Happy with your draft so far?

[DownFromNJ]

I have to say, I feel like the Devils are going to come out well this draft. Zajac was an interesting choice. It looked to me like Lou and Conte had their sites on him from the first pick. He's off to a pretty good start to NCAA. Nothing like Parise, but a good start.

The late rounders will take a little bit to see if they pan out. Tyler Eckford looks promising though.

 

[Classic Devil]

I have to say, I feel like the Devils are going to come out well this draft. Zajac was an interesting choice. It looked to me like Lou and Conte had their sites on him from the first pick. He's off to a pretty good start to NCAA. Nothing like Parise, but a good start.

The late rounders will take a little bit to see if they pan out. Tyler Eckford looks promising though.

Eckford isn't playing in the toughest league in the world but I'm thrilled with him thus far.

 

[kruezer]

I like how Boyd is doing as well. If he keeps it up, we got a damn good prospect on our hands.

Prust isn't looking so good however (at least his stats don't). But his role on the Knights isn't to score so we might still have the agitator/hustler Sutter envisioned.

Definetaly, Boyd has had a very good start, same with Cracknell, an overager, but a solid start, I agree on Prust, he will never be a high scorer, that shouldn't be expected, I want to see him on the new Flames AHL team next season, he seems like a solid 4th line prospect. Chucko hasn't torn things apart in the NCAA, but he's been playing well from all the reports I've heard, I personally like him as a pick, leave him in College for 3 or 4 years at least, let him dominate at that level, Calgary really isn't in too huge a rush to get our forward prospects in the bigs. Jimmy Spratt has had a good start in the USHL by the way, I really liked that pick.

 

[TomahawkSniper]

I am a lot happier with the Canucks picks last year than I have been in years. Schneider is doing well in Boston and getting way more starts than I could have hoped for. Edler has been one of the top offensive dmen in the Swedish Junior League. Mike Brown was named to the US WJC squad. Julien Ellis is one of the best goalies in the Q. David Schulz is playing a bit more physically at least...I'll always take a chance on a big dman who can move the puck. Finally, Jannik Hansen is putting up points, albeit for the Rødovre Mighty Bulls.

I don't give a crap about Sarauer.

I'm also much happier about the nucks picks, except I think it's a little too early to expect much from Sarauer. He's going to need a lot of time to develop and fill out his frame.

 

[Poochie_D]

i felt the habs did a great job drafting this year. it seems to me that this year timmons was looking for alot of character and that shows in our early picks ( chipchara, Yemelin) these guys aren't the most glamourous players out there but they play with heart and soul. the habs alrdy have enuf euro-skilled typa players. this years draft was exactly what the doctor ordered.

 

[mazmin]

I'm not 100% Yotes fan but I havn't been able to stop following my team since it left town a decade ago. Pathetic eh? I'm not the only one either.

Anyway,

Wheeler at #5. I was shocked. I expected Ladd or Tukonen. Personally I reall like Tukonen. It seems highly rated Finns don't "bust" very often. Wheeler could be a gem but it was an odd pick for sure.

Stephenson at #35 seemed a bit high but he's my kinda player so I was happy.

Enver Lisin at #50. I think we had to trade up for this guy but it will be worth it. He has a big frame and might be the fastest skater in the draft. I LOVE THIS PICK!

Tomanek looks decent for a 4th rounder. He still needs plenty of time in the WHL. Quite raw.

Kevin Cormier is the toughest guy in the draft. He's a monster that I think is a lock to play in the NHL because of his size and willingness to fight. I have a buddy who is a fighter for the Screaming Eagles and he doesn't look forward to playing Cormier one bit.

Aaron Gagnon at #240 was a great pickup. 15 goals in 21 games ... this kid is a sniper. Great pick so far.

Porter, Engasser and Kolarik I'm unfamiliar with.

Daniel Winnik has been great in the NCAA and shouldn't have fallen to the 9th round. He's got good size too.

I'd say the draft is a B-

Should have traded down to get Wheeler and gotten another pick. Other than that Lisin, Gagnon and Winnik look quite smart right now.

 

[Legionnaire]

I think the best thing the Kings did draft day was get Garon. So yeah, I'm pretty happy

 

[Chimaera]

Happy with Ovechkin, Happy with Green. Happy with Lepisto. Optimistic about Bourque.


Other than that, we'll see.

 

[kruezer]

Happy with Ovechkin, Happy with Green. Happy with Lepisto. Optimistic about Bourque.


Other than that, we'll see.

Schultz was a solid pick as well, he seems to have #7 potential at the lowest end to me. I think he'll definetaly make the NHL, just a matter of how well he players once he gets there.

 

[leafaholix*]

Very happy.

 

[King'sPawn]

I'd be happier with the Tukonen pick if I knew he was getting more ice time to develop. I hear lots of good praise about the kid, though. The Baier pick in round 3 seems to be a good one. Other than those two, I don't have that high of an expectation out of anyone else the Kings drafted.

But I second Legionnaire's sentiment about Garon. He's a real feel good story for us

 

[leafaholix*]

I'd be happier with the Tukonen pick if I knew he was getting more ice time to develop. I hear lots of good praise about the kid, though. The Baier pick in round 3 seems to be a good one. Other than those two, I don't have that high of an expectation out of anyone else the Kings drafted.

But I second Legionnaire's sentiment about Garon. He's a real feel good story for us

The Garon trade may be the most important acquisition that organization's made since Wayne Gretzky. Mathieu Garon is a tremendous goaltender, I think he has the potential to be a top 5 goalie in the league.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Some people bashed the Jackets draft in the days after it (more in the national media than here). I always liked it and like it even more now. Doug MacLean came into the first day with one 1st and four 3rds. He left with one 1st, two 2nds and two 3rds.

He turned the #4 (which became Ladd) into Alex Picard and Kyle Wharton.

He moved two 3rd rounders for Adam Pineault.

In the 3rd, he picked up an obscure Russian dman -- Andrei Plehanov -- who is playing for Team Russia in the CHL Challenge. He was +3 last night.

On the second day, he picked up Petr Pohl who leads Gatineau in goals, Lennart Petrell who sounds like he could be a class-A agitator, and a few high school kids (Rob Page being the one I like the most).

Good job DM.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Way too early to get too excited about the picks, but Ottawa looks to have done quite well again.

Meszaros has by all accounts in the WHL, proven to have the hard edge that makes him much more than an offensive blueliner. He's bigger than advertised and has adapted to the North American game without much trouble. We're pretty excited to get him at the end of the first round (23rd).

It's disappointing that Lyamin (58th) didn't stick with CSKA in the RSL this season, but competition is very high in the RSL so I guess no shame there. He's still an intriguing package and showed some potential in the game last night (Q v Russia).

Weller has played well in Clarkson since his late start (77th) and Wick (156th) is doing well in Red Deer, up amongst the rookie scoring leaders (behind Meszaros). Jeff Glass (89th) has also been stellar in goal in the WHL.

 

[Drake1588]

Capitals.

Happy with Ovechkin and Green without reservation. Thought Schultz was a poor pick given the other players left on the board at #27. Bourque is clearly a high-risk, high-reward pick. Pleased with Yunkov, who seems a safer pick, if less flashy. Think Lepisto has an outside shot. Hedman was a fine pick as late as the fifth round, though by accounts he is quite a long shot to make it. Realistically, three of the above ought to stick in the NHL, which would be an excellent tally for any team in any one draft. If more, so much the better.

 

[Chaos]

Mixed about this draft...One one hand, both Fransson and Grossman have been very impressive in the SEL, although Fransson hasn't quite been scoring as much as probably expected. However, taking Sawada at 52 with guys like O'Neill, McGrath, Sindel still on the board is a real mystery. Can't really judge Fistric as he has been injured, but he looks like a future #4/5 d-man, not bad, although we could have had Schremp or Wolski without trading down. Somewhat surprised we didnt take a flyer on a Finn in the later rounds, as we have had success lately with them(Kapanen, Miettinen, and Jokinen). All in all, if Fransson, Grossman, and Fistric pan out as projected, I will be happy with this draft.

 

[KingPurpleDinosaur]

The Garon trade may be the most important acquisition that organization's made since Wayne Gretzky. Mathieu Garon is a tremendous goaltender, I think he has the potential to be a top 5 goalie in the league.

if he has potential to be a top 10 goaltender, he'd be the best goaltender in the franchise since vachon. man, how pathetic...



but i agree with the others, kings did well by gettin garon. tukonen is a good pick, hope he pans out, not so sure why he's called a "steal" when he was picked at the 11 spot. but i have to say baier looks pretty decent. only seen him in one game, but he looked more solid then our highest ranked defensive prospect. if anyone is calling anyone a "steal", i would have guessed it'd be him. but myabe just saw him at a good game.

overall, we iddn't get any mcgrath like steals, but in our first 2 picks, we didn't pick poorly. the rest are just hopefuls, so give it the B or B+ grade.

 

[AH]

The Garon trade may be the most important acquisition that organization's made since Wayne Gretzky. Mathieu Garon is a tremendous goaltender, I think he has the potential to be a top 5 goalie in the league.

Oh Boy !!!

Calling Mathieu Garon a potential top five goalie is laughable at best. The guy can be a pretty good starting goalie, but nothing great. His history through Juniors and AHL tells us that he has a distinct ability to blow come crunch time. He has all the physical tools to be a great goalie, but his mental makeup is questionable.

That doesn't mean that the Kings did bad on draft day. They actually did pretty good.

 

[leafaholix*]

Oh Boy !!!

Calling Mathieu Garon a potential top five goalie is laughable at best. The guy can be a pretty good starting goalie, but nothing great. His history through Juniors and AHL tells us that he has a distinct ability to blow come crunch time. He has all the physical tools to be a great goalie, but his mental makeup is questionable.

That doesn't mean that the Kings did bad on draft day. They actually did pretty good.

Never saw him in the Q or AHL, but his numbers are great and he was a premier NHL backup last season. Calling him a potential top 5 goalie isn't a reach.

 

[Moskau]

Garon's a great goaltender... if you pull him before the 2nd and 3rd periods.

 

[leafaholix*]

Garon's a great goaltender... if you pull him before the 2nd and 3rd periods.

He's still pretty young and new to the league... so that's something that can be worked on.

 

[AH]

Never saw him in the Q or AHL, but his numbers are great and he was a premier NHL backup last season. Calling him a potential top 5 goalie isn't a reach.

Career numbers.

NHL Playoffs:
Garon: Inconclusive (1 game, 12 minutes)

AHL Playoffs
Garon: 3.32 (.880)

QMJHL Playoffs
Garon: 3.68

World Junior Championships
Garon (1998): 1.91 (2 wins, 3 losses), 8th place and ending Canada's 5 consecutive Gold medal streak.

He sounds more like a Patrick Lalime. Great in the regular season but not a guy you go to war with.

But anyways, I digress.

He's still pretty young and new to the league... so that's something that can be worked on.

Funny, he has had this problem from the time he was a Junior star.

 

[Safir*]

I'm a both a Thrashers & Senators fan.

IMHOThe Sens did pretty well. I absolutely love the selections of Meszoros, Lyamin & Wick. At #24 he was one (if not) the biggest steal(s) of the draft.

As a Thrashers fan my feeling are not that good. I was hoping for Thelen and was greatly disappointed, when Waddell went with Valabik and later added two other defenseman. Since Tukonen was still on the table, I really couldn't understand, why the Thrash skipped him.

 

[Captain Conservative]

Hawks fans are pretty pleased with the 04 crop. Barker, Bolland, etc, etc....

JIHAD!

 

[Levitate]

tukonen is a good pick, hope he pans out, not so sure why he's called a "steal" when he was picked at the 11 spot.

well cuz people thought he should have gone higher...he was a real good pick for that spot but not really a "steal". most of the people i've talked to that watch him play haven't felt he has a real high high potential...he's a good player that will likely make it to the NHL, produce points but he's not gonna be a real star or something.


eh, rangers draft...more happy with it now than i was originally. lot of "risky" players and not a lot of big names (besides montoya). i could have done without montoya and taken olesz or even tukonen instead but i don't mind having the prospect goaltending depth the rangers now enjoy...3 guys who have #1 potential (assuming blackburn gets back into action next month like they keep saying he should be). out of those 3, you'd expect at least one pans out...

i do like the korpikoski pick, he's just gonna take awhile to develop. could be a very good third liner or good second liner depending on how his offense goes, but he's a real competitor which is definatly the kind of player the rangers need.

after that...well olver and byers are kind of odd picks in a way...olver has a ton of skill but he's still so small (mainly his weight, only 160) and has a hard time scoring against the top teams in the NCAA. probably another guy who needs time to fill out, let him finish playing in college and see how he progresses...byers is also an odd second round pick...rangers must have seen something they liked in him but he's not much of a scorer, just an aggitator.

but guys like graham, ryan, callahan, dubinsky...all solid picks that have the potential to be good players, though all obviously have their drawbacks. not really any "big" names in there but all guys who are skilled and might turn into something. petruzalek is also an intriuging late round pick who's doing great in the OHL, leading rookies in scoring. and from all accounts, he's NOT riding kaspar's coattails

so eh, i'm happy enough...they got a lot of guys with a lot of skill, but only time will tell how they work out. lots of guys with lots of skill never make it to the NHL.