Hiishawk
Registered User
I'm going to sound like your Dad here. Be forewarned.
I've been watching drafts for almost 30 years- and have actively been involved in several.
Every year I hear draft newbies (especially now with the Internet) saying things like, "You're an idiot! No way does player X drop out of the top 2 rounds", or, "No way in hell will Player Y be drafted in the 1st round. Are you nuts?" and finally, "There is no way that team X will pass on player Y if he's still available".
Yet "odd" and unexpected draft positions happen every year with great frequency. This should (hopefully) cause some of you to temper your claims next year and say "It's unlikely that.." or "It's doubtful that.." instead of claiming absolute knowledge and resorting to calling others idiots etc.
Some picks do seem stunning but there is a common reasoning to it. For example in this draft Fla. took Olivier Legault at #104. Carolina then too Jakub Vojta at #105. Does Fla really think Olivier is a better player than Vojta? No. If Mike Keenan were putting an all-star junior team together for a match right now I'm sure Vojta would be much higher on his list than Legault. BUT the Panthers staff must have decided that whatever talent Vojta has, he is very unlikely to become an NHL player. The fact that he may well have a good career in Europe while Legault becomes a gas pump jockey makes no difference to the Panthers. On the other hand, the Fla staff must feel that Legault has a reasonable shot at developing his basic skills to become a legit NHL tough guy and thereby end up contributing somehow to the club. Again, it's not about "who has the most talent" it is "who might be more likely to eventually contribute in some form to our club".
For the record though, I feel that ignoring Vojta was a mistake because I do believe he can and will play at a reasonable NHL level. But history does show that late-round big tough guys sometime do end up making more of an impact than 2nd-3rd round career Euros.
By the way, I also find it interesting that purported winners and/or losers of this draft are judged so according to how many of their players that were highly-ranked by Redline, ISS or McKeen's were picked- as if these ranking services still remain the arbiters of "truth". In fact, they are just as variant as any single NHL team's draft list. Too many posters here seem to see them as some sort of Bible from which deviation is some kind of sin.
One last point- in 5 to 10 years it is interesting to see again who the best picks actually were. In my experience, it is an equal mixture: some of those guys who many rating services had high but NHL teams avoided DO end up doing well. But here seems to be an equal amount of success with NHL teams' off-the-wall picks. And then there are are always a few who come from absolutely nowhere. Anyway, ALL of these eventual top-30 ists are far, far different from what comes out in the January of any draft year whe we first start hearing draft neophytes calling everyone an "idiot, who doesn't have a clue".
I've been watching drafts for almost 30 years- and have actively been involved in several.
Every year I hear draft newbies (especially now with the Internet) saying things like, "You're an idiot! No way does player X drop out of the top 2 rounds", or, "No way in hell will Player Y be drafted in the 1st round. Are you nuts?" and finally, "There is no way that team X will pass on player Y if he's still available".
Yet "odd" and unexpected draft positions happen every year with great frequency. This should (hopefully) cause some of you to temper your claims next year and say "It's unlikely that.." or "It's doubtful that.." instead of claiming absolute knowledge and resorting to calling others idiots etc.
Some picks do seem stunning but there is a common reasoning to it. For example in this draft Fla. took Olivier Legault at #104. Carolina then too Jakub Vojta at #105. Does Fla really think Olivier is a better player than Vojta? No. If Mike Keenan were putting an all-star junior team together for a match right now I'm sure Vojta would be much higher on his list than Legault. BUT the Panthers staff must have decided that whatever talent Vojta has, he is very unlikely to become an NHL player. The fact that he may well have a good career in Europe while Legault becomes a gas pump jockey makes no difference to the Panthers. On the other hand, the Fla staff must feel that Legault has a reasonable shot at developing his basic skills to become a legit NHL tough guy and thereby end up contributing somehow to the club. Again, it's not about "who has the most talent" it is "who might be more likely to eventually contribute in some form to our club".
For the record though, I feel that ignoring Vojta was a mistake because I do believe he can and will play at a reasonable NHL level. But history does show that late-round big tough guys sometime do end up making more of an impact than 2nd-3rd round career Euros.
By the way, I also find it interesting that purported winners and/or losers of this draft are judged so according to how many of their players that were highly-ranked by Redline, ISS or McKeen's were picked- as if these ranking services still remain the arbiters of "truth". In fact, they are just as variant as any single NHL team's draft list. Too many posters here seem to see them as some sort of Bible from which deviation is some kind of sin.
One last point- in 5 to 10 years it is interesting to see again who the best picks actually were. In my experience, it is an equal mixture: some of those guys who many rating services had high but NHL teams avoided DO end up doing well. But here seems to be an equal amount of success with NHL teams' off-the-wall picks. And then there are are always a few who come from absolutely nowhere. Anyway, ALL of these eventual top-30 ists are far, far different from what comes out in the January of any draft year whe we first start hearing draft neophytes calling everyone an "idiot, who doesn't have a clue".
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! Should be sticked for the next 30 years! 
