Milan Michalek: Bad draft pick?

[OrrNumber4]

Was Milan Michalek a bad draft choice? I am by no means saying he is a bust, but many redrafts have him being picked in the late first round. He doesn't have the same stats as many of his draftmates, but he is developing nicely, and has appeared to have shaken off his knee injury.

Is the drop in his stock due to the stellar play of his draftmates or his own problems? Or, is it a combination of both?

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[The Mars Volchenkov]

His knee problems are the only reason his stock has dropped, IMO. Very talented guy.

 

[Epsilon]

Was Milan Michalek a bad draft choice? I am by no means saying he is a bust, but many redrafts have him being picked in the late first round.

I'd suggest you ignore redrafts done by board posters as a way to evaluate draft picks. Many of them are short-sighted and frequently contain biases.

 

[Legionnaire]

Re-drafts are pretty stupid when they were only drafted two-three years ago. Michalek has been progressing well. He's played solid d, and contributed on offense-(pp) when called upon.

 

[Owen]

Are you kidding? The guy missed TWO YEARS of hockey due to a knee injury so of course he got off to a slow start. The biggest knack in his game is his position. No not positioning, his position. He is gritty, but easy to knock off along the boards. With open ice though, he's very tough to knock off the puck. If he developed some faceoff skills (or maybe he has some already and the Sharks don't know it yet), the guy would be an outstanding center, instead of a good right winger.

 

[Pure Rock Fury*]

Three knee surgeries and two years replaced from the last time he played hockey, you can't expect him to come flying out of the gates.


Seeing him play these last few weeks, he's finally hitting his stride.

 

[Pure Rock Fury*]

He is gritty, but easy to knock off along the boards.

Actually, it's the exact opposite. This kid is a rock along the boards with the puck. Ask anybody over at the Sharks board who've been watching him all year.

 

[Mizral]

He's had very slow progress due to the injury. I still think he'll be a big-time offensive producer in this league, but it won't happen anytime soon. It'll be something like the Sedin twins - he'll take a few years more yet.

 

[MS]

I don't know if his progress is really that slow - he's on pace for nearly 20 goals this year, and his production is in exactly the same range as Carter, Richards, Brown, Parise, etc.

Richards is the highest-scoring #1 pick taken after Michalek, and only has 6 more points.

If the draft goes again, he still goes in the top half of the first round. Obviously a couple guys have passed him (Phaneuf, Carter, Suter) but that doesn't mean he was a 'bad' pick.

 

[bleedgreen]

i think he is sick - ive seen him a couple of times on tv and have been really impressed. not a bad pick at all.

 

[DaveG]

not a bad pick at all IMO. Give him time to develop and he won't dissapoint. The tallent is there, but coming back from knee surgery takes serious time, yet alone 3 of them.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Interesting, I never realized how closely his stats match others in the draft. I guess he does not get as much attention because he is playing on the west coast.

 

[littleguybigstik]

he is fully recovered from his injuries. he is in best shape ever right now. As soon as his hands catch up to his speed he will be a sniper. I have watched about 15 sj games and he is good for atleast one or two breakaways a game.

 

[DownFromNJ]

A lot of players from that draft are struggling right now. Why? Because they are very young playing in the NHL. Give them some time.

Guys like Michalek, Parise, Getzlaf, Kostitsyn, etc all have too much talent not to become good NHLers. They just are going through adjustment periods (or injury) that will last for a finite amount of time.

 

[Russian_fanatic]

NON SENSE! This kid is so good overall. His game really reminds me of Jere Lehtinen, and it wouldn't surprise me if he won a couple selke's in his career.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Star player in the making, IMO.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Yeah give him a break, he's still the second best Michalek in the NHL.

 

[Patty Ice]

The most fun guy to watch on the Sharks hands down (Ehrhoff a close second). Watching him glide around defenders is a near thing of beauty...it will only get prettier once he finishes those moves with more goals. The defense is already there (though not Selke consideration at this point) and he is tough in the corners which was one of his knocks during his draft year. My only complaint would be he is too easily knocked off his skates. However, he'll be downright scary once he gets a lil experience and confidence under his belt.

 

[Patty Ice]

Yeah give him a break, he's still the second best Michalek in the NHL.

Zbynek wishes he had the talent his lil bro possesses in his pinky finger

Seriously though, I love how he gets the most out of his ability and is a coup for the 'Yotes scouting staff.

 

[Limey FK]

Not at all, I am very very happy with Michalek.

The fact that he's getting all these scoring chances and creating most of them, to me, speaks very loudly of his skill and excites me for his potential.

At this point, he's still learning what it takes to score consistently in the NHL. If he weren't creating these chances, i'd be worried..

In MOST rookie campaigns he'd be up there in scoring. He's developing into a terrific all around player.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Zbynek wishes he had the talent his lil bro possesses in his pinky finger

Seriously though, I love how he gets the most out of his ability and is a coup for the 'Yotes scouting staff.

We're thrilled with Z. But I can't imagine two brothers being completed different types of players any more than these guys. Z is and will always be a strong, steady defense-first player but I doubt anyone will dispute the fact that he doesn't have the raw skill and offensive potential that Milan has.

We will keep him though.

 

[Year of the Shark!!!]

We're thrilled with Z. But I can't imagine two brothers being completed different types of players any more than these guys. Z is and will always be a strong, steady defense-first player but I doubt anyone will dispute the fact that he doesn't have the raw skill and offensive potential that Milan has.

We will keep him though.

Darn, I was about to propose Fahey for Z.

 

[X-SHARKIE]

When it's all said and done, especially if he continues to develope his chemsitry with Michalek like Lehtinen and Modano have..he'll be a bigger and faster Lehtinen, which is high praise.

The 2003 draft was an amazing one. Michalek may not score in the end like Carter, Perry, Getzlaf, but he'll be just as important and probally an all star some day.

He does a lot of the little things there are not stats for. Example: Sharks score the winning goal in overtime last night against Phoenix... Thornton & McLaren get the assists and Preissing scores, but it was Michalek using his speed to beat two Coyotes in the neutral zone to gain the zone, then his perfect screen in front of Joseph that set it all up.

He's just learning how to harness his offensive talents, especially that elite speed. This is his first year in a long time being asked to be a scorer...He was out for two years with knee surgeries, and before that as a 17 & 18 year old he was playing a defensive role in a defensive league in the Czech Elite league. So it's been at least four years since he's been asked to be a scorer when he was excellent for the U-18 teams.

He'll have a Sedin like development curve but once he is in his prime years 25-29 he'll be one of the games best two way forwards and an absolute horse...nothing wront with that.

Just wanted to add: Bernier is going to be an offensive stud.

Along with Carle, Hennessey, Pavelski the 2003 draft was a good one for the Sharks.

 

[Owen]

Actually, it's the exact opposite. This kid is a rock along the boards with the puck. Ask anybody over at the Sharks board who've been watching him all year.

Oh okay, I'll go ask one of them right now even though I only LIVE in San Jose. Maybe I'll restate what I said. He's strong on the puck and gritty along the boards, but he gets knocked down easily on the boards when he battles for the puck. That says <i>nothing</i> about how he plays when he's already got it.

 

[X-SHARKIE]

Oh okay, I'll go ask one of them right now even though I only LIVE in San Jose. Maybe I'll restate what I said. He's strong on the puck and gritty along the boards, but he gets knocked down easily on the boards when he battles for the puck. That says <i>nothing</i> about how he plays when he's already got it.

He's not easy, but he's not a rock like Cheechoo that's for sure..he's strong on his feet but he has room for improvement....but it's not like a wind could blow him over.