Wow, 2005 was an absolute terrible draft year, especially the top 10:
#4. Pouliot (sort of)
#6. Brule
#7. Skille
#8. Setoguchi (also sort of)
#9. Lee
If I ever got to talk with a GM/head scout, the 2005 Draft might be an interesting topic. The league didn't draw the order until July 27th and the Draft began on July 30th.
Typically a team could narrow its focus on a handful of prospects ahead of time since you'd have an idea of where you'd be drafting. But I'd imagine the process would be different not knowing if you're picking #2 or #22. And then that was probably compounded by having it as a snake order.
The top 10 would have looked much better with Kopitar and Marc Staal; TSN had them #5 and #8 respectively. Columbus would have happily taken Kopitar had Brule been off the board. The Kings apparently had Kopitar #3 on their list as well. The rumor was that Carolina would have taken Staal if Jack Johnson hadn't been available.
I wish I could find the thread (circa 2007-2008) where an incredulous Ottawa fan was arguing with me and asserted that Lee was a superior pick to Kopitar. His main argument being that Ottawa had enough offense and needed defense.
2006-07 Senators: 288 goals (2nd in league)
2007-08 Senators: 261 goals (2nd in league)
2008-09 Senators: 217 goals (23rd in league)
Another interesting tidbit in the video is Columbus fielding offers. I think they mentioned Carolina as a team interested in moving down for Marc Staal. Their staff also fields a call from San Jose offering #12, #35, and a late pick for #6 which Columbus turns down.
My Sharks buddy still hates this draft year since he was prematurely celebrating when the Sharks moved up to #8. He was certain they were taking Kopitar but instead got Setoguchi.
So it's interesting that the Sharks maybe were targeting Setoguchi at #6. To move up to #8, they gave up #12, #49, and #207. At #35 they took Marc-Eduoard Vlasic. If Columbus had taken their offer, the Sharks might have cost themselves Vlasic.