rticinelli
Registered User
I know this is a little late since the complete list has been out for at least a week, now, but I'm glad to see that HF didn't get caught up in all the "Fleury mania" that had captured soooo many board posters earlier in the season. Namely, that they kept Lehtonen over Fleury, and 1st overall. I agree completely with their final statement on him that he's the only player on the list worthy of a definite "franchise player" tag. I'm sure he won't be the only player to turn into a franchise player as many others have a very good shot at it (yes, Fleury, for instance), but he's definitely the cream of the crop!
One thing that did surprise me, though, was to see Zherdev slot in the 2nd spot. I never really put much stock in Nik, but with HF giving such a huge backing it made me take note. I've seen him play, and he's definitely skillfull with the stick . . . but do you see him as a potentially better hockey player overall than a Fleury, Suter, Phaneuf, Parise, etc etc?
One thing that did surprise me, though, was to see Zherdev slot in the 2nd spot. I never really put much stock in Nik, but with HF giving such a huge backing it made me take note. I've seen him play, and he's definitely skillfull with the stick . . . but do you see him as a potentially better hockey player overall than a Fleury, Suter, Phaneuf, Parise, etc etc?