Redoing the 2006 NHL draft if you were GM.

[DanStewart]

How would you have liked to see your team pick in the 2006 NHL Entry draft and why. Below is my opinion on the Detroit Red Wings picks:


Detroit selected:
41st C Cory Emmerton – Good pick most skill left at this point in the draft. Speed is only concern but he is willing to work hard to improve.
47th C Shawn Matthias – Bad pick, got suckered into the “we need size” trap and picked a much less talented player because of it.
62nd LW Dick Axelsson – Bad pick, way too early to take on a Hakan Anderson project pick with who was left on the board.
92nd G Daniel Larsson – Bad pick, see above. Also, Larsson will just add depth to the already deepest part of the organization.
182nd LW Jan Mursak – Good pick. Jan has speed, skill and heart everything that the new NHL rewards.
191st RW Nick Oslund – Bad pick, for who was left they should not have made this pick but again the size issue ruled out.
212th D Logan Pyett – Good pick, if he develops correctly he could turn into a real two-way gem. Size is only concern but I think he will overcome.

Who I think they should have picked:
41st C Cory Emmerton
47th C Ben Maxwell (49th overall to Montreal)
62nd C Ryan White (66th overall to Montreal)
92nd D James Delory (98th overall to San Jose)
182nd LW Jan Mursak
191st D Matt McCue (went undrafted )
212th D Logan Pyett

Any input on my picks or redoing your teams picks is welcome.

Click to read more...

 

[sticknrink]

I'm very happy with the Canucks top two picks.

Grabner (#14) is a high-risk but high-reward elite winger. We need a few more high risk picks like these since our forward prospects are bare other than Jannik Hansen (and he may not be a prospect after the next few weeks either).

Rahimi (#82) looks like another steal from Sweden. Has everything you want in a defenseman, size, speed, mobility, agressiveness. Just needs to work on his positioning which comes with age and experiene.

 

[Freaky Habs Fan]

I'm happy with every Habs pick...Can't go wrong with:

Fischer: One of the best defenceman of the draft IMO...a whole package

Maxwell: Two way centre who could rack up the points in a near future

Carle: The question mark at this point, but with a little bit of work, he could be a good player

White: Not flashy, but will get the job done...a player that you win with

Valentenko: The Habs management think that he's a steal, and for a 5th pick, it's ok to risk it

Cepek: Was injured for most of last season...great offensive potential so good gamble


So I'm alright with every single pick, but I will told you my other choice for some of our picks:

Fischer was our best pick, nothing to change...

49: Williams

53: Joensuu

White was a great pick

Maybe Juutilain to replace Valentenko and Popov to replace Cepek...

But with our depth up front, we needed more defenceman...

 

[studley49]

47th C Shawn Matthias – Bad pick, got suckered into the “we need size†trap and picked a much less talented player because of it.

I wouldn't necessarily rule Matthias out. From seeing him play here and there over the past couple seasons, I think he has the potential for a pretty solid two-way player and shows better upside than the stat-sheets show.

In all fairness though, I do agree it was too early for him to go, and I would've liked to see the Wings take Alexander Vasyunov (58th - NJ) instead.

 

[Abyss]

Bruins..

2006
5th overall- Phil Kessel - amazing pick so far it seems
37th overall- Yuri Alexandrov - love this pick also
50th overall- Milan Lucic - not a fan of this pick, though many others seem to like it
71st overall- Brad Marchand - seems like a solid pick
128th overall- Andrew Bodnarchuk - don't know much about him
158th overall- Levi Nelson - don't know much about him

I wanted them to take Vasyunov, preferably with the 2nd they used on Lucic. Wouldn't have minded picking up Shirokov with one of the later picks.

 

[Roger's Pancreas*]

Philadelphia Flyers

22. Claude Giroux
39. Andreas Nodl
42. Michael Ratchuk
55. Brian Strait
79. Jonathan Matsumoto
101. Reto Berra
109. Jakub Kovar
145. Jon Rheault
177. Mathieu Perreault
205. ****

 

[Fat Elvis]

Didn't the 2006 draft just happen a few months ago? Have any of those players drafted play a/part of season yet? Premature to make any statements imo about the players drafted this year. Training camps are just starting, you may like who you drafted.

 

[Hasbro]

For the Avs the only pick I have my misgivings about is taking Michael Carman ahead of Rhett Rakshani. They've both looked great since then though.

 

[Rookie Chargers]

Didn't the 2006 draft just happen a few months ago? Have any of those players drafted play a/part of season yet? Premature to make any statements imo about the players drafted this year. Training camps are just starting, you may like who you drafted.

Breath in and exhale, breath in and exhale.

It is pretty clear he was us to say if we would have picked someone else that was still available when our teams picked.

There is always one in every thread.

 

[leafaholix*]

Maple Leafs:

13 - Jiri Tlusty - Great pick, no change
44 - Nikolai Kulemin - Great pick, no change
99 - Rhett Rakhshani - Instead of G James Reimer
111 - Korbinian Holzer - Looked great in rookies camp, no change
161 - Sergei Shirokov - Instead of F Viktor Stahlberg
166 - Alexander Bumagin - Instead of Tyler Ruegsegger
180 - Leo Komarov - Could be a good depth player, no change

 

[Talent Analyst]

Habs pick :

Giroux
Simon Danis-Pepin
Carle
Valentenko
Shirokov
Andrei Popov

 

[clay]

The Canucks:

How it happened:

1) 14) Michael Grabner- Spokane

3) 82) Daniel Rahimi- Bjorkloven Jr.

6) 163) Sergei Shirokov- CSKA Moskow

6) 167) Juraj Simek- Kloten

7) 197) Evan Fuller- Prince George

What I would have liked:

1) 14) Michael Grabner- Hated this pick at first, but now absolutely love his upside. Seems great for the new NHL.

3) 82) Ben Shutron- Love the 2-way potential in this Canadian kid. Kind of reminds me of Cody Franson.

6) 163) Sergei Shirokov- Loved the pick in the draft. He looked awsome at the World Juniors.

6) 167) Juraj Simek- was easily one of the top three forwards at Canucks prospect camp.

7) 197) David Ruzicka- can't believe this kid went undrafted. Was rated one of the top hitters in the draft, and although a defensive project, he would definately be better than the wasted pick of Evan Fuller.

 

[CertifiedPublicGuin]

*Penguins*
How it went down:
#2 Jordan Staal
#32 Carl Sneep
#65 Brian Strait
#116 Derrick Lapoint
#125 Chad Johnson
#185 Timo Seppanen

What I would have liked to see:
#2 Nicklas Backstrom (#4) - Just feel like he's gonna be lights out and IMO would have been an easy convert to the wing.
#32 Nigel Williams (#51) - From video, I see much more from a defense-perspective of what the Penguins need in Williams than in Sneep (though young yet).
#65 Vladimir Zharkov (#77) - I think Strait was an excellent pick in the third round; this is just my personal scenario, especially if we took Williams with the 2nd round pick. Some see Vlad as an attitude problem, while I see it as a competative edge; lots of skill.
#116 Jan-mikael Juutilainen (#156) - Would have liked to see the Pens take a chance on him, as many saw him go much earlier than this free-fall.
#125 Alex Biega (#146) - Something pops out to me when it comes to this small, but talented blue-liner.
#185 Cristoph Gawlik - UNDRAFTED?!?! In my honest opinion, if any team picked him past the 5th round, I would see it as the steal of the draft. Great talent... too much talent to go undrafted.

 

[DarthSather99]

*Penguins*
How it went down:
#2 Jordan Staal
#32 Carl Sneep
#65 Brian Strait
#116 Derrick Lapoint
#125 Chad Johnson
#185 Timo Seppanen

What I would have liked to see:
#2 Nicklas Backstrom (#4) - Just feel like he's gonna be lights out and IMO would have been an easy convert to the wing.
#32 Nigel Williams (#51) - From video, I see much more from a defense-perspective of what the Penguins need in Williams than in Sneep (though young yet).
#65 Vladimir Zharkov (#77) - I think Strait was an excellent pick in the third round; this is just my personal scenario, especially if we took Williams with the 2nd round pick. Some see Vlad as an attitude problem, while I see it as a competative edge; lots of skill.
#116 Jan-mikael Juutilainen (#156) - Would have liked to see the Pens take a chance on him, as many saw him go much earlier than this free-fall.
#125 Alex Biega (#146) - Something pops out to me when it comes to this small, but talented blue-liner.
#185 Cristoph Gawlik - UNDRAFTED?!?! In my honest opinion, if any team picked him past the 5th round, I would see it as the steal of the draft. Great talent... too much talent to go undrafted.

I was thinking the Pens had one of the best drafts exactly the way it went down.

 

[BlackOmen]

Toronto selected:
13th C Jiri Tlusty – The best player available at 13.
44th W Nikolai Kulemin - One of the most NHL ready wingers outside of the first round.
99th G James Reimer - With Pogge so close to being NHL ready (2-3 years) why draft another goalie?
111th D Korbinian Holzer - A future depth defenceman on the big club.
161st LW Viktor Stahlberg - Good scorer and is playing college to allow more time for his physical and defence game to improve.
166th C Tyler Ruegsegger - Hasn't played against top talent... yet.
180th C Leo Komarov - Nothing against role players but Ruzika could be a 5th defender.

Who I think they should have picked:
13th C Jiri Tlusty
44th W Nikolai Kulemin
99th R David Kveton (104th to NY Rangers)
111th D Korbinian Holzer
161st LW Viktor Stahlberg
166th R Andrei Popov (205th to Philadelphia)
180th D David Ruzicka (went undrafted)

 

[rt]

How it happened:
8. C - Peter Mueller - WHL
29. D/F - Chris Summers - USA
88. D - Johnas Ahnelov - Sweden

If I were in charge, didn't have the benefit of hindsight or assistance from other scouts, and made selections based only on my limited knowledge, I probably would not have traded up, and would have selected the following players in the following positions:
8. C - Bryan Little - OHL
41. F - Blake Geoffrin - USA
47. D - Eric Gryba - USHL

If I go with actual positions (with the trade), my selections would have been as follows:
8. C - Bryan Little - OHL
29. W - Ondrej Fiala - WHL
88. W - Oskar Osala - OHL

If I could go back and REDO the draft, with the benefit of hindsight and all of the infromation I've gathered since, I would definately do the trade and select Summers, who I love and think was a GREAT pick, and it would look like this:
8. C - Bryan Little - OHL
29. D/F - Chris Summers - USA
88. G - Joseph Palmer - USA