They were two different drafts in terms of tendencies. 2006 had much better forward depth than 2005's, but lacks the top end defencemen that the 2005 crop produced IMO.
top 20 forwards in 2005:
Crosby
Ryan
Pouliot
Brule
Skille
Setoguchi
Kopitar
Zagrapan
O'Marra
Bourret
Hanzal
McArdle
Top 20 forwards in 2006:
Staal
Toews
Backstrom
Kessel
Okposo
Brassard
Mueller
Sheppard
Frolik
Little
Tlusty
Grabner
Stewart
Lewis
Crosby's the cream of the crop obviously, but thus far I like this year's top 20 forward group depth-wise more than 2005's.
Different case on the blueline:
2005 top 20 blueliners
J Johnson
Staal
Bourdon
Lee
Pokuluk
Parent
Kindl
2006 top 20 blueliners
E Johnson
Mitera
Fischer
On numbers alone, you have to take the 2005 group in terms of premiere prospects. Time will tell with the later defence picks from 2006, as quite a few (17) were selected between the 19th and 57th selections.
In net it's a tougher call (too early to properly project) - at this point Irving is making the biggest impression, although Price, Pavelec and Rask are solid prospects. Still - four goalies picked in this year's top 26 versus two goalies in 2005......
Better high-end defence prospects in 2005, better high-end forward depth and goaltending in 2006. Both drafts will yield solid players, busts, steals, late bloomers, and one has borne a phenom.