Seven Round Snake Draft

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Alain Racette

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I've been off and on all day and this mock draft is quite a bit of fun, actually. In a way, it's like an RPG. We assume the roles of GMs and address a team's needs by selecting a player suited to fit (or the best player available, whichever option is better).

Too bad I don't have a second rounder (but hey, Calgary got Kipper out of it so I'm not complaining) :)

Keep it coming. I wonder who is getting the other Sudbury Wolf, Marc Staal? (h and Pouliot play for my hometown team! Go Wolves Go!)
 

Lowetide

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Feb 27, 2002
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salostyle said:
I haven't heard any replies or offers from any GMs yet as to what I (Florida) is dangling. Is something missing or does everyone just want to use their picks where there at? Or am I the only hardcore about this mock draft?

I'm NJD who draft at 14th I believe. If you still haven't made a deal by then and the guy you want is on the board we can chat. Lots of nice things on that Florida roster.
 

hab 4ever

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Alain Racette said:
You have no idea how hard it was for me to select a player at #3. I was hoping STL would select one of my three choices - Pouliot, Brule or Johnson - to narrow it down but STL didn't and I was racking my brain who to pick. With Phaneuf coming up, I did not want to use a first-rounder on a need Calgary has filled for a long time. I was stuck between Pouliot and Brule and since Calgary needed a winger (weak on the left side), I chose Pouliot.

(I also wanted Pouliot for sentimental value - he plays for my hometown Wolves and I have seen play a lot over the past year; he is the real deal!)

But yes, if Tampa selects Johnson, good for them. I was so tempted to have him AND Phaneuf. But I felt the scoring on the wing was bigger need to address.
I felt like Brule would have been a wonderful fit on that Calgary team. He is feisty, talented player. Still, Pouliot is a heck of a talent. I guess I can not second-guess you on that one, since you saw him play numerous times. Good to see this huge mock draft going !
 

petec1978*

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With the #4 pick the Tampa Bay Lightning select LW Jack Skille, USNTDP.
 

Larry Fisher

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Lowetide are you trying to move up to say #7 or #9 or even take advantage of Carolina...again...and grab the #8?

I know how much you like Marc Staal and I know the Devils defense might be depleted under the new CBA. There's a pretty realistic possibility that both Neidermayer and Rafalski will sign elsewhere and Stevens is aging and no longer as effective.

You have up and comers in Paul Martin and David Hale, but after that it's pretty bleak. Colin White and Richard Matvichuk are decent #3/4s and Sean Brown fills a #5/6 spot. The Devils' prospect pool on the blueline isn't very strong or well known, so adding a blue chip guy like Marc Staal would be huge.

If you can't move up or choose not to and one of my guys are still there at 14 I'll definitely be willing to negotiate.

Edit: It also appears Johnson is still available at #5 as well as Brule and Kopitar. This is crazy, I'm putting in an offer and I'm guessing the Devils will be all over this too because they love guys who fall (ie: Parise).
 

petec1978*

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Were this real life, somebody behind me would've stepped up to acquire that pick and take Johnson or Brule.
 

Lowetide

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salostyle said:
Lowetide are you trying to move up to say #7 or #9 or even take advantage of Carolina...again...and grab the #8?

I know how much you like Marc Staal and I know the Devils defense might be depleted under the new CBA. There's a pretty realistic possibility that both Neidermayer and Rafalski will sign elsewhere and Stevens is aging and no longer as effective.

You have up and comers in Paul Martin and David Hale, but after that it's pretty bleak. Colin White and Richard Matvichuk are decent #3/4s and Sean Brown fills a #5/6 spot. The Devils' prospect pool on the blueline isn't very strong or well known, so adding a blue chip guy like Marc Staal would be huge.

If you can't move up or choose not to and one of my guys are still there at 14 I'll definitely be willing to negotiate.

Edit: It also appears Johnson is still available at #5 as well as Brule and Kopitar. This is crazy, I'm putting in an offer and I'm guessing the Devils will be all over this too because they love guys who fall (ie: Parise).

I think those are two different issues. NJD need to shed some salary pronto but there's no one in this draft who can help immediately with the main holes in the swamp imo.

NJD will trade up or down and are open for business but aren't looking to move up and grab Johnson at this time.
 

petec1978*

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And for the record salostyle, because you've been getting on my nerves all day acting like a know-it-all, this isn't "crazy". Redline has Skille rated 4th overall and compares him favorably to Bill Guerin.

And your conjecture about my pick was totally off base. First, even if I were worried about Nikolai Khabibulin departing, I would not be attempting to replace him with an 18 year old kid like Price or Rask.

Second, when you claim Johnson would fill an "immediate and long term need", Johnson will be going to Michigan next year no matter who selects him and even if he were interested in signing the Lightning do not have a dire need for a defenseman with a top-4 that includes Boyle, Kubina, Sydor and Sarich.

And, in terms of the long term organizational needs, this team has made it their almost single-minded focus to draft defensive prospects over the last 3 drafts... which is why 6 of their top 11 prospects are defensemen in my view (Egener, Rogers, Ranger, O'Brien, Dicaire and Smaby). What the team lacks is scoring line prospects as they have only two I would rank of any quality (Polushin and Henrich) and Polushin has been resistant to coming to North America and Henrich underperformed the organization's expectations last season.

If, for some reason, St. Louis, Modin, Prospal or any one of the other scoring line players on the Lightning were to leave over the next 2-3 years the team would be hard pressed to find a replacement within their ranks... and call me crazy but I don't want to count on Eric Perrin or Dimitry Afanasenkov to have to fill the void. Skille strikes me as more bust proof than a 5'10" Brule and Kopitar who comes from a country which has never yielded an NHL player before.

Ideally I would've been able to move down 2-3 picks and acquire 2nd/3rd rounders (because I don't have any right now) and still get one of the quality forwards on the board. Unfortunately the nature of these message board mock drafts is that not everyone is always online and ready to do business with you. Were this real life, like I said, I'd have been getting more phone calls than the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

Finally, please refrain from posting condescending diatribes about other GMs after they make picks/trades from here on out salostyle. It's really disrespectful.
 

Skk82

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Lowetide said:
NJD will trade up or down and are open for business but aren't looking to move up and grab Johnson at this time.

i think that's realistic, usually you don't see 15-20 trades on draft day.

and remember, phoenix took blake wheeler 5th overall last year when just about everyone had him pegged as a late first rounder....if a team likes a guy and is unable to find a benefical trading partner it's not that uncommon to 'reach' and draft a guy higher than most thought he's go.

that said, it's pretty remarkable that johnson, kopitar and brule are still on the board five picks into the draft. anything could happen, but those three could be the next to hear their names called after crosby in the real thing!
 

Skk82

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Boltprospects said:
Finally, please refrain from posting condescending diatribes about other GMs after they make picks/trades from here on out salostyle. It's really disrespectful.

:clap: here, here. there's nothing wrong with a little commentary but this isn't a one person mock draft, lots of different fans have differing opinions on prospects and needs so there's nothing wrong with choosing how they see fit....and besides it's a mock draft for a reason.
 

Shane

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There's no right or wrong here, folks. Everyone has their own opinion. And for good reason too. What would be the point of doing this if everyone had the same opinion?
 

Anthony Mauro

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Boltprospects said:
Ideally I would've been able to move down 2-3 picks and acquire 2nd/3rd rounders (because I don't have any right now) and still get one of the quality forwards on the board. Unfortunately the nature of these message board mock drafts is that not everyone is always online and ready to do business with you. Were this real life, like I said, I'd have been getting more phone calls than the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

I'm sorry if I angered you in not dealing for the pick. There's a difference between being "ready to do business" and not getting a good deal.

Either way, I commed you for having the cajones to pick someone out of the ordinary HF top 5 loop. You may know something everyone else doesnt. ;)
 

Larry Fisher

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What can I say...it's raining and gloomy outside in Lloydminster today. The British Open and Calgary/Ottawa CFL football game (although decently exciting so far as it's on in the background) are not overly intriguing to me and so I've devoted a lot of my day to HFboards.

I am not trying to criticize other GMs, more so announce what I would do in their shoes and if they do something I feel is dumb I'm going to say so and try to back it up with reasoning. It adds to the "fun" level of mock drafts, a little constructive criticism and/or joking around never hurt anyone...feel free to criticize what the Panthers do in this draft.

Now that you sort of called me out, I feel compelled to comment on the Skille pick...although I was probably going to regardless.

Drafting Skille at #4 is not dumb. Trading down to #7-#10 and still getting a crack at Skille would have been smarter, but if there's no takers, there's no takers.

Skille does fill Tampa's future power forward need and if you're drafting by need rather than BPA or pure skill then I guess he's your guy at #4.
A top line power forward is something Tampa has never really had as Modin and Andreychuk are not elite power forwards.
However, Skille is the third best powerforward in this draft behind Bobby Ryan and Benoit Pouliot and for him to go at #4, three power forwards in the top 4, is highly unlikely IMO.

If I'm Tampa I'm still drafting Johnson at #4. Boyle, Kubina, Sydor and Sarich represent a decent top 4, but none of them are elite players. However, you guys should have some extra cap room to add another Top 2 or Top 4 guy, so the blueline will be "average" in the near future.

But as far as prospects go, none of those six you mentioned will ever be Top 2 guys and Egener is the only guy I would be even partially optimistic about. Rogers is big, but needs work in almost every part of his game other than size. The other four guys are future plugs, AHLers and ECHLers...nothing to hold your breath about.

Johnson's intentions are to go to Michigan, but his fate lies in the hands of the NHL team who picks him (most definitely in the Top 4). He is one of the most polished young defensemen in years and I've heard many scouts and draft agencies suggest he could step right in and contribute this year. If Tampa takes him at #4 and he has a good showing in camp, you can bet he'd be there on opening day and probably paired with Kubina or Sydor on the top unit.

You're right in saying you guys don't have many sure fire prospects up front either, but it is easier to acquire franchise forwards than frachise defensemen. A blue chipper like Jack Johnson comes along once every three or four years, but there is a solid power forward like Skille in every entry draft.
And seriously you're pretty set up front with Richards, Lecavalier and St. Louis all entering the prime of their career...that in itself is more than most, if not all, teams can boast in offensive firepower.

As for you looking to draft a goaltender, I was simply saying that might be the direction Tampa's real GM takes this year for the reasons I mentioned. Grahame is a good backup and could maybe share NHL duties when play resumes, but he wouldn't be one of the Top 20 starters in the league.
Gerald Coleman is decent, but he wasn't even the starter for the London Knights at the Memorial Cup and I personally don't see a future starter among your goaltending prospects.

This year's draft is deep with forwards and as a result a pair of talented goalies may drop out of the Top 10 and open the door for a team like Tampa to steal their future starter. A smart GM faced with Tampa's current goaltending situation, providing Khabibulin is going to test the market and not return, would definitely use this year's draft as an opportunity to snag one of the two top goaltenders in Price and Rask.
 

turnbuckle*

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It's come to the point where 6-footers are considered future "power forwards."

whatever happened to the day when there were only a handful of players considered power forwards, namely Neely, Tocchett, and Kevin Stevens? It used to be that you had to be tough (at least 150 PMs per season including fights), big (alll were above average in size), and a sniper (40+ goals). I realize the game has changed but it's gotten ridiculous. Now even relatively soft centers like Pouliot (a power forward is a winger, not a center) and 6-0 wingers like Skille are now considered future power forwards.

IMO deciding to pick Skille because Red Line likes him is silly (a little rhyme there). Given that line of thinking there'd be a team that picked Chistov first overall over Spezza and Kovalchuk, Kostitsyn and Hudler in the top four in their draft years,etc., etc. Woodlief always throws a player or two way above everybody else's ranking so that he "appears" to be different, and invariably these "reaches" are never taken where he predicts.

Skille may go in the top 10, but to pick him over the likes of Brule, Johnson and Kopitar because he "might" be a power forward who fills a need despite being average sized is most certainly questionable thinking.
 

CH Wizard

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turnbuckle said:
It's come to the point where 6-footers are considered future "power forwards."

whatever happened to the day when there were only a handful of players considered power forwards, namely Neely, Tocchett, and Kevin Stevens? It used to be that you had to be tough (at least 150 PMs per season including fights), big (alll were above average in size), and a sniper (40+ goals). I realize the game has changed but it's gotten ridiculous. Now even relatively soft centers like Pouliot (a power forward is a winger, not a center) and 6-0 wingers like Skille are now considered future power forwards.

IMO deciding to pick Skille because Red Line likes him is silly (a little rhyme there). Given that line of thinking there'd be a team that picked Chistov first overall over Spezza and Kovalchuk, Kostitsyn and Hudler in the top four in their draft years,etc., etc. Woodlief always throws a player or two way above everybody else's ranking so that he "appears" to be different, and invariably these "reaches" are never taken where he predicts.

Skille may go in the top 10, but to pick him over the likes of Brule, Johnson and Kopitar because he "might" be a power forward who fills a need despite being average sized is most certainly questionable thinking.


You're damn right, Skille isn't 6-4 220 lbs.The only one, I could see becoming a power forward would be Latendresse.He uses size to his advantage and etc...

TB needs a big power forward but Skille isn't a true power forward...Woodlief is going a little bit too far here...look at my post here

http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=3075366&postcount=6

Well, I'm not saying Boltprospects made a bad pick...Skille was maybe the guy he targeted since the draft started and will maybe fill a need there.
 

Lowetide

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turnbuckle said:
Skille may go in the top 10, but to pick him over the likes of Brule, Johnson and Kopitar because he "might" be a power forward who fills a need despite being average sized is most certainly questionable thinking.

Seems like there's kind of a split here between the experts and guys like me. I'll confess to being no draft expert, perhaps the "guru's" should hold their own draft?
 

petec1978*

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I'm sorry if I angered you in not dealing for the pick.

You didn't anger me at all... I'm just stating what I believe should be pretty self evident that in a real world scenario there would have been more than 2 teams contacting me about that pick.
 

Transplanted Caper

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Lowetide said:
Seems like there's kind of a split here between the experts and guys like me. I'll confess to being no draft expert, perhaps the "guru's" should hold their own draft?

thats the fun of it. sometimes the 'experts' are wrong.
 

Anthony Mauro

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Boltprospects said:
You didn't anger me at all... I'm just stating what I believe should be pretty self evident that in a real world scenario there would have been more than 2 teams contacting me about that pick.

OK thats good then, I just hate when I tell guys no...I literally take about 15 mins just trying to phrase my sentences over and over again to make it as nice sounding as it can get.

I guess since its a mock draft, and people dont really get any "rewards" in dealing their high pick for prospects, players, and future picks in 2006. Theres more of ooh-ing and ahh-ing when you draft a guy rather than trade the pick. BC its not like the draft here focuses on the real team and has any future effect like it would in a sim league. Does that make any sense? lol
 
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