TheDebater
Peace be upon you
Before I begin, I must make it clear so that it does not become the topic of discussion: I hated the pick back then and I still do, and have always resented Muckler for it, however...
With all this draft talk overkill leading up to the 2020 draft tomorrow, I figured there is a chance one of our picks ends up being a shocker and saw it only fitting that break down and dissect arguably the most shocking draft pick in Senators history; Brian Lee, selected 9th overall in 2005.
On the surface, that pick is absolutely brutal, and there is no denying it, not only because at the time it was clear that there were two remaining top end talents available (Kopitar and M. Staal), but rather because Brian Lee was ranked somewhere in the late 1st round to early second round by most scouts.
However, let us take a look at who was drafted before and after Mr. Brian Lee, that might lead us to "excuse" the decision by Muckler and co. to take a risk and draft him in what was already a controversial draft. Keep in mind the 2005 draft, also known as the Crosby draft was a full lottery involving all 30 teams at the time:
Take a moment to truly take in how terrible that draft was. In fact, I am convinced it was probably one of the most over-rated drafts ever simply because it provided us with arguably the best player of our generation in Sidney Crosby---and very little after that.
With news that Jack Johnson has been bought out by the Penguins earlier today, along with Bobby Ryan last week, that makes two players drafted in the top 3 to have been bought out of big contracts that they never lived up to. The other two players to round out the top 5 were Benoit Pouliot, who is no longer in the NHL, and Carey Price...another controversial signing with the potential to be bought in a few years.
When looking at the statistics of that draft, Brian Lee actually ranks 17th out of 30 in points scored, in only 200 games played. There were also 11 other players from that first round who played less games than Brian Lee. Less games. We are talking about 11 other teams who had players play less than 200 games in the NHL from that draft (not including Luc Bourdon who passed away tragically at a young age).
This has been a long enough post, so I will save some of the blabber for anyone interested enough to engage in debating this decision and whether anyone agrees that maybe, it was not as horrible a decision as it may have appeared on the surface.
With all this draft talk overkill leading up to the 2020 draft tomorrow, I figured there is a chance one of our picks ends up being a shocker and saw it only fitting that break down and dissect arguably the most shocking draft pick in Senators history; Brian Lee, selected 9th overall in 2005.
On the surface, that pick is absolutely brutal, and there is no denying it, not only because at the time it was clear that there were two remaining top end talents available (Kopitar and M. Staal), but rather because Brian Lee was ranked somewhere in the late 1st round to early second round by most scouts.
However, let us take a look at who was drafted before and after Mr. Brian Lee, that might lead us to "excuse" the decision by Muckler and co. to take a risk and draft him in what was already a controversial draft. Keep in mind the 2005 draft, also known as the Crosby draft was a full lottery involving all 30 teams at the time:
Take a moment to truly take in how terrible that draft was. In fact, I am convinced it was probably one of the most over-rated drafts ever simply because it provided us with arguably the best player of our generation in Sidney Crosby---and very little after that.
With news that Jack Johnson has been bought out by the Penguins earlier today, along with Bobby Ryan last week, that makes two players drafted in the top 3 to have been bought out of big contracts that they never lived up to. The other two players to round out the top 5 were Benoit Pouliot, who is no longer in the NHL, and Carey Price...another controversial signing with the potential to be bought in a few years.
When looking at the statistics of that draft, Brian Lee actually ranks 17th out of 30 in points scored, in only 200 games played. There were also 11 other players from that first round who played less games than Brian Lee. Less games. We are talking about 11 other teams who had players play less than 200 games in the NHL from that draft (not including Luc Bourdon who passed away tragically at a young age).
This has been a long enough post, so I will save some of the blabber for anyone interested enough to engage in debating this decision and whether anyone agrees that maybe, it was not as horrible a decision as it may have appeared on the surface.
