2002 First round draft pick rankings

[Souffle]

Goalies are really hard to rank. Historically goalies are more likely than position players to have an outstanding short run and then disappear. The worth of a top goalie usually shows itself after several years of starting. There were three good ones in that draft, and it's still impossible to say which will be the best, as none have yet put together one full great season as a starter.

Anyway, it's hard to re-rank in the abstract. Some teams (or pretend GMs) just won't take goalies early, others will always go for the potential franchise defencemen, while others still will take a homerun swing and go for the most talented player (like Semin).

It's a good draft at the top though. A lot of good players in the top 10-12.

 

[gars59]

1. Rick nash
2. kari lehtonen
3. joni pitkanen
4. jay bouwmeester
5. alexander semin
6. cam ward
7.joffrey lupul
8. chris higgins
9. pierre-marc bouchard
10.ryan whitney
11.hannu toivonen

 

[Kafka]

Here is mine. I won't list everyone because I don't know everything about those guys.

2 Atlanta Kari Lehtonen
1 Columbus Rick Nash
4 Philadelphia Joni Pitkanen
3 Florida Jay Bouwmeester
8 Minnesota Pierre-Marc Bouchard
14 Mtl. Canadiens Chris Higgins
13 Washington Alexander Semin
5 Pittsburgh Ryan Whitney
7 Anaheim Joffrey Lupul
24 Toronto Alexander Steen
25 Carolina Cam Ward (I am still not sold to him)
11 Buffalo Keith Ballard
6 Nashville Scottie Upshall
12 Washington Steve Eminger
29 Boston Hannu Toivonen
22 NY Islanders Sean Bergenheim
17 Washington Boyd Gordon
21 Chicago Anton Babchuk
30 Atlanta Jim Slater
18 Los Angeles Denis Grebeshkov


I can't really rank the others altought I know Vagner is a well known bust.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

I was going to say that I'd pick a Stanley Cup winning goalie over any of these other guys. The only thing laughable is that there's only one person who agrees with me.

What has he done in the regular season to show he can keep that kinda play going? Nothing. Nash is a star. Pitkanen and Bouwmeester are two #1 Dmen already. Semin IMO is going to be an elite star. Lehtonen has higher upside to that of Ward and i know who i'd rather have for the next 10 years.

You can't base a decision on what for now looks like a period of time where he just got Hot. Give me a #1 Dman, or elite forwards like Semin/Nash or a Lehtonen over Ward anyday of the week.

 

[Redwingsfan]

good for you, who made you HF's defender of all things Habs related?

It's almost as though you lerk the boards searching for any post Hab related, just to say that, that person's opinion is biased.

I could say something very credible like, Chris Higgins is one of the league's top two way players and future Selke trophy winner and you'll call me a homer.

Look, it's widely known here at HF that alot of Habs fans (and this is due to the amount of posters we have registered here) are over zealous in their evaluation of their players, get over it. You can find posters of every team who are over zealous if you choose to focus on that, as it seems you're doing with Habs fans.

Instead of focusing on the over zealous posters, why don't you read the posts from the more reasonable one's, cause I swear to you that some of this boards very best posters on this site are Habs fans.

You're on a very courageous crusade, and I applaud you're effort in trying to expose all Habs fans as clueless, but seriously, get over it.

i think you have got me a little bit wrong. i just think some of you are homers a bit to much and would like you to consider the other players aswell.

and i agree a lot of the habs posters know what they are talking about. some of you posts some very good stuff and i mean that.

 

[Miller Time]

Ward over Lehtonen, Nash, Bouwmeester, Semin, Pitkanen? Hahah that makes me laugh.

HAHAHAHA... hilarious isn't it...
Ward- 1 stanley cup, 4 playoff series won, 0 playoff series lost, 1 conn smythe...

Lehtonen, Nash, Bouwmeester, Semin= 0 Playoff games
Pitkanen= 21 playoff games, 5 assists...

You can have all the potential you want, I'll take proven winners thank you very much!
Last Rookie goalie to lead his team to the cup finals, Patrick Roy... Craig Billington, Darryl Reaugh, Tom Barrasso, Grant Fuhr... all goalies picked earlier than him his year or in 82 and 81... None ever came close...

I'll take the cup, you take the prospect potential!

 

[Sorry]

3 Florida Jay Bouwmeester
1 Columbus Rick Nash
2 Atlanta Kari Lehtonen
4 Philadelphia Joni Pitkanen
5 Pittsburgh Ryan Whitney

Someone finally got it right.

 

[King'sPawn]

What has he done in the regular season to show he can keep that kinda play going? Nothing. Nash is a star. Pitkanen and Bouwmeester are two #1 Dmen already. Semin IMO is going to be an elite star. Lehtonen has higher upside to that of Ward and i know who i'd rather have for the next 10 years.

You can't base a decision on what for now looks like a period of time where he just got Hot. Give me a #1 Dman, or elite forwards like Semin/Nash or a Lehtonen over Ward anyday of the week.

Nash is a star. Bouwmeester and Pitkanen are two #1 Dmen. Semin is going to be an elite star.

Ward is a cup winning goaltender. I'd take ONE season of that over ten seasons of one player being a star on what may be a cup winning team.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

Nash is a star. Bouwmeester and Pitkanen are two #1 Dmen. Semin is going to be an elite star.

Ward is a cup winning goaltender. I'd take ONE season of that over ten seasons of one player being a star on what may be a cup winning team.

Again ... im talking longterm here. Ward IMO will not have as good a career as any of the guys i listed. He has yet to show he can be anything other than average play in the regular season and everyone is hyping Ward up on one little passage of time where he got hot. Sure, well done to him and he deserves to be ranked in the top 10, but I'd much rather have Nash, Lehtonen, Pitkanen, Bouwmeester, Semin and maybe Toivonen and Lupul down the line.

 

[Anksun]

i never say he cant pass them. he has a very good chanse if he keeps up he's good play. but he hasn't passed them yet. this is supposed be a list of a current ranking not the ranking in one year. if he continues to play good and play better then lupul and bouchard i will have no problems moving him up a few more spots. i hope you see my point here.

I think i wasnt clear enough.

My point was not about what will happen in a year, but what will be know in a year.
Right now imo, Higgins have already pass Bouchard and Lupul (both as an example, and it's not a strike against them, i'd take both without thinking much).

But people wont know until the end of this season. Higgins have been label as a marginal 2nd liner- good "selke" like 3rd liner since so much time, they are ranking him accordingly without truely watching him.

By the end of the year, people will be looking at the top scorers of the habs and will saw Higgins with 35 goals and will be ??? What? he got 35, really?

Well the answer is yes... and he earned all of those because of his own play.

 

[Form and Substance]

I think i wasnt clear enough.

My point was not about what will happen in a year, but what will be know in a year.
Right now imo, Higgins have already pass Bouchard and Lupul (both as an example, and it's not a strike against them, i'd take both without thinking much).

But people wont know until the end of this season. Higgins have been label as a marginal 2nd liner- good "selke" like 3rd liner since so much time, they are ranking him accordingly without truely watching him.

By the end of the year, people will be looking at the top scorers of the habs and will saw Higgins with 35 goals and will be ??? What? he got 35, really?

Well the answer is yes... and he earned all of those because of his own play.

True, I always thought Higgins would pretty much amount to a third liner, albeit a very good one, boy was I pleasantly surprised when I first saw him play. His consistency, effort and tenacious forechecking just overwhelms me with joy sometimes. He's the kind of player any team would love to have. That smart, dependable, leader type a la Propp. In my mind, he's more valuable to his team than Bouchard or lupul since he's counted upon in all three zones. Long term, I can definitely see Bouchard superceding him in terms of production, hell I had the baldie pegged for a 100 pt campaign at some point in his career (insane vision that guy seriously), but would I take him over Higgins is a different matter altogether.

 

[TwiMuse]

i wouldn't say that just yet. he is actually startting to look pretty good out there.
he has 13 points in 17 games in the SEL.

yeah, and what do you think of this ? (to download go a little bit down on the site and you'll chose "Download for free with FileFactory Basic
" and then at the next page you choose the link where it says to start your download..)

http://www.filefactory.com/file/268283/ Beauty penalty-shot

 

[Redwingsfan]

yeah, and what do you think of this ? (to download go a little bit down on the site and you'll chose "Download for free with FileFactory Basic
" and then at the next page you choose the link where it says to start your download..)

http://www.filefactory.com/file/268283/

i'm not going to download anything. its your first post!!!

 

[TwiMuse]

i'm not going to download anything. its your first post!!!

lol well, it's a beauty

 

[ChemiseBleuHonnete]

my top5 "steals" of the first round are (in no order)
-Ballard
-Higgins
-Steen
-Ward
-Toivonen

 

[Redwingsfan]

lol well, it's a beauty

what is it ??????? you didnt really give any information about it and it was your first post. you never know. it could have been some kind of crap.

 

[TwiMuse]

what is it ??????? you didnt really give any information about it and it was your first post. you never know. it could have been some kind of crap.

it's a video with Niinimäki when he scores a beautiful penalty-shot

 

[Professor John Frink]

Ward over Lehtonen, Nash, Bouwmeester, Semin, Pitkanen? Hahah that makes me laugh.

How can you not rank Ward first? Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe ring a bell.

All the other guys mentioned are great but the ultimate goal IS a cup just in case you forgot. I'll take results over hype all day long. Apparently you won't.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

How can you not rank Ward first? Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe ring a bell.

All the other guys mentioned are great but the ultimate goal IS a cup just in case you forgot. I'll take results over hype all day long. Apparently you won't.

Jesus, what don't people get? LONGTERM. Im sorry, but i don't see Ward ever being as good as the top 4 in this draft.

Yes, he got hot, good for him. 1 Piece of Silverware can sure make a guy overated as hell.