2004 Entry Draft - Reloaded

[skroob**]

As we enter 2011, we can begin looking back on early 2000's drafts with close to 20/20 vision.

What would your 2004 Draft look like in retrospect?


As a reminder, here is the 2004 1st round as it happened:

1. Alexander Ovechkin
2. Evgeni Malkin
3. Cam Barker
4. Andrew Ladd
5. Blake Wheeler
6. Al Montoya
7. Rostislav Olesz
8. Alexandre Picard
9. Ladislav Smid
10. Boris Valabik
11. Lauri Tukonen
12. A.J. Thelen
13. Drew Stafford
14. Devan Dubnyk
15. Alexander Radulov
16. Petteri Nokelainen
17. Marek Schwarz
18. Kyle Chipchura
19. Lauri Korpikoski
20. Travis Zajac
21. Wojtek Wolski
22. Lukas Kaspar
23. Andrej Meszaros
24. Kris Chucko
25. Rob Schremp
26. Cory Schneider
27. Jeff Schultz
28. Mark Fistric
29. Mike Green
30. Andy Rogers

And here is how i see it going "if we only knew" (with real draft spot next to the "new" spot.

1. 1 Alexander Ovechkin
2. 2 Evgeni Malkin
3. 20 Travis Zajac
4. 97 Johan Franzen
5. 4 Andrew Ladd
6. 5 Blake Wheeler
7. 21 Wojtek Wolski
8. 258 Pekka Rinne
9. 29 Mike Green
10. 262 Mark Streit
11. 13 Drew Stafford
12. 91 Alexander Edler
13. 7 Rostislav Olesz
14. 134 Kris Versteeg
15. 60 Brandon Dubinsky
16. 53 David Booth
17. 61 Alex Goligoski
18. 63 David Krejci
19. 3 Cam Barker
20. 56 Nicklas Grossman
21. 127 Ryan Callahan
22. 26 Cory Schneider
23. 23Andrej Meszaros
24. 150 Mikhail Grabovski
25. 176 Patrick Kaleta
26. 47 Blake Comeau
27. 32 Dave Bolland
28. 27 Jeff Schultz
29. 214 Troy Brouwer
30. 94 Thomas Greiss
31. 9 Ladislav Smid
32. 99 Tyler Kennedy
33. 19 Lauri Korpikoski
34. 28 Mark Fistric
35. 87 Peter Regin
36. 102 Mike Lundin
37. 14 Devan Dubnyk
38. 50 Enver Lisin
39. 224 Matt Hunwick
40. 70 Brandon Prust

Anyone else?

Click to read more...

 

[Hello Johnny]

I think you have Krejci, Booth, Green, and Edler too low. Wheeler, Olesz, Stafford, and Wolski are way too high as well.

 

[AmericanDream]

though I would have to look at the entire 04' draft, the work you put in is excellent to say the least!! Good job.

I think I would drop Wheeler some more if we are redrafting as of today. He has the size and skill, but the consistency just isnt there. I would move up Dubinsky by at least 4-5 spots imo, his two way game is much better then some of those ahead of him.

Not sure I would have Kaleta at #25 either...he is a fiesty guy with limited offensive ability...but plays a solid role.

Unless I missed him, does Robbie Schremp not belong in the top 30? I think he has turned his career around big time, and if he stays healthy he is a top 3 scorer for the Isles...not that that is saying much!!

I would have Schremp in Kaleta's spot personally.

nice job though, fun read.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

The 3rd best player from this draft plays in the KHL.

 

[Franck]

I think you have Krejci, Booth, Green, and Edler too low. Wheeler, Olesz, Stafford, and Wolski are way too high as well.

Agreed.
I would also say that over-agers like Franzen and Streit are too far up as well.

 

[Lazarrr]

Wow what a bad first round compared to the amount of NHLers produced in the later rounds

 

[Brock Anton]

The 3rd best player from this draft plays in the KHL.

Have to agree. Radulov has been lights out in the KHL.

 

[Levitate]

Zajac #3 overall?

Lisin picked earlier than he originally was?

Just a couple kind of weird ones that jumped out at me. I'd honestly probably put Mike Green at 3 overall

 

[Polaris]

Anyone else?

Roman Polak should be in there somewhere. Drafted 180th overall by the St. Louis Blues.

 

[Stealth JD]

Roman Polak should be in there somewhere. Drafted 180th overall by the St. Louis Blues.

yep...probably around 13 or so...

 

[Ryan English]

green is #3, schultz and edler should be higher

 

[KittysGotClaws]

As has been suggested, how the deuce does Olesz beat out Booth?

 

[skroob**]

Zajac #3 overall?

Lisin picked earlier than he originally was?

Just a couple kind of weird ones that jumped out at me. I'd honestly probably put Mike Green at 3 overall

Zajac still has room to grow, IMO.

Players like Lisin move up almost solely on the fact that there are guys picked ahead of him that played 0 NHL games. He may not have been great, but playing over 100 games is better than most of his other companions drafted around him.

Have to agree. Radulov has been lights out in the KHL.

Agreed, but to an NHL team, that means little.

Wow what a bad first round compared to the amount of NHLers produced in the later rounds

agreed. Doing this made me see that more clearly.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Now this is just ridiculous Mike Green hate.

He would quite clearly be the #3 pick. The guy is a two-time Norris finalist. No one else is close.

 

[skroob**]

Roman Polak should be in there somewhere. Drafted 180th overall by the St. Louis Blues.

Yep, missed him.

Agreed.
I would also say that over-agers like Franzen and Streit are too far up as well.

Franzen is a playoff monster that teams dream about, and Streit is good enough to do things all on his own (as seen by last years islanders team).

Dont care that they are older, as long as they are better.

green is #3, schultz and edler should be higher

A D who can't play D is not a #3 overall. He moves up, but not that farl. Edler up to12 is pretty good. Schultz can maybe go higher, but he needs more consistency.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Lisin over actual NHLers?

 

[skroob**]

Now this is just ridiculous Mike Green hate.

He would quite clearly be the #3 pick. The guy is a two-time Norris finalist. No one else is close.

You go further with a guy like Ladd then a guy like Green.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

You go further with a guy like Ladd then a guy like Green.

Fun fact: The player with the most points in this draft behind Ovechkin and Malkin? Mike Green

Again, it's ridiculous hate. He certainly can, and does, play defense.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Fun fact: The player with the most points in this draft behind Ovechkin and Malkin? Mike Green

Again, it's ridiculous hate. He certainly can, and does, play defense.

Pretty much. People hate him 'cause he seems like a pretentious ******, but he's a damn good player. And yes, he can, and will play defense. He's doing it this year, and people are NOW complaining he isn't scoring enough. What the hell do you want?

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Pretty much. People hate him 'cause he seems like a pretentious ******, but he's a damn good player. And yes, he can, and will play defense. He's doing it this year, and people are NOW complaining he isn't scoring enough. What the hell do you want?

The thing is, despite the designer clothes and face-palm inducing tattoos, he's not pretentious in the least. One of the most gracious and approachable pro athletes I've ever come into contact with.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

The thing is, despite the designer clothes and face-palm inducing tattoos, he's not pretentious in the least. One of the most gracious and approachable pro athletes I've ever come into contact with.

Good to hear that. He seems like a nice guy from the interviews I've seen.

 

[Street Hawk]

You go further with a guy like Ladd then a guy like Green.

That's true if you have a Kane and Toews on your roster.

But, if Ladd is on your #1 line, not sure your team is going to the finals.

He's been excellent for the Canes and Hawks in the 3rd line role.

When people redo drafts, they are basically looking at it from the point of view of drafting the player that will have the biggest impact on a team that has almost nothing in their system.

I mean, take a team like the Flames right now. If they traded away Iggy, Kipper, Regehr, etc. and drafted high in the draft and the same 2004 players were available, would they be taking Ladd in the top 5?

He's a guy you need to win a cup, but is he the type you build a franchise around - No....

 

[skroob**]

I mean, take a team like the Flames right now. If they traded away Iggy, Kipper, Regehr, etc. and drafted high in the draft and the same 2004 players were available, would they be taking Ladd in the top 5?

He's a guy you need to win a cup, but is he the type you build a franchise around - No....

Green isn't a player you build a team around either. You knock off several key players from CGY in your example. Meanwhile, there are several players ahead of Green on his own team that are better/more valuable to the team, and would be more painful to lose.. Ovy, Backstrom, Semin, etc hell, even Carlson.

And its not even about "hate" as i still have him as a top 10 pick. If i had him in the 2nd round or something i can see your point.

 

[The Podium]

Bozak would probably fit somewhere in the 30-40 range.... wow what a terrible draft

 

[Street Hawk]

Green isn't a player you build a team around either. You knock off several key players from CGY in your example. Meanwhile, there are several players ahead of Green on his own team that are better/more valuable to the team, and would be more painful to lose.. Ovy, Backstrom, Semin, etc hell, even Carlson.

And its not even about "hate" as i still have him as a top 10 pick. If i had him in the 2nd round or something i can see your point.

My point of view when I think about a draft redo is that I think about it in terms of who would help a team with very little in the organization. Basically, treat it as if I started an expansion team

I agree that neither Green or Ladd are franchise players. I wouldn't build a team around either guy. There are only 2 guys from this draft, AO and Malkin that are franchise players. Franchise players being the best player on your team. So, you wouldn't want either Ladd or Green to be your team's best player.

I look at it from the point of view that a PMD who can help his team offensively is more valuable than a player who has so far played a 3rd line role for his teams. You have to make the playoffs before you can win the Cup, and you would depend more on a PMD like Green to help you get to the playoffs before you would depend on Ladd's grinding skills. Ladd is playing a top 6 forward role now for the Thrashers. I would rate him higher than Green if he can make the same type of impact in the top 6 role consistently over the next couple of seasons like Ryan Kesler has recently.

So, it's just a difference of opinion. After AO and Malkin, it's really discretionary in terms of how you view players.

I agree with your top 4 however. Zajac can play 1st line Center alongside a top notch winger like Parise. Kind of like Morrison with Naslund and Bertuzzi in the WCE days. Franzen, definitely, a hard nosed big winger who can score goals in tough areas.