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Where do you think Jiri Hudler goes in a 2002 redraft.
Remember people said we were getting a top 10 talent who slipped for reasons unknown? I do. I think some said he was a top 5 talent at one point.
There were concerns about attitude (given how his career finished, maybe that's not a surprise). There was something about a neck injury.
But mostly, it was because Hudler was 5'9 or 5'10 and wasn't a great skater.
Hudler is 7th in his draft class in scoring. He has a cup victory.
Let's say everyone above Hudler goes above him in a redraft. Filppula and Nielsen and Steen probably only outscored him because of longevity - but give them that. Plus Nielsen and Filppula were centers who had a good defensive game.
How many guys below would go above him?
For sure:
Bouwmeester.
Boychuk
Ward
Lehtonen
Maybe
Wideman.
Daley.
Wisniewski.
Ballard.
Higgins.
Whitney.
Lombardi.
Pitkanen.
Upshall.
PM Bouchard.
So 11th at best. Like 21st at worst.
What's got me thinking about Hudler? Marco Rossi.
Rossi will probably be less of a liability, defensively, than Hudler ever was. But I doubt he's ever really going to be a plus player, either, on the defensive side of things, despite how the kid was viewed in the OHL.
Either way, the Red Wings killed in the 02 draft, despite the 58th pick being their top pick.
Hudler, Filppula, Fleischmann (traded), and Ericsson all stand good chances of being first rounders in a redraft.
Meech also got some games in.
Remember people said we were getting a top 10 talent who slipped for reasons unknown? I do. I think some said he was a top 5 talent at one point.
There were concerns about attitude (given how his career finished, maybe that's not a surprise). There was something about a neck injury.
But mostly, it was because Hudler was 5'9 or 5'10 and wasn't a great skater.
Hudler is 7th in his draft class in scoring. He has a cup victory.
Let's say everyone above Hudler goes above him in a redraft. Filppula and Nielsen and Steen probably only outscored him because of longevity - but give them that. Plus Nielsen and Filppula were centers who had a good defensive game.
How many guys below would go above him?
For sure:
Bouwmeester.
Boychuk
Ward
Lehtonen
Maybe
Wideman.
Daley.
Wisniewski.
Ballard.
Higgins.
Whitney.
Lombardi.
Pitkanen.
Upshall.
PM Bouchard.
So 11th at best. Like 21st at worst.
What's got me thinking about Hudler? Marco Rossi.
Rossi will probably be less of a liability, defensively, than Hudler ever was. But I doubt he's ever really going to be a plus player, either, on the defensive side of things, despite how the kid was viewed in the OHL.
Either way, the Red Wings killed in the 02 draft, despite the 58th pick being their top pick.
Hudler, Filppula, Fleischmann (traded), and Ericsson all stand good chances of being first rounders in a redraft.
Meech also got some games in.
