Armchair GM Draft, 2019 (Picks only)

[BMC]

OK now the Hab Hater select Conn Smythe winning D Al MacInnis

 

[Shady Machine]

Team Doblett of Fire is proud to select Center Pavel Datsyuk with the final selection in the 3rd round.

 

[Shady Machine]

With the first pick in the 4th round, team Doblett of Fire is proud to select a fully healthy brain and motivated LW Paul Kariya.

 

[BMC]

The Hab Haters select C Joe Nieuwendyk

 

[TropicalFruitGirl2]

4th Round selection, and 39th overall... The Puck Time Pilots would like to welcome in Chris Chelios!

All Rookie team in 1985
11-time All Star
3-time Norris trophy winner
3-time Stanley Cup Champion

A great all around defenseman, athlete, and leader, no matter WHERE he played....Montreal, Chicago, Detroit... Chris Chelios embodied what it means to be an NHL defenseman.
He played the game with ruggedness, grit, but also with finesse, skill and due to the fantastic shape the man always kept himself, was still viable, albeit slower, even into his 40's.

He can be counted on to contribute on offense, skate with the very best of his time on defensive coverage, and even play an enforcer role (almost 2,900 career PIMs!) if need be....but he was FAR from a non-playing goon.
And let's face it...look at the man...he LOOKS like a hockey player! Face, jaw, nose and all!

Chris Chelios...the man who could play top pair and face down the opposition's top line...or play bottom pair with a raw rookie and make that rook look like a 5 yr vet, while taking care of the oppositions "goon lines"
And a leader no matter what uniform he wore.
A man who could lead on a PP...or anchor down a strong PK unit.

 

[td_ice]

With their 4th round selection, 40th overall, the Fremen are happy to select, D Erik Karlsson

One of the premier offensive defensemen of our generation. A perfect fit for today's NHL. In his 9th season. In his prime one of the fastest dmen in the league. Along with great goaltending, almost singlehandedly brought a fairly weak Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup finals two seasons ago.

2 time Norris winner, and 2 time Norris runner up.

6 timer All star.

Will have Pronger on his left side as a steadying partner, allowing Karlsson to do his thing.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Inglewood selects Doug Gilmour, C.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I'll take Phil Housley.

 

[KIRK]

In the Gretzky Draft rules era, there are 7 defensemen who have won multiple Norris trophies. With its 4th round pick, The Skating Jabronis add its 2nd one of them. The Skating Jabronis are proud to select 2015 Conn Smythe winner . . .

DUNCAN KEITH - D

 

[sarge88]

The Precursor select:

3x Cup Winner
Hart Trophy Winner
Calder Trophy Winner
Smythe Winner
Art Ross Winner

900+ points and still going

RW Patrick Kane

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

KINKY KIRKS are happy as hell to select one of the greatest offensive blue liners of all time Brian Leetch.

Over 18 outstanding seasons, Brian Leetch was an 11-time All-Star, won two Norris Trophies as the league's best defenseman, captured a Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoff MVP and was the Calder Trophy winner as the league's top rookie. He is one of only five blueliners in NHL history to record more than 100 points in a season and one of seven to accumulate more than 1,000 points in his career.

He will spearhead an absolutely lethal transition game for both Crosby and McDavid.

 

[Fenway]

The Burping Zambonis are proud to select D Rob Blake

​

 

[Asuna]

Hello everyone. My next pick is Sergei Gonchar! As a Pens fan I watched a lot of Gonchar through the years and he's one of the best defenseman I've seen. 811 points all time, helped to lead the Pens to the Stanley Cup in 2009. Good times.

 

[td_ice]

Round 4

37. Doblett of Fire--Paul Kariya--LW
38. Hab Hater--Joe Nieuwendyk--C
39. Puck Time Pilots--Chris Chelios--D
40. The Fighting Fremen--Erik Karlsson--D
41. Inglewood Jacks--Doug Gilmour--C
42. Bjugstud Biggies--Phil Housley--D
43. THE SKATING JABRONIS--Duncan Keith--D
44. The Squaw Valley Precursor--Patrick Kane--RW
45. KINKY KIRKS--Brian Leetch--D
46. Boston Burping Zambonis--Rob Blake--D
47. THICC JOHNSONS-- Sergei Gonchar--D
48. Gentlemen Bastards--Brett Hull--RW


Round 5

49. Gentlemen Bastards--Pavel Bure--RW
50. THICC JOHNSONS-- Henrik Lundqvist--G


(but also beware of the picks in round 1-4, but the above is the most recent round)

 

[Winger for Hire]

The Gentlemen Bastards are proud to add to their arsenal by selecting, RW Brett Hull

How do you get Mario space to operate? By putting one of the most dangerous goal scorers and sniper on his wing. Brett was a goalscorer, pure and simple. He lead the league in goals for three straight seasons entering the 90s (scoring no less than 70 goals in any of those seasons).

1269 Games Played
741 Goals (3rd among qualified skaters)
650 Assists
1391 Points (17th among qualified skaters)

265 PPG (2nd all-time)

0.58 G/G (5th among qualified skaters)
0.51 A/G
1.10 P/G

 

[Winger for Hire]

The Gentlemen Bastards add to their embarrassment of offensive riches and select, RW "The Russian Rocket" Pavel Bure

Bure's playing style reflected the speed, skill and puck possession that was prominent in Soviet Union hockey programs. The most prevalent aspects of his game were his skating speed, agility, and acceleration, which earned him his nickname the "Russian Rocket". He was able to use his quickness to separate himself from defenders, to retrieve pucks before the opposition could in all zones of the ice, and to skate the length of the ice on many occasions. In a 1993 poll of NHL coaches conducted by hockey writer Bob McKenzie, Bure was named the league's best skater with eight of twenty-one votes, twice as many votes as any other player. One coach noted: "Bure has the best combination of speed, agility and balance ... He can also use change of speed better than anybody in the league right now."

Regarding Bure's first NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets, reporter Mike Beamish explained that "hockey fans marvelled at his offensive thrusts, but hockey people were taken by a singular display of jet-powered defensive diligence. On one play, after the Canucks were caught deep in the Winnipeg zone, the Russian winger raced back and almost single-handedly foiled a two-on-one Jets' rush, making up a half-rink disadvantage."

702 Games Played
437 Goals
342 Assists

0.62 G/G (2nd among qualified skaters)
0.49 A/G
1.11 P/G (16th among qualified skaters)

 

[Asuna]

Next up, Henrik Lundqvist! One of the best goalies of all time, with 447 wins (and counting), and a career SV% of .919, he's a no brainer choice of a goalie for my team.

Plus he has great hair!

 

[Fenway]

The Burping Zambonis are proud to select G Ed Belfour

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

The KINKY KIRKS are ecstatic to pick Jari Kurri, one of the greatest wingers of all time. Not only was he one of the all time best goal scoring wingers in NHL history, he was exceptionally stout defensively and renown for being a big details guy.

It’s not an exaggeration to call him the best all around winger in NHL history. He played an exceptional 200 foot game (unlike say, Brett Hull) and still put up unreal goal scoring totals.

With a deadly one timer and smooth mitts, Kurri, a five time Stanley cup winner, put up an incredible 1391 points in 1251 games over his HOF career. He also finished with 233 points in 200 playoff games, good for third best all time.

 

[sarge88]

Squaw Valley is happy to add a tough and talented player to pair with Ray Bourque in:

D Kevin Hatcher

5 x All Star
One of a handful of defensemen with over 650 points and 1,300. PIM

A guy who can play in all situations and log 25+ minutes per game

 

[KIRK]

The idea of drafting Soviet era players that are by the rules eligible, has been raised. For the most part they were greats of game that played their prime outside the NHL, and their waning years in the NHL,. Making them draft eligible, but their best years, due to advanced age, were unfortunately not against NHL players. Which in no way decreases their greatness.

But I cannot tell how to view such players. And their perceived effectiveness vs. NHL'ers. That would be up to you.

It's kinda of weird inclusion, but by the rules, technically OK. Just like some of our guys, like Gretz that came from the WHA.

This is the answer to a question that, in my capacity as General Manager of The Skating Jabronis, I posed to @td_ice today.

It is an a question which @td_ice and @Winger for Hire reminded me they have wrestled with in baseball leagues like this in the past. How would Josh Gibson of the Negro League, in his prime, have performed in MLB? What about Japanese pros of the past in their primes?

Well, The Skating Jabronis are going to test that question here.

In 2011, an esteemed panel of HFBoards posters in the History of Hockey community ranked the top 60 defensemen of all time: HOH Top 60 Defensemen of All Time.

The defenseman that The Skating Jabronis are to select ranked #8 all time and was #3 among Gretzky Draft eligible defensemen, ranked behind only Ray Bourque and Nicklas Lidstrom.

THAT is his perceived HFBoards value versus NHL greats.

Of this player, Pierre LeBrun wrote in an article just over 3 years ago, "Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001, the great two-way blueliner would have won his share of Norris Trophies had he arrived in the NHL earlier. He could do it all."

In the same article, Sergei Gonchar is quoted as saying, "He's the guy who changed the game for Russian defensemen . . . sort of like what Bobby Orr did for Canada. Slava jumped into the play, he created offense. His legacy aside from his great career is that he changed the position for Russian defensemen."

Without further ado, The Skating Jabronis are proud to select one of the greatest defensemen in the history of the game . . .

SLAVA FETISOV - D

 

[Honour Over Glory]

On the road and will add to this later but Squaw Valley is happy to add a tough and talented player to pair with Ray Bourque in:

D Kevin Hatcher

The trade that I still don't forgive but I get to correct....



Biggies select Sergei Zubov.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Inglewood selects Jarome Iginla

 

[td_ice]

With their 5th round selection, 57th overall, the Fremen are pleased to select, LW Luc Robitaille

Wasn't planning on a forward, but when a guy with 668 goals, at a fairly weak LW position, is staring you in the face, you pick him!

One of the best LW'ers of all time. One of the best pure scorers, of all time. All Luc did was score, score, score. 8 consecutive 40+ goal seasons. With
a high of 63 one season.

6 time 1st team NHL all star, and 2 time 2nd team all star.

16 career hat tricks!

Always clutch, with 89 career GWG's. For comparison, Wayne Gretzky had 91 in his career.

8x's All star games.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl2]

5th round pick, 69th overall, the Puck Time Pilots select... C-Mats Sundin!

8-time All Star
23rd all time in career goals scored (564)
35th all time in career assists (785)
36th all time in career POWER play goals (160)
20th all time in career SHORT handed goals (31)

Mats Sundin was also never a Stanley Cup champion, or even won any individual season awards for goals or points.

But what he brought to his Quebec and later his Toronto teams was steady, more than solid two way game that always saw him ready to set up teammates, no matter their playstyle and he himself was a threat even strength, on the PP, and even short handed as he used his size and strength not in the typical "tough guy" style...but rather in such a way that made it almost impossible to take the puck from him, or knock him off the puck...…...legally anyways...….which always meant he was good for keeping his team in control of the offense and creating chances against the opposition.

He was also an excellent face off man, over 55% career since they started tracking the stat, but no reason to think his numbers would have been any less before then.
His intelligence, technique, reach, and strength at the dot almost ensured his team would come out with possession of the puck.

The prototypical big center that did well in his day, and could certainly dominate in today's game...probably even more so with much less clutching and grabbing!