Winners and losers of the 1st round?

[Kaizer]

I can a few observers who have said he could be as talented as anyone in this draft, but, in your judgment, he's not even close to being a top 5 talent

So who was a Top 5 talent if Cherepanov wasn't ?

 

[helicecopter]

um, neither where top 5 talent(nor close) coming into the draft. maybe a year ago, but not before draft day.

 

[helicecopter]

any link out there with comprehensive draft by teams picks' lists?

 

[Ghost of jas]

So who was a Top 5 talent if Cherepanov wasn't ?

Exactly...I've scoured the rankings, (as opposed to mock drafts), and all I'm seeing is top five talent.

 

[sickboy35]

seems to be the same sentiment in pittsburgh at this early stage. we're all aware that esposito has some potentially troubling shortcomings as a player, but to nab him at #20 overall -- it feels great to be able to take him. especially because there wasnt a whole lot of excitement for the draft (thankfully) for the first time in awhile.

to be honest there was just the slightest twinge of familiarity with the excitement of the crosby lottery, especially as it came down to pittsburgh and anaheim with the way the draft order worked out.

tell you what, your team scares the ***** out of me. the talent your team has is freakin incredible! good luck next season and lets see a ranger-penguin confrence final!

 

[LombardiTool]

part of the track record is his legendary 12th overal pick in 1995: Teemu Riihijarvi.

This is also the same year he got Toskala and Kiprusoff in the fourth in fifth round. Most experts know every player you draft isnt going to be a star. They say if you can get 2 or 3 beome NHL players then you had a good draft. Thats a pretty darn good draft in my opinion.

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

Now that its all over, seeing it live all I can say is wow...

Attending a draft is unbelievable. I will make next years part of my vacation plans.

NY getting Cherry at 17 come on - I would have traded the rest of the CBJ picks to go up and get him after about 10 on.

Esposito to Pitt at 20.. this is just unbelievable. Does the entire league constantly have to bow to Mario?(huge sarcasm.. congrats)

The Sharks Getting Petrecki and Couture for Tosc & Bell - that is unbelievable

But the pick of the draft was Maxim Mayorov at 94 - this guy is going to be something special.. he should have gone from 10 - 20 at the latest and may be top 10 talent.

 

[Angelo Esposito]

CH picks two big guys in first round, maybe Bob see the final and see the big boys of Ducks and what they accomplished

 

[shuriken]

I didn't hear that. it was a surprising pick but Lombardi has a track record for knowing how to pick talent. it's hard to doubt the guy.

And seeing how Hickey is in person on that youtube video I definitely see why Lombardi wanted this guy... I'd say I trust Lombardi and his talent assessment but even more so his character assessment. Good job by the Kings!

 

[Dying Alive]

btw, is that what your supposed top talent is supposed to do, ride coattails?

Exactly who could the Pens have drafted this year at #20 who would have had enough talent not to ride the coattails of the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin?

I'm glad that the Pens picked Esposito. I'd have been furious if they hadn't. Sometimes you just have to take chances, and knocks on him aside, this kid has too much natural skill to pass on. The Pens is the perfect team for him to play for - full of young guys who are going to take the majority of the media focus off of him. There are a lot of guys who thrive on being the center of attention, from everything I've read, Esposito would benefit from playing in Crosby's shadow.

And if he ends up a bust...well, that's a shame, but it's not exactly the end of the world. We're not in rebuilding mode and we took some pretty solid picks in the later rounds.

 

[X0ssbar]

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.

They/we weren't booing Yzerman -- we were booing the Wings organization.

..you know the team whose fans come into Columbus, boo our own player in Fedorov and then throw their octopus on our own ice and of course there is that whole Ohio/Michigan rivarly.

Winners:
San Jose, NYR, Pittsburg

Losers:
LA

 

[rick1042]

it is hard to pick winners with very few of these kids making any kind of impact within the next 2 years, and the fact that the majority of the players that will make it to the NHL are picked in rounds 2 and beyond. I think the second round is going to be pretty solid with Sweatt, Cross, Hoeffel, Brennan, Smith, Mayorov, Moller, Cohen, Katic, Maclean, Aliu, Larson, Tyrell, etc.. all still to go. Some gems will be picked in round 2.
But as of right now I will say..

Winners
Sharks- I mean thats just amazing. I miss Doug Wilson from his Blackhawk playing days, but man is this guy something else. Walks away with Couture and Petrecki for peanuts, thats how you run a franchise folks. Everytime he walked to the podium he had that confident smerk on his face. He knew he just commited a robbery.

Blues- When you have 3 picks, I think you have a lot less pressure to try and find that 1 player; here they did a great job by going all over the board getting 3 solid players..eller, cole, and perron. Cole and Eller will be solid ones. they could have traded away a pick or 2, but why, they loaded up in 1 draft what it takes some teams to accomplish in 3.

Hawks- yeah yeah, I have my homerism, but man we could have screwed this up. With all the "trade" talk, and the rumor that we were going to take Turris, I thought we would blow this. But low and behold Tallon does right, and picks the best player in the draft. You have to be a winner when you leave with Pat Kane after the draft, I mean look at L.A..Hickey at 4???? Hawks could have chosen Sutter @ 1 for the love of God! Like I said, draft T.J Brennan and Billy Sweatt in round 2, and Jerry Maguire aint got nothing on me...(you complete me!!!!)

Canadiens- Gainey definitely surprised me here. Two very solid picks with McDonagh and Pacioretty. He has drafted pretty well throughout the years, this year is no different.

Losers
Edmonton- what the hell was Kevin Lowe thinking? Whats up with his Western Canada kids comments? I am all for drafting your own country, but atleast draft the best ones from that country or province. Gagner should be a good one, but I am baffled by the other 2 picks. Alex Plante is a major project, but he could have had him in the second round.

L.A- ummmmmmm, what kind of drugs were you on Dean to make that pick??? I am all for going off the board (I even put Pacioretty at 5 in my mock), but Hickey @ 4 is insane. I dont even see the upside with him. Why not Alzner, Ellerby, or McDonagh?? I know he landed Jack Johnson for a bag of pucks and some tape, but build on that momentum, not burry it.

N.J, Atlanta, and N.Y.I- no picks in the first round, and all 3 didnt get too far in the playoffs..hope those rent a players were worth it boys.

Limbo
N.Y.R.- Cherepanov may well be the steal of the draft, or he may well be another headache that asprin couldnt help. We wont know how this turns out for about 2 years, but if any team can pull it off, its the Rangers

Penguins- I dont think Esposito is a steal at all. He dropped like a brick for a reason...Hes just not that great. He will have plenty of talent in Pitt when he arrives, but all that talent will continue to hide his shortcomings. They compare him to Daigle for a reason, and thats not a comparision that I would want.

I agree with your analysis on the draft. If I could add one factor about the Penguins that worries me a little. Veuilleux and Esposito are also two centermen whose style of play does not seem suited for them to play anywhere else. Now considering that the Pens already have Crosby, Malkin and Staal, 3 players who are not eligible for free agency for quite a few years, I fear that their picks will not be put in a position so succeed. I know that we can't predict where the Pens will be in a few years but still something to keep in mind in my opinion.

 

[Dying Alive]

I agree with your analysis on the draft. If I could add one factor about the Penguins that worries me a little. Veuilleux and Esposito are also two centermen whose style of play does not seem suited for them to play anywhere else. Now considering that the Pens already have Crosby, Malkin and Staal, 3 players who are not eligible for free agency for quite a few years, I fear that their picks will not be put in a position so succeed. I know that we can't predict where the Pens will be in a few years but still something to keep in mind in my opinion.

From what I understand, Esposito played a month and a half or so at wing for the Remparts at the end of last season. I can't say that for sure as I am only repeating what others have said, though. Those who are "in the know" about the draftees seem to think that he could make the transition to wing fairly easily, although that remains to be seen. I think he's got an outside chance of making the team next year, but more likely he'll go back to the Q for a year to get more experience and learn to play wing (hopefully). I'd be shocked to see Veuilleux have a shot at making the team before the 09-10 season, although anything is possible.

Staal played on Malkin's wing for a good part of last year and did well. It's pretty much a given that one of those two are going to play wing all of next season (either Staal on Malkin's wing or Malkin on Crosby's wing, depending on how things shake out through trades and free agency).

I think that most of these guys are skilled enough to play the wing if necessary. Staal has done it, Malkin has done it, even Crosby has done it (although he'll almost certainly be set in stone as the top line center). We do have a lot of very talented centers, though, no doubt about that. Not exactly a bad problem to have.

 

[Fat Elvis]

It's interesting to see all the people picking LA as a draft loser. My guess it's solely the Hickey pick? Most people on this board thought Alzner at 4 was a little too high as well. Hickey at #4 is a stretch, by all accounts. But no one is saying he is a bad player, just not good enough at #4. Maybe they could have moved down to #7 and added a second. But then, all of you would have complained Hickey was picked at #7 even though Boston would have been harped on for picking him at #8. He was a player that teams were interested in. Choosing your guy early is better than not getting him.
LA wasn't a loser because their overall draft was solid just incredibly unexpected. Both Hickey and Moller will be solid NHL players, and that = a decent draft imo.

 

[NYR469]

jas -

The lack of a transfer agreement with Russia and players like Malkin having to flee in the middle of the night in some cloak and daggers game make Cherepanov falling to 17 not especially surprising. Tell me anyone who thought Esposito would fall to anywhere close to 20.

see though that is why cherepanov is a bigger steal imo. cherepanov fell because people were afraid they couldn't get him out of russia. he has already said he'll be over after next year, so then the rangers got a top 5 pick at #17.

there was no such concerns about esposito. he did not fall because of factors out of his control. he fell because teams didn't think he was good enough and think he's a lazy peice of crap.

espo very well might make everyone look like fools down the road, but there is a huge difference between dropping over a transfer agreement and dropping because teams don't think you are worth a 1st round pick and don't want you in their lockerroom.

 

[helicecopter]

This is also the same year he got Toskala and Kiprusoff in the fourth in fifth round. Most experts know every player you draft isnt going to be a star. They say if you can get 2 or 3 beome NHL players then you had a good draft. Thats a pretty darn good draft in my opinion.

I was not judging the Sharks' draft from that year as a whole. I was just pointing out the last time i remember Lombardi went completely off the board to make his first round pick as he clearly saw something special in that kid..

It's interesting to see all the people picking LA as a draft loser. My guess it's solely the Hickey pick? Most people on this board thought Alzner at 4 was a little too high as well. Hickey at #4 is a stretch, by all accounts. But no one is saying he is a bad player, just not good enough at #4. Maybe they could have moved down to #7 and added a second. But then, all of you would have complained Hickey was picked at #7 even though Boston would have been harped on for picking him at #8. He was a player that teams were interested in. Choosing your guy early is better than not getting him.
LA wasn't a loser because their overall draft was solid just incredibly unexpected. Both Hickey and Moller will be solid NHL players, and that = a decent draft imo.

I'm not judging Kings' draft as whole either, nor i am saying anything against Hickey.
I'm just saying Lombardi managed poorly the situation, cause no matter how good Hickey turns out to be, Dean could have added something.

Choosing your guy early is better than not getting him.

Not necessarily.
your guy could still turn out to be another Riihijarvi..
and moreover, it's not like not picking your guy you're not picking anything else... besides, you could have added another strong prospect judging from his 'bona fide offer' expression (go back to my post #200)..

so, aside from the obvious fact Lombardi could have had Hickey plus something instead of Hickey alone, to be the right choice Hickey should turn out to be better than that other good prospect + the guy the Kings would have picked instead of Hickey (of course, we will never know who those two were)

 

[Mr Sakich]

before you guys pick the oilers as losers, check out Lowe's track record in drafting Dmen. Greene was a 2nd rounder, Petry was USHL Player of the Year, Chorney is going to be a stud, He tried to draft Smid and finally traded for him. Smid will be a first pairing guy in 2 years.

If Lowe thinks that highly of Plante, I will take his word for it.

BTW, Gagne is almost a year younger than Kane, Plante is almost a year younger than Alzner.

A talking head expert on XM said Nash could easily be the steal of the draft. When you have 3 first round picks, you can swing for the fences. The Oilers did not need another 2 safe picks so the traded up and took a big rip.

All 3 of the guys were on the oil's top 13 draft order.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Last I checked, none of these guys have played professionally. So I'm not sure where the judgment of losers and winners can come from other than straight from the ass.

 

[Levitate]

Dunno, I can't see how anyone can argue that the Rangers didn't come out of the 1st round as winners. Maybe years from now if Cherepanov busts, you can say that, but right now?

They were picking in the 2nd half of the round, at 17. At that point, all you're going to find is players with question marks, whether they be about "character" or about skill. To have one of the most talented players in the draft fall to you there is huge, and by picking him up, the Rangers addressed the biggest need their system has. And there's no doubt in my mind that the transfer agreement did play some role in his dropping. Not saying that there aren't some concerns in other places, but him being Russian definitely helped the slide.

We'll see how it pans out, but right now I think that the Rangers are winners because they got an extremely talented forward with definite 1st line potential, and they got him at 17 without giving up assets in a trade. That combined with the fact that he was exactly what they needed makes them winners as of right now. They could have taken some safe pick who's upside was that of a 2nd liner, but that would have been more of the same and not addressed their needs.

So, once again, recap. Extremely talented player who addresses a big organizational need without giving up assets to get him = win.

I have no doubts the Rangers won't have any trouble bringing him over.

Edit: The other thing I like about the Rangers picking Cherepanov is that from all accounts, they scouted him more heavily than most other teams. If anyone knows about his work ethic, it'll be the Rangers, and they were ecstatic to draft him.

 

[poeman]

I think the Rangers did pretty well...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9asj_EgeQhc

 

[Gags1288]

Doesn't anyone find it strange that no team moved up for Esposito or Cherepanov? If teams really had these guys that high on their draft boards, don't you think a team like Edmonton (#21) or Montreal (#22) would have made a move up to get one of these guys after passing on them the first time (or Edmonton's case first 2 times) if they really thought they were that great?

Personally, I'm not at all surprised at Esposito's drop and don't consider Pittsburgh a first round winger because Angelo fell into their laps. In fact, I'm quite comfortable knowing that's who they ended up with and would have been more displeased as a Flyers fan if they had drafted Backlund or Eller (I know he didn't last that long).

As for the Rangers, I think Cherepanov was a top 12 talent who did fall some more because of the transfer agreement. I don't think any big market team drafting between 13 and 17 would have passed on him and I think had Toronto kept their pick, he would have gone #13 to the Leafs. The Rangers did well with Cherepanov, but I'd still take the top 3+Voracek, Gagner, Alzner, Ellerby, and maybe one or two others over him as prospects.

I did like the way that San Jose manuevered and got the guys they wanted and although I'm not in love with the Plante pick, I think Edmonton did pretty well with Nash and Gagner at 21 and 6 respectively.

 

[kingpest19]

part of the track record is his legendary 12th overal pick in 1995: Teemu Riihijarvi.
i have doubts he knew that before the draft considering his previous chat:
LOMBARDI-> "I drew a line under a certain number that I can’t go below or I’ll lose him..
That means you can only deal with the teams who were above where I wanted to go, which was a little above ten, but it wasn’t there.
..I was concerned that he was not going to fall too far, and my instincts were correct, as a team just came up to me that was picking in the 10-13 spot, and they said he was their guy.”
http://www.kingshockey.com/articles.cfm?id=212
so what he said here is after his pick he was informed by another team between #10-#13 that they were targeting him.
and btw, all of this is coming off his mouth..we have no confirmation from anyone else..
(anyway, he could have still traded down to #7. he still had washington, edmonton and columbus.. hard to think none was ready to give up anything to move up to #4)

actually, from the same previous link:
The Kings did receive a trade offer to move down involving a near-NHL-ready prospect, but it was not enough for Lombardi.
LOMBARDI-> “I had one bona fide proposal,” he said. “It wasn’t a veteran, it was a good prospect who was probably closer to playing [in the NHL] than an 18-year-old, so that was something we considered. He’s a good player, but we thought the upside for Hickey was greater.
With Johnson and Hickey now, these are both kids with top four potential"

Yeah, so greater.. top four potential, wow…
YEAH..who cares about the potential first liners out there, right?
what's wrong is that he acts like if, losing Hickey (by trading down), he could have not picked up anything else good.. to go along with the bona fide proposal comprising the good prospect..
I guess Cherepanov, Backlund, Eller, Couture, Blum etc.. don’t have the potential of an eventual top 4 defenseman, lol.

So Lombardi is the only GM to make a bad pick in the first round? Actually correct that , he wasnt the GM, he was part of the front office so alot of people besides him take the blame for that pick. These guys are drafting 18 yr old kids.

As far as him not moving down he tried and it didnt work out. He obviously didnt want to risk losing Hickey to a team farther down the line. He had info that Boston was going to take him 8th. Lombardi obviously felt that Hickey was a better fit for the Kings than another prospect. As a GM thats his job.

Onviously he wanted a dman with top 4 potential or he would have picked one oft hose forwards.

 

[tony d]

Winners:

New York Rangers- They got one of the most NHL-ready guys from this draft fall to them at #17.

Pittsburgh Penguins- You think they're good now, wait until Esposito suits up for them.

Losers:

Los Angeles- I think it was common knowledge that L.A. was going to draft a defenseman but tell me why, with better defenseman such as Keaton Ellerby and Karl Alzner on the board, did they pick Thomas Hickey?

Toronto- No 1st round pick.

 

[bruinsfan46]

Winners:
San Jose Sharks- Went from nothing to getting two pretty solid guys (although I herd bad things about Petrecki on the Score)
NY Rangers- Potential steal Cherapanov
Penguins- Potential steal Esposito

Losers:
Leafs- Traded away a bunch of picks for a backup and a disgruntled third line winger.
Edmonton- Gagner pick was ok, altough I do question his ability to play five-on-five at the next level and would have prefered Voracek or Couture. And the other two are apparently second round talents.
Los Angeles- just a Pejorative Slured pick for fourth overall.

 

[dogbazinho]

I'd like to know what kind of car Cherapanov's translator is driving these days.

It seems so very coincidental that the team with the deepest pockets ended up with him at 17. Especially when they scouted him so very much. I wonder how his team interviews went with the teams that passed on him..