Winners and losers of the 1st round?

[Ducks_è_Halos]

I'll just do the Winners:

SJ--I really like both their picks and am surprised that Petrecki lasted until the 28th. Great job by DW to acquire these picks in the first place.

Habs--Both very solid picks and I was really hoping Burke would pick Pacioretty at 19.

Pens--Lots of teams will regret not taking Espo's talent when they had the chance, imo, and he'll look even better with their other amazing young forwards. His apparent 'attitude problems,' common young players, can be dealt with with maturity (it's not like he's Akim Aliu).

Rangers--Anyone that got Cherepanov that late is a winner.

 

[octopi]

But then Gretzky won't get the obligatory standing ovation each year

Were those same fans booing Steve Yzerman?



Oh, and did my ears decieve me, or did Nashville actually trade their first rounder for next year? Are they nuts? Isn't that the Tavares draft? And they look like they might have won it, seeing as they seem to be shedding players left and right....

 

[MN_Gopher]

Got to go local for loser here. Not that we got a bad player. But he has to now be that much better than a guy drafted 3 spots away and another player for it to look good. There are going to be solid finds early tommorrow.

 

[stazza18]

I think it is great that Cherpy fell to the Rangers and Espo fell to the Pens. I may be a flyers fan but I am also a hockey fan and I think that both players ended up in the best situations possible to help the league grow. Just stinks that we as Flyer fans have to look forward to these guys on these teams for a large chunk of the foreseeable future.

 

[Brandinho]

Sorry, Cherepanov and his agent made it clear prior to the draft (and his team, Omsk, knows it and is OK with it) that he's playing 1 more year in Russia and then coming over. He has 1 year left on his contract.

There is no issue with the transfer agreement here.

Esposito is not a bigger steal than Cherepanov. I had Cherry as a top 5 pick and before the draft I actually predicted Espo would fall out of the 1st -- and he nearly did.

Also, in my top 90, I had him at #19. And that was weeks ago. He was sliding down my list for a while and I'd probably have had him at 30-35 when all was said and done.

And Cherepanov is not a bigger steal than Esposito. Let's remove the biases for our respective teams and look at them as they are - two tremendously skilled players with a number of issues that caused them to drop. We should both be thrilled to grab players that had no business whatsoever being around at 17 and 20. Personally, I'd have prefereed Cherepanov because of positional need, not skill. They both could become amazing players.

 

[I Am Chariot]

Cherepanov at #17

Just wow!

**** the transfer agreement. Lol

I must be dreaming

 

[BeaverSports]

Absolutely San Jose was the winner here. They wanted Couture all along and they managed to grab him without a first pick of their own - and in hindsight, giving up very little and maybe even opening some cap space with the trading of Toskala. Then, to add Petrecki later in the round for some mid-round picks, they really came out well.

I don't know if there ever are losers on a draft day in particular, but certainly there were some surprising picks. I have a lot of respect for Dean Lombardi, but I can't believe he couldn't have traded down to make that pick. I can probably say that for a few other managers too.

 

[Ghost of jas]

The way this draft is, I don't think I can say anyone won yet. There were some weird, off-the-board picks, but a lot of guys picked in the mid and late 1st round were guys without a consistent ranking.

The only really crazy pick was the L.A. pick. Heh, that was way, way, WAY out of left field.

However, I think the surprises that could turn into winners include the Pens getting Espo and the Rangers getting Cherry. Those two could make a lot of other teams look stupid, but they still have a lot of that boom/bust potential and aren't necessarily a sure thing, much like the entirety of the first round this year.


EDIT: San Jose actually getting a couple of picks and unloading players they didn't need was brilliant though, so in theory they won, but it's still only draft picks, they aren't players yet.

Fortunately, for both Cherepanov and Esposito, they are both going to ideal situations. The Rangers have built up a stable of character players...the Callahans, Pyatts and more notably Staal and Sauer, that they were primed to take a chance on a talent like Cherepanov, especially when one of his idols, Jagr, is also around.

And, with Crosby, Malkin and Staal already there, Esposito has no pressure on him.

 

[ARS]

Winners: St. Louis, San Jose, NYR

Losers: Edmonton, LA, all the teams that didn't have a 1st rounder

 

[Lux Aurumque*]

Vancouver lost huge. Backlund would've been great on the Canucks...but no, the Flames just HAD to take him :

I think overall, though, the ultimate losers of the draft will be the Thrashers, who won't end up with ANY NHL players from it, and added another 4th line scrub in Thoreburn.

 

[shureshot66]

My honest assessment of Espo is that I feel like he could become a good, 2nd line center. A complimentary player. I don't think he'll ever be good enough to do things all for himself but I do think that if they converted him to wing that he COULD compliment a guy like Crosby or Malkin fairly well. Although I don't think he's a 1st line talent. More of a secondary guy.

But at this point, he's the kind of guy who you'd want to have with your Crosby or your Malkin. He will do well in Pittsburgh. Better than in towns who would have him as their top, premier prospect.

couldn't agree more, jon. he seemed to be pretty comfortable riding shotgun with radulov, to be sure. ideally he'll pull things together without the spotlight on him so much -- god knows there's plenty of people to share it with soon.

one would hope the attitudes of guys like crosby will rub off on him as well. wishful thinking perhaps, but the potential is there.

 

[Pfft]

What's his nuts on the TSN broadcast said that one scout he talked to said that Cherepanov was falling because of his work ethic and not because of the transfer agreement. And I'm inclined to believe this. If the courts upheld Malkin's departure from Russia, there's no reason why they wouldn't do the same for anyone else. And Cherepanov has said in interviews that he wanted to come to the NHL after one more season in Russia. I don't think the transfer agreement was the dominant issue for most teams.

Not to imply that every single team which passed on Cherepanov truly believed he was the BPA, but would you expect scouts and GMs to publically admit that the player they chose is inferior to another who was available? Of course they'll defend their decision, even if it means "stretching" the truth.

 

[Jeffler]

Winners: Sharks, Rangers, Penguins
Losers: Los Angeles, Habs, Leafs, Oilers

 

[hototogisu]

San Jose did great - rather stupefied that Petrecki fell all the way to 28.

Rags got a steal with Cherepanov at 17...transfer agreement or no transfer agreement, I'm shocked he fell so far.

I like Gagner for Edmonton but the other two picks were weird ones...both projected to be second rounders, I believe. You'd think with three first round picks they'd take a flyer on someone but they played it pretty safe.

Same for the Kings...having gone through the Carey Price thing in Montreal, I won't judge them for going off the board with an early pick, but I'm surprised they didn't trade down.

I still don't know what to think about Esposito (I never really have) but even if he never hits his full potential, he'll be playing with guys like Crosby, Staal and Malkin so he shouldn't be too hard-pressed to put up points there. It was a smart pick for Pittsburgh, essentially providing him with a safety net in younger, talented players for him to rely on that another team may not have been able to.

I'm happy with Montreal's picks...nothing too flashy but a couple of good, solid picks that I think will turn out well for us. Anybody who says we're stupid for not picking the hometown kid - get lost.

 

[Transported Upstater]

Were those same fans booing Steve Yzerman?



Oh, and did my ears decieve me, or did Nashville actually trade their first rounder for next year? Are they nuts? Isn't that the Tavares draft? And they look like they might have won it, seeing as they seem to be shedding players left and right....

Tavares was born September 20, 1990 if I remember correctly.

He's an '09.

 

[Brandinho]

Tavares was born September 20, 1990 if I remember correctly.

He's an '09.

Exactly, the Pens have two full years to come up with a good strategy for tanking so we can steal him too.

 

[Hasbro]

Were those same fans booing Steve Yzerman?

The were booing the Red Wings organization.

 

[tiredman]

Winners: Sharks, Rangers, Penguins
Losers: Los Angeles, Habs, Leafs, Oilers

Not saying you are wrong... but can you explain me why are the habs a losing team ? I heard it was 2 solid picks... aren't they ?

 

[spence___]

And Cherepanov is not a bigger steal than Esposito. Let's remove the biases for our respective teams and look at them as they are - two tremendously skilled players with a number of issues that caused them to drop. We should both be thrilled to grab players that had no business whatsoever being around at 17 and 20. Personally, I'd have prefereed Cherepanov because of positional need, not skill. They both could become amazing players.

I think there are much less question marks about Cherepanov's game translating to the NHL than there is with Esposito and I think Cherepanov's upside is even higher. The Penguins did pick at 20 instead of 17 though so it's still a simliar steal, but if I had the choice between the two it's Cherepanov hands down.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Not saying you are wrong... but can you explain me why are the habs a losing team ? I heard it was 2 solid picks... aren't they ?

I thought the Habs did well. I liked both McDonagh and Pacioretty, and neither was a reach where they were taken.

 

[hototogisu]

Not saying you are wrong... but can you explain me why are the habs a losing team ? I heard it was 2 solid picks... aren't they ?

Blah blah no Esposito blah blah

 

[Free Edler]

Tavares was born September 20, 1990 if I remember correctly.

He's an '09.

His agent is trying to get him into next year's draft, they were talking on the broadcast with him. Interesting.

 

[PanthersFanatic12]

Panthers could be looked at as a winner , They got a good Dmen in Ellerby, who has huge potential.

 

[wizworm]

very happy for Columbus to have nabbed Voracek at 7.. I started Jakkub watch after the Kings took Hickey at 4..knew we had a chance at him. Hopefully he can step in and replace David Vyborny when necessary.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Voracek is a fine replacement for Vyborny. I still can't believe he was still there when our turn came. Howson has to be very pleased with the way things turned out.

As for winners and losers, we won't know for 5 or so years. But most shocking moments from the draft for me were these (and they're in no particular order):

a) Guys who slid, REALLY slid - Cherepanov at #17 and Esposito at #20)
b) San Jose making trades - they started off with 1 pick in the first round and through trades ended up getting two great prospects in Couture and Petrecki (hardest hitter of the draft class)
c) LA taking Hickey at #4 - just plain shocking.
d) The fans booing Stevey Y - I know he used to play for our divisional rivals in Detroit and all, but booing him like that was a shame. We have great fans in Columbus (look how many showed up), but to boo a sure fire hall of famer and all aournd class act like like Steve Yzerman was embarassing as a Blue Jacket fan.

 

[shureshot66]

His agent is trying to get him into next year's draft, they were talking on the broadcast with him. Interesting.

i was surprised to hear that too... the agent said that the nhl was definitely willing to discuss it, as well. is there any precedent for this in the entry draft?