Best 2004 Draft So Far

[Levitate]

When I brought up Korpi's stats this year in my post about Nokie, I wasn't trying to degrade Korpikoski's development at all. He could very well turn out the best of the three finns, as he has a nice game and some good skills. I was just pointing out that Nokie was rated behind Tukonen and Korpikoski, despite having a better all around game because scouts questioned his scoring ability and wanted to see him put up better numbers. I only used Korpikoski as an example to show just how good Nokelainen's numbers are for his age in that league.

Obviously all three of them still have maturing to do and a lot of potential to grow into more. Korpi's speed and work ethic alone should be enough to turn him into a useful NHLer even as a downside. And he has plenty of time to still improve his scoring touch. He remains a nice safe pick at where he was drafted. Either way, I definitely didn't mean to imply that he was a bust or even a worse prospect after this season.

yeah i know, i wasnt' directly replying to your quote about nokelainen, i was just talking about korpikoski since i was talking about the rangers draft. I think nokenlainen was actually rated above korpikoski going into the draft though...hence he was drafted higher too, if i'm not mistaken, this was his second year in the finnish elite league. I think korpikoski is behind him and tukonen in terms of absolute development, but that's not a big deal at this point either...all of them have a long ways to go to reach their potential...hopefully all three will turn out to be good players. nokelainen is definatly lookin pretty good at this point though

 

[Gophers]

I wish the Wild would have picked up Meszaros instead of Thelen. I liked it at the time because i played hockey with Thelen's brother Josh, and I was even more excited to see Goligoski go in the second round. I grew up going to school with him in Grand Rapids and I was ecstatic to see him drafted so high...I only wish the Wild picked him up too.