Best 2004 Draft So Far

[Jason MacIsaac]

After almost a full year who do you think has had the best 2004 NHL draft so far. I will have to say Buffalo Sabres, the following are pure steals so far.

9th Dylan Hunter - 102 points in 65 games OHL
8th Mike Card D - 43 points in 69 games WHL
7th Mark Mancari - 62 points in 62 games (35 goals) OHL
6th Patrick Kaleta - 52 points in 60 games OHL
3rd Andrej Sekera D - 28 poitns in 51 games OHL
2nd Michael Funk D - 29 points in 67 games WHL
1st Drew Stafford - 32 points in 36 games NCAA

Click to read more...

 

[trahans99]

So far it looks like Buffalo had a good draft, but we won't truly know for 3-5 years

I am anxious to see how Stafford pans out

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

I think with the Flames coming away with Dustin Boyd and Aki Seitsonen in the later rounds will work out well down the road. Both guys are having very good seasons in the WHL this year, especially Boyd.

Now that the obligitory pump up my favourite team part is out of the way, who knows. It was only a year ago and we won't know for sure until atleast 10 years down the road.

 

[West]

Buffalo's been a good drafting team lately along with Ottawa, Nashville and Washington.

I think NYI had a real nice draft last year.

16 Petteri Nokelainen - top 6 forward
47 Blake Comeau - 3rd liner
115 Wes O'Neill - Top 4 D (Granted just my opinion right now)

 

[Clutch Mediocrity]

Although maybe not the best (understandable given their draft position), Ottawa's has to be right up there.

Wick (156), Meszaros (23), and Glass (89) all are having amazing seasons and would surely rise if the draft were to be re-done today. Lyamin (58) was expected to be a late first rounder/early second rounder. His stock has dropped since being drafted, so this is probably where he'd be taken today although he may still crack the top 50. Still, defensemen take longer to develop and he has some nice potential.

Regin, Weller, and Nikulin, all drafted by Ottawa in '04, all also made appearances at the WJC.

 

[the_gman83]

Definately not the best, but the Canucks, for a change, didn't do too poorly.

26 Cory Schneider G Andover Academy (USHSE)
91 Alexander Edler D Jamtland (SWE)
125 Andrew Sarauer LW Langley (BCHL)
159 Mike Brown RW U of Michigan (CCHA)
189 Julien Ellis-Plante G Shawinigan (QMJHL)
254 David Schulz D Swift Current (WHL)
287 Jannik Hansen W Malmo Jr. (SWE JR.)


The pick of Ellis-Plante in the 6th round was the best one, in my opinion.

 

[Squeaky]

Although maybe not the best (understandable given their draft position), Ottawa's has to be right up there.

Wick (156), Meszaros (23), and Glass (89) all are having amazing seasons and would surely rise if the draft were to be re-done today. Lyamin (58) was expected to be a late first rounder/early second rounder. His stock has dropped since being drafted, so this is probably where he'd be taken today although he may still crack the top 50. Still, defensemen take longer to develop and he has some nice potential.

Regin, Weller, and Nikulin, all drafted by Ottawa in '04, all also made appearances at the WJC.

Meszaros at 23 was a total steal. O'neill at 115 was for the Isles too, I think.

 

[Pepper]

Definately not the best, but the Canucks, for a change, didn't do too poorly.

26 Cory Schneider G Andover Academy (USHSE)
91 Alexander Edler D Jamtland (SWE)
125 Andrew Sarauer LW Langley (BCHL)
159 Mike Brown RW U of Michigan (CCHA)
189 Julien Ellis-Plante G Shawinigan (QMJHL)
254 David Schulz D Swift Current (WHL)
287 Jannik Hansen W Malmo Jr. (SWE JR.)


The pick of Ellis-Plante in the 6th round was the best one, in my opinion.

To be brutally honest, that list doesn't look anything special to me, in fact it looks quite bad. Just IMHO of course.

 

[McDonald19]

After almost a full year who do you think has had the best 2004 NHL draft so far. I will have to say Buffalo Sabres, the following are pure steals so far.


2nd Michael Funk D - 29 points in 67 games WHL
1st Drew Stafford - 32 points in 36 games NCAA

How are these 2 players steals?

They were picked where they were supposed to be picked in my opinion.

 

[KingPurpleDinosaur]

not the best draft, but i think the kings did solid enough to go in the top 10 list of the drafting community in 2004.

11 R Lauri Tukonen - some people call him a steal. i duno how someone at the 11 spot is really a "steal" unless they were ovechkin talent. but it's a solid pick
95 D Paul Baier - solid defender, impressed me a fair amount. solid pick
110 L Ned Lukacevic - good skater, decent pick
143 R Eric Neilson - has a fair chance at becomin a solid enforcer in the NHL. solid pick
174 F Scott Parse - tearin it up in the NCAA, can't complain. good pick
205 G John Curry - don't kno much about him
221 G Danny Taylor - soldi fundamentals. solid pick
238 G Yutaka Fukufuji - doin well in the ECHL and has heard many compliments from coaching staff. may be a serviceable backup in the NHL. good pick
264 C Valtteri Tenkanen - don't kno much about him

so i think we came out pretty ok, not great, but picked up i think 2 good picks and many solid picks, nothing like the sabres though.

 

[Bad News Benning]

To be brutally honest, that list doesn't look anything special to me, in fact it looks quite bad. Just IMHO of course.

Schneider- undefeated in his freshman season, posting great numbers
Ellis Plante- best goalie in the Q and one of the best in all of the CHL
Edler- led J20 league in defenseman scoring
Hansen-a sleeper, who's already playing top minutes on the Danish national team
Brown- played on the US World Junior team.
The only bad picks right now look like Sarauer and Schulz.

 

[Onion Boy]

I may be breaking the trend of hyping up my own team, but last June I thought Chicago had one of the strongest drafts. Dunno if that's still the case since I haven't really followed the progress of any of their prospects. Washington also had a very solid draft.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

*puts on homer cap*

Penguins have fared mighty well so far.

1.2- Evgeni Malkin- 32 points in 52 games with Metallurg(Russia). Good for second on the team.
2.31- Johannes Salmonsson- 4 points in 30 games with Djurgardens(SEL). Obviously that's not going to compare nicely to Malkin but with all the imports around Salmonsson is getting very little playing time.
2.61- Alex Goligoski- 20 points in 30 games with Minnesota(NCAA) as a freshman defenseman.
3.67- Nick Johnson- 35 points in 35 games with Darmouth(NCAA) as a freshman. First on team with 18 goals.
3.85- Brian Gifford- 21 points in 48 games with Indiana(USHL). Commited to Denver next season.
4.99- Tyler Kennedy- 53 points in 59 games with Sault Ste. Marie(OHL). Good for second on the team.
5.130- Michal Sersen- 38 points in 65 games with Rimouski(QMJHL). Defenseman.
6.164- Moises Gutierrez- 28 points in 66 games with Kamloops(WHL).
7.194- Chris Peluso- 6 points in 46 games with Sioux Falls(USHL). Going to college next year, not sure which though. I've heard almost nothing about him.
7.222- Jordan Morrison- 63 points in 65 games for Petersborough(OHL).
8.228- David Brown- To put it bluntly he's having a horrible season with Notre Dame(NCAA).
9.259- Brian Ihnacak- 23 points in 28 games with Cornell(NCAA).

 

[thestonedkoala]

To be brutally honest, Minnesota's doesn't look too hot...

AJ Thelen
Roman Voloshenko
Petr Olvecky
Clayton Stoner
Ryan Jones
Patrick Bordeleau
Julien Sprunger
Jean-Claude Sawyer
Aaron Boogaard
Jean Michal Rizk
Anton Khudobin
Kyle Wilson

A LOT of projects in that draft...

 

[Jacob]

*puts on homer cap*

Penguins have fared mighty well so far.

1.2- Evgeni Malkin- 32 points in 52 games with Metallurg(Russia). Good for second on the team.
2.31- Johannes Salmonsson- 4 points in 30 games with Djurgardens(SEL). Obviously that's not going to compare nicely to Malkin but with all the imports around Salmonsson is getting very little playing time.
2.61- Alex Goligoski- 20 points in 30 games with Minnesota(NCAA) as a freshman defenseman.
3.67- Nick Johnson- 35 points in 35 games with Darmouth(NCAA) as a freshman. First on team with 18 goals.
3.85- Brian Gifford- 21 points in 48 games with Indiana(USHL). Commited to Denver next season.
4.99- Tyler Kennedy- 53 points in 59 games with Sault Ste. Marie(OHL). Good for second on the team.
5.130- Michal Sersen- 38 points in 65 games with Rimouski(QMJHL). Defenseman.
6.164- Moises Gutierrez- 28 points in 66 games with Kamloops(WHL).
7.194- Chris Peluso- 6 points in 46 games with Sioux Falls(USHL). Going to college next year, not sure which though. I've heard almost nothing about him.
7.222- Jordan Morrison- 63 points in 65 games for Petersborough(OHL).
8.228- David Brown- To put it bluntly he's having a horrible season with Notre Dame(NCAA).
9.259- Brian Ihnacak- 23 points in 28 games with Cornell(NCAA).

Yeah, that's not bad. Not a whole lot of "sure fire" NHLers in the bunch, but it's hard to argue with a top three of Malkin, Salmonsson and Goligoski.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

Meszaros at 23 was a total steal..

Count me in as a guy who isn't buying into all this Meszaros hype that is piling up around here lately. I think he was a good nab for the Senators at 23, but probably still would go mid to late teens.

The guy has some major holes in his game. He is a real block head out there at times. He makes horrible decisions in his own zone and takes alot of dumb, needless penalties. He does both of these things way too often to ignore. I think people see a big body who can move the puck like he does and get to blinded to see the holes in his game.

Good prospect, but not a steal by any stretch of the imagination at 23.

 

[Freaky Habs Fan]

Montreal had their worst draft since André Savard and Trevoe Timmins join the scouting staff.

-Chipchura(F): Nice pick...a sure bet. He's underated by some poster.(32pts in 28 games)
-Emelin(D): Had an average WJC and don't see much time in the RSL(1pts in 12 games_
-Wyman(F): His just starting to produce in the NCAA...we have to wait next year to really see what he can do.(11pts in 33 games)
-Grabovski(F): One of the best overager of the draft! He's having an awesome season in the RSL.(36 pts in 60 games)
-Lacasse(G): Bad pick. He have a long way to go...(0,881% in 38 games)
-Stewart(F): Career year in the OHL and by far. Nice late pick. (33pts in 66 games)
-Streit(D): 28 years old...Career year in the swiss league. (51pts in 51 games)
-Dulac-Lemelin(D): Career year in the Q...(25pts in 68 games)

Many of these players are projects. At least, there's many NHL ready prospects in the Habs system(Higgins, Perezhogin, Plekanec, Hossa, Komisarek)

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

How are these 2 players steals?

They were picked where they were supposed to be picked in my opinion.

I changed my idea of the thread half way through. I was just going to post steals then I just went with the picks I liked. Stafford was a steal too, did you even watch the WJC? Big time player. Funk is a big defensmen with offensive potential. He wasn't a steal but he was a solid pick.

 

[Chainshot]

From overall junior production levels, sure, it looks good. But most of their late-rounders are overagers who SHOULD be scoring at least moderately well. Most, if not all of Buffalo's mid-to-late rounders are all longshots to get contracts, let alone make an impact even at the AHL level. I wouldn't get to caught up in the numbers...

 

[Squeaky]

Count me in as a guy who isn't buying into all this Meszaros hype that is piling up around here lately. I think he was a good nab for the Senators at 23, but probably still would go mid to late teens.

The guy has some major holes in his game. He is a real block head out there at times. He makes horrible decisions in his own zone and takes alot of dumb, needless penalties. He does both of these things way too often to ignore. I think people see a big body who can move the puck like he does and get to blinded to see the holes in his game.

Good prospect, but not a steal by any stretch of the imagination at 23.

I think he should have gone in the mid teens, just to pick a number out of thin air, 16th. That makes him picked 7 places later than he should have been, which when you're talking first round either way makes him a steal in my books.

 

[Squeaky]

Montreal had their worst draft since André Savard and Trevoe Timmins join the scouting staff.

-Chipchura(F): Nice pick...a sure bet. He's underated by some poster.(32pts in 28 games)
-Emelin(D): Had an average WJC and don't see much time in the RSL(1pts in 12 games_
-Wyman(F): His just starting to produce in the NCAA...we have to wait next year to really see what he can do.(11pts in 33 games)
-Grabovski(F): One of the best overager of the draft! He's having an awesome season in the RSL.(36 pts in 60 games)
-Lacasse(G): Bad pick. He have a long way to go...(0,881% in 38 games)
-Stewart(F): Career year in the OHL and by far. Nice late pick. (33pts in 66 games)
-Streit(D): 28 years old...Career year in the swiss league. (51pts in 51 games)
-Dulac-Lemelin(D): Career year in the Q...(25pts in 68 games)

Many of these players are projects. At least, there's many NHL ready prospects in the Habs system(Higgins, Perezhogin, Plekanec, Hossa, Komisarek)

I'm not sure if that's fair yet. Chipchura was a solid pick, as was Stewart and Lemelin (for someone so late in the draft.) I'm not sold on Emelin or Wyman, and I'm fairly low on the Lacasse pick. At that point, it's a pretty average draft I think.

Then come Streit and Grabovsky. They're both overagers, but they both had breakout years this year too. If they can both crack the NHL, this will have been a fantastic draft. I think it's way to early to tell for both of them, but they've got a shot at least.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

I think he should have gone in the mid teens, just to pick a number out of thin air, 16th. That makes him picked 7 places later than he should have been, which when you're talking first round either way makes him a steal in my books.

Meh, I don't see it as being that drastic. I don't beleive Meszaros has a big leg up on any of the players drafted around him. Wolski, Chipchura, Zajac, Chucko, Schremp. I don't see Meszaros being that much better of a prospect then any of those guys. I just don't see it. He has some big wholes in his game.

Just for reference, I don't see Meszaros being a better prospect then Mike Green. Both of them are 85's and are the same age as Weber, Coburn, Phaneuf etc. Meszaros has serious holes in his own end as long with poor decision making. His offence isn't near Green's in terms of playing in the WHL right now. Is Green a steal at #29?

 

[DuklaNation]

How about the Leafs? Err, never mind.

 

[TeamPlayer]

Buffalo's been a good drafting team lately along with Ottawa, Nashville and Washington.

I think NYI had a real nice draft last year.

16 Petteri Nokelainen - top 6 forward
47 Blake Comeau - 3rd liner
115 Wes O'Neill - Top 4 D (Granted just my opinion right now)

Add to that Jason Pitton

 

[McDonald19]

I changed my idea of the thread half way through. I was just going to post steals then I just went with the picks I liked. Stafford was a steal too, did you even watch the WJC? Big time player. Funk is a big defensmen with offensive potential. He wasn't a steal but he was a solid pick.

Yeah he was one of the better players for team USA but 13th overall is about right for him in my opinion. I don't see him as a top 10 pick though I'd rather have him than Valabik .