''Weak'' 2002 First-round looking strong

[Form and Substance]

The first round is underrated.

Just look

1.Rick Nash -----------Franchise Forward
2.Kari Lehtonen-------Franchise Goaltender
3.Jay Bouwmeester---All-star calibre defenseman
4.Jani Pitkanen--------Franchise defenseman
5.Ryan Whitney-------number 1 D
6.Joffrey Lupul--------Scored 28 goals...possible 50 goal scorer
7.Scottie Upshall-----Feisty First-second line winger
8.Pierre-Marc Bouchard--Playmaker extraordinaire...will put up 100pts
9.Petr Taticek----------coming around...future 3rd liner
10.Eric Nystrom------Role player and future captain
11.Keith Ballard-----Number 1 D in Pheonix or will soon be
12.Steve Eminger----Expect the Caps to rely on him a lot
13.Alexander Semin--Future all-star if he decides to come over (if he's allowed that is)
14.Chris Higgins-----Future Jere Lehtinen
15.Jesse Niinimaki---Looks like a bust...3rd-4th line upside MAX
16.Jarub Klepis----Showed nice flashes in his short stint...will have timeto shine
17.Boyd Gordon---Will establish himself as a regular next season
18.Denis Grebeshkov-Ditto for him + higher upside
19.Jakub Koreis---Dunno about him but isn't progressing offensively that's for sure
20.Daniel Paille----Despite all the talent on the Sabres roster...this guy is what you'll need to carry you
21.Anton Babchuk---Was a highly sought after prospect for a while...Malakhov like
22.Sean Bergenheim---Will be a very useful speedy winger for years to come
23.Ben Eager--Never understood why he was picked in the first threerounds let alone the first round...seems to be coming around.
24.Alexander Steen--Solid two way forward with nice offensive upside
25.Cam Ward---I hate that bast))ard but he deserves all the hosannas in the world for his stellar play in the post-season...future Vezina candidate
26.Martin Vagner----All-star defenseman..ha not! complete and utter bust (you gotta have one!)
27.Mike Morris----I have NO clue who this guy is even though he's a first rounder
28.Jona Johansson---Even though he's played in the ECHL, I can see him make an NHL roster in some capacity.
29.Hannu Toivonen---Awesome pick...future number 1 goalie for Boston
30.Jim Slater------Gritty third second liner a la Shawn Macheachern

Click to read more...

 

[Vyse64]

Niinimaki is a bust, its almost 99% sure that he not going to get re-signed by Edmonton in the off-season

 

[Hockey-Freak]

Agreed.
I´d say the overall talent is much better than that of 04 (and 06 for sure).

good enough for 1st round:

Nash, Leightonen, Bouwmeester, Pitkanen, Whitney, Lupul, Upshall, Bouchard, Ballard, Eminger, Ward, Toivonen, Semin

and this guys, who will be good but not special in my opinion:

Higgins, Grebeshkov, Babchuk, Steen


And there are some 2nd-rounders, who now would be in the 1st easily:

Stoll, Harding, Stajan maybe Brent and Lombardi, too.



So we have about 20 players who would have been 1st rounders in every average draft. That´s really not so bad though I wouldn´t say it´s a strong year mainly because there´s nearly NOTHING behind the listed players.

But this 1st-round, like it has been drafted, is weak in my opinion! Almost half of them are busts or better 3rd-4th-round picks.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Niinimaki is a bust, its almost 99% sure that he not going to get re-signed by Edmonton in the off-season

There's no way the Oiler's will sign him. If they don't sign him, they get the 45th overall pick. And he's not worth that now. So the math is simple.

Albeit, Jesse has played better recently, he still has a long way to go and needs to elevate his work ethic. And consistency from shift to shift, too often hes nowhere on 1 shift while a star the next.

 

[Crosby=Gretzky]

The first round is underrated.

Just look

1.Rick Nash -----------Franchise Forward
2.Kari Lehtonen-------Franchise Goaltender
3.Jay Bouwmeester---All-star calibre defenseman
4.Jani Pitkanen--------Franchise defenseman
5.Ryan Whitney-------number 1 D
6.Joffrey Lupul--------Scored 28 goals...possible 50 goal scorer
7.Scottie Upshall-----First-second line winger
8.Pierre-Marc Bouchard--Playmaker extraordinaire...will put up 100pts
9.Petr Taticek----------coming around...future 3rd liner
10.Eric Nystrom------Role player and future captain
11.Keith Ballard-----Number 1 D in Pheonix or will soon be
12.Keith Eminger----Expect the Caps to rely on him a lot
13.Alexander Semin--Future all-star if he decides to come over (if he's allowed that is)
14.Chris Higgins-----Future Jere Lehtinen
15.Jesse Niinimaki---Looks like a bust...3rd-4th line upside MAX
16.Jarub Klepis----Showed nice flashes in his short stint...will have timeto shine
17.Boyd Gordon---Will establish himself as a regular next season
18.Denis Grebeshkov-Ditto for him + higher upside
19.Jakub Koreis---Dunno about him but isn't progressing offensively that's for sure
20.Daniel Paille----Despite all the talent on the Sabres roster...this guy is what you'll need to carry you
21.Anton Babchuk---Was a highly sought after prospect for a while...Malakhov like
22.Sean Bergenheim---Will be a very useful speedy winger for years to come
23.Ben Eager--Never understood why he was picked in the first threerounds let alone the first round...seems to be coming around.
24.Alexander Steen--Solid two way forward with nice offensive upside
25.Cam Ward---I hate that bast))ard but he deserves all the hosannas in the world for his stellar play in the post-season...future Vezina candidate
26.Martin Vagner----All-star defenseman..ha not! complete and utter bust (you gotta have one!)
27.Mike Morris----I have NO clue who this guy is even though he's a first rounder
28.Jona Johansson---Even though he's played in the ECHL, I can see him make an NHL roster in some capacity.
29.Hannu Toivonen---Awesome pick...future number 1 goalie for Boston
30.Jim Slater------Gritty third second liner a la Shawn Macheachern

It's Steve Eminger.

 

[FrankMTL]

Agreed.
I´d say the overall talent is much better than that of 04 (and 06 for sure).

good enough for 1st round:

Nash, Leightonen, Bouwmeester, Pitkanen, Whitney, Lupul, Upshall, Bouchard, Ballard, Eminger, Ward, Toivonen, Semin

and this guys, who will be good but not special in my opinion:

Higgins, Grebeshkov, Babchuk, Steen


And there are some 2nd-rounders, who now would be in the 1st easily:

Stoll, Harding, Stajan maybe Brent and Lombardi, too.



So we have about 20 players who would have been 1st rounders in every average draft. That´s really not so bad though I wouldn´t say it´s a strong year mainly because there´s nearly NOTHING behind the listed players.




But this 1st-round, like it has been drafted, is weak in my opinion! Almost half of them are busts or better 3rd-4th-round picks.

I think Steen and Higgins can be special players, they both had very good years. Higgins had 23 goals in his rookie year...people are predicting him to be a Jere Lehitinen type player...I think thats pretty special. All 30 teams would love to have Lehtinen playing for them.....

 

[therealdeal]

No, Nystrom (assuming this is the Flames Nystrom) will not do anying, and definetly not the future captain on the flames, hopefully maybe one day he might be good enough to crack the 3rd line.

 

[timlap]

Agreed.
I´d say the overall talent is much better than that of 04 (and 06 for sure).
. . .
So we have about 20 players who would have been 1st rounders in every average draft. That´s really not so bad though I wouldn´t say it´s a strong year mainly because there´s nearly NOTHING behind the listed players.

I think your concept of an average first round is skewed. Take a look at the first round from each decade of the 90s (because we pretty much know how those guys have turned out) and you might see what I mean.

The returns on 2002 are very promising so far, though it's still early.

And as for saying 02 is better than 06 "for sure," I think we need to wait a long time before making conclusions about that. Part of the lesson of this thread, in fact, is that we should take with a grain of salt any prophecies about a draft being "weak" or "strong." Even if those prophecies are widely believed (in the age of the internet, everyone has the same opinion ).

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

This draft isn't weak. I mean it has 4 Franchise players in it, and some other very good players. I'd call it an average draft. imagine this draft in the 90's. Everyone would be calling it very strong. Drafts in the 90's were pretty poor.

 

[Hug Ben Laf]

Ok, how come Pitkanen is a franchise d-men and JayBo is not? the guy is just awesome and from this season on he is Panthers franchise d-men.

 

[BuppY]

Stajan was a solid pick in the 2nd round.

 

[Le Golie]

Ok, how come Pitkanen is a franchise d-men and JayBo is not? the guy is just awesome and from this season on he is Panthers franchise d-men.

It's a bit off topic, but I'll second this.

The leaps and bounds by which J-Bo improved by this year (particularly in the second half) restore any of the luster he may have lost since his draft year. He was outstanding.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

It's a bit off topic, but I'll second this.

The leaps and bounds by which J-Bo improved by this year (particularly in the second half) restore any of the luster he may have lost since his draft year. He was outstanding.

We know that, and you know that, but its gonna take awhile for the others to realise it

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

And there are some 2nd-rounders, who now would be in the 1st easily:

Stoll, Harding, Stajan maybe Brent and Lombardi, too.

Kaigorodov too.

 

[kovalev27hf]

i feel like you over valued alot of guys in this draft maybe a step or two higher than they really should be. eric nystrom a future captain? maybe in the echl or the ahl but he'll be lucky to make the nhl at this point he's not impressive at all.

 

[Human Megaphone]

Klepis is getting close to a bust. If he can't break in with Washington then there is no hope for him.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

This draft isn't weak. I mean it has 4 Franchise players in it, and some other very good players. I'd call it an average draft. imagine this draft in the 90's. Everyone would be calling it very strong. Drafts in the 90's were pretty poor.

Everyone knew that top 4 was exceptionally good. It was the drop off to the other 26 that was being questioned. I remember scouts being quoted as saying the bottom half of the 1st round was like the 3rd round in other drafts. It looks like quite a few more guys have done better than expected

Also a draft shouldnt be judged purely on the 1st round. After the 2nd, there's hardly anything other than a few overagers.

 

[edd1e]

Ok, how come Pitkanen is a franchise d-men and JayBo is not? the guy is just awesome and from this season on he is Panthers franchise d-men.

Pitkänen needed 20 games less to get the same points.
And im quite sure Pitkänen still is effected from some kind of injury otherwise joined the Finnish team in Worlds. Anyone who follows him knows he aint in the shape he was before that injury.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

Everyone knew that top 4 was exceptionally good. It was the drop off to the other 26 that was being questioned. I remember scouts being quoted as saying the bottom half of the 1st round was like the 3rd round in other drafts. It looks like quite a few more guys have done better than expected

Also a draft shouldnt be judged purely on the 1st round. After the 2nd, there's hardly anything other than a few overagers.

Well, i didn't know anything about hockey in 2002, so apart from the obvious thing; the top 4 were exceptional, i don't know how the draft was compared to others. Its a pretty good draft, although i agree there seem to be very few steals later on.
Although i do think the OP exaggerated some of the players talent.

 

[Buffalo87]

Pitkänen needed 20 games less to get the same points.
And im quite sure Pitkänen still is effected from some kind of injury otherwise joined the Finnish team in Worlds. Anyone who follows him knows he aint in the shape he was before that injury.

Yeah I'd have to say Pitkanen is still a step ahead of Bouwmeester at this point. By next season that could be erased though, Bouwmeester really stepped it up this year.

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Kirill Koltsov is a good one too. Seriously he can become a top pairing type guy.

 

[leafaholix*]

Kirill Koltsov is a good one too. Seriously he can become a top pairing type guy.

Based on what evidence?

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Based on what evidence?

He a star in the RSL at a young age, and he always had the potential. Many people is Russian are also saying he's turning it around. I was high on him when he was in the AHL, and I'll continue to do so until I know he's a bust.

 

[gars59]

Agreed.
I´d say the overall talent is much better than that of 04 (and 06 for sure).

good enough for 1st round:

Nash, Leightonen, Bouwmeester, Pitkanen, Whitney, Lupul, Upshall, Bouchard, Ballard, Eminger, Ward, Toivonen, Semin

and this guys, who will be good but not special in my opinion:

Higgins, Grebeshkov, Babchuk, Steen

higgins and steen as better than upshall this years ....

 

[Form and Substance]

Look at the past 15 drafts, this draft is definitely up there, lots of great pickups. You've got 5-6 potential hofers plus a horde of other good to great players. that's a great draft in my books. Plus, just the sheer versatility of players from all positions, styles, etc...

And yes, the mistake on Steve Eminger...I had typed Keith Ballard in write before.