Best and Worst Drafts

[Anthony Mauro]

With out a doubt. It's not like this is the first time a Russian player has been picked well below his skill level. I will once again refer to Pavel Datsyuk as a CLASSIC example of NHL scouts evaluating Russian prospects.

6th round pick! What a joke.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1998e.html

With sooooo many superstars above him, how did he even get picked?

Look at all these great Centers picked over him in the first and second round alone.

Manny Malhotra
Eric Chouinard
Milan Kraft
Artem Chubarov
Blair Betts
Chris Nielsen
Christian Berglund
Justin Papineau

I mean who needs Datsyuk when u have Chubarov.

Some times i think these scouts just pick the Russian names out of a hat and if they can pronounce it, he gets picked in one of the last rounds as a "Ehh what the hell" kind of thing.

What separates Kulemin from a Staal is that he's nearly two years and two months older. That means his draft was two years ago and he's obviously more mature than most if not all prospects this year. If Nikolai was an '88, then hell yea he'd be a top three pick...but he's more or less taken that step forward and approached his peak.

 

[Starsdude]

Dallas was adisappointment. They really did not need an offensive d-man especially with Emmerton still there. Snow was a reach as was the goalie. Don't know McIntrye. I would trust the finnish scout on Warm

 

[hawksfan50]

The Blackhawks had a great draft if you use the judgements of Redline AND THN as a yardstick:

They had:

3 of the TOP 30 as rated by Redline (Toews R-#3,Makarov R-#19,Palmer R-#30)

7 of the TOP 79 per THN rankings;6 of the TOP 59 per THN rankings..

Based alone on these other scouting sources the grade would be an "A"...but of course we won't know forsure till 4-5 years down the road...

This being said--I would have drafted differently --going down my strike list and who was still on the board with their picks,if I were drafting for the Hawks I would have not traded up for the #76 to get Lagerstrom but instead kept the orginal #99 and #111 picks in round four for a total of 10 picks...my draft would have been:

#3 Toews (same)
#33 Burki (went #59 to COL)
#61 Junland (went #63 to STL)
#95 Berra (went #106 to STL)
#96 Palmer (same)
#99 Jonas Enlund (went #165 to ATL)
#111 Dario Buergler (the Swiss RW went undrafted)
#156 Juutalainen (shocked he was still there in round six-seeing that would have also taken him here --even though he was never on my strike list of targets anywhere;so again would be same as Hawks picked here).

#169 Marco Mauer (again the Swiss D-man went undrafted)
#186 Marc Cheverie (this BCHL goalie went #193 in the draft to FLA)

Thus my draft would have featured 3 goalies instead of just the 1 we drafted---I am not sold on Shutron ... Berra was ahead of Palmer on my goalie ranking so I would have taken 2 goalies in round four with those (95 and 96 picks) instead of just the one...Maybe I over-valued Enlund--but he's one of the few Finns that has a scorer's touch so I preferred him to Juutalainen who we would have gotten awyway at #156 ...I'm shocked that the 2 Swiss targets I had =Buergler and Maurer were by passed in the draft given that they were ranked in the 30's and 40's for euroskaters by Central Scouting--I saw Buergler's play at the WJHC and
he looks like a goal scorer to me--I would have taken him in round four...and Maurer in round six...

However despite all the above it is round two where I have the big disagreement wth the Hawks selections...Redline ranked Makarov at #19 but THN ranked him only #66 --obviously mixed opinions..personaly I though Makarov was a star for the Ruusian "B" team they sent over to get crushed in the Canda-Russia Challengeseries they hold vs. the Q,WHL and the 2 squads of East and West OHL'ers....no question Makarov is a good skater,has good skills and a better work ethic than the more highly touted Russian forwards who were supposed to go ahead of him--but:

1.The Hawks already are deep in RW's in their system.
2. The Hawks needed another centre with the high pick in round two,IMO as
centres with #1 or #2 line skills are not very deep in the Hawks system --even
after adding Toews --I would have taken BURKI at #33...the fact he fell all the
way to #59 to me says NHL teams --includng the Hawks--feared his inconsistent
performances despite his no question at least mid-first round skill set..but I
cannot ignore that offensive upside potential --he made all the high-ranked
centres =Staal,Mueller and Brassard look like rank "amatures" compared to his
dominant display of skating,passing,hockey sense,and goal scoring at the TOP
PROSPECTS GAME..
3. MAKAROV will play in the Q this year--so that helps the risk the Hawks took;
because he'll need to learn English and to adjust to the NA style of play and
smaller ink--HOWEVER--the history of Russian players developing into anything
impactful for the Hawks has been disastrous--for some reason Ruskies and
Chicago do not work out well--given that history--why can hawks' fans expect
Makarov will fianally break the "bust" mould for our Ruskie picks? I would have
taken BURKI and hoped his talent will eventually become more consistent as he
matured.. so I guess 3-5 years from now we'll find out if the Hawks were right or
I was right.


AND with the 2nd pick of round two for the Hawks (#61) they gambled on the "project" 6'7 210 D-man Simon Danis-Pepin--who could be a "home-run' according to Tallon--but Redline didn't hink so grading him at only #98,and though
THN liked him better--- in the mid 50's I believe-- I would have taken JONAS JUNLAND (who went 3 picks later to STL) ...
I have been touting JUNLAND since last December--and not even ranked by CentralScouting on their mid-term,he rose to #36 euroskater on their Final ranking--but I thought he was the 2nd best D-man prospect in the draft (EJ beng #1 of course)...JUNLAND with his great shot and PP ability is a portential impact ofeensive D-man ..perhaps another Lidstrom..I cannot believe the Hawks passed on that abnility to score goals and points rather to gamble on a project like Danis-Papin who is almost 2 years younger and much further away than is Junland..
The usually "safe" Hawks went and swung for the fences instead--I think they may rue this passover of Junland who I had specifically "targeted" at #61 all along..

When you think of D-men ERIK JOHNSON and JUNLAND on the Blues PP points that's going to really be something! Congrats to Jarmo Kealainen and the Blues--you got a steal with Junland at #64--the Hawks havea big question mark with DANIS-PEPIN at #61 as I see it = a home-run or a bust..

The Hawks actual picks at #169 and #186 were 2 small but skilled offensive centres from the OPJRA.I had targeted one OPJRA player --higher ranked tha them by Central Scouting=David McIntyre but he was off the board before pick #169 so
my OPJRA "target" was gone anyway...Still CHRIS AUGER 9#169) had the same #of pts than McIntyre=92 pts --but not as feisty,not an agitator "edgy" player like McIntyre ..but as I said,McIntyre was already off the board.



In summary--my draft would have been different---3 goalies instead of just 1;4 centres instead of 5 ...3 Swiss instead of no Swiss...2 D-men both 6'2 198 instead of a GIANT and a SMURF...

 

[scott99]

As and Islander fan, I like what they did. I also was impressed with the NYR picks. I actually think Sanguinetti will turn out better than Okposo (different positions, but I think Sags (this will obvuously be his nickname) will be a good to very good defenseman, while I think Okposo will not be a big scorer in the NHL, and would have rather have picked Mueller (and even Little) over Okposo. Hopefully I'm wrong. Love the rest of the Isles picks.

 

[God Bless Canada]

I think Colorado's draft could be their best draft since 1998 (when they had four first round picks) or it could go down as one of the darkest days since the move from Quebec.

Chris Stewart will be a solid NHL player. I like him more than the player the Canucks got. With his speed and build, I think his downside is Mike Grier. Stewart has more consistency than his older brother Anthony. His upside is a second line power forward who can fill in on the first line. His downside is speedy, gritty third line forward, with the ability to fill in on the second line.

Burki and Williams are wildcards. Burki was, by far, the best player at this year's CHL Prospects Games. But we've witnessed players star in the game and fizzle in the pros. (Witness 1996 stars Trevor Wasyluk and, to a lesser extent, Lance Ward). Burki has a lot of upside, possibly even more than Stewart, but his consistency has been a major issue. We'll see how he develops the proverbial toolbox.

Nigel Williams is one of the most intriguing prospects in the draft. For much of the year, he was a top-10 candidate. Most scouting services had him as a 11-25 pick. A few, though, were not sold on him. Resident prospect expert steblick had Williams rated around No. 70. Williams went late in the second round. Usually when a prospect falls that far, from a likely mid-first round pick to the late stages of the second round (or later), we realize, in time, that there's a reason he fell that far. He had a poor WU18. If he can regain the form that earned him such high ratings early in the year, Colorado has a steal. If he doesn't, then his drop will be justified.

The Tanguay trade has a potential disaster written all over it, but this is not the part of the forum to be discussing it.

Patrick Berglund was a great pick. Great ploy by St. Louis to move up and snare him. He's a guy I had rated a lot higher than a lot of people. He could proved to be an excellent, two-way, second line centre. Quite possibly the steal of the first round.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think Colorado's draft could be their best draft since 1998 (when they had four first round picks) or it could go down as one of the darkest days since the move from Quebec.

Chris Stewart will be a solid NHL player. I like him more than the player the Canucks got. With his speed and build, I think his downside is Mike Grier. Stewart has more consistency than his older brother Anthony. His upside is a second line power forward who can fill in on the first line. His downside is speedy, gritty third line forward, with the ability to fill in on the second line.

Burki and Williams are wildcards. Burki was, by far, the best player at this year's CHL Prospects Games. But we've witnessed players star in the game and fizzle in the pros. (Witness 1996 stars Trevor Wasyluk and, to a lesser extent, Lance Ward). Burki has a lot of upside, possibly even more than Stewart, but his consistency has been a major issue. We'll see how he develops the proverbial toolbox.

Nigel Williams is one of the most intriguing prospects in the draft. For much of the year, he was a top-10 candidate. Most scouting services had him as a 11-25 pick. A few, though, were not sold on him. Resident prospect expert steblick had Williams rated around No. 70. Williams went late in the second round. Usually when a prospect falls that far, from a likely mid-first round pick to the late stages of the second round (or later), we realize, in time, that there's a reason he fell that far. He had a poor WU18. If he can regain the form that earned him such high ratings early in the year, Colorado has a steal. If he doesn't, then his drop will be justified.

The Tanguay trade has a potential disaster written all over it, but this is not the part of the forum to be discussing it.

In Williams' case, it was apparent teams were not willing to use a high draft pick on a player who is all potential. He has the size and physical tools, but doesn't come from an exceptional hockey playing background and has questionable hockey sense. There's also the red flags of being used so sparingly at the U18s and with being excluded from the U.S. evaluation camp roster.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Yes an uneeded Staal is better then the RSL rookie of the year. Staal isn't even close to Kulemin in terms of skill.

if hes so good why was he taken 43 picks after Staal

 

[VladNYC*]

if hes so good why was he taken 43 picks after Staal

Because he is russian. I think i made that clear 50 times already.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Dallas was adisappointment. They really did not need an offensive d-man especially with Emmerton still there. Snow was a reach as was the goalie. Don't know McIntrye. I would trust the finnish scout on Warm

Agreed. I was sort of hoping they'd take a chance on Joenssuu (sp?) even....wasn't the guy like a top pick a year and a half ago? And it stings that the Isles took him with the pick we gave them for Niinimaa!

 

[Starsdude]

I imagine we could be rated 30th by the preseason rankings although Erikkson and Lindgren are high end prospects

 

[Dr Pepper]

Yeah, there really isn't much to look forward to, prospect wise, is there?

After Loui and Perttu, maybe Lessard and Niskanen, it gets kind of bleak.

 

[Squeaky]

Because he is russian. I think i made that clear 50 times already.

The only thing you have made clear to me is you have a massive bias for Russian prospects.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I was very impressed with Brian Burke's drafting. Every one of his picks was a character player, not one boom or bust type. And their second rounder, Bryce Swan, seems like he could be a very nice steal if he doesn't get injured.

 

[2ForRoughing*]

It's hard not to like the Blues draft. Getting Berglund at 25 was key for making this a true top quality day for the Blues. They walk away with two legit first round prospects. They'd targeted Kana in their top 22 IIRC so to get him in the 2nd was ideal. Both the Junland and Berra picks are being praised as solid also.

 

[Seph]

Agreed. I was sort of hoping they'd take a chance on Joenssuu (sp?) even....wasn't the guy like a top pick a year and a half ago? And it stings that the Isles took him with the pick we gave them for Niinimaa!

I just hope Joensuu turns out decent, so we can stop hearing about what a horrible deal Torres for Niinimaa was.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Because he is russian. I think i made that clear 50 times already.

That's what you get if you want to play hardball with the NHL over transfer agreements.

 

[knight44]

The AVS once agian had a monsterious draft, i loved last year draft but wow

Stewart is allready outscoring his brother by 2 goals before they got drafted, he should be a great pick

Williams: Great player he was project to go in the early 1st round early on in the year, but he fell (Right into the AVS laps)

Burki now this guys just impressed me all season long, i fallow the CHL very well and this guy just impresses me like crazy. But there are reasons why he was picked in the late 2nd and not late 1st.

Montgmery: Didnt hear much about him about the things i have been hearing are all good.

Carman: i dont know anything about this guy so someone fill me in!

Sauer i heard good things about him, Williams


Now to the trade, Wow Tanguay for Leopold, Burki, and a conditional draft pick. Right now Calgary won the trade but Burki could work out for us and the trade could be in our favor. Leopold could also brake out in Colorado playing with anothe offensie D-man his age in Liles. Liles has thrieved in Colorado so maybe Leopold can to!

My AVS grade is A++, teams like LA, Wild also did really well

Pittsberg did surprizingly bad, besides the Staal pick!

 

[thestonedkoala]

Minnesota addressed their needs. That's all I can say, which consitutes as a good draft from the Wild perspective.

Go Hovinen!