Looking back at 2001's first rounders.

[Belizarius]

Not that I know of. I don't think that he did.

My bad, you're right.
Maybe a bust so...

 

[Bryzga lol*]

Good read. Kovalchuk and Spezza alone makes it a good draft year, let alone the rest. But 2002 and 2003 are already looking like better draft years than 2001. Scouts are getting better every year and the players selected are usually the right ones.

 

[espo*]

I dont know about that.

I wouldnt take any of the next 4 picks of this draft over Komisarek. You have to go 5 picks later to get a player that might/is worthy of an higher selection. I'm quite happy with Komisarek looking at those 4 players.

Pascal Leclaire -
Tuomo Ruutu -
Dan Blackburn -
Fredrik Sjostrom -

The next four sure,but what about guys in the other slots like hamhuis and Hemsky for example?

I'd gladly take either of those guys now over Komi.I'm not concerned where guys were taken years earlier and who went after who in what position........just how they've turned out.I don't have the draft print out right here in front of me but i think the guy who made this thread has them in order of pick and i'm pretty sure guys like i mentioned went after Komi. if so......................that means we could have had them instead.Needless to say i'm not as crazy about the Komi pick as you are then.

But like you said......... we could have done worse,i've seen us do it plenty of times the last 10-15 years.Just that we could have done appreciably better.

But you don't know on draft day of course.It's all good and well to see it know.

 

[Levitate]

Good read but...

Morrison was probably the Caps best D-man this season, not a "2nd or 3rd pairing guy"

being the caps best D-man isn't saying much

I'd say Morrison can be a good 2nd pairing guy. a #3 type defensman, but not a true 1st pairing guy unless paired with someone really good

not saying the guy isn't good...but he doesn't scream "top pairing defenseman!" to me exactly.

 

[s7ark]

I dunno...its been 5 years and i think that is plenty of time to gauge where a prospect should turn up (although with injuries its different of course). Call him a bust? I think its a fair call.

I dunno, sometimes guys just develop slowly. The Oil drafted Mikhnov with their 1st in 2000 and it is just this next season he is even coming over from Russia(hopefully). That being said, he still has a shot at stepping right in as a 2nd line winger next season. So I wouldn't label a guy like him a bust even though it's been 6 years.

Although he might be an exceptional circumstance. Some Oiler fans were unconvinced that the kid even existed for the first few years.

Oh and Hemsky has 100 point potential. For sure.

 

[The Viking Fury]

being the caps best D-man isn't saying much

I'd say Morrison can be a good 2nd pairing guy. a #3 type defensman, but not a true 1st pairing guy unless paired with someone really good

not saying the guy isn't good...but he doesn't scream "top pairing defenseman!" to me exactly.

Depends. He's been very good on the caps, despite having to change partners a few times. He's not a very noticeable guy because he's not flashy, and he doesn't get PP time, but he;s shut down teams best players on a few occasions this past season. He was also the only plus player. On most teams he wouldn't be a first pairing guy this year, but in a few he will, barring a catastrophic, Maxime Oullet-like descent

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Good read. Kovalchuk and Spezza alone makes it a good draft year, let alone the rest. But 2002 and 2003 are already looking like better draft years than 2001. Scouts are getting better every year and the players selected are usually the right ones.

2003, yes, 2002, I don't buy it. That draft wasn't too special after the first 4.

 

[Tadite]

Karlsson just signed with the Kings, isn't it? A little too soon for the bust status, but "slow development" would be acurate.
.

What? I think you must have miss-read something. Karlsson didn't get a contract and is now no longer Kings property.

Did we kings fans miss his signing?

 

[Winston Wolf]

I dont know about that.

I wouldnt take any of the next 4 picks of this draft over Komisarek. You have to go 5 picks later to get a player that might/is worthy of an higher selection. I'm quite happy with Komisarek looking at those 4 players.

Pascal Leclaire -
Tuomo Ruutu -
Dan Blackburn -
Fredrik Sjostrom -

You'd be nuts not to take Ruutu over Komisarek. Nuts. And yes, that is taking Ruutu's injury situation into consideration. The potential reward far outweighs the risk of losing a player the caliber of Mike Komisarek.

 

[Amadeus]

Carlo Colaiacovo was playing some great hockey before he got injured. He will get minutes as the Leafs number 4 defenseman next year. He is healthy now. When he was playing last year he was making good passes, playing good defensively, and most of all...hitting everything in sight. He was become a crowd favorite until he got injured against Ottawa. The hits on Bertuzzi and Guerin were priceless.

 

[turnbuckle*]

I dunno...its been 5 years and i think that is plenty of time to gauge where a prospect should turn up (although with injuries its different of course). Call him a bust? I think its a fair call.

Calling a player I surmise that you know little or nothing about a bust 5 years after his draft is far from fair.

Jason Marshall was a top ten pick labelled a complete bust right up until he was 25 1/2 years old. Since then he's played in more than 500 NHL games, and is now in the top ten in games played among first round picks from 1989. If someone had told you a decade ago that someday Marshall would justify his 9th selection in the 89 draft they would have thought you were nuts.

Aaron Ward was a top five pick labelled a big bust five years after his selection in 1991; there were still grumblings three years later when he still wasn't a regular on Detroit's vaunted defence. Well; 10 years later he's arguably one of the top 6 or 7 players left from the first round of that draft, playing for his 3rd Stanley Cup ring, with at least three or four solid seasons left in him.

Six years after being drafted in the first round by NYI, Todd Bertuzzi was being labelled a bust having never scored more than 10 goals in an NHL season since his rookie campaign. Three years later he was one of the top wingers in the game.

Before this season Tim Connolly was being called a bust, same with Pyatt.

There are dozens of examples, Ollie Jokinens if you will, so it's not fair to write off anyone at this point

 

[Kirk Muller*]

Is it just me or does the 2001 draft look like it was a really good draft? I'm not talking about the top picks, but about the overall number of players who are currently in the NHL. Only a few teams seem to have really struck out completely.

Speaking of Foster, I remember the announcers being surprised at the selection at the time, and he really hasn't had any luck with injuries. He's played only 144 games in the last 6 years, including a stretch from 2000 to 2003 where he only played 41 games.

 

[Vintage93]

Good read, thanks for taking the time to do this. It was a pretty good draft year but as previously mentioned not as good as 03.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

Chuck Kobasew - Seems to do many things right but it never shows on the score sheet. Will be a solid 3rd liner.

.

Dr. Charles Kobasew had a twenty goal season averaging less then 12 minutes per game. Facts get in the way of the "never shows on the score sheet" poop you poped out of your mouth.

 

[nomorekids]

god, i love this draft.

and getting hamhuis at 12...unbelievable. aside from kovalchuk and spezza, there's not another guy I'd rather have in the draft.

 

[Squeaky]

Dr. Charles Kobasew had a twenty goal season averaging less then 12 minutes per game. Facts get in the way of the "never shows on the score sheet" poop you poped out of your mouth.

Wow, way to slam a guy for expressing a fairly reasonable opinion. 54 points in 170 games in his career counts as never showing on the score sheet in my books. 20 goals in 77 games is only mildly impressive, even for a guy getting his minutes at his age. Doesn't mean he's a bust or going to be a third liner or anything, but there is evidence to support the other posters opinion. It certainly wasn't poop popping out of his mouth.

 

[God Bless Canada]

Spezza will score a lot more than 70-80 points per year. I think 90-100 points is going to be the norm for him. He has all-world puck skills and hockey sense. One of the top playmaking centres in the game, and I think there is still some room for improvement. I don't know if he'll maintain his PPG clip on an annual basis, but the only way he scores 70 points in any season over the next five years is if he plays 50 games. The kid is that smart.

Kovalchuk is one of the topgame-breaking goal scorers in the game. He has everything you want in a goal scorer. But his finish to the season left me wanting more. A lot more. With his team vying for a playoff spot, and needing production from him in the worst way, he went pointless in his last three games.

I don't think Weiss is ever going to be that perennial all-star, all-round force we expected him to be. He's going to be a player, but I think it's more in the second line, two-way player mould, instead of a guy who scores 80-90 points per season.

Svitov is one of the biggest draft day disappointments in a long time. Everything you could want in a second line power centre. The type of player who is your MVP at playoff time. And the scary thing is, he was projected as a very NHL ready prospect.

Here's the thing about Umberger and Kobasew and why I don't see much for future improvements. They were both college players drafted in the old college eligibility rules. Thus, they're both a year older than their fellow Class of 2001 draftees. If Umberger can maintain his consistency, I think he'll develop into a nice second line power forward. But 80 points? Is there another RJ Umberger out there? I think Kobasew has the potential to get 25, maybe 30 goals. But he's never been known for his playmaking ability, and I'd be surprised if his assist total regularly surpasses his goal total. A nice, two-way player for your second line. I thought he could be a Ryan Smyth type, but he just doesn't have Smyth's hands for deflections or instincts.

 

[digitalmonkey*]

Carlo Colaiacovo was playing some great hockey before he got injured. He will get minutes as the Leafs number 4 defenseman next year. He is healthy now. When he was playing last year he was making good passes, playing good defensively, and most of all...hitting everything in sight. He was become a crowd favorite until he got injured against Ottawa. The hits on Bertuzzi and Guerin were priceless.

No, he isn't healthy now.

 

[God Bless Canada]

Is it just me or does the 2001 draft look like it was a really good draft? I'm not talking about the top picks, but about the overall number of players who are currently in the NHL. Only a few teams seem to have really struck out completely.

Speaking of Foster, I remember the announcers being surprised at the selection at the time, and he really hasn't had any luck with injuries. He's played only 144 games in the last 6 years, including a stretch from 2000 to 2003 where he only played 41 games.

2001 was supposed to be a very strong draft. I've been a little disappointed by it. The top two picks are well on their way to being the offensive stars they were supposed to be. But after that, there are an above average number players who aren't going to meet expectations. In 10 years, I think we're going to look back on it the same way as look at the 2002 Draft: a strong top end, but after that, a fairly sharp drop-off.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I dont know about that.

I wouldnt take any of the next 4 picks of this draft over Komisarek. You have to go 5 picks later to get a player that might/is worthy of an higher selection. I'm quite happy with Komisarek looking at those 4 players.

Pascal Leclaire -
Tuomo Ruutu -
Dan Blackburn -
Fredrik Sjostrom -

If you already had Leclaire in your system, the Habs could’ve picked Gilbert Brule last year.

 

[BritSabre]

amazing how many players in the first round of this draft have struggled with injuries:

Stephen Weiss has been struggling in the NHL with injuries, just 41 this year and 50 in 2003-04.
Tuomo Ruutu had a lot of trouble this year with just 15 games
Dan Blackburn had to retire because of recurring injuries
Colaiacovo had troubles this season too, dont know how serious whether theyre going to be career threatening
Adrian Foster played just 8 AHL games this year, sucks for him

only 5 i suppose, but more than other years...

 

[Rand]

No, he isn't healthy now.

Colaiacovo and the doctors are inclined to disagree.
Cola recovered from the concussion a few months back now almost, the initial career ending fears have long since completely dissipated. He was playing contact hockey in practice in late April with the Marlies.

 

[stardog]

Calling a player I surmise that you know little or nothing about a bust 5 years after his draft is far from fair.

Jason Marshall was a top ten pick labelled a complete bust right up until he was 25 1/2 years old. Since then he's played in more than 500 NHL games, and is now in the top ten in games played among first round picks from 1989. If someone had told you a decade ago that someday Marshall would justify his 9th selection in the 89 draft they would have thought you were nuts.

Aaron Ward was a top five pick labelled a big bust five years after his selection in 1991; there were still grumblings three years later when he still wasn't a regular on Detroit's vaunted defence. Well; 10 years later he's arguably one of the top 6 or 7 players left from the first round of that draft, playing for his 3rd Stanley Cup ring, with at least three or four solid seasons left in him.

Six years after being drafted in the first round by NYI, Todd Bertuzzi was being labelled a bust having never scored more than 10 goals in an NHL season since his rookie campaign. Three years later he was one of the top wingers in the game.

Before this season Tim Connolly was being called a bust, same with Pyatt.

There are dozens of examples, Ollie Jokinens if you will, so it's not fair to write off anyone at this point

Thats swell. But lets look at the law of averages and for every Jason Marshall, Aaron Ward and Taylor Pyatt you can name, I could name 1000 more Robert Dome's Milan Krafts etc to counter the point you just made. I am not ignorant enough to defend the position that there are no such things as late bloomers by any stretch of the imgination. But I am going to say it is fair to call Karlsson a bust as he has shown not much in the way of hope for an NHL future.
So please, we could name players all day long to support our side of the argument (although I could come up with triple the playes you could and then some) but saying this player in particular is a bust is fair just as saying the players you named are the excepton is equally fair.

 

[digitalmonkey*]

Colaiacovo and the doctors are inclined to disagree.
Cola recovered from the concussion a few months back now almost, the initial career ending fears have long since completely dissipated. He was playing contact hockey in practice in late April with the Marlies.

Really? Then a friend of mine who writes for the Hockey News and knows Colaiacovo personally must be delusional. He attended a Leafs game late in the season and Colaiacovo shared a box with him. He was far from healthy.

 

[Adam91]

Munro still has some good potential and looked good in limited action. Although I have a feeling Crawford is higher on the Hawks depth chart