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

[hawksfan50]

It was pretty crazy with 4 goalies going in round one --the draft was allegedly weak depth-wise EXCEPT for goalies where it was a deep one though no goalie was worthy of a top ten pick--thus you could also say that JOSEPH PALMER taken #96 by Chicago (Redline had him rated #30 overall) and RETO BERRA taken at #106 by STL were definite "steals" that late (I had Berra ranked just behind Michal Neuwirth who went early in round two,followed by Zatkoff,then Palmer) --so that grouping was very close and iff you thought Neuwirth was 2nd round material,you could say the other 3 goalies just as easily should habve been too--they went a lote later not so much due to less talent--but because teams had different priorities for other positions and that's the way the goalie part of the draft unfolded --we could just as easily have had only 1 goalie taken in round one and 7 more in round two
or a more equalized spread of 2 in round one,3 in round two ,3 in early round three
for these top 8 goalies...

A steal at #64 was Jonas Junland by STL--not so much because he was drafted lower than expected (though I would have preferred my team =Chicago,to have taken him instead of Danis-Pepin at #61) but because I had targeted him way back
in mid-year as the most potential impact D-man in the draft after Erik Johnson
--any D-man who can put up numbers he did scoring goals and points so that he rivals the scoring leaders (all the other top ten were forwards) of his league in the Swedish jrs must be special...confirmed by group of scouts used by sportsnet.ca that Junland was the best goal-scorer of any euro prospect--and he's a D-man!
So --he's asteal in that so many NHL teams passed on him--but as STL GM Jarmo Kekalanen said--the ST. Louis scouts saw him enough before his season ending injury in February--its possible several NHL teams intended to view him late in the season but it was too late since he got injured... HE IS A STEAL no matter when he was taken (except if he was the 2nd D-man taken in the draft,which is where he rightfully belongs).


Juutilainen was a steal for the Hawks as low as #156...


2 disappointments: I had 2 Swiss Jrs targeted for 4th -6th rounders:

RW Dario Buergler ZUg Jrs SUI was ranked #38 euroskater (CSS)
D Marco Maurer Zug jrs SUI was ranked # 46 euroskater (CSS)

IF Junland (who was #36 euroskater according to Central Scouting--which I felt was way too low anyway) went #64,then surely Buergler and Maurer should have been drafted in some later slot --but they went UNDRAFTED...

They may have been caught in the expected lesser # of euros being taken do to the new CBA's 2 year signing window,or perhaps in the reluctance of some teams to draft Swiss players (though other teams did do that) because they tend to stay in Europe rather than come over like a lot of Slovaks do when taken in the cHL import draft--though this year that may now be changing--eg. Ottawa 67's just took a Swiss goalie in the CHL imprt draft---or because if a Swiss Jr gets to the Swiss pro leagues the pay isn;t that bad and they tended to stay at home rather than risk just getting an AHL salary...

I do not know what the reasons are--just that euros ranked that relatively high as potential 2nd rounders (or even if you add in 60 NA's =at least 4th rounders or for certain attractive enough to be drafted) but were not drafted.seem to me to be
real "overlooks" by NHL teams...when you have 6th and 7th rounders from the jr "A" leagues getting drafted in an supposedly week draft year and top 50 Jr. euro talent
not being drafted--something is wrong...it can only be that many teams cut their risks by limiting the numbers of euros they were going to draft ...

 

[Tacos]

I hate bumping old threads but they're great for reflecting at a time like this with the draft just two days away
Remember, don't take your own opinion too seriously and have fun with the draft

 

[Jesus Christ Horburn]

I'm surprised so many people thought Michael Forney was a steal at the time.

He's not even good enough to play in the AHL.

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

The Grabovski love from habs fans is priceless... Good call btw!!

 

[ottawah]

I hate bumping old threads but they're great for reflecting at a time like this with the draft just two days away
Remember, don't take your own opinion too seriously and have fun with the draft

Thank you oh so much. Now if someone this year posts a thread asking for steals, I'll know enough to keep my mouth shut.

Sheppard a steal, better than Staal. Priceless.

 

[smitty10]

It's amazing that everyone always thinks that every single European is a "steal". This thread just proves why that isn't always the case.

 

[PB37]

Good call on Clutterbuck and Marchand.

 

[hototogisu]

Crazy how high everyone was on Jan-Mikael Juutilainen.

 

[ponder]

Anaheim with Swan. As a Halifax homer, take my thoughts with a grain of salt, of course. I think that minus the freak injuries this year, he would have been in the 20-30 range.

I was surprised that Clutterbuck and Marchand went as late as they did but what do I know?

Off on Swan, but a very nice call on Clutterbuck and Marchand. I'd be curious to know why Clutterbuck fell to the 3rd round, would have got tonnes of exposure playing on the same team as Tavares, was 2nd on the team in goals only to Tavares, and was clearly a monster hitter, seems like a very safe bet to be a useful NHLer. Guys like that normally seem to go in the late 1st, or at the very least somewhere in the 2nd.

What a bad draft for russians. Alot of really good guys got a slap in the face.

Popov in the 7th round..***.

Kulemin should have been drafted in the first round. Pit should have gotten him to play with malkin. Why they picked a a ****ing center when they got malkin and crosby is beyond me.

WSH did a really good job with their pics. Backstrom and Varlamov were great picks.

Montreal is gonna have an insane team next year if they let their RSL prospects play next year.

Over all, same **** different year.

Good call on Kulemin, Varlamov, Grabo and Emelin, the Russians certainly should have gone higher in general in this draft (well, Grabo is Belarusian, but you get the point). Backstrom was also a nice pick.


The vast majority of posters were way off, which is almost always the case with any sort of draft analysis from fans, but a few guys were fairly spot on.

 

[truefan8993]

It interesting to see who people six years ago thought would be key players in today's NHL, but instead some have not even played one game and might never will. Threads like this makes me think about which prospects in this years draft a lot of us think are going to be stars then turn out to be this way. The thing about it is you know at least of these highly-regarded prospects will be that way.

 

[HanSolo]

Someone should bump this when the inevitable "Steals and surprises" threads pop up.

 

[Noori]

I was surprised that Clutterbuck and Marchand went as late as they did but what do I know?

Clearly the man was on to something.

 

[rajuabju]

always nice to read some of these oldies. wow things change.

 

[BonMorrison]

Surprised that the Pens had the chance to draft Kulemin to play with his linemate Malkin but instead took Carl Sneep.

 

[Benjamin]

This was basically a "my teams prospect" thread.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Crazy how high everyone was on Jan-Mikael Juutilainen.

I was too. I was on the official Canadiens board during this draft and I remember watching Juutilainen in the U-18s and he was a dominant player. Scouts knew what they were doing with him, big time. Never did anything.

 

[Tacos]

Marchand as a steal was some great Nostradamus work

 

[ottawah]

always nice to read some of these oldies. wow things change.

I hardly think things change. What people always fail to realize is that players going in the later rounds went there for a reason. Reading on the 2012 draft from posters on their "steals" its amazing how many future all stars get no love and will not be chosen in the first round .....

 

[Roo Mad Bro]

I was really surprised by the Flyers draft and what they did. I really thought they were going to go for a defenseman in the first round. I was completely dumbfounded, but incredibly happy, that they drafted Claude Giroux with their first choice. He's going to be something special when he gets to Philadelphia.

As for the second round, I really like what I read about Andreas Nodl, but the two defensemen have me a little bit concerned. While I'm not going to question the Flyers scouts (they have done an incredible job in years past), I thought that Ratchuk and Bodrov could have been acquired later in the draft. I really thought that two of the following defensemen would have been chosen: Nigel Williams, Simon Denis-Papin, Joe Ryan, Brian Strait, Mike Weber, Jamie McBain, Theo Peckham. However, with that being said, Ratchuk is about the size of Keith Ballard and Ballard is a great young defender. I'm also intrigued by Bodrov, especially when you consider the last Russian defenseman we had who was going to be a good one was young Dmitri Tertyshny.

As for the later round picks, I'm not going to complain. From what I read about Matsumoto, he'll be one of those guys you can count on to play a solid game, chip in a little offensively, and not do anything to hurt you. I know nothing about the goalies they drafted, other than they're both Czechs, but one played in the QMJHL. They did draft a Finnish defensemen who compares well to Kimmo Timmonen, but he's small (5'11 - 167 pounds).

I don't think anyone cracks the lineup right away, but in two to three years, I can see Nodl and Giroux playing on the right side in Philadelphia.

Awesome.