West
Registered User
I'm going to venture a guess and say that Staal was picked because the Penguins viewed him as the best player available.
But then again, I might be a little crazy.
Can't argue that they considered him the best player available. I'm just saying he was a safe pick. Upside wise Kessel matches up nicely with any player in the last draft including EJ.
Personnally I think that the Penguins scouting staff is middle of the road and wouldn't be surprized if they made a fairly large mistake taking Staal. I've seen him play several times last year and was not wildly impressed (definitely think he deserved to be a top 20 pick).
Am I a professional scout no, but I've been correct about this sort of thing before (also wrong about this sort of thing to ). Just my 2 cents.