Top 10 Redo of the 2001 Draft

I was going over some of the previous drafts, and started thinking about what it would look like if the top ten teams picking in the draft got to re-pick who yselected. I went back to 2001 because right now we can get a pretty good read on who is gonna pan out, and who is a bust.

Here's my top ten:

1.Kovalchuk
2.Spezza
3.Hemsky
4.Ruutu
5.Hamhuis
6.Zidlicky
7.Svatos
8.Jokinen
9.Emery
10.Armstrong

Honorable mention goes to Gerber, the only reason he is off the list is because of his age, and this is the first year that he became a true number 1, if he did this a couple years ago while he was a little younger he would be on this list.

 

With the 10th selection, I will select Martin Gerber, Thank You.

 

I take Ruutu ahead of Hemsky.

1. Kovalchuk
2. Spezza
3. Ruutu
4. Hemsky
5. Svatos
6. Hamhuis
7. Zidlicky
8. Tyutin
9. Gerber
10. Jokinen
11. Armstrong
12. Weiss
13. Leclaire
14. Komisarek
15. Huet

 

If Huet plays good in the playoffs, and the next season he could make a push for top ten to.

 

You don't have Gerber in there because of his age, yet you have Zidlicky in there who is a UFA this summer. Better to just stick to redoing the list with guys under 25 then.

 

Umberger anyone?

 

1. Kovalchuk
2. Spezza
3. Hemsky
4. Svatos
5. Ruutu
6. Hamhuis
7. Derek Roy
8. LeClaire
9. Gerber
10. Jokinen
11. Huet
12. Weiss
13. Umberger
14. Zidlicky
15. Koivu

 

Armstrong before Umberger.

 

that draft class had a big year. A lot of those players established themselfs this year. good quality 1-15 no matter how you stack'em.

 

Over Ehrhoff?

Wow.

 

I know he plays with Crosby, but Armstrong has outscored Umberger in 26 less games, and somehow ended up leading the team with a +15.

He won't always be on the top line, but I think he projects to be as good a third-liner as Umberger does.

 

Umberger could be a first liner - Armstrong (as you said) is a 3rd liner.

 

I agree that Umberger probably has a higher offensive ceiling than Armstrong, but I think restricting his potential to the third line isn't fair to him.

He should really be a top two liner. Probably a second liner on a good team. I think he can pot 25 goals in a season, and he adds a good defensive and banger aspect to a line.

Right now he is Crosby's RW for the forseeable future. Looking down the road, it's possible he remains in that role. We'll have Crosby/Malkin as the first and second line centers, and it's possible that Armstrong stays on his wing. They are roomates on the road, seem to be friends, and they do have chemistry. It's not like Crosby is feeding Armstrong passes he isn't ready for or Armstrong isn't able to hold his own in the offensive end. He is skilled enough to hang out there.

He's got top 6 potential. Umberger does have a high ceiling as well. I'd rank them about even right now, maybe giving the edge to Armstrong because right now he contributes in other ways besides scoring. Personal preference for me to want him around in the future, because of his good chemistry with Crosby and his intangibles.

Someone just posted an interesting stat on the Pens board that his PPG is third for rookies.

 

Well, I haven't seen enough of Umberger to really grasp his potential. The statistics, for what they're worth, suggest that choosing Armstrong over Umberger, at this point, isn't the laughable proposition that you suggest it is.

 

What about last year's top ten, basically I'm asking if you'd feel comfortable drafting Oshie in the top ten, and if not where you'd put him right now? Thanks

 

Cammalleri anyone?

 

Agreed, I'd put him top 10 over Armstrong.

I'd also put Gleason somewhere in the top 10, top 15...

 

Any love for Chuck Kobasew? He did manage to score 20 goals on the Flames, that is pretty impressive.

 

Not bad lists so far.

I'll do mine with guys 25 or younger.

1) Kovalchuk
2) Spezza
3) Ruutu
4) Hamhuis
5) Hemsky
6) Svatos
7) Cammalleri
8) Weiss
9) Emery
10) Roy

Honerable Mentions:
Umberger, McClement, Armstrong, Ehrhoff, Gleason, Kobasew,Goc

I think alot of these lower profile guys who just missed my top 10 will be great NHL hockey players if they havent proved it already.

 

Call it personal bias, but i think in a year or two more people will start throwing Goc's name around in the lower half of that year's top 10...

 

Exactly how I'd pick them today:

1. Kovalchuk
2. Spezza
3. Hamhuis
4. Ruutu
5. Svatos
6. Hemsky
7. Tyutin
8. Gleason
9. Jokinen
10. Umberger
11. Roy
12. Cammalleri
13. Goc
14. Kobasew
15. Koivu

 

At this point, there's no way you can rank Umberger over Armstrong after both player's accomplishments.

 

Umberger is basically a second liner on a playoff team, that's a much bigger accomplishment than anything Armstrong has done. Armstrong wouldn't get 19 minutes a game on any team but the Penguins, that along playing with Crosby are the reasons for his point totals. It's nice he's putting up the points, but he's not always going to have the opportunity to play 19 minutes a night. Umberger has played in 27 more games, but over the whole season has only been on the ice for 90 minutes more than Armstrong. Umberger and Armstrong honestly haven't been in the same roles for most of the season until lately when Umberger and Carter took off offensively.

Besides, this isn't a 'ranking' of how good the players are now or what they've accomplished so far, this is a list of where you'd select players from a fairly recent draft, so obviously potential is a huge factor when discussing such young players. To me, it's fairly clear that Umberger and many other 2001 draftees have higher end potential than Armstrong does.

 

Yes Armstrong has produced more, and he's a defensive first player.
You look at stats, but also the "prod" stat that shows that even pro-rated with their icetime, Armstrong simply outscores Umberger.

So out of their potential, Umberger is supposed to play better offense than Armstrong, while Colby is supposed to be better defensively than Umberger.
Well, Armstrong is playing better in both aspects so far.
He's a great PKer, he hustles and plays smart defense AND he outscores Umberger.

 

R.J Umberger should be top 10. 20 goal scorer with 3rd line minutes. 3rd line minutes = 12-14 minutes of ice time on most nights.