OPPF Draft Thread I

[ImporterExporter]

team name IE?

Going to go north of the border:

Ottawa Hockey Club

 

[BenchBrawl]

Chart added, if I missed some teams I made 3 extra spaces just in case.

The draft can begin.

 

[VanIslander]

The first Buckaroo is the 5-time NHL leader in goals scored and shorthanded goals scored, 4-time leader in shots, who scored 643 goals and 86 playoff goals in his first 10 seasons. If he had retired then, he would be remembered as much for his goal scoring as anything. While he went on to focus on passing more in his second decade of play, let's not forget that in his 15th pro season he scored an NHL playoff-leading 15 goals even though his Kings didn't make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, his sixteen seasons of being 1st in NHL assists is a staggering stat that overwhelms one's impressions of him. But let's not forget how potent his goal scoring was for an entire decade, and not discount his potting ability based on the fact that he went on to have a 21-year pro career. He has the most playoff goals (122) and most playoff game-winning goals (24) in NHL history. Remember, this was the kid who scored 378 goals by age 10. He learned early how to score all by his lonesome.



"When you think he's going to shoot, he'll pass;
and when you think he's going to pass, he'll shoot"
-- Andy Moog

 

[BenchBrawl]

Annnnnnnd it's on baby!

Obvious choice at #1.

Give me a moment to think, it's not so clear what I should do here.I have three options in mind.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Allright I'll start the madness by taking Denis Potvin, D.

Potvin is the only true #1 defenseman coming from a weak franchise, making him a unique piece in this game.

 

[ResilientBeast]

Locking down goaltending with a goalie from a weaker franchise as well as 1st/2nd all time. Dominik Hasek, G

 

[BenchBrawl]

Good stuff, no guts no glory.

 

[VanIslander]

Photos really pop on my smartphone. Hope everyone posts a pic. It is easy and fun to dig one up at google images.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Love the change of pace to the early picks!

 

[ImporterExporter]

Got a proxy pick for Tony D via Facebook.

Mario Lemieux, C, Penguins

 

[Johnny Engine]

Alexander Ovechkin

 

[BenchBrawl]

Got a proxy pick for Tony D via Facebook.

Mario Lemieux, C, Penguins

Great choice by tony.

Took me a lot of restraint not to take Mario given how weak Pittsburgh is.Ultimately Potvin being the sole #1 D from a weak franchise is what did it for me, but Lemieux was next.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Honestly, there are a few better strategic picks, and Boston is loaded on the blueline (and overall really) but at 6 I'm just going to go BOPA.

Bobby Orr, D, Boston Bruins

 

[BenchBrawl]

Honestly, there are a few better strategic picks, and Boston is loaded on the blueline (and overall really) but at 6 I'm just going to go BOPA.

Bobby Orr, D, Boston Bruins

It's probably the best decision all things considered, but who knows in this madness.At some point Orr is just too good.

 

[VanIslander]

I took Orr early last time and felt handcuffed when soooo many great players dropped and dropped and i couldnt touch them because they were Bruins.

 

[ImporterExporter]

It's probably the best decision all things considered, but who knows in this madness.At some point Orr is just too good.

Precisely.

It was tempting to go with 2 guys in particular because of the "pick a stud from a team with lesser depth" angle but I really couldn't let Orr fall to somebody in the late 1st. He's more or less the blue line equivalent of Gretzky in terms of pure dominance up and down the ice.

 

[ImporterExporter]

I took Orr early last time and felt handcuffed when soooo many great players dropped and dropped and i couldnt touch them because they were Bruins.

The struggle was/is reall haha. If I had picked any earlier I almost surely would have let him go. 6 is starting to get to the point where he's just too good IMO.

BTW, i did PM Iceman....

 

[Iceman]

hmmm...
HMMMMMM....

 

[Iceman]

Seals selects Bobby Hull, LW

 

[ck26]

The struggle was/is reall haha. If I had picked any earlier I almost surely would have let him go. 6 is starting to get to the point where he's just too good IMO.

What's better than cap space? Having a $10m superstar 1st line center signed long term.
What's better than roster flexibility? Having Bobby Orr. Always a good pick, whenever, always.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Just woke up, gotta admit both Hasek and Ovechkin were surprising picks to me yesterday, even considering the format.I thought I'd be the only one to skip on Orr and Lemieux.Intrigued to see how the teams develop.

 

[VanIslander]

I see solid reasons for each pick to date. The dynamic nature of looking at franchise depth and positional depth of nonO6 teams, as well as traditional positional needs, team strategy, player ranking and skillset, etc... makes for a lot of 'on the other hand...' kind of thinking.

Hasek, for instance, costs very little in terms of later options, and O6 goalies are the majority of the greatest ones, so this frees up an O6 non-goalie pick later compared to at least 6-8 other teams.

Ovechkin similarly, costs little and is at a position where most of the greatest players are O6ers or USSR, teams with sweet talent at other positions one would rather draft.

I did not want to start with a center because the traditional oversupply of centers is compounded by the wealth of O6 centers that will be left on the board. But of course there are other factors, and to get Gretz with such little cost in options later was too good to pass up.

 

[Iceman]

I see solid reasons for each pick to date. The dynamic nature of looking at franchise depth and positional depth of nonO6 teams, as well as traditional positional needs, team strategy, player ranking and skillset, etc... makes for a lot of 'on the other hand...' kind of thinking.

Hasek, for instance, costs very little in terms of later options, and O6 goalies are the majority of the greatest ones, so this frees up an O6 non-goalie pick later compared to at least 6-8 other teams.

Ovechkin similarly, costs little and is at a position where most of the greatest players are O6ers or USSR, teams with sweet talent at other positions one would rather draft.

I did not want to start with a center because the traditional oversupply of centers is compounded by the wealth of O6 centers that will be left on the board. But of course there are other factors, and to get Gretz with such little cost in options later was too good to pass up.

I started out with O6 partly because of scarcity at the position I picked. I had pretty much written the post to pick a center but changed my mind when I was about to press post.

Goaltending will be a particularly interesting position given the teams the best goaltenders played for. Last time around we were probably half as many teams.

 

[VanIslander]

Last time around we were probably half as many teams.

7 vs. 12 is a significant difference.

 

[BenchBrawl]

7 vs. 12 is a significant difference.

Oh yeah, the 12th best player is a huge drop from the 7th best, except maybe a franchise or two but even then.

Maybe that means some strategy was good for last draft but not for this one, we'll see.