Who would you have taken? (Fletcher drafts)

[AKL]

This is a little game/discussion I wanted to try out after talking about the Dumba vs. Trouba pick in the other thread. It got me wondering who people wanted at the time.

We'll start at the 2009 draft, because that was the first year Fletcher was here, and it seems like a solid starting spot (whether or not Fletcher had anything to do with the draft, he was still here).

So the point of this is to list the players from 2009-2015 that you wanted to take in the spot we drafted. Assume all other picks before ours are the same, because this is supposed to be who you wanted at the time, not who was best in hindsight. If you would have picked our guy, or didn't really have an opinion, just say that.

So for me:

2009: No opinion
2010: Cam Fowler
2011: Joel Armia (so glad this didn't happen)
2012: Filip Forsberg
2013: N/A
2014: Josh Ho-sang
2015: Joel Eriksson Ek

The reason I wanted to do this is to see what our team/organization would look like if we were in charge individually. It's supposed to be fun and maybe spark a little discussion.

Click to read more...

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

2010: Fowler
2011: No opinion. Wanted Couturier, but he went before.
2012: Even between Dumba or Trouba. Coin flip.
2014: No opinion. Wanted Larkin/Milano, both went before
2015: Eriksson Ek or White

 

[J22*]

2009: It was fairly obvious that they were going to take Leddy, but when Schroeder fell, I thought it was a mistake to pass on him/

2010: Desperately wanted 1 of Niederreiter or Johansen to fall. When the pick was actually up, Granlund was the guy I wanted.

2011: I remember getting excited that Couturier kept falling, and then the dagger when Philly took him. wanted Baertschi, thought they would take Murphy, was surprised by Brodin.

2012: Wanted Grigorenko or Forsberg, was sure they would take Trouba.

2014: Wanted Tuch or Kapanen

2015: Wanted White or Eriksson Ek, prefered White.

 

[this providence]

2009: I did like Leddy more than most but he wasn't exactly pegged where the Wild picked. Was happy when they selected him.

2010: Really wanted Nino but figured he'd be long gone. Was a huge fan of Bjugstad and Nelson but knew that wasn't an option given where they were projected. Was hoping they'd come back and get either near the end of the first. Granlund was the player I wanted around where the Wild selected.

2011: Was hoping the scrutiny around Couturier leading up to the draft would see him slide enough to the Wild.

2012: Was a Trouba fan before his draft eligible year began. Became indifferent as the draft approached. Liked Dumba.

2013: Wanted Hudson Fasching...

2014: Larkin. Found the backlash he was receiving in this forum by a few hilarious for being a guy who doesn't have much upside.

2015: Colin White.

 

[Generic User]

2009: No strong opinions. Always like Swedes so I liked Rundblad, Erixon and Johansson.

2010: Really thought one of Ryan Johansen or Jeff Skinner would fall to us so I wanted one of them. My "realistic" want was Tarasenko. Would look pretty spiffy in a Wild uniform right now.

2011: Wanted Beaulieu, Murphy or Baertschi. In that order, lol. Thought we would go with Zibanejad but Ottawa grabbed him at 6. Was almost 100% certain we were gonna take Murphy when we were up.

2012: Wanted Galchenyuk badly, but leading up to the draft it was pretty apparent he wasn't slipping out of the top 3, let alone the top 5. After that I really liked the D-men. Dumba, Trouba and Rielly. Liked Dumba the most out of all the D-men. Didn't like Murray or Nail that much. Warmed up to the idea of taking Forsberg but still wanted Dumba.

2013: Stopped paying attention to prospects after trading away our 1st for the most part. Only prospect I thought we had a shot at in the 2nd that I wanted was Jacob de la Rose.

2014: Alex Tuch. Bagged him n' tagged him.

2015: Joel Eriksson-Ek. Wish it, want it, do it.

 

[BagHead]

Keeping in mind, this was going into the pick, knowing who was off the board already:

2009: Jordan Schroeder
2010: Mikael Granlund (actually wanted to trade back and get Bjugstad, once Skinner was off the board, but without trading back, Granny)
2011: Ryan Murphy *edit* Completely forgot about our 2nd pick that year, due to the trade! For that, there was one name: Saad
2012: Filip Forsberg/Jacob Trouba (it was a coin toss for me between them)
2013: N/A
2014: Alex Tuch
2015: Travis Konecny (but I think I'm just as happy or maybe happier with Ek, now that I've gotten to know his game a bit more)



Looking back I can see the trends of our prospect system by looking at what I wanted. '09 and '10 we needed a skilled forward at any position very badly, 2011 it was clear we'd need a defenseman, and in 2012 it was becoming apparent we still needed a 1st line center or a top 4 defenseman. Next draft I didn't like anybody where we were picking, except Tuch who I felt was a prototypical Wild pick and a safe bet, and because we haven't drafted a top center STILL, I wanted a guy with top 6 C upside in this last draft.

 

[Lapa]

2009: No opinion
2010: Granlund
2011: No opinion
2012: Trouba
2013: -
2014: Tuch or Milano
2015: Eriksson-Ek

 

[Sharppi]

2009: -
2010: Granlund
2011: Murphy
2012: Trouba/Forsberg
2013: -
2014: Wanted Larkin #1, Milano #2, Tuch as #3 for our draft spot.
2015: JEE

 

[DANOZ28]

2010 trade down for bjugstad; 2011 joel armia (big mistake); 2012 trade down for maata however when forsberg dropped that was my pick. 2014 kempe however it felt like xmas picking tuch! 2015 sprong. ps i would have picked markus granlund over phillips.

 

[tyratoku]

2010: Austin Watson - Granlund was a vastly better choice.
2011: Sean Couturier - Unavailable, but after that I had no opinion
2012: Jacob Trouba - I was hyping him up since about October of that year. Debatable which one is better (Trouba or Dumba) at this point.
2013: No opinion.
2014: Dylan Larkin - I wanted us to trade up pretty much anything to get this guy. A lot of people didn't believe me when I said he was the real deal, but it looks like I was right. Detroit got a gem. After him I liked Nick Schmaltz.
2015: Colin White, Brock Boeser, and Jeremy Bracco were my top three.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

2010: Austin Watson - Granlund was a vastly better choice.
2011: Sean Couturier - Unavailable, but after that I had no opinion
2012: Jacob Trouba - I was hyping him up since about October of that year. Debatable which one is better (Trouba or Dumba) at this point.
2013: No opinion.
2014: Dylan Larkin - I wanted us to trade up pretty much anything to get this guy. A lot of people didn't believe me when I said he was the real deal, but it looks like I was right. Detroit got a gem. After him I liked Nick Schmaltz.
2015: Colin White, Brock Boeser, and Jeremy Bracco were my top three.

'Murica.

 

[ThatGuy22]

2009: Schroeder/Leddy - Was pretty confident we were getting a Minnesota boy
2010: Granlund - Had this one peggedUnavailable, but after that I had no opinion
2011: Sean Couturier - Didn't get to watch this draft, so I didn't have a pick after he was taken
2012: Forsberg- Was all in on the Forsberg train. Irate when we passed on him
2013: No First
2014: Milano- When he was gone, I figured we'd go Tuch
2015: JEE- He was the most obvious pick for the Wild in the history of the draft.

 

[Engebretson]

2009: No opinion. I was glad we traded back to 16th and was fine with the Leddy pick, even though at the time it sounded like a lot of hockey minds thought we had reached. Interesting that we traded back with the Islanders to select Leddy with their pick only for him to end up an Islander.

2010: Cam Fowler. Was being hyped as a top 4-ish pick the whole year and I couldn't believe he fell as far as he did. Our blueline depth was not great at the time and Fowler would have been a great addition.

2011: Ryan Murphy. Glad I ate crow on this one.

2012: Jacob Trouba. Dumba is certainly growing on me, but I love Trouba's game and thought that Fletcher's love of American/NCAA players would all but guarantee we called him to the podium.

2013: N/A

2014: Tuch. I was hoping that Larkin would drop to us, but I was glad to get Tuch too and I'm still happy with that pick.

2015: Colin White. JEE is looking like a great pick too, but I felt about this pick the way I felt about Trouba/Dumba back in 2012. I don't hate JEE, but I thought that White made so much more sense.

 

[Jarick]

2009 - Didn't have a strong opinion, figured they would take Leddy, kind of liked Schroeder. Doesn't really matter now though, right?

2010 - I really wanted Skinner, but he was gone. Nino was second choice, but he was gone. I figured they would take Granlund, but I was intrigued by Fowler as he fell and had Etem as a dark horse. What a strong draft. Granlund fits a need but Fowler seems a better player.

2011 - Hamilton was interesting as he fell, but he was taken right before. I was kind of hoping for Murphy because I thought he would be a great puck mover. Really didn't want Joel Armia who I thought they would pick because of Finnish connections. Brodin seems like the best pick here though.

2012 - Really wanted Dumba, and they picked Dumba. Didn't think Trouba would pan out. Was intrigued by Forsberg as he fell and I think he would probably be the better pick long term.

2013 - 1st was traded so I didn't pay attention

2014 - Milano was picked before us. I wanted Ho Sang. Figured they would pick Tuch (and they did).

2015 - didn't pay much attention

 

[nickschultzfan]

2009: No real opinion other than hoping Scott Glennie (seriously) would drop. Was not upset with the trade back.

2010: Granlund or Tarasenko. I wanted an offensive forward. Hoping Skinner dropped.

2011: No idea. Hoping Couturier would just keep dropping. Kind of liked Mark McNeil. The Brodin pick could not have gone better.

2012: Trouba all the way. I didn't like wide variety of opinions on Dumba. I'm a Michigan fan, so watching his freshman year while Dumba struggled was painful. Trouba has all the tools of a #1.

2013: I liked the Pominville trade but had this gut reaction that it was the wrong direction for the team. Zadorov would have been nice.

2014: Happy with getting Tuch at that position. I thought Ho-Sang for the home run though.

2016: Oak. I wanted the best center we could get. I thought Oak's offense was undervalued, and he was solid in all other areas of being a center. Guy's got #1 potential.

 

[Victorious Secret]

2009- no opinion
2010- Cam Fowler. As with almost everyone else.
2011- No opinion. Didn't feel too heavily towards any single one person.
2012- Trouba hardcore leading up to and at the draft. Right now believe Trouba is better. However, Dumba is closing the gap.
2013- I wanted Zadorov so hard. Got even worse when he was selected with our pick.
2014- Ho-Sang if we traded up late or Kapanen at our original pick.
2015- White, Konecny, or Eriksson Ek. Was surprised when not just one, but all 3 dropped to us. Konecny would have been my first choice.

 

[Dampland]

2009: really wanted Kassian or Kulikov, but once they were off the board, I was rooting for Kyle Palmieri ( who dropped to the Ducks at 26)

2010: wanted Nino BIG TIME, and also Jeff Skinner, when they fell, I really didn't have someone I was super high on. But I did think the Minnesota connection would result in Bjugstad being drafted by the Wild.

2011: Dougie Hamilton was my first choice, then wanted Joel Armia. Knew nothing about Brodin, and was disappointed we did not get a "physical" D-man. Who knew Jonas would be such a stud?

2012: Wanted Trouba or Grigorenko. In second round, wanted Damon Severson.

2013: Would have taken Zadarov if we kept the 1st rounder. I wanted Dillon Heatherington in the 2nd round.

2014: Wanted Ehlers, Larkin or Tuch. In the 3rd round, I liked Iacopelli from the USHL.

2015: I KNEW the Wild would take Erikson-Ek, no hesitation on that one. Was hoping for Paul Bittner in the 2nd, and when he was gone, I was fine with Jordan Greenway, as I really didn't have my heart set on anyone.

 

[Gundee1114]

09: Didn't follow hockey at the time.

10: Just started getting into the game itself, so didn't know any good prospects.

11: I wanted Dougie Hamilton, like badly. When he went one pick before I was pretty upset, but I love Brodin.

12: Trouba for sure, because I had figured the Ducks were gonna take Dumba. Even when they took Lindholm (which I seem to remember being a "reach" at the time), I still wanted Trouba.

13: If we had kept it, I wanted Shinkaruk.

14: Kapanen, no doubt.

15: Konecny 1st, Eriksson Ek 2nd.

 

[TaLoN]

2011: No opinion
2012: I was pretty vocal about wanting Dumba
2014: Pastrnak was who I targeted, wasn't at all high on Tuch. Though Pastrnak has still proven to be a very good player, Tuch has closed the gap a bit imo.
2015: Was disappointed when the Wild didn't take Konecny.

 

[keppel146]

09 Schroeder
10 johansen, since he was gone then idc
11 - Murphy, Sven or beaulieau. I wanted Phillips too, thought he was gonna be good
12- Dumba or forsberg equally
14 Larkin or Milano, fine with tuch
15 ek or white

 

[Saga of the Elk]

I went back and looked at the mock drafts and draft preview articles:

2009 - before my time
2010 - predicted Granlund
2011 - predicted Armia
2012 - predicted Trouba
2013 - expressed disappointment (although I don't think too highly of Zadorov, I really liked Burakovsky)
2014 - predicted Kevin Fiala
2015 - predicted Paul Bittner

I read a great scouting report on Brodin that has proven correct so far, and I'm a Dumba fan. As for the rest, time will tell but the Phillips pick was so obviously wrong that it grinds my gears to this day.

 

[Minnesota]

2010: Jeff Skinner, Mikael Granlund.
2011: Joel Armia, Tyler Biggs, Brandon Saad.
2012: Filip Forsberg, Jacob Trouba, Matt Dumba, Olli Maatta.
2013: No1curr.
2014: Sonny Milano, Kasperi Kapanen.
2015: Brock Boeser, Jeremy Bracco.

 

[tyratoku]

'Murica.

I have a pet eagle that sheds tears from now and then, what can I say?

Coincidence that my favorite players from this coming draft are Kieffer Bellows and Matt Tkachuk?

 

[Engebretson]

Forgot about the extra 1st we had in 2011. I'm also a sucker for American players, but I remember wanting to take a shot on Brandon Saad or John Gibson with that extra pick we got from San Jose.