Biggest steals, surprises and disappointments of the draft? [2006]

[JoeIsAStud]

I'm suprised Williams fell to the 51st pick. I thought he was a first round staple. I wonder what the reasons were for not selecting him earlier.

From what I read somewhere, apparently despite Williams just awesome pure physical skills, which are top 5-10 in the draft, apparently there were huge questions about his hockey sense

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Canucks pulled out a steal in Sergei Shirokov!

 

[sehnsucht]

the Irving pick seems very comparable to the Cam Ward pick, while John Armstrong reminds me of Dustin Boyd, 3rd rounders who played their best hockey before coming to the CHL.

 

[Kaizer]

Popov in 7th round ? omg... Popov lower than 3rd is spit in the face, imo.

 

[Knuckles Muldoon]

Leland Irving will prove to be a steal.

I agree. Positionally sound, yet athletic goalie.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I can't believe that Carter Camper didn't get drafted.

Insane.

 

[Gags1288]

Popov in 7th round ? omg... Popov lower than 3rd is spit in the face, imo.

He's the only Flyers draft pick that I see in this thread so far so I was wondering what you like about this kid? Have you seen him play and if so what are his strengths and what do you see his upside is? I read a little about him, but would love to hear more. Also, have you seen the Russian defenseman Denis Bodrov and if so, what are your thoughts on him? It's hard to get a grasp of Russian prospects because you really can't tell anything abou the numbers they put up.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Who the hell is Niko Tovinen? Minnesota picked him up and all I read is from HF...Jesus he's a big goaltender.

 

[CH Wizard]

Gawlik and Mathieu Roy,Dowzak, Ruzicka went undrafted............

*shakeshead*

 

[Oilers Chick]

Biggest surprises:

1) Nigel Williams falling as far as he did.

2) WMU's Chris Frank getting drafted.


Biggest disappointment: By far the number of current collegians who weren't taken. I'm still shaking my head over Alec Richards being passed over.

Also, how does Chris Frank get drafted and these defensemen: Tim Filangieri, Brett Motherwell, Jack Christian, Zach Jones, or Mike Brennan, don't?

Biggest steal: Hmmm...of the players that I've actually seen, I'd say Colorado taking Billy Sauer in the 7th round at #201.

 

[Lars]

Who the hell is Niko Tovinen? Minnesota picked him up and all I read is from HF...Jesus he's a big goaltender.

it's Niko Hovinen

 

[Draft Guru]

Very surprised to see Mike Brennan not get drafted.

 

[Spetzky]

J-M Juutilainen fell pretty hard.

 

[MS]

I think the biggest story of the draft was how many Europeans (and USHS guys) were drafted, and how CHL players.

20 first-time eligible picks from the WHL, when normally there are 35-40 selections from that league.

IMO it's going to bite teams in the *** when most of these '88 Europeans taken after the first two rounds won't be ready to come over inside of two years and won't be signed.

 

[Chainshot]

My personal biggest surprise is actually liking the Sabres draftees for a third straight season. Benning is running an interesting ship over there --- they've made some serious strides in terms of drafting character and ability.

 

[hockeyfan125]

I agree. Positionally sound, yet athletic goalie.

yup... easily the best goalie imo.

 

[Vyse64]

i liked the Oilers' pick in the 6th round Alexander Bumagin

 

[strungout]

George McPhee taking 3 QMJHL forwards.

 

[PMP5030]

Biggest disappointment: By far the number of current collegians who weren't taken. I'm still shaking my head over Alec Richards being passed over. : ....

Biggest steal: Hmmm...of the players that I've actually seen, I'd say Colorado taking Billy Sauer in the 7th round at #201.

Agree with both of these. Richards has the potential to be an undrafted stud, like Cujo and Belfour were. Really surprised he wasn't taken. And Sauer had a bad year definately, but there were a myriad of reasons behind it. Still has loads of potential, I thought he'd go in the 5th.

 

[Boomhower]

Maxwell and Shutron are steals IMO.

Surprised Steve Mason went as early as he did, but it may turn out to be a shrewd selection by Columbus, lots of potential there... not many minutes played at a high level of hockey.

 

[Vincent_TheGreat]

The Leafs taking Tlutsy! I came home from work, started watching the picks fall and then bam, the one of two players I didn't want the Leafs to take, and they take him. Thank god our scouts are still the worst in the NHL. Chris Stewart out there and we take Tlutsy, What a load of crap!

 

[Miko]

I agree. Positionally sound, yet athletic goalie.

I'm actually pretty excited about this kid.

 

[Wisent]

Shutron at 95 could be a steal.
I can`t believe nobody took Gawlik.

 

[jlowry_19]

why didnt goalie kevin armstrong from spokane get drafted, wasnt he supposed to go in the top 3 rounds?

 

[hfboardsuser]

-The NAHL was ignored. Kai Kantola and Carter Camper went undrafted, which I don't think anyone expected.

-There were two camps on Draft Day: the GMs who thought the quality of the '06 class so bad that they needed to take the safest player possible no matter how little upside he possessed (Lucic, Petry, Peckham, Axelsson, etc.) and those GMs that thought the class so bad that they needed to take a player with even the slightest wift of homerun potential (Keith Seabrook, Nick Foligno, Jeff Zatkoff). This led to a number of players right in the middle that fell significantly (Forney, Clutterbuck, Juutilainen, Marcinko).

-Despite the new transfer agreement, everyone except Washington kept as far away from Russia as possible in the first round. Extremely disappointing to see bona fide guys like Popov (round 7) spiral.