I also think it's important to look where the players eligible are coming from, rather than just as a whole. Each year, it seems like a cycle where many or most of the top players come from one particular. NCAA Hockey for example, enjoyed a banner draft year in 2003. Last year, it was alot of kids from the NTDP and USHL along with the Russians that seemed to do very well and/or better thann expected at the draft. Even in the CHL it can vary. One draft year may be a banner for the WHL and the next for the QMJHL and so on.

Also, some draft years have a proportionately large number of top quality goalies or defensemen or power forwards, etc.

Aside from the NCAA players and the US and Canadian Junior "A" and "B" developmental players (i.e. USNTDP and BCHL), I honestly don't know how deep or not so deep the draft is this year compared to previous years. But from what many are saying (and not just here), 2007 looks to be a very good draft year.

 

[Rather Gingerly 1*]

Hi,
first I must clerify that I haven't been able to watch any of the drafteligble players for 2007 myself, that´s why I turn to you guys. Is the class of 2007 so weak in terms of elite prospects, cause thats the feeling I get when reading posts here and articles at scouting services etc. I mean statistically Gagner and Kane are dominating the OHL and both seems to make it to wjc their draft year.(Last year Toews was the only one for Canada and US had Mueller, E J and Kessel) Esposito shows that he can put up good numbers without Radulov. Couture has started to produce big time after his injury. Ellerby, Voracek, Alzner and Petrecki also seems to have a good year. Is the OHL for example a much weaker league this year than last year? I would be glad to hear some arguments explaining why this year is weaker, if that's the case..

Thanx

The 2007 draft is very similar to the 1999 draft. In that the front end talent is not there. But good players will eventually come from later in the draft(Havlat for example). However, overall the '07 is much weaker than previous drafts.

 

[PhoPhan]

No way is 2007 as bad as 1999.

 

[Sore Loser]

No way is 2007 as bad as 1999.

I second that.

I think this year's draft is going to produce alot of top 6 defensemen in the NHL, but once you fall out of the top 20 or so forwards, it really drops off from their. And judging only by the talent I've seen in goal from the draft eligible WHLers this season, the goaltending may be the worst I've seen so far.