if the 2003 draft could be done all over again...

[Chimaera]

where do you think Fehr belongs?

I don't think he's gone up a ton, but I'd think he'd be closer to the top 15 then 20 and down.



Rankings from 2 years ago are extremely difficult and relatively ill-founded examinations on a process that will take 2-3 more years at the earliest. I think we'd have a better clue had there been hockey last year.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

Seabrook is easily a top 3 player out of this draft. He's been just as impressive as Phaneuf has been on a poor Chicago team.

Sure, but i can name about 5 other guys who have been just as impressive, then guys with bigger upsides then Seabrook. He wouldnt go #3 overall, no way. Staal, Horton, Phaneuf, Vanek, Fleury guys like that IMO would still go higher.

Horton had little play last year? He stank in San Antonio and he hurt his shoulder again. His durability is going to be a big question mark. Two major shoulder surgeries in two years for a power forward. Thanks, but I'll take the sure bet, as I'm sure most others will. The other thing with Richards that Horton can't match is Richards' winning pedigree. He's won everywhere he's been. Horton can't say that. That goes a long way in player development, whether you want to admit it or not.

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He didnt stink, i dont know where you got that from. Whenever a guy has a serious injury like that, he isnt gonna come back and play like he can straight away. His injuries are a possible concern i will give you that but most people would rather have a healthy Horton over a healthy Richards. What the hell is a winning pedigree? Won everywhere he has been, WOW, richards is winning on a great flyers team and Horton is losing on a bad panthers team. Yeah screw horton, lets take Richards based on that
You seem to forget how well Horton is playing, the kid is a beast.

As for the whole Fleury debate, he has played great this year. He was the best available goaltender in the draft and would go top #10 again. Teams love to take this potential all star goaltenders early on. Fleury's development is going well this year, and why i still think he wont be an elite elite goalie, he could end up being one.

Zherdev the next Daigle? Its a little early to be calling him daigle. Zherdev still in my eyes would go top #10 based on sheer potential.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

He also started 03/04 on fire as well and we all know what happened that year. I know that I'm in the minority on here, but I don't think MAF is a franchise goalie. He'll be a good goalie, but he isn't franchise. I don't even think Lehtonen is going to be a franchise goalie either. The days of the Patrick Roys, Martin Brodeurs, Dominik Haseks are going to be a long time waiting. The best of the young goalies right now is probably Toivonen in Boston.

He got sent down for money purposes, and he was an 18 yr old kid playing in the best hockey league in the world. Yeah terrible. Lehtonen has franchise potential.

 

[Darz]

Hard to get into the minds of the 30 GM's around the leauge, but I would wager in hindsight all 30 GM's would have Staal #1 on their 2003 draft list.

 

[Epsilon]

Some of the low rankings being given to Thomas Vanek are fairly laughable, especially given that he's outplaying several of the players I've seen listed ahead of him.

 

[Transported Upstater]

I think, personally, that this draft has so many impact players that it is hard to mention them all.

Eric Staal, Nathan Horton and Patrice Bergeron all made their teams straight out of camp, and two of them were 18 at the time. Very impressive on their part.

I think Eric Staal, Dion Phaneuf and M-A Fleury are the best forward, defenseman and goalie in this draft, respectively.

The jury's still out on a lot of these picks. There are only a few that seem awful right now (Jessiman by New York, for example), but it is several years too early to make a real judgement.

You usually can't see the true impact of a draft class for 5 years or so. However, some of the players are truly advanced for their age, and have made an impact sooner (Staal, Phaneuf, for example.)

Let's just say that their are plenty of teams very pleased with how that draft turned out.