About 60% of players drafted between 20-30 don't really become better than something you can easily pick up on waivers. This is a bad pick, and looks to be an obvious miss, but it happens a lot in the late 1st. This one is just really noticeable because it looks to be happening quickly and he was such an outlier of a pick against consensus. A 5th D-man in the late first is pretty much a single. Now, you'd really like to get a peripheral core guy who can be a top 9 forward, a top 4 D or a starting goalie, but you get those about 40% of the time. People dramatically over-estimate what you are likely to get with a late first.
It's just that, as a team, MN is desperate for top 6 C's and forward skill, with Koivu and Staal getting well on in years...and Veleno was just sitting there. I know it's easy to be a Monday morning QB, but I wanted Veleno when it came clear he was available. Would've understood taking Noel, or Bokk, Thomas...didn't even know who FJo was.
While Veleno is no sure thing, would anyone be surprised if he ends up having a NHL career as a middle six C, or a top 6 forward?
FJo meanwhile...the odds aren't looking good for him. When will he even play in the SEL? I mean, I don't want to get too hysterical, because he is playing in a men's league(poor man's ECHL), and not HS, but it sounds like the Wild scouting staff fell in love with the idea of a RH Brodin, and based their pick off of a very small sample size, last year's playoffs, where FJo looked good.
Hope I am wrong and we are all laughing at me in 3-4 years time, with Veleno having a mediocre career in the AHL and Johansson playing in our top 4...