Who Were Your Hopeful 1st Round Draft Choices For The Last 10 Years?

[RABBIT]

Not the obvious number one player picked, but the one realistically thought of based on our pick position.

2003- I was 11, and didn't really follow the draft that much but I remembered wanting Andrei Kostitsyn because my grandpa was high on him, until we traded it away for Daymond Langkow :

2004- Same thing as 2004 except I had followed a little more closely, and I wanted us to trade up from 5 to 1, 2, or 3 for Malkin. Was not expecting Wheeler.

2005- Ryan Parent, glad we picked Hanzal instead

2006- Wanted Kessel but was good with the Mueller pick, didn't know much about Summers

2007- Wanted Turris way before I knew we were going to be in the top 3.

2008- Was absolutely set on Boedker, I have a thing with speed and he was hyped to be the fastest skater in the draft. Was excited to acquire Jokinen as well but hated giving up Ballard

2009- Nazem Kadri....in my defense I was skeptical about OEL because he was a late riser...so happy now though

2010- Jeff Skinner because I thought there was a chance he would fall to us and I had a feeling he would be one of the highest scorers in the draft, he's on the right track. I was at this draft here in L.A. and call me crazy but at the time, I thought Gormley was a boring pick based off the offense this draft had. After cooling down about not drafting Skinner, I was very excited he fell to us.

2011- Mark Mcneill- Wasn't really into this draft from the get go but I didn't think there was a chance in hell we would draft a defenseman 3 years in a row...an injured ome at that. Still remains to be seen if it was a bad choice.

2012- Was stoked about our deep playoff run so I really didn't care who we drafted, knowing it was going to be a late pick, but wanted one of Gaunce, Samuelsson, or Frk.

2013- Max Domi by a long shot, still stoked!

Click to read more...

 

[ParisSaintGermain]

For me it is our pick in 2002: Jakub Koreis.

He looked good in the juniors, played with grit and good instinct but he was never able to make the jump from AHL to NHL.

He is now playing the Czech league for Brno.

 

[rt]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=14947818&highlight=bergfors#post14947818

I've only been keeping track since '01

Year
Position of Phoenix's pick - Player I would've picked (Position player was actually picked) (player actually picked by Phoenix)


'01
11th - Jay Harrison (82nd) (Fredrik Sjostrom)
31st - Darrin McLachlan (77th) (Matthew Spiller)
45th - Jordin Tootoo (98th) (Martin Podlesak)

'02
19th - Ben Eager (23rd) (Jakub Kories)
20th - Johnny Boychuck (61st) (Ben Eager)
46th - Aaron Nittel (85th) (David LeNeveu)

'03
NO PICKS

'04
5th - Rostislav Olesz (7th) (Blake Wheeler)
35th - Kirill Lyamin (58th) (Logan Stephenson)
50th - Juraj Gracik (142nd) (Enver Lisin)

'05
17th - Niklas Bergfors (23rd) (Martin Hanzal)
59th - Radek Smolenak (73rd) (Pier-Olivier Pelletier)
105th - Slava Trukhno (120nd) (Keith Yandle)

'06
8th - Bryan Little (12th) (Peter Mueller)
29th - Blake Geoffrion (56th) (Chris Summers)
88th - Oskar Osala (97th) (Jonas Ahnelov)

'07
3rd - Kyle Turris (3rd) (Kyle Turris)
30th - Bill Sweatt (38th) (Nick Ross)
32nd - Oscar Moller (52nd) (Brett Maclean)

‘08
8th - Mikkel Boedker (8th) (Mikkel Boedker)
28th - Jyri Niemi (72nd) (Viktor Tikhonov)
49th - Adam Comrie (80th) (Jared Staal)

Here is '01-'08 for me. I will have to track down my '09-'13 list.

At least for first rounders, off the top of my head, I wanted Paajarvi over OEL, Gormley where Gormley went, Jenner over Murphy, Samuelsson in his spot, and Domi right where we took him this year.

 

[PhoPhan]

1999 was the first draft I paid attention to (ugh), so I'll start there.

99 - Koltsov, Tanabe or Jillson.

00 - Orpik.

01 - Kobasew.

02 - Paille or Steen, maybe Vagner.

03 - No pick. Liked Getzlaf and Burns a lot though.

04 - Wheeler wasn't on my radar. I was hoping for Wolski, but knew it was a reach. Would have also been happy with Olesz, Tukonen or Barker. Whoops.

05 - I had hoped Kopitar or Zagrapan would fall to 17.

06 - Mueller or Frolik.

07 - Turris was a lock.

08 - Boedker, Myers or Hodgson.

09 - OEL or Cowen.

10 - Jaden Schwartz or Austin Watson (had no clue Gormley would be there)

11 - Noesen, Puempel, Miller, Jensen, Grimaldi

12 - Samuelsson, Girgensons, Laughton, Kerdiles, Aberg, Frk

13 - Domi or Shinkaruk

 

[Heldig]

Here were the ones I was cheering for...

99 - 15 = Jackman 19 = Havlat

00 - 19 = Kolanos or Frolov

01 - 11 = Hemsky

02 - 19 = Steen 23 = still wanted Steen

03 - 11 would have wanted Eric Fehr

04 - 5 really wanted Ladd (Red Deer connection). Next choice was Valabik

05 - 17 = Hanzal (Red Deer connection)

06 - 8 - Mueller (watched him a lot in Spokane)

07 - 3 = Turris

08 - 8 = Tyler Myers

09 - 6 = Cowen

10 - 13 - Schwartz

11 - 20 = Puempel

12 - 27 = Tanner Pearson

13 - 12 = Domi

 

[rt]

Here were the ones I was cheering for...

99 - 15 = Jackman 19 = Havlat

00 - 19 = Kolanos or Frolov

01 - 11 = Hemsky

02 - 19 = Steen 23 = still wanted Steen

03 - 11 would have wanted Eric Fehr

04 - 5 really wanted Ladd (Red Deer connection). Next choice was Valabik

05 - 17 = Hanzal (Red Deer connection)

06 - 8 - Mueller (watched him a lot in Spokane)

07 - 3 = Turris

08 - 8 = Tyler Myers

09 - 6 = Cowen

10 - 13 - Schwartz

11 - 20 = Puempel

12 - 27 = Tanner Pearson

13 - 12 = Domi

Seriously? You haven't missed once? You realize this would make you the most successful of the last fourteen years by FAAAAAAAAAAAAAR, right? Also strange you liked Hanzal for the Red Deer connection a full two years before he played for Red Deer, and Mueller never played for Spokane. And Ladd never played in Red Deer, either. Haha.

 

[Jormungandr]

01 - Jiri Novotny

02 - Alex Steen

03 - I really liked Eric Staal, and Ryan Getzlaf. Getzlaf especially because he played with Sjostrom in Calgary. Hated not having a first this year.

04 - Lauri Tukonen or Rusty Olesz

05 - Marek Zagrapan, I didn't pay much attention to this draft for some reason. I remember liking Ryan O'Marra too.

06 - Derek Brassard all the way.

07 - Patrick Kane, I was hoping for the longshot Turris and JVR to go 1 and 2 and he would slip to us.

08 - Mikkel Boedker, the only year where we actually drafted the guy I wanted most.

09 - Brayden Schenn, I remember not wanting OEL. Haha. Glad I suck at this.

10 - Mikael Granlund or Jaden Schwartz.

11 - Mark Scheifele or J.T. Miller

12 - Radek Faksa or Tomas Hertl. Really liked the Czechs, and was hoping for a faller. I did like Samuelsson in the more realistic group though, as well as Nicolas Kerdiles, and Brendan Gaunce.

13 - Valeri Nichushkin, Hunter Shinkaruk, or Frederik Gauthier.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

Krys Kolanos's impact as a rookie is what got me interested in the draft, wondering where these players came from (the draft is not a well-known concept in Europe).

2001 - Chuck Kobasew for the BC connection (but loved the Freddy Sjostrom pick)
2002 - Then I was a sucker for Russians - wanted Anton Babchuk and Vlad Evseev for our two first rounders. Hockeydb spells it Yevseyev but HF spelt it Evseev back then). Babchuk was touted as a top 5-10 pick all that year, I was stunned we passed.
2003 - No picks but was highly impressed by Tyler Redenbach's WHL stats..
2004 - Olesz & Tukonen fan.
2005 - Really really really wanted Alex Bourret and was devastated when he was taken 1 pick before Hanzal
2006 - Happy with the Mueller pick as most of us were.
2007 - Happy with the Turris pick as most of us were.
2008 - Happy with the Boedker pick as most of us were.
2009 - Did not see OEL coming, terrified of Cowen's injury, didnt like the Kadri hype but I didnt really have a pick. If I was forced, I probably would have opted for Jordan Schroeder as he had an awesome year in college.
2010 - Was cheering the Gormley pick like everyone else. Realistically I was hoping for Joey Hishon (watch out for him) or Kirill Kabanov (but I knew that he wasnt a typical Coyotes pick)
2011 - Vlad Namestnikov was my choice here. See how that goes.
2012 - I did not follow it that year although I knew Girgensons we didnt get a shot at him.
2013 - Happy with the Domi pick as most of us were.

 

[ck26]

I certainly don't have detailed notes laying around, but here are my thoughts as I dig through hockeydb ... I'll caveat this by saying I like the sons-of-NHL'ers thing we've been doing.

2001 - Sjostrom (11) ... would have loved Komisarek (7 to MON) but there's nothing after 11 that looks interesting at all
2002 - Koreis (19) ... Martin Vagner (26 to DAL) or Marius Holtet (42 to DAL) ... rough start to my drafting career
2004 - Wheeler (5) ... Al Montoya (6 to NYR) or Rob Schremp (25 to EDM) ... the internet is calling for my head at this point
2005 - Hanzal (17) ... Ryan Parent (18 to NAS) or Tuukka Rask (21 to TOR)
2006 - Mueller (8) ... Bryan Little (12 to ATL), Mark Mitera (19 to ANA) or Leland Irving (26 to CAL) ... at this point, I'm probably fired
2007 - Turris (3) ... I wanted Karl Alzner (5 to WAS), Brandon Sutter (11 to CAR) or Angelo Esposito (20 to PIT)
2008 - Boedker (8) ... didn't look at this draft or give it any thought ... Boedker's fine
2009 - OEL (6) ... all I remember about this draft is that my brain was g-locked on the hyphenated last names OEL and MPS; Dmitri Kulikov (14 to FLA) looked most intriguing
2010 - Gormley (13) ... can't do better
2011 - Connor Murphy (20) ... would have liked Joe Morrow (23 to PIT) or Adam Clendening (36 to CHI)

 

[Sinurgy]

The first draft I ever watched was when the Yotes took Wheeler but I didn't know much about the prospects at all. The first draft I actually looked into prospects was the 2006 draft so I'll start from there...

2006 - I was hoping Kessel would drop but when he didn't I wanted Mueller
2007 - Hoped for Kane but really was cool with any of the top 3 (Kane, Turris, JVR)
2008 - Filatov or Boedker (thankfully it was the latter!!)
2009 - I REALLY wanted Matt Duchene and was extremely pissed that a meaningless win streak to end the season took the Yotes out of a position to get him. After they took OEL I remember saying I sure hope this kid can make me get over Duchene...he has.
2010 - Jeff Skinner or Nino Niederreiter
2011 - Sven Baertschi or Matt Puempel
2012 - drawing a blank here, will have to check my notes at home
2013 - Domi for sure, reminds me of the man crush I had on Boedker in 2008

 

[Heldig]

Seriously? You haven't missed once? You realize this would make you the most successful of the last fourteen years by FAAAAAAAAAAAAAR, right? Also strange you liked Hanzal for the Red Deer connection a full two years before he played for Red Deer, and Mueller never played for Spokane. And Ladd never played in Red Deer, either. Haha.

No need to be snide. I don't think my list is any better than several others.

I based my answer on who I was cheering for at the time we drafted ( that is who was still available). For the most part I go by Bob McKenzie's rankings so it is not like I am knowledgeable.

For the record:

I was referring to MY connection in Red Deer - works closely with the organization and he was extremely high on Ladd, Hanzal (and Cam Ward for that matter)

Regarding Mueller - said Spokane should have said Everett. Watched a lot of games on our local cable channel that covers the WHL

I wanted Jackman because he is from my area and loved his grit.

I wanted Steen because I know family thru the Jets connection. His dad is my favourite player ever.

 

[XX]

After the Wheeler pick I was livid and gave up 'hoping' for a certain player. This past year, it was nice to see a top 10 skill drop to us due to positional need. Can't get too excited about these picks. Mueller was great, then concussed/held out. Turris was doing pretty good at Wisconsin, was rushed, held out.

It's easier to let go and not care with competent hockey ops people in charge. Maloney's picks, though some of them have gone totally sideways, were usually the best option available. I credit them for being smart enough to take OEL over a guy like MPS, who may end up the best player out of that draft and the best D in the league for some time.

 

[ParisSaintGermain]

Apologies for my previous post (#2)- had completely misread rabbit's initial post. LOL

 

[_Del_]

2000 -- Kolanos, Frolov, Sutherby
2001 -- Wanted Ruutu badly (taken earlier). Was excited about Sjo.
2002 -- Steen. I also liked Koreis, Bergenheim and Vagner, but thought the franchise had to pick Steen when he was there with the second pick. Liked Evseev in the second.
2003 -- Really liked Bernier, Brown and Getzlaf. We didn't have a pick. Liked Fritsche, Weber, Lapierre and Barinka in the second. Still no picks...
2004 -- Tukonen or Olesz. Also liked Valabik. I wanted to strangle the front office. Wheeler was obvously a better pick.
2005 -- Was thrilled with Hanzal. Also liked Bourret (taken before) and Lashoff.
2006 -- Wanted Okposo who went one pick before; I Was happy with Muelller. I don't remember following this class as closely as most..
2007 -- Really wanted JVR here. Thought Kane was the riskiest of the three... Oops. Liked Tangradi, Aliu, Palushaj, Veilleux, and Katic in the second.
2008 -- Was happy with Boedker. Also liked Bailey, Hodgson, Beach and Myers who all went in a row right after our pick. Wanted to take a flyer on Cormier badly in the second round. Also liked Gaunce, Stepan, and Harmonic.
2009 -- I remember being disappointed that Schenn and EKane both went before we picked. Thought OEL was a decent consolation prize. Hoped for Carter Ashton or Klingberg to fall to us in the second.
2010 -- Thought we'd go with one of Taresenko, Bjugstad or Schwartz but everyone was excited that Gormley was still on the board. Hate taking goalies early. Wanted Etem.
2011 -- Another defenseman?! Wanted Biggs. Namestnikov and Jensen I also liked.
2012 -- Matteau or Samuelsson in that order (mostly because I liked their dads in that order. Sue me.) I actually didn't mind the Ruuttu pick. Happy with Lessio, too.
2013 -- Domi.

Not terribly impressive.