Momesso Conference: [Brawlers] [Dykes] [KumQuats] [Bunnies] [Zebras]  [Ducklings] [Epidemic] [Ice Dogs] [Royals] [Violators]

Murzyn Conference: [Bombers] [Hyacks] [Jazz] [Jets] [Trifecta] [Blondes] [Bullmax] [Seals] [Stalefish] [Storm]  

 

8.) Logan Couture (Sharks, #9, 2007)

28.) Max Pacioretty (Canadiens, #22, 2007)

48.) William Sweatt (Black Hawks, #38, 2007)

73.) John Negrin (Flames, #70, 2007)

96.) Ruslan Bashkirov (Senators, #60, 2007)

109.) Evgeni Dadonov (Panthers, #71, 2007)

Grade: B

Best pick: Couture – I think he was one of the most underrated players going into the draft, and the Sharks have a solid track record on picks they trade up to get

Worst pick: Bashkirov – has plenty of talent and will likely have a long career… in Europe

The skinny: Very solid showing from the Brawlers. Couture is a great pick up, whereas Pacioretty, Sweatt and Negrin will all be solid pros. High grade for picking so many players with high low-end potential; however it is hard to see anyone but Couture really being a top2 line player

Logan Couture was touted as a potential top 5 pick going into the season, however played through mono and a shoulder injury and put up good, but not stellar numbers. The failure to live up to the lofty expectations had the scouts starting to look for flaws and Couture dropped like a stone in the pre-draft rankings, with some having him ranked as low as 20^th. It was however pretty clear that he’d be picked early in the NHL draft and there were several teams in the 8-12 range rumored to be interested, with several reports suggesting Florida would’ve picked him at 10, hadn’t Sharks traded up. Couture has great vision and playmaking skills, to go with strong leadership and a great two-way game. Rod Brind’amour has been mentioned frequently as a projection; Ron Francis is another player and with these as comparisons, it isn’t odd that Couture went early. Skating and finishing skills are Logan’s primary short-comings, however neither is at a level at which it should be an obstacle from Couture developing to at least a solid 2^nd liner. Extremely solid pick with no downside and a lot of upside

Bryan continued to pick forwards with Hab’s prospect Max Pacioretty, out of the USHL. Pacioretty has had a solid year offensively, yet his totals clearly aren’t those of a high-end scorer and some Montreal fans were surprised – and disappointed – by the pick as they’d expected a prospect with more upside. Pacioretty has great speed, good size and plays with a ton of grit. He is a strong leader and is the sort of player that wins championships. That being said, from a fantasy perspective, his offensive upside is likely not high enough to be more than a third liner and even with strong defensive skills, I thing Pacioretty will have limited value in a 20-team league as a 3^rd/4^th line player. Solid pick with limited downside, though a player with more offensive upside would’ve been more exciting

Billy Sweatt was the third pick of the day for the Brawlers, and I was very close to picking Sweatt as the best pickup considering the value for pick position. Sweatt was mentioned as a potential top15 pick in some circles going into the NHL draft and surprisingly fell into the 2^nd round. He is possibly the best – and certainly the fastest – skater of the draft which in itself is very interesting and when you add a very solid 2-way game to that, it is clear that Sweatt may turn into a very interesting pro – and fantasy player. I actually consider his upside higher than Pacioretty’s and it is interesting to note that, while Sweatt’s offense has been questioned by scouts, he actually scored more points per game in the WCHA than Pacioretty has in the less competitive USHL. Sweatt also managed to get selected for the US WJC20 team, which speaks highly of his ability given his age. Great pick! Future is somewhere between Mike Fisher and Marco Sturm

After adding loads of skills upfront, the Brawlers turned to D and defensive d-man John Negrin; one of many talented WHL d-men in the draft. Negrin is a typical Flames pick – a defensively extremely sound player with strong leadership skills and plenty of grit. What particularly stands out with Negrin is that he is very mobile and has a very high hockey IQ; two traits that aren’t necessarily always part of the “defensive d-man package”. Negrin was very highly regarded going into the draft, however likely fell in parts due to injuries that made him miss 20 games this season. Playing on a poor Kootenay team didn’t help things either. I think Negrin is a great pick-up; he could very well see 2^nd pairing time and be an important PK contributor, something that will also mean a decent fantasy performance.

Ruslan Bashkirov was, along with his brother Roman, mentioned as rookie sensations in the QMJHL and many mentioned them in the same breath as Jakub Voracek, which is lofty praise indeed. The Bashkirov brothers also played very well in the early goings but, looking back at the full season, it is pretty difficult to say that Ruslan’s output of 67pts in 64games in the QMJHL is in any way very impressive. It should also be noted that those points partly was while playing on the PK with Angelo Esposito. The way Bashkirov plays when he is at his best – which is once or twice in a game – he has top line upside, however his average level of play rather makes me think of Nikolai Antropov in that the package of skills and size is tantalizing, but at the end of the day, the results are few and far in between and skating issues prevents him from being effective in most situations. To add to these concerns, the Bashkirov brothers appear to want to play together and Ruslan has just signed with a Russian team to play with his brother, rather than to continue in either the QMJHL or the AHL in pursuit of the NHL dream. Since a player with 3^rd line NHL ability will attract better contract offers from Russian clubs than from American, I think it is a good bet to expect the Bashkirovs to play out their careers in Europe.

11.) Maxim Mayorov  (Blue Jackets, #94, 2007)

31.) David Perron (Blues, #26, 2007)

51.) Taylor Ellington (Canucks, #33, 2007)

76.) Eric Tangradi (Ducks, #42, 2007)

99.) Mike Smith (Stars, #161, 2001)

Grade: B-

Best pick: Eric Tangradi – the upside is evident and the fact he got snapped up by the Ducks is a positive sign. Getting a player with Tangradi’s potential (and limited downside) at 76 is a steal

Worst pick: Maxim Mayorov – I don’t know whether Jorge tried; but I’ve gotta figure that he would’ve gotten a significant upgrade to his goalie position by trading the 11^th pick – and Mayrov would certainly still have been available at 31

The skinny: Jorge is normally one for making very astute picks of high-upside players. Perron and Tangradi are excellent picks in this regard, but I believe the Mayrov pickup at 11 is so off the board that I can’t help but feel the overall draft results ends up below average.

Dykes pulled the single biggest upset of the draft in picking slick Russian Maxim Mayorov at #11; a whooping 83 spots earlier than in the NHL draft. Mayorov has an intriguing skills package with regards to shot, skating and some grit; however Mayorov has only really been regarded as a 1^st round talent by ISS (who had him in the top10). Eugene Balaschenko of Russianprospects and McKeens had Mayrov ranked 7^th of Russian players going into the draft and noted in a discussion I had with him that Mayrov will take at least 3 seasons to have a reasonable shot at the NHL; and that he is far away at the moment. Mayorov does have traits that set him apart from most Russian players – he is considered extremely coachable, very disciplined and with great work ethic and he also has an ambition to play in the NHL. I like Mayorov as a prospect; however, I am almost certain he’d still have been on the board at 40 and with several early first rounders still on the board (Eller, McDonagh) this pick is a head scratcher to me. Add in the fact that Dykes have an all-round good team but the worst goaltending in the CNGHL and I fail to see why this pick wasn’t used to shore up the goaltending situation, rather than on a very high-risk pick. Poor asset management!

Seemingly to make up for the start, Jorge then went on to make an interesting pick in David Perron – a player that oozes offensive upside. Perron fits all the criteria in my “who not to pick guide” in terms of being an offensive wiz in the QMJHL who lacks size, defense, grit and could have better skating. That being said, Perron’s vision, hands and playmaking skills are all off the charts and, most importantly, he has seemed to continuously elevate his play all season suggesting that he has a high upside. Perron is certainly a high-risk proposition – he needs to be a top6 forward or he will be in the minors but to me, he feels like a reasonable bet to develop into a PM Bouchard like player that sees significant powerplay ice time and posts assists-heavy 60-70 pts per season. This is a pick I like!

A collective groan could be heard all the way down to San Francisco when the Canucks picked Taylor Ellington with the 33^rd overall pick. Naturally this is because Canuck fans wanted a potential top six forward for their goal starved team. At #51 and without such disappointment stacked like so much cord wood on his shoulders Ellington actually looks slightly better – though he is still not an exciting pick. His game does remind me of a player that most Canucks fans love, Willie Mitchell, remember him? Thought you did. Add this “gamer” similarity to the fact that he is a BC boy and you can see where “the Nonis” was aiming in making this his pick. Ellington is essentially a defensive D-man that stands up at the blue line well. He has above average mobility. He is tenacious and loves the physical game. However where he is weak is at times he tries to hard and gets too caught up in the physical side of things. A little more attention to detail would help here. In any event, considering how fantasy hockey values high IT I’d venture that Jorge has landed himself a pretty decent pick with this player.

Eric Tangradi was the 42^nd pick in the NHL draft and the Dykes snapped him up at #76. This is a player that really moved up after an impressive OHL playoff as his regular season numbers were nothing to write home about. He a big player and that inevitably forces him into the category of “power forward” with one scout comparing him to Shawn Mathias, who was taken at roughly the same position last year. Initially Tangradi was a football player and was at 6’3”, 270lbs…since shifting to hockey full time he has slimmed down to 215, but one would think that he’ll eventually find a playing weight similar to that of Todd Bertuzzi at around 240. His ultimate success will be determined by how much he chooses to get physically involved. Right now he can play a little bit of the perimeter game and this is the main knock on him from the scouts. Overall a solid pick on a bit of a project player and it’s a little surprising given his style of game that he was overlooked by so many GM’s in the CNGHL. The Ducks have been very astute at drafting and signing prospects that fit Tangradi’s description (Getzlaf, Perry, Penner) the past few years, which in itself is encouraging. High potential upside and a very solid late pick.

Jorge closed out his drafting with a value pick, using the 99^th overall on overage goalie Mike Smith. Smith is an unheralded prospect that has always been considered an afterthought, however, who has risen through the stars ranks beating out several other goalie prospects such as Jason Bacashihua, Dan Ellis and Tobias Stephan. He entered this year as a lock for the backup position and made his NHL debut with 23 games, including 12 wins and an impressive .912 save percentage. Smith is a fundamentally solid goalie with great size and good positioning. He will likely never be a starter – he is currently behind Turco and there is no one else coming up in the Stars’ system so he is pretty much type cast into the backup position for the foreseeable future. Even so, a solid and cheap backup is pretty valuable and considering Jorge’s pathetic goaltending depth, nabbing Smith with a late rounder was a very solid pickup indeed.

15.) Jonathon Blum (Predators, #23, 2007)

55.) Aaron Palushaj (Blues, #44, 2007)

80.) Sergei Korostin (Stars, #64, 2007)

112.) Timo Pielmeier (Sharks, #83, 2007)

Grade: D

Best pick: Jonathon Blum – despite reaching for Blum, I believe he’s the only pick with a reasonable chance of making the NHL

Worst pick: Aaron Palushaj – size/speed combination makes me cringe

The skinny: Blum may be a future star and there have been scouts suggesting he has the most upside of all defenders in the draft; however, considering what other D options were on the board at 15, unless you share this view, even this pick could have been improved upon. Outside of Blum, the other picks feel like an afterthought in terms of potential impact

The Kumquats went for a bit of a reach at #15 snagging the California Kid, Jonathan Blum and in doing so disappointed a few who hoped that this smart and skilled player might fall to them. As effective as Blum has been at the junior level there are many that are concerned about his size but more specifically his weight. He currently sits at 6’0” and 160lbs and would likely get thrown off the puck pretty easily were he to hit NHL ice today. That said there are plenty of smaller D-men that have been successful at the big league level such as Kimo Timonen, a player that relies on positioning and a high hockey IQ to play at a very high level. I could easily see Blum’s career following this sort of path. Blum is a very high upside player; however given the size concerns and the fact that Ellerby, McDonagh and Shattenkirk were all still available, I would’ve probably gone with either of the other 3 who have similar upside, yet seems to be less risky picks

Aaron Palushaj was not a well known commodity going into the 2007 draft and the St.Louis Blues made a bit of a reach to get him. McKeen’s describes him as the kind of player you either love or hate. He has great offensive instincts and is somehow able to anticipate the play a second faster than the opposition and make things happen in limited time and space. He also has one of the hardest shots in the draft – a howitzer which make up for slight lack in accuracy with a lot of power. Where he inevitably falls down is on the two bugbears that prevent average prospects from being very good ones, skating and weak defensive play. At 5’11” and 180lbs he is not large player by any means, kind of falling into the average category here as well. Palushaj could become a productive complementary player; but the combination of size and speed issues could be too great an issue and apparently Palushaj was a great disappointment at the Blues post-draft prospects camp, as he was constantly getting knocked around. I am personally leaning towards Palushaj topping out at the AHL level

Kumquats were likely pleasantly surprised to see Sergei Korostin fall to them at 80 – the shifty Russian was mentioned as a potential first rounder and went 64 in the NHL draft. He impressed in international play and the offensive skills are apparent. Plainly put – Korostin is the type of player that makes me think of Sergei Berezin and it is plain that he squarely fits the MO of a number of Russian snipers scooped up in the 2^nd round each year – strong offensive skills set, good mobility, lacking defensive game and questionable desire. Most of these are never heard from again post-draft. I think Korostin has a good enough skills set to be a 2^nd line player in the NHL – but should he fulfil this potential, I’d still expect him to earn more money as a star in the RSL. Expect Korostin to follow an Alexander Korolyuk-like career development. I think it is unlikely that Korostin will contribute to the Kumquats’ team down the line

16.) Keaton Ellerby (Panthers, #10, 2007)

36.) Oscar Moller (Kings, #52, 2007)

56.) Dana Tyrell (Lightning, #47, 2007)

66.) Maxime Tanguay (Black Hawks, #69, 2007)

81.) Jeremy Smith (Predators, #54, 2007)

104.) Drew Schiestel (Sabres, #59, 2007)

Grade: A-

Best pick: Keaton Ellerby – if he gets it right, he’s going to be really good!

Worst pick: Jeremy Smith – simply overrated due to the lack of other goalie choices in the draft

The skinny: Extremely solid outcome. Ellerby, Moller, Tyrell will all be very solid pros and the others at least have a reasonable shot. PF continues to pick potential winner

Keaton Ellerby surprisingly fell from 10 to 16, an outcome that was surprising as Ellerby was considered having a shot at being the top defender in the draft. There is plenty to like in Ellerby – he has good size, great mobility and very high end potential and I feel he could be one of the sleeper picks of the CNGHL draft. The one concern around Ellerby is around strength and attitude – despite his large frame and penchant for hitting, Ellerby very surprisingly turned out one of the weakest players at the prospects combines in terms of physical strength. In two years, however, he could very well turn into a 6’5”/230lbs monster that moves better than most blueliners. Add to that his great passing skills and vision and he could be a two-way workhorse excelling in all situations. An extremely solid pick; though it seemed like an obvious choice!

Oscar Moller was a name on many Canucks fans lips as a player they would have liked to have seen the team draft with the 33^rd pick, he ended up going 52^nd overall to the Kings. Clearly the VBunnies liked him a lot as they made a bit of a reach and snagged him at #36—in principle not a bad move as most of the scouting magazines had him ranked at around this range. Moller is a very good all-around player that doesn’t show too many weaknesses in his game. He is a smaller player at 5’10” but displays a lot of courage in going into the corners after loose pucks. He also has great character and leadership abilities. Scouts suggest that were he two or three inches taller he’d be a sure fire top 15 pick. For myself, I like this pick…I mean, what’s not to like besides the size? I might even say that even with the reach this may have been one of the VBunnies best picks of the draft.

Dana Tyrell was one of the worst kept secrets in the draft in the sense that most NHL GMs were hoping for him to fall in the third round, while acknowledging he’d never last the 2^nd. Tyrell is a heart-and-soul two-way player that will be a productive pro. He could likely play any role with reasonable success, though he’s never going to be mistaken for a top end scorer. I could see him in a complementary role on a top2 line or as an elite checker on the third line. Tyrell has solid mobility, plenty of grit, great attitude and solid defensive acumen. One solid NHL comparison is P.J. Axelsson – a player that can put up solid numbers on a top line, but who’s value will be noted most on the PK and come playoff time. Great pick; though his value in the CNGHL will be strictly as a bottom 6 forward

Obviously a believer in gene pools, Peca got Alex(ei)’s younger brother Maxime Tanguay at 66; a reach considering that top50 NHL picks were still on the board. Tanguay’s game is similar to that of his brother with high creativity, soft hands and good hockey IQ as stand-out skills. His mobility, however, is a notch below that of Alex. Maxime is a pure finesse player and could well see action on an NHL 2^nd line. He does however lack sandpaper and will have to find away to claim a scorers role as it is hard seeing him playing a checking role. He so far hasn’t had a true breakout season scoring-wise, though it should be noted that his offensive numbers are actually similar to those of Angelo Esposito. Tanguay is an interesting pick with clear upside and I believe he is a smart value pick

Peca found his next pick in a very shallow goalie pool; picking the alleged “best goalie of the draft” Jeremy Smith at 81. None of the goalies in this year’s draft stood out as solid and in fact it wouldn’t surprise me if none of them make it as starters in the league. Smith posted very solid numbers throughout the regular season, however was still consistently outplayed by Capitals prospect Michal Neuvirth and hardly saw any playing time in the playoffs. With Neuvirth returning to Plymouth this year, it is very likely that Smith will continue to play the backup role and I don’t foresee him to have a short-term track to the NHL. I tend to have a hard time evaluating goalies that aren’t of the Carey Price caliber (and avoid drafting them unless late). I think at 81, it’s never wrong to take a chance on a goalie, especially not considering the lack of depth in this draft, and it seems Smith is as good a pick as any, though there were options available in overagers that could’ve potentially been lower risk propositions such as San José’s Taylor Dakers

With the 104^th pick, the VBunnies went for the best – or at least highest drafted – player available and the Draftbot spit out Buffalo Sabres pick Drew Schiestel. Shockingly this is almost exactly the way the Sabres do their scouting these days. They have fired their scouting staff and now do all of their player evaluations via video and that how we somehow get Schiestel at the extremely flattering NHL draft position of #59. On the other hand, Buffalo has apparently been more successful in this approach than the Coyotes have been with live scouts. Anyways, two organizations that actually saw Schiestel play – McKeen’s and ISS – ranked him at #140 and #223 respectively. Now what does that mean? Maybe nothing except that similar to American Idol’s Sanjaya, Drew Schiestel looks his best when he’s up on a TV screen. But more importantly, since my scouting information only gives information on players ranked up to a hundred unfortunately I have absolutely zero information on Schiestel, so all I can offer is “Good luck in Buffalo Drew!”

27.) Christoph Schubert (Senators, #127, 2001)

32.) Karri Ramo (Lightning, #191, 2004)

47.) Brett Sterling (Thrashers, #145, 2003)

72.) Ryan Callahan (Rangers, #127, 2004)

75.) Daniel Girardi (undrafted)

103.) Blair Jones (Lightning, #102, 2005)

108.) Mark Giordano (undrafted)

Grade: C

Best pick: Callahan – should have a solid pro-career as a 2^nd/3^rd liner with scoring upside

Worst pick: Schubert – provides immediate depth, however, at 27 there were plenty of more interesting choices

The skinny: Anthony, like another couple of GM, resigned himself to reclamation projects. While he ended up with several prospects that are reasonably established, they all appear to be destined for 3^rd line obscurity. Schubert is productive for the team now and Ramo may be a starter down the line, but the overall impression is that Anthony picked a lot of players that will ultimately stock his farm team for a playoff run

The Zebras first got on the board early in the 2^nd round after having used their first rounder in “rapid rebuild” picking up Pavel Datsyuk. There was some anticipation that the team would use the pick on a high end offensive prospect, but instead Anthony selected journeyman d-man and reserve winger Christoph Schubert. The big German had a nice season for the Sens, appearing in 80 games and posting an impressive +30 rating, which will in the short term make him valuable as a depth d-man. Looking behind the numbers, however, Schubert has averaged 11.2 minutes of ice time and been used as a checking line winger, rather than as defender. On a team that had two journeymen-turned-reclamation projects in Tom Preissing and Joe Corvo, this isn’t exactly a strong testament to Schubert’s ability to be a top6 d-man on a regular basis. The fact Preissing is gone makes Schubert a lock for the #6 position this upcoming season; however I have a hard time imagining that this 25 years old will improve by leaps and bounds and ultimately, I believe the Zebras would’ve been much better served picking a high-end prospects and taking Schubert somewhere around 70

Karri Ramo emerged as a legitimate prospect last season after a successful season in Finland and a decent season in the AHL. Some of the hype is certainly justified; Ramo has a very solid skills set, good reflexes and great size. His play in the AHL suggests that he could also well take the next step, at least becoming a credible backup and possibly emerging as a starter. Some of the hype around Ramo, however, is due to Finnish goalies generally being seen as strong and the fact that the Lightning system is devoid of top end prospects. Ramo certainly has a chance to be this year’s Nicklas Bäckstrom. Looking at the goalies in Tampa, neither Denis nor Holmqvist have really proven anything other than that they are at best 1A goalies. From a salary cap perspective, I would expect there to be significant incentives for Tampa to cut Denis one way or another should he fail to emerge as a clear starter out of camp, since they are close to the cap and would save $2.2 million by playing Ramo over Denis. Solid pick with interesting upside

Anthony got back on my bad side when continuing his draft with Brett Sterling at 47. Sterling is a player that have defied odds at every level, and who put up eye-popping numbers in the AHL last season (though it should be noted that he played on the top line of an absolute powerhouse team) and it would appear he is on a fast track to make the Thrashers line-up, especially considering the lack of depth in Atlanta. There are however some flaws to the perfect picture: Sterling is a midget at about 5’7” and 175lbs soaking wet. He has good but not great mobility and is a one-dimensional scorer. It would of course be tempting to label him the next Martin St.Louis – though I would lean towards seeing the next Eric Perrin. While his performance last season was indeed impressive, it should be noted that Darren Haydar put up similar numbers on the same line and he has seen a total action of about 8 NHL games over the past 3 seasons. To me, Sterling is the sort of player it isn’t wrong to take a chance on given his offensive upside; however it surprised me that anyone would do so as early. With a player like Billy Sweatt taken with the next pick, I think this pick could have been spent more wisely

As if anticipating this review, Zebras next made a great pick in getting hard-nosed winger Ryan Callahan, who impressed with the Rangers down the stretch and in the playoffs, as well as who was near the rookie lead in AHL goals per game. Callahan is the sort of player that will excel in any role through sheer determination. He has great grit, is strong and mobile and owns underrated vision and hands. He could settle into anything from a Mike Grier-type role player to a strong complementary player on a scoring line, working the boards and crashing the net and it wouldn’t surprise me if he could end up a 25 goals scorer on a regular basis should he get this role. I was keeping my fingers crossed Callahan would fall to me at 77; and I must say in retrospect that I am surprised he fell this far in the draft as I believe he has very interesting upside. Great pick and by far the Zebras best of the day (in absolute terms – not just relative draft position)

Steady as you go is probably the best description of Daniel Girardi – like Callahan, he is a Rangers prospect and Guelph Storm alumni that arrived in the NHL last season. Girardi was never drafted but has since taken great steps towards becoming a strong pro, likely long-term rounding into a solid 2^nd pairing d-man. Girardi doesn’t have any strong stand-out skills; he is the type of player you don’t notice, which in a sense is a strong indication of his quality. I like Girardi as a pick – he is great value. At the same time, I see him as a spot player in a league like the CNGHL, as his ratings are unlikely to ever land him more than a #5/#6 spot.

Zebras picked up Blair Jones at 103, a pick that to me more or less is a “Callahan-light” pick. Jones has a similar makeup as Callahan, though slightly less talented and with a stronger focus on playing the defensive game well. I think Jones is a solid pick – I am certain that he will be a regular in Tampa Bay already this year – but I have concerns over his overall upside. I can see Jones developing into a Kevyn Adams type of player and while those are very important in the NHL, they end up being eternal farm players in a league like the CNGHL. I may underestimate Jones’s upside – he did put up decent numbers in Juniors after all – but his first AHL season doesn’t hint at anything more than checking line upside. Decent return at 103 though

12.) Lars Eller (Blues, #13, 2007)

52.) Akim Aliu (Black Hawks, #56, 2007)

68.) Sergei Shirokov (Canucks, #163, 2006)

70.) Juraj Simek (Canucks, #167, 2006)

110.) Logan Pyett (Wings, #212, 2006)

Grade: D

Best pick: Lars Eller – Talk about a GM getting his man! That aside, I believe Eller will be a star!

Worst pick: Toss up… I don’t like any of the other picks, but I’ll go with Aliu. Is it at all possible to work on that attitude?

The skinny: Eller is a great pick; the rest is thoroughly uninspiring. European, late-round Canucks picks should have a red warning sign the size of Kansas attached to them to discourage fantasy GMs, who should’ve learnt from the recent experiments. Picking one could be viewed as a mistake, picking two feels more like some seriously flawed master plan. Aliu doesn’t exactly help the overall impression either

Anders started the draft on an excellent note, picking up fellow Dane Lars Eller 12^th overall. To tout my own horn, I called this pick before the draft started! Of course, somewhere in the Ducklings franchise mission statement, there is something about drafting every eligible Dane that could one day be an NHLer, so short of another GM reaching to pick up Eller, it was clear where he’d go. I really like the Eller pick-up –he is one of those players that have continuously improved his performance as the season has gone on, rising from obscurity to scrutiny and managing to keep a high level of play even when having his game picked apart by scouts. He is a speedy and very skilled winger, who has good finishing skills as well as strong playmaking acumen. His game is extremely well-suited for the “new” NHL and it will be very exciting indeed to see a future St.Louis Blues first line with Eller and T.J. Oshie on it – with the speed such a line would have, it’ll be very difficult for opponents to defend against. Great pick – pity this turned out the only highlight of this year’s Duckling draft!

There wasn’t a player who went into the draft with more baggage than Akim Aliu. He has in 18 months managed to get into his celebrated scuffles with Steve Downie and challenging his coaches which resulted in him being batted around the OHL like a ping pong ball. Consider that this is a guy that – despite a year ago being touted as a potential top 10 pick – was actually benched and then sent home by the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL playoffs. He was at one point considered as possibly the purest power forward available in the draft. There are of course two sides to each coin – with the draft being devoid of spectacular talent in the later rounds, he is certainly one of the highest upside bets in the 40-60 range and hence a case could be made for reaching to land him. The reviewers are torn – Mike gives the pick the benefit of the doubt and looks forward to seeing Aliu fire on all cylinders as a member of the powerhouse London Knights – and assuming he’ll be set-up by Sam Gagner on the PP, this is a distinct possiility. For Andreas, Aliu was the second player crossed off the draft list (after Garrett Klotz) and he feels Aliu won’t ever manage to adjust his head and attitude to where they need to be for him to develop into a quality pro. Add to that the fact that many organizations are looking at him with a lot of scepticism and it is evident Aliu has a mountain to climb

Koltsov, Grot, Krikunov, Topol, Mikhailov, Gladskikh, Fedorov, Duma, Chubarov… the list of Russians picked by the Canucks 1998 – 2003. See anyone you fancy? See any reason Sergei Shirokov would be the player that turns the lackluster track record the Canucks have in picking Russian players? Shirokov is an offensively skilled and undersized forward that has declined Canucks overtures to come over to North America on a 2-way contract and will remain in Russia for the next season. Smarter guys than me can figure out the odds of Shirokov ever suiting up for the Canucks – they’re pretty bad. To me, Shirokov is Konstantin Koltsov revisited – only this time the Canucks didn’t waste a second round pick. From a CNGHL perspective, I think this is a waste of a pick unless we use RSL statistics to model the farm team rosters.

Juraj Simek was a late round draft pick by the Canucks from Switzerland that had many scratching their heads wondering who he was. They got a quick course when he came over to play with the Brandon Wheat Kings during 06/07. He got off to a fast start, impressing many with his strong skating, wily one-on-one skills, and strong stick-handling. Unfortunately for Simek the long season of the CHL took its toll and his torrid pace slowed towards the end of the season. Nonetheless he put up some respectable numbers, 28G and 29A for 57pts in the end – while this is decent, it’s pretty far off the pace of the league leaders at ~100pts and Simek clearly won’t be a defensive contributor in this life or next. This season he will play in the AHL for the Manitoba Moose, which will provide an even stiffer test for this promising youngster. I think this pick is decent for its upside, but the true tale will be told as early as this season whether his fate is in the AHL with the Moose or the ECHL with Victoria. It isn’t inconceivable that the AHL is as far as he goes though; few Swiss players have fared well when the going gets rough. As far as successful skaters go I can really only think of Mark Streit

3.) James Van Riemsdyk (Flyers, #2, 2007)

23.) Colton Gillies (Wild, #16, 2007)

43.) Jim O’Brien (Senators, #29, 2007)

59.) Keven Veilleux (Penguins, #51, 2007)

86.) Dale Mitchell (Leafs, #74, 2007)

Grade: B+

Best pick: Van Riemsdyk – the other picks don’t compare

Worst pick: O’Brien – a solid pick in his own right, but if anything, his upside may be too low for him to be a significant CNGHL forward

The skinny: I don’t know what is more shocking – Bryce having 5 picks, using all on 2007 draftees or actually coming out of the draft with several interesting players. JVR may be a future star and Gillies / Veilleux could become future impact players, though they both come with question marks. Should at least one of them fulfill their potential, then this draft will look mighty impressive down the line

Some saw James Van Riemsdyk as a player clearly a notch below the consensus Kane/Turris in the top3 and I know most CNGHL GMs would’ve ranked him 3^rd. That being said, Van Riemsdyk is clearly a safer bet than either of the two other players and, notably, his upside is through the roof. Many take a look at him and the fact that the Flyers picked him and write him off as a “big=good” category player. The fact, though, is that JVR happens to be more of a skills player than anyone gives him credit for. To put it in perspective; JVR scored at a 1.5PPG clip for the US NTDP-18 team largely playing against NCAA opponents, several 4-5 years older. By comparison, preciously few NCAA rookies managed a point per game. Van Riemsdyk’s absolute downside is a that of Mike Knuble (the 60pts version), however it wouldn’t be out of the question to see him have a similar impact to Rick Nash as a rookie three seasons from now

Colton Gillies in many ways the “signature player” for this draft – in an ordinary draft, he’d be a consensus early 2^nd rounder based on his character and good-but-not-great skills set. In this draft, however, some had him ranked as high as top10. Gillies is the type of player that does win you championships in the real world, however who’s accomplishment is poorly translated to the fantasy hockey world. He is big, mobile, tenacious, has leadership in spades and grit to spare; yet, the odds of him ever breaking 50pts as a pro-forward are slim indeed. The upside with Gillies, however, is that there has been some speculation the Wild will look to converting him to defense, similar to the track they've chosen for Brent Burns to quite some success and I believe that Gillies – should he succeed in such a translation – could be a very good 2-way d-man that would ring up a lot of assists on the PP from his above average IQ, while using superior skating and good defense to be an asset on both special teams. I thought that Gillies was a decent pick in the NHL draft at 16 and I think he is a great pick at 23 in the CNGHL draft; however don’t expect him to be an offensive superstar

As a general rule, going with an Ottawa pick is rarely a bad move and that’s why it’s tough to criticize the Epidemic’s selection of James O’Brien –but I must. O’Brien seemed to be a split decision by the scouting services, with some praising his skating ability and others criticizing his awkward looking stride. One area where they do agree is that the basic tools are there in that he has a quick release, sees the ice well, and protects the puck, but they don’t think that he has the creativity to be a true playmaker and he will likely top out as a checking forward. O’Brien made an interesting move this year in leaving the University of Minnesota because he was concerned about getting ice-time on such a deep team and will play for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL instead. It will be interesting to see what, if any, impact this will have on his development. Indeed, while Freshmen generally has lots to prove to get ice time on the premier NCAA teams, a player of first round caliber really shouldn’t have this problem and a quick look at the stats sheet (15 points in 43 games) supports the claim that if he is indeed expected to be a scorer, it would have to be of the late bloomer variety. O’Brien is the type of player that was picked for limited downside rather than spectacular upside – those are never really great from a fantasy perspective

There was a little confusion at this point of the draft with Eugene hacking out things like “is there a Garvin Vellman or Kelly Villante on the list?” Eventually between us we figured out it that there was a Keven Veilleux and that’s who the Epidemic ultimately got. (Hope that’s the right Bryce…) Veilleux generally fits into that category of uninteresting prospects between 40 and 80 circa 2007, but with one difference, this cat is big…or at least tall. 6’5” and a beanpole too, at 195lbs. For such a rangy player he is a very good skater and has great hands and a fantastic shot. Where the concerns lie are in his unwillingness to battle hard for the puck. For the most part he’s a soft and passive player unwilling to pay the price. The general consensus is that Veilleux is the type of player that, with the right attitude, could be someone with a Tkachuk-like impact – alas, it appears few teams expect that to happen. It is pretty significant that the Pens picked him – loaded with young forward talent (Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Christensen, Talbot, Stone, Filewich), they took a fly on two boom-or-bust prospects in Esposito and Veilleux, likely figuring that they can live with the downside as they already have the depth. The question, of course, is that with the question marks already surrounding Veilleux’s likelihood of realizing his potential, the other question is who he’s gonna beat out for a regular shift at C for the Pens. Tough, huh?  As ISS says in their final damning sentence, “he has top two line skills, but could be a total bust”. Unfortunately, I lean towards bust, but at least the pick has intriguing upside and gets decent marks for effort.

24.) Anton Stralman (Leafs, #216, 2005)

33.) Jan Mursak (Wings, #182, 2006)

38.) Simon Hjalmarsson (Blues, #39, 2007)

44.) Troy Brouwer (Black Hawks, #214, 2004)

90.) Tyson Sexsmith (Sharks, #91, 2007)

92.) Jonathan Ericsson (Wings, #291, 2002)

Grade: C

Best pick: Stralman – should be a safe bet to become a future 2^nd pairing d-man with offensive upside

Worst pick: Mursak – yeah, I may end up eating my words, but at 33…? Seriously?

The skinny: Chris went bargain hunting at the $1-store and consequently, the picks generally fail to impress. Stralman is a guy I believe can be a productive pro; however my overall feeling is that this is a group of players where the absolute upside is that of marginal pros, but each with significant question marks as to how likely they are to realize potential

I knew someone would buy into the hype and it actually happened later in the draft than I expected. Anton Stralman was picked as an overager at 24 overall and I had actually expected him to go even earlier. Should he? Nope! But with the amount of hype the Leafs’ nation has heaped on him I almost expected that someone would nab him really early. Zealot Leafs fans compare him to Niklas Lidstrom. While style-wise, the comparison is somewhat accurate, I think that this is a projection which is based more on hope than anything. Stralman has had a couple of really solid seasons in the SEL – he emerged as a top pairing d-man in Timrå and stands out as a very solid two-way player and his offensive game above all is what will be his meal ticket to the NHL. Defensively, his positioning is sound, but his physical game and size will be a concern especially in the corners and in front of the net. I remain very positive about Stralmans future prospects, though I think Kim Johnsson is a much more realistic projection of where his upside might be and as long as this is the expectation level, I am fine with the pick. I think Stralman would have been a huge reach early in the draft; at 24 however, I think he was a very solid pickup as most other d-men available at this point (Petrecki, Cole, Plante, Smith etc.) have a significantly longer ETA to the pros. Very solid pick

Next up was another overager in diminutive winger Jan Mursak of the OHL Saginaw Spirit. Mursak is a late Wings pick that has created considerable hype amongst the Detroit faithful, not the least because of his mobility and shiftiness as well as his vision. He has drawn comparisons to players like Ales Hemsky, which goes to show that there is a lot of belief in Mursak’s upside. So, what is it Mursak has done to earn the praise? Well, he has managed 27 goals and 80 points in 62 games for in the OHL, impressive numbers to be sure. This of course is a great feat, however to put things in perspective:

• It still ranked 29^th overall in the OHL, tied with likely future checking liner Dale Mitchell and behind (still) undrafted Scott Tregunna of Owen Sound
• It was 65 pts off the league lead in the OHL, while playing several more games than the leaders
• Fellow Wings prospect Evan McGrath tallied 114 points in 67 games 2005/06 for the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL – this year, he had 14 points in 59 games in the AHL and was demoted to the ECHL for 9 games

Don’t get me wrong – Mursak and McGrath are different players, however I believe a fair amount of the Mursak hype has to do with an unknown putting up big numbers in the CHL. Looking at the Saginaw roster, he is tied with players like Tyler Haskins and Tom Pyatt in scoring, prospects that project as third line checkers. I think Mursak has a couple of things going for him in stand-out mobility, above average hands and a strong competitive spirit and some sandpaper. This I believe will serve him well and may mean he succeeds as a 2^nd line winger at the NHL level; however, at this point I am very hesitant at buying into the hype personally. I thought there were several 2007 prospects available in the draft at this point with both higher upside and less downside. Meh.

Going for one of those 2007 picks, as if in redemption, Chris turned to Sweden – which seem to be one of his favorite drafting countries – to pick up sniper Simon Hjalmarsson from Frölunda. He excelled in international competition as well as in Swedish juniors and drew comparisons to players like Mike Cammelleri because of shiftiness, skating and finishing skills… and because of his diminutive stature. Hjalmarsson is listed at 5’11”/165lbs, however I would think those 165lbs would have to be soaking wet. Simply put, Hjalmarsson is paper thin and while he isn’t shy about initiating contact, he needs to very seriously bulk up if he wants to be effective at the pro level. To put it in perspective; he is 3 inches taller than Cammalleri but weighs around 20lbs less. His skating also isn’t quite as good. On the flip side, it is clear that Hjalmarsson’s skills set is extremely good for a player available this late in the draft and I personally thought Hjalmarsson was underrated going into the draft. His upside potential is extremely high, which certainly warrants an early pick. Solid pick-up!

Chicago Black Hawks’ budding power forward Troy Brouwer was next in line of the reclamation projects. At 22, he isn’t exactly a fresh-faced rookie. A case can certainly be made for Brouwer being a great pickup – he exploded in the WHL the year after his draft and then went on as a rookie this year with the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL, posting 41 goals and 79 points in 66 games. These numbers and Brouwers’ skills set certainly makes one think of a player like Dustin Penner and the future would indeed look bright for the Ice Dogs should Brouwer follow a similar development track. However; there are several reasons why I wouldn’t expect a similar situation to develop:

• Brouwer’s numbers in the AHL were partly inflated from playing on a superior line and his thoroughly ugly numbers in the NHL (10 games, 0 points, -7) plainly show that Brouwer’s future is in a scoring support role, similar to Mike Knuble – he is dependant on strong playmakers to be effective and will never carry a line himself
• Chicago has a plethora of young forwards, especially wingers, that arguably are ahead of Brouwer on the depth chart. Havlat, Ruutu, Toews, Kane are a given; and with Skille, Blunden and Bolland making a case this year, it’d surprise me if Brouwer can make the pro roster
• Brouwer isn’t nearly as talented as Penner and also will not be very effective in a more defensive role on a 3^rd line – he needs to make the team in a scoring capacity to be effective

All things considered, Brouwer does have upside but at the end of the day I think he’ll continue to ply his trade in the AHL. There is a long-shot opportunity if Kane is returned to juniors and Skille especially fails to make an impression, but long-term I have a hard time seeing Brouwer be more than a complementary player at the NHL level

Tyson Sexsmith is a goalie that was in some ways under rated this year with many naysayers implying that he wasn’t worthy of his 1.79 GAA average as he started the season weakly and played for a powerhouse team in the Vancouver Giants. However his play in the WHL playoffs and in winning the Memorial Cup should have shown that he is a notch above your average goalie. Scouts praise Sexsmith’s solid fundamentals and love his lateral movement from post to post. One weakness is that he is not the quickest when getting back up once he’s down and this gives his opponents ample time to pick the holes. Perhaps his best quality is his ability to exhibit a calm demeanor between the pipes that in turns instills confidence in his teammates and allows them to play their game like the best goaltenders do. It will be interesting to see what Sexsmith does for an encore this season after the high of winning the Memorial Cup. It is clear, however, that the Sharks have traditionally been solid at drafting goalies (Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Toskala, Schaefer), but with Greiss, Dakers, Patzold and possibly Piehlmayer ahead of him on the prospect charts it isn’t clear that Sexsmith’s future lies with San José.

14.) Joe Pavelski (Sharks, #205, 2003)

17.) Jaroslav Halak (Canadiens, #271, 2003)

54.) Ian White (Leafs, #191, 2002)

61.) Joshua Godfrey (Capitals, #34, 2007)

85.) Olivier Fortier (Canadiens, #65, 2007)

91.) Martin St. Pierre (undrafted)

101.) Yanick Weber (Canadiens, #73, 2007)

114.) Max Campbell (Rangers, #138, 2007)

Grade: C

Best pick: White – getting a developed 2^nd pairing d-man at 54 is great!

Worst pick: St. Pierre – already an AHL all-star, however I fail to see how he could ever take the next step

The skinny: Similar to the Ice Dogs, Andy went on a treasure hunt on the availables list. There were some nice finds for sure, but several headscratchers. The main problem I have with this draft is that I see no player with top2 line potential, save maybe for White

Royals started the draft by picking up Joe Pavelski, who made a memorable pro debut by first dominating the AHL and then being very productive in the NHL. Pavelski is a very allround player that can be used at center as well as wing and who can play on the PP as well as PK. He is a very good finisher and has nice vision and hands, however his skills set is generally slightly below “elite”. With Thornton and Marleau entrenched in San José, Pavelski will in the mid-term have to make do with a 3^rd line role, though it isn’t conceivable that he could make the second line on wing. I like the pick (and I think Pavelski has more upside than fellow Sharks overage pick Clowe), however 14 was somewhat early for my taste since I believe there were plenty of relatively high upside players still on the board; such as for instance Keaton Ellerby.

Jaroslav Halak was one of the few bright spots down the stretch on a Habs team that, in the end, fell short. Once Huet went down with injury, Aebischer was the incumbent backup, however Halak quickly usurped the starting gig, playing with a lot of confidence and poise and almost managing to lead the team into the post-season. Halak’s play was a revelation; he had already beaten out Yann Danis from the starting job in Hamilton to begin the season and the Canadiens management showed a lot of confidence in the youngster when deciding not to resign Aebischer. Of course, Halaks future prospects are still unclear – there is the little matter of Carey Price turning pro this season and likely claiming the starting job sooner rather than later. The question, of course is, whether Halak or Huet is the odd man out. I believe Halak has the upside of being an NHL starter – he showed enough to impress me at the end of the season and there is a distinct possibility that he will be the starter this upcoming season especially if the Habs want to give Price a year in the AHL first. Be as it may – an excellent pick by the Royals. Let’s hope Halak gets a fair shot tho!

Andy continued in great style by nabbing Ian White at 54. White is one of those numerous undersized, supremely talented OHL defenders that gets picked in any given draft because their skills set is apparent, however gets picked late due to concerns over size and how well their game translates to the pro-level. White will never be an all-round defender and also will never see top 3 minutes, since his size and defensive game simply won’t be at the highest level possible. That being said, he will continue to fill a defined role in taking a regular shift on the third pairing and then seeing significant PP time where his hockey IQ and passing game is leveraged to the max. I think White has continuously over achieved since entering the league, however I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t continue at the level he is at. Certainly, when looking at the Leaf’s defensive depth, there isn’t a lot of apparent threats that could replace him. I think White is another excellent pick at 54

Those looking for the next Sheldon Souray should look no further than Josh Godfrey, he of the 99mph+ slapshot. Clearly that shot is not only a bullet, its reasonably accurate too as he rippled the mesh 24 times last season for the Soo Greyhounds. That said before one should gets too excited here are four things to consider;

• First, this is the second go around for Godfrey having been passed over entirely in the 2006 draft
• Secondly, he was ranked 203^rd by McKeen’s and 149^th by ISS and the Caps made a major reach in grabbing him at #34.
• Thirdly, the Caps defensive prospect pool is very deep…now overflowing with the likes of Alzner, Green, Schultz, Seabrook, Pokulok, Finley, Lepisto, McNeill…Godfrey must outshine all of these
• Finally – looking at that defensive prospect pool it is clear that Washington has made reaches at the end of the 1^st round to pick up defenders in each of the last drafts (Pokulok, Finley, Schultz) and none of the players selected have really impressed post-draft

I’m not saying that all of these are negatives (well…), just things to consider, and taking into account that Godfrey was selected for the Canada/Russia Super series, this should give the Royals hope that he is at or near the top of that long list of Caps hopefuls. Certainly at #61 it was not a poor choice, but it is a pick with clear boom-or-bust profile

Oliver Fortier is for better or worse a player that has third line checking center written all over him. This is fine, for when you get up into the 80’s of the draft you would expect to unearth a lot of these types…you know…the waterbug whose engine never quits…great work ethic…never afraid to crash the boards… Eventually they may even become fan favorites, but in a 20 team league they don’t have a great deal of fantasy value. Fortier is likely fated to be the next Andy Hilbert or Vernon Fiddler because he simply lacks the finishing skills to succeed offensively at the next level, though who knows? He could surprise. There were certainly worse picks that could have been made at #85

Royals went back to picking reclamation projects with their Martin St.Pierre pickup – this is the pick that gets the annual Simon Gamache-award. If Hockey was a no-contact sport, I believe St.Pierre would’ve been at or near the league lead in points. His hands and skills package is that good. A Oilers draft choice, the team declined to resign him (and we’re talking a team that is seriously lacking in prospect depth) and instead he signed as an UFA with the Hawks. While belonging to the Oilers, he was an ECHL all-star, partly due to their lack of a sole AHL affiliation. The move to the Black Hawks organization has instead seen him take the step to be amongst the league leaders in the AHL and also meant a first taste of NHL hockey, were he wasn’t bad at all. That said, with Jonathan Toews, Jack Skille and possibly Pat Kane incoming, it is very difficult to see St.Pierre making the pro roster this year if he couldn’t crack it last year. At the end of the day, St.Pierre could be a productive player on an offense-only first line, but he doesn’t have the necessary skills to qualify for that role. Expect him to continue piling up AHL points or bolting to Europe for a payday. Pick wasted IMO.

Snatched out of the waiting hands of the Seals the Royals handed them their disappointment of the day in picking Yannick Weber at #101. So I’ve admitted it. I like this player. So what exactly is there to like or love about a 5’11” Swiss born D-man? (Good question, Andreas’ comment). Well first off there’s his shot, which is a rocket (though, confession time…its not always perfectly placed), second is his ability to run a power play, always a valued commodity in the NHL, finally, although he is on the smaller side he is neither afraid to dish out a hit or to take a hit. In many ways he reminds me of Brian Rafalski…OK, let me up the ante and expand the range to Sergei Zubov lite. I wish there was something negative I could say about him, but I just can’t and if I had only played my cards smarter he’d be mine. Curse you Royals! A great late pick…

84.) Ted Ruth (Capitals, #46, 2007)

87.) Will Weber (Blue Jackets, #53, 2007)

107.) Maxime Macenauer (Ducks, #63, 2007)

Grade: D

Best pick: Will Weber – could be a real diamond in the rough; and it isn’t as if he has a lot of competition for the distinction

The skinny: Yawn…..

Ted Ruth was a mid 2^nd round pick of the Capitals in the entry draft, pretty much where he was projected to go based on pre-draft scouting publications. The observation on Ruth is that he is the sort of player that will be drafted early based on being safe, not because of his amazing upside. Like many other d-men, Ruth’s make-up is somewhat non-descript – he is not very big, not very physical, not very offensively gifted, not very fast… indeed, a case could be made that he could well be type cast as the prototypical “glass out”, defensive d-man. Like many other picks in this draft, it is somewhat difficult to see him rounding into a high-end, difference making player, however, at 84, he is still a very solid pickup

Ken’s best moment of the draft came at 87, where he picked up the underrated Will Weber, who has significant upside as a future all-round blueliner. At 6’4”/210lbs, he already has a very imposing and projectable frame; however he has great mobility to go with it and a pro-calibre shot. Weber is a real project and will need significant seasoning before potentially blossoming as a pro – specifically, defensive positioning and decision making are areas of concern. Weber was the #1 overall pick in the USHL draft, where he will play for Chicago Steel the upcoming season, before having committed to the University of Miami (Ohio) for the 2008/09 season. He is likely at least 4 years away from NHL duty and of course may never play; however if he does make it, he may end up a tremendous steal

10.) Karl Alzner (Capitals, #5, 2007)

30.) Mikael Backlund (Flames, #24, 2007)

71.) Cal O’Reilly (Predators, #150, 2005)

98.) Kyle Cumiskey (Avs, #222, 2005)

Grade: A- 

Best pick: Alzner – getting the consensus (except for Dean Lombardi) best defender of the draft at 10 is excellent

Worst pick: O’Reilly – not for being a poor pick; but someone’s got to get the distinction!

The skinny: Four picks resulting in one likely future impact player and three players with solid pro upside; that’s about as much as anyone can ask. Very solid overall result!

I was as surprised as any to see Karl Alzner fall to #10 to the Bombers, but I shouldn’t have, as the same exact thing happened to Steve in the 2005 draft with Luc Bourdon, (though this time Steve was there to make the pick). One clear difference however; Bourdon was not the consensus best d-man in the draft then; Alzner however is and has been described as the most pro-ready player in the draft. Indeed, most observers believe that Alzner will have a much easier track to the NHL than Lucky Luc. It’s most likely that Alzner fell in our draft because he is not a flashy player, described as more of a “Steady Eddie” type with many scouts describing him as the safest player in the draft. Alzner does everything well, but not exceptionally well, for example, he can hit, but he is not a punisher like a Dion Phaneuf or Shea Weber. He is decent offensively but his coaches wish he would use his excellent shot more. I’d venture to suggest that he is more Wade Redden than Chris Pronger, but lowered expectations aside, all in all this was a great pick here at #10.

The Bombers not only got lucky in landing Karl Alzner, they found themselves with horseshoes up their you-know-what what when they scored Mikael Backlund with their #30 pick. I only have two bad things to say about Backlund, but I’ll wait until the end and instead concentrate on his positives; Scouts all confirm that he’s a top notch skater loaded with skill, intelligence, and leadership qualities, and the kind of well rounded package any coach would desire – however, there have been questions around his overall offensive upside and he hasn’t put up the numbers expected of him. The rub? The coach will be Mike Keenan, who either elevates players through his systematic humiliations or grinds them into a pulp, and the team is Calgary, known for a defense-first approach. If any other team besides Calgary had drafted Backlund I’d feel much better about his prospects. Mikael’s other downside is the leg injury he suffered earlier in the year. At the draft did state that it was “100%”, but it was quite a catastrophic injury and most observers say he hasn’t quite looked quite the same in tournaments since. All of this said, Backlund was considered a top 10 pick earlier in the year, and Keenan can’t coach forever (heck, he may not even last the year) so my reservations aside I’m going to give the Bombers two big thumbs up for this pick for the pure upside potential

Bombers next picked-up overage prospect Cal O’Reilly, a AHL rookie with the Milwaukee Admirals. O’Reilly was a late 2005 draftee; he has always been producing offensively at the OHL level, but questigon marks have surrounded his ability to keep scoring at a higher level. His first season in the AHL, with 65 points in 78 games, suggest that he could turn into a future pro-level contributor, however I will go out on a limb and state that I believe the AHL level is where his ceiling is at. O’Reillys biggest assets is his speed and his (technical) playmaking skills; however, he is lacking defensively, struggles in physical contests and shows poor decision making which is all traits that are absolute killers to make it to the NHL level. Currently, I think his defensive potential is too poor to be a strong third liner and his offense is too limited to be a top6 forward at the NHL level. That being said, the upside is definitely there, and with Nashville losing a lot of veteran forwards (Forsberg, Kariya, Hartnell) and having Sullivan out to Christmas, opportunity may knock for O’Reilly. I like the pick in that there is plenty of upside, which is what you look for at 71. I am however personally not sold on O’Reilly’s chances

9.) Angelo Esposito (Penguins, #20, 2007)

Grade: A-

The skinny: In a draft with few stand-out players beyond the top3, Hyacks went with perhaps the biggest boom-or-bust prospect in the draft. True, Esposito may turn out to be a bust, but I really like this pick since the upside is astronomical (and honestly, picking a safe but unexciting player like Brandon Sutter with your only pick would’ve been… bland). Of course, should Esposito pan out – and play wingman to one or more out of Crosby / Malkin / Staal on a future Penguins powerplay, then this pick will be the single best bet of the draft.

13.) Ryan Clowe (Sharks, #175, 2001)

34.) Patrick White (Canucks, #25, 2007)

78.) Matt Keetley (Flames, #179, 2005)

88.) Robert Bortuzzo (Penguins, #78, 2007)

Grade: B-

Best pick: White – the fact he is a Canucks’ pick raises concerns, but skills are clearly there and 34 is late for a player of his caliber

Worst pick: Clowe – yeah, I know he immediately steps into the line-up, but is there more to him than a 3^rd liner?

The skinny: From Patricks own perspective, the draft went better than expected – he wanted either Clowe or White with his first and ended up getting both, plus he wanted a solid goalie prospect and a big, physical defender. Signed, sealed and delivered. It is difficult to fault the draft – he got value at position, however, it is also difficult to say that any of the prospects picked up qualify as future stars. A blue collar draft that immediately improves his team and which will likely yield one or two fantasy players down the road

Patrick kicked things in gear with going for the known commodity in the Sharks’ Ryan Clowe, a player that exceeded all expectations this season as an injury call-up. At one point, he was on a 45 goals pace but cooled off noticeably. Clowe has always been unheralded as a prospect and his value lies in playing physical and going to the net. He has above average hands, however it is also clear that his scoring is more based on being in position by the net than in strong finishing skills. I think that the Clowe pick is good in that it immediately improves the Jazz roster; however, I am a bit concerned with the long-term upside. Clowe will continue to post solid numbers if playing on one of the top 2 lines in San José (with either Thornton or Marleau) but I am not certain he will stick. One would have to believe that Michalek and Cheechoo are a given in these positions, and Clowe will have to fend off competition from Steve Bernier, Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi to maintain his scoring pace. At age 25, I’d say it is unlikely that his skills will improve noticeably and I believe, in the longer run, that Clowe will slot in as a third liner; likely in a role similar to Mike Grier. In this context, I think picking him as early as 13^th overall – even in a weak draft – is far too early (would’ve even preferred Pavelski), even considering that few exciting forwards remained in the draft, and I would’ve likely instead gone for a player like Ellerby or McDonagh. That said – it is obvious that someone else would’ve picked Clowe in similar position (not least based on Pavelski being taken at 14), so if Patrick believes in the upside of Clowe being a Knuble rather than a Grier, then it was the correct pick to make

When the Canucks picked Patrick White at 25^th overall, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who said “Pat Who?” frantically leafing through the draft guides to find the guy. As it turns out he *was* the consensus pick at around the position by many scouting agencies and it was only his innocuous name that had like caused most to overlook him. Fortunately White is anything but an innocuous player. He has gained a reputation as clutch – a sniper that likes to attack the opposition one-on-one where he is especially dangerous using his combination of speed and hand skill. He essentially carried his Grand Rapids high school team on his back and led them to the State Championship. Clearly he possesses big time character and leadership qualities as well. White will be attending the University of Minnesota where he will try and crack a very a stacked Golden Gophers team. I would expect him to start on either the third or fourth line, but with his tenacity and raw skill it would not be a surprise to see him as a top six player as the season progresses. In the end this looks to both be a nice pick for the Canucks and a very nice grab at #34 for the Jazz, especially considering that White was one of the players Patrick had on his list at 13

Matt Keetley is one of those many goalies that go into their draft year as promising, but who hasn’t really set themselves apart. Consequently, they get picked in the 4^th/5^th round of the NHL draft and fall completely off the radar screen of CNGHL GMs. Well, this was the year when Keetley proved that he has the tools to be a starter. Keetley was the single most important reason that the Medicine Hat Tigers managed to win the WHL Championship this past season, despite Vancouver Giants and Everett Silvertips being heavily favored by most observers. Keetley impressed throughout the playoffs and in the memorial cup, where the team again came close to winning. Keetley is a big goalie with good positioning and very solid reflexes. He has definite starter upside at the NHL level, but would at the very least make an excellent backup. The current goalie pipeline in Calgary is pretty thin; however Keetley will face very stiff competition from Leland Irving in becoming the next starter for the Flames, but in the end, I believe Keetley may very well be at least a 1A goalie in the NHL. Solid pick at 78!

5.) Sam Gagner (Oilers, #6, 2007)

35.) Alex Plante (Oilers, #15, 2007)

39.) Brendan Smith (Wings, #27, 2007)

41.) Riley Nash (Oilers, #21, 2007)

45.) Nick Ross (Coyotes, #30, 2007)

50.) Brett Maclean (Coyotes, #32, 2007)

93.) Nick Spaling (Predators, #58, 2007)

111.) Garrett Klotz (Flyers, #66, 2007)

Grade: B

Best pick: Maclean – Some were surprised he fell out of the first round in the NHL draft – here he was available at 50

Worst pick: Klotz – Cool name… when the Flyers selected him at 66 I thought that it was just a misunderstanding; it is hard to find any redeeming features

The skinny: Selecting all three Oilers first rounder picks typically would be a huge no-no; still, Rory got plenty of interesting prospects including a potential future star in Gagner. Solid overall showing despite auto drafting; however the most of the players picked seemed destined to be role players rather than game breakers

Some have started to suspect Rory is a closet Oilers fan and reaching with the first pick to nab Sam Gagner may support this thesis. Gagner had a fantastic year in the OHL with London, managing 118 pts (on a stacked line with Patrick Kane and Sergei K0stitsyn) and displaying fantastic vision and playmaking skills. He was elected to represent Canada in the WJC20, however, here the first question marks popped up as Kane went on to make the All-tournament team while Gagner was notable only for undisciplined minor penalties, indifferent play and an eventual benching. That being said, the main conclusion is that Gagner will need another year in juniors; the upside however is still enormous. Gagner projects as a top line pivot in the Doug Weight mould; anyone who have seen the current Canada – Russia super series also note that he leads all skaters in points through 6 games and it is clear that Gagner is an elite level talent. I think the pickup was great – there was no single player available at 5 that had a bigger upside without significant bust potential (Cherepanov, Esposito) to go with it! Gagner is a great pickup for the Jets and gives them a potential franchise center to rebuild around

The Jets had to wait another 1.5 rounds before picking again and, given the shallow draft pool, possibly didn’t expect there to be a lot of NHL first rounders still on the board, however in the end the team surprisingly got away with 5 of them. The next pick was Alex Plante, a player that was considered a significant reach at the NHL draft, where most have him pegged as a late 1^st rounder at best. The fact that the Oilers – a team not exactly noted for recent drafting excellence – was the team that took a flier on Plante is somewhat worrying. Plante is first noted for his 6’4”/225lbs which is complemented by somewhat of a mean streak; however, he has also put up impressive offensive numbers with 38 points in 58 games in the WHL. There are however some significant question marks around especially skating and this may hold Plante back. Personally, I have a hard time seeing Plante as a top pairing guy, since he is solid in most areas, but not really special in any one. At 15, I thought it was a really bad pick by the Oilers; at 35, however, I think Plante is a solid pickup since I believe he has the tools to be a good pro, though time will tell if it is in a 2^nd or 3^rd pairing capacity

Up again at 39, Rory got another promising d-man in Wings’ Brendan Smith, a player that should be considered a huge wild card. Several scouting publications had him ranked in the 50-70 span, though the fact the Wings picked him speaks volume on potential. Smith has great mobility and good vision, however will be a long-term project in terms of building a solid all-round game as a pro. ISS interestingly noted that “Smith had plenty of room showing off his shot and offensive skills in a tier2 league. He played a high risk game and consequently his defensive game hasn’t developed like we would’ve liked to see…”. It should be noted in relation to this, however, that Smith’s offensive totals are by no means eye-popping so I have some concerns of Smith’s overall long-term potential when getting past the fact he is a great skater. Smith will likely see 3 years in the NCAA before turning pro. Interesting player and good value pick at 39; however I think that he has a lot to prove before living up to the first round hype

Being in auto-draft almost made it a foregone conclusion that Rory would end up with another Oilers pick (and 2 Coyotes picks to boot), since there are some teams that seemingly reach with all their picks. So, Rory got BC kid Riley Nash at 41 overall, 20 spots later than his corresponding NHL draft position. Nash has had a fantastic year in the BCHL, however lest we overrate his numbers (84 pts in 55 games) we should consider two pervious Salmon Arm alumni that have fared differently – Travis Zajac who is an impact player with the Devils and Kris Chucko who is struggling to make an impact with the Flames AHL affiliate. Nash actually has similar numbers and make up to Chucko and although there is plenty to like about Nash, I cant help but feel that if he makes it to the NHL, Ryan Clowe is sort of the absolute upside. Nash has no clear weaknesses but also no obvious stand-out strengths. He will either be in the NCAA season and his first year will likely be a strong indication on whether he can elevate his game towards a solid top6 forward position. He was picked far to early in the NHL draft but again his draft position in the CNGHL draft seems about right. Solid, if somewhat unspectacular, pick.

For their fifth selection of the draft the Jets snapped up the final NHL first rounder in Nick Ross, a player I like on paper quite fair bit. However my enthusiasm is somewhat muted as he was drafted by Phoenix’s wretched draft team, which doesn’t bode all that well for his future development. He has good size and skates very well and he will step up and lay a hit on a player. On the flip side, some see worrying signs of laziness and a general unwillingness to show up on some nights and the problem is compounded by the fact that his conditioning has been highlighted as an ongoing issue, not the least at the CHL skills test. Is Gretzky the man to bring out the best in this guy? Who can say? What everyone agrees on is that the skills and physical package is there and all that is holding Ross back is his mental approach to the game. That aspect, however, is maybe one that is less likely to be addressed by an organization who’s AHL team is perennial door mats and who have a very spotty track record in developing big, physical rearguards

Scoring 100 points in your sophomore season in the OHL should give you a free pass right? In the case of Brett MacLean however the accomplishment is looked upon with some suspicion as he was the wingman of the next great phenomenon, John Tavares. This leads him into unflattering comparisons with a certain Dany Roussin, who had stellar seasons playing with Sidney Crosby and then promptly fell off the map post Kid. Even so, many scouts have seen MacLean’s game and skating improve immensely throughout the year and see a basic talent there with one scout comparing his style and potential to that of Petr Sykora. MacLean is clearly a high risk pick, where it is difficult to see if he can be productive without being dependant on a superior playmaker and there is a risk of his production not translating well to the pros. On the flip side, not THAT many prospects manage to net 47 goals in 68 games independent of which players they have on their line and with several promising playmaking centers in Phoenix (Mueller, Turris, Hanzal), odds are that MacLean could be a sleeper pick that becomes a perennial 30 goal scorer. I am torn; but I think at 50, this is a great pick based on upside alone.

Kitchener’s Nick Spaling is a solid two way player that was a bit of a late bloomer, coming out of nowhere to score at an almost a point a game clip. In terms of hockey ability he’s what you’d consider a Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none type undoubtedly destined for a bottom six role if he cracks it at all. His best asset is his work ethic. How many players have you heard that about (Hello Alex Burrows!). What became clear over the season was that his hands weren’t elite and that he really needed to work on his puck handling skills (Hello Alex Burrows again!). To be honest I really don’t have a problem with this pick at #93 because as I said, it seems as though Spaling could make the NHL in some sort of grinder capacity. I do feel that there could have been a tad more exciting player found in the overager market however

20.) Thomas Hickey (Kings, #4, 2007)

21.) Brandon Sutter (Hurricanes, #11, 2007)

113.) Jake Hansen (Blue Jackets, #68, 2007)

Grade: B+

Best pick: Thomas Hickey – yeah, he wasn’t projected higher than 20, but if a GM as shrewd as Lombardi foregoes the consensus best d-man in the draft at #4 (Alzner) for this guy then he has to have something going for him

The skinny: Justin got two very sound players with his two picks, despite autodrafting… indeed, in this case, I’d argue he got the two best players available at that position.

The auto-draft can sometimes work very well and for the Trifecta I think it did the trick in coughing up the NHL #4 pick overall, Thomas Hickey. Cynics would tell you that #20 was where Hickey should have gone in the first place, but they’re ignoring the fact that Hickey is indeed a very solid player and a solid first round choice. Last season for the Seattle Thunderbirds he scored 9G 41A for 50 points, very good numbers for the offensively challenged WHL. Critics of Hickey point out that despite him being one of the most natural skaters of the draft, he doesn’t use his wheels as often as some would like and label him as a bit of an underachiever. Another issue for Hickey will always be his size. At 5’11” there will be very few instances where he’ll be muscling an opposing forward of the puck and will instead have to rely on positioning and a good stick – OTOH, he is only an inch shorter than a player like Jon Blum, but decidedly stronger and bulkier, and he arguably has more upside in skating and vision. I like this pick at #20 a lot and think it’s very solid. Kings GM Dean Lombardi has demonstrated that he knows what he is doing as evidenced by the year over year quality drafting by his previous team the Sharks, and I doubt he’d risk falling flat on his face in making a bum pick with Hickey.

Bloodlines was the theme of the first round of the draft with Sam Gagner the son of an NHLer as well as Logan McMillan, son of Bob McMillan and now the scion of maybe the greatest hockey family of all, Brandon Sutter appears on the auto draft list of the Trifecta, and a decent pick at #21 it is. Fortunately Brandon isn’t all about bloodlines, the kid can out and out play. Scouts praise his hockey smarts and defensive awareness and say that were it not for the fact that he is so skinny, 6’3” 175lbs that he would be NHL ready this year. Sutter will likely never be a top six player with only 20G 37A 57Pts this year, but he should be a great center on the Hurricanes third line after another year with the Red Deer Rebels. One might have hoped to land a player with a little more offensive upside at this point, but Sutter will be a solid NHLer at the very least and landing the safe player rather than one with high upside are the vagaries of the auto draft.

25.) Nick Petrecki (Sharks, #28, 2007)

26.) Logan Macmillan (Ducks, #19, 2007)

37.) Michal Repik (Panthers, #40, 2007)

64.) Stefan Legein (Jackets, #37, 2007)

65.) T.J. Hensick (Avs, #88, 2005)

77.) Mark Katic (Islanders, #62, 2007)

79.) Joakim Andersson (Wings, #88, 2007)

Grade: B+

Best pick: T.J. Hensick

Worst pick: Mark Katic

The skinny: The Blondes went into the draft with few picks and low expectations as they felt that the overall depth and quality this year was very weak. Regardless, they emerged with some interesting selections and while I’m not crazy about the smallish Mark Katic, TJ Hensick and Joakim Andersson are both real catches late

Throwback D-man Nick Petrecki was the Blondes first choice for the 2007 draft. I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that rushing forwards will just stare into this man’s face and be frightened into coughing up the puck. Hyperbole aside, Petrecki fell a lot from his pre draft rankings. Early in the draft ranking season he was considered a shoe in for a top 10 pick, but inevitably he fell, but not by much in all of the pre-draft rankings…Hockey News had him at 15, ISS had him at 14, McKeen's at 17. The fact that he fell to the Sharks at 28 probably speaks of the shift in mindset of NHL GM’s to prefer a smaller more mobile player possessing those elusive superlative puck moving skills over the more physical and aggressive type. However Petrecki is a good skater, very mobile, with a strong stride, but where he may have slipped in the rankings is in his hockey sense, or rather lack thereof as he has been known to occasionally suffer brain cramps in his own end. Were I an NHL GM I might have opted for Brendan Smith, picked one place ahead (but still available to the Blondes) as his style fits in better with the new NHL, but with the consideration that the sim places a high value on IT, it would be hard to pass up the imposing physical package of Petrecki as a pure fantasy move so I really can’t fault the pick

I hereby dub Logan MacMillan as the official “safe” pick of the 2007 draft. There is no question he’s going to be an NHLer, but in what capacity? Will he top out as a third liner or will he be able to pick up his game as he did in the last part of his Halifax Mooseheads season and the playoffs and become a top six player. McMillan is a very good vision and an uncanny ability to find the open man. In summary a two way player who can play in all roles that ISS likes to compare to Rob Brind’amour. If he can become even half the player of Brindy I’d say he would have carved himself out a nice career. As I said at the beginning this is a nice pick because essentially what you see is what you’re going to get. I was hoping for a hair more excitement from the Andreas Alsen fun factory here, but with a #26 pick and swimming through the muck of this unusual draft what are you gonna do?

Michal Repik was dominant in this years Memorial Cup and the WHL playoffs, but was unable to increase his regular season point totals year over year which made some watchers wonder if he is a player that only shows up for big games. The truth of the matter is that he had a slow start and gradually ramped up his performance towards the end of the season and into the playoffs. Repik is not a big player by any means 5’10’ and 185,  but he plays a gritty physical game and this is no doubt what endeared him both NHL scouts and Andreas of the Blondes. Many think he has second line potential, with some super-optimistic types comparing him to fellow countryman Milan Hedjuk. Regardless of projection, he seems at the very least to be an energetic surefire NHL player

At the #64 slot, the Blondes selected Stefan Legein of the Mississauga Ice Dogs, now headed for the meat grinder that is the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect development system. (It’s called sink or swim, kid…get used to it…) Where Legein first came to the fore was in the CHL Top prospects game. He wasn’t even scheduled to play, but injuries opened up a spot for him. As the type of player eager to take the brass ring and run with it, he displayed one of the most dominating performances of the game, displaying elite level skating and great two-way sensibilities. With his 43 goals in 64 games Legein is definitely a shooter rather than a passer and despite his results he has his coaches scratching their heads a little wonder why he rarely looks to the open man. I’d consider this to be a solid pick for the Blondes as Legein clearly has both the tenacity and a scorer’s touch, qualities that will take him to the next level. The question is whether he can rise to be the next Darcy Tucker or will be consigned to be the next Matt Cooke

In a last minute trade with the Seals the Blondes carefully positioned themselves to land the pick prior to the Ducklings solely so that they could scoop the apple of their eye, T.J. Hensick, recently crowned by Hockey’s future as Colorado’s top prospect. Hensick was the 88^th overall pick in 2005 and has since become a one man wrecking crew for the University of Michigan’s Wolverines scoring 23G 46A for 69 points in 41 games…outstanding numbers for a college player. Clearly Hensick is an excellent offensive player. In addition he is an excellent face off man. One area where he can be criticized is that he prefers to avoid the physical side of the game, but this can be said of many pure scoring types. Regardless his reluctance to crash the boards, this was an outstanding steal for Andreas and is in my opinion his best pick and possibly one of the steals of the draft at #65

The Blondes didn’t make many missteps on draft day, Andreas being as careful with his research as he is, but it did definitely surprise me the he chose Mark Katic. Sure Katic had fallen a few spots, sure he was considered a top 10 pick at one point during the year, but the bottom line is he is a 5’10” defenseman and the number of players that size who have made an impact are few. Katic’s pluses are that he is a great skater, one of the best of the draft and has very good puck skills and hockey sense, but those strengths have to make up for a whole lot o’ size deficiency. The reason Katic fell in the rankings so far is because night after night scouts saw him struggle mightily to contain players, and in junior hockey so in projecting his play to the NHL level they saw a much scarier proposition. It’s possible that Katic will improve his strength and positioning and become a very effective yet small force a la Kris Russell, but for now I’m not sold on this pick

A great snag for the Blondes, (even though they had to reach ten spots for him) was Joakim Andersson. Andersson was one of those surprise fallers in the NHL draft and was eventually snapped up by the always astute Red Wings at #88. Projected to be a two way checking force like a young Samuel Pahlsson there are some that think that if he were let loose there may be some considerable offensive upside lurking inside. One glaring deficiency is his skating, always a bugbear for some of the best of players—If he is going to hope to be the great third line center he projects to be, this is what he needs to work on. But his strengths in the face-off circle and one-on-one checking far out weigh that in assessing his value as a prospect. A few scouts have gone on record to say that were his skating better he would consider Andersson a superior prospect to Mikael Backlund for the pure intangibles. Obviously I like this pick a lot and had Andersson on my list as well, though obviously not nearly high enough.

2.) Kyle Turris (Coyotes, #3, 2007)

19.) Ryan McDonagh (Canadiens, #12, 2007)

40.) Trevor Cann (Avalanche, #49, 2007)

62.) Luca Cunti (Lighting, #75, 2007)

Grade:  A-

Best pick: McDonagh – getting one of the top3 defenders of the draft at 19 is a coup

Worst pick: Cann – in a draft with very few interesting goalies, it is not obvious that the best strategy is reaching to obtain one… with overagers Mason and Keetley still available, the Cann pick doesn’t look very good

The skinny: Great showing by Bullmax, picking up two potential future stars in Turris and McDonagh; with a wild card in Cunti to boot

Kyle Turris was a player entering the year with little fanfare, but who impressed more or less in every game throughout the season. He climbed the rankings on a monthly basis from a sure-fire first rounder to sure-fire top10 pick to potential #1 overall. Turris may be the top pick with the highest potential upside, however it is also clear that he has some maturing to do before fulfilling the promise. Turris could develop into a player similar to Joe Sakic – a frequent comparison not the least because the shared BC origin – at his prime. Turris is above average in all offensive skills areas; he has great vision, hands and a wide arsenal of finishing skills. He stood out as one of the absolute best players in the recent Canada-Russia superseries. Turris is committed to the University of Wisconsin for the upcoming season, and it is unlikely that he arrives in the NHL before 2010/11. I like the Turris pick at 2 and had hoped that my Flyers would have selected Turris at 2 in the NHL draft. Turris is by no means a safe bet – but his upside is off the charts

After getting a potential #1 pivot with the first pick, following up with a potential top-pairing d-man must’ve felt very good for the rebuilding Bullmax squad. Ryan McDonagh will, like Turris, need plenty of seasoning before being NHL ready, however he is a player that entered the season as a virtual unknown before impressing at every turn this season, including a very impressive showing at the U18 WJC. McDonagh is an offensive blueliner with solid size, however he plays in all situations and will likely be a contributor on the PK as well as the PP at the pro-level. It is likely that he could fill out to 6’2”/220lbs and with an above average skills set in all areas, he could become a first pairing d-man for Montreal. Excellent pick and surprising that McDonagh would be available at 19

It was a weak year for goaltenders with not a one selected in the first round and very little to differentiate between the relative skills of the players taken. No scouts could seem to agree. That said, Trevor Cann would seem to be as good a bet as any, picked by Colorado, a team with a somewhat thin goaltending pipeline. Kevin made a bit of a reach for Cann at # 40, picked by Colorado at 49 and Ranked by ISS at 75 and McKeen’s at 60, but he obviously liked what he had heard about this Peterborough Pete. Although not a big goalie by any means at 5’11’’, Cann still covers a lot of the net, challenges shooters well and doesn’t give many holes to shoot for. He moves well both up and down and post to post. His 3.69 GAA average certainly isn’t something to get overly exited about, but as I pointed out at the beginning, recommending another goaltender over Cann would be difficult given such a feeble crop overall. There were several other picks available in the draft at this point that would’ve likely been more interesting; such as for instance Riley Nash or overage goalies Mason/Keetley. As far as picking 2007 eligible goalies – it seems like a toss up and if Kevin really wanted one, Cann was as good as any

1.) Patrick Kane (Black Hawks, #1, 2007)

4.) Jakub Voracek (Blue Jackets, #7, 2007)

6.) Alexei Cherepanov (Rangers, #17, 2007)

29.) Ian Cole (Blues, #18, 2007)

42.) Tommy Cross (Bruins, #35, 2007)

46.) T.J. Brennan (Sabres, #31, 2007)

49.) Kevin Marshall (Flyers, #41, 2007)

53.) Nico Sachetti (Stars, #50, 2007)

63.) Steve Mason (Blue Jackets, #69, 2006)

69.) Petri Kontiola (Black Hawks, #196, 2004)

74.) Colby Cohen (Avalanche, #45, 2007)

94.) Casey Pierro-Zabotel (Penguins, #80, 2007)

95.) Maxim Gratchev (Islanders, #106, 2007)

97.) Kent Patterson (Avalanche, #113, 2007)

100.) Juuso Puustinen (Flames, #149, 2006)

102.) Spencer Machacek (Thrashers, #67, 2007)

Grade: A

Best pick: Cherepanov – high bust potential of course, but going for a potential superstar rather than a solid 2^nd liner is always a good move and it was gutsy

Worst pick: Ian Cole – I don’t buy into the hype and thought there were clearly better choices to be made at 29

The skinny: Well, well… the draft was characteristic for Mike in that he had his usual 16 picks, but unusual since he had early picks and since he for once decided to not pick up every exotic project available and focused on quality prospects – some with slightly less upside but most with a solid pro projection. Mike nabbed 3 of the 5 most talented players in the draft and additionally got lots of solid role prospects as icing on the cake

Patrick Kane was the consensus first overall pick going into the draft and after actually seeing him live at the WJC20 it’s hard to fault Mike for this pick… Kane was that good and he overcame age and size to be dominant. There have been plenty of comparisons for Kane – everything from Lafontaine to Briere – and I believe he deserves most of them. I believe Kane will be a first line winger sooner rather than later and am intrigued at the thought of what he could do on a line with Jonathan Toews as set up man and Martin Havlat on the other side. That being said, the one concern I have with Kane is the fact he was picked by the Hawks – Chicago sucking has been a constant in the NHL for the past 10 season irrespective of players and coaches and I hope for Kane and the Seals sake that the past 2 drafts is the turning point

It was a forward-heavy draft early and with a strong consensus on the top 3, Mike was very clear on going with Jakub Voracek at 4, 3 spots higher than his NHL draft position. It is arguable whether Voracek or Sam Gagner is the better prospect, however what is clear is that Voracek has the makings of an elite playmaker with passing skills and great vision. Add to that leadership and an extremely strong passion for the game and it is a question of when, rather than if Voracek makes an NHL top line. The concern with Voracek is similar to that with Kane; prospects drafted and developed by the Blue Jackets have generally not delivered on expectations (Picard, Svitov, Zherdev, Brule, Klesla) and while there is plenty of talent to go around, I hope that the franchise can turn that track record around. Personally, I had Voracek ranked 3^rd overall, so I think this is a great pick

Mike was scheming a lot going into the draft since there were three players he wanted; Kane, Voracek and Alexei Cherepanov. At 6, Mike completed the coup to get all three and was noticeably happy with the outcome. The merit of getting Cherepanov at 6 can certainly be discussed – he went 17^th in the NHL draft for a reason and some Russian scouts have suggested that he’ll need at least 2 years to make any kind of impression in the NHL due to his lack of strength and size. I like this pick; sure, there is downside, but on the other hand with Kane and Voracek being pretty low downside picks, the approach to take the player with the highest upside is in my opinion a sound one. I also expect that all GMs with picks in the 7-15 range were having Cherepanov as one of the 2 highest ranked players they’d like to get at that draft position (except maybe Anders who likely only had Eller on his list…). Cherepanov is an offensive machine – he recently broke Pavel Bure’s rookie scoring record in the RSL and while comparisons to Ovechkin/Bure are unfair, he projects as a potential game breaking scorer in the mode of a Alexei Kovalev in his prime. He does however have some considerable downside in inconsistent performances and at times questionable work ethic. I think that Cherepanov will be a great 1^st line winger if he commits himself. Similar to Kovalev, however, it is also possible that his production season over season could vary from superstar to also-ran levels depending on whether he wants to come out and play. In any event an solid pick and it will be interesting to see whether the Rangers elect to bring him over this fall or not

Typically, I am very fond of going for players that have consistently improved their pre-draft rankings during the year. These are players that show consistency; typically have a very solid attitude and who are in a sense on a development curve where they are “taking the next step”. Ian Cole is one of these guys, however despite Cole having worked hard on improving during the year, it is a pick that fails to excite me. In a draft where there were plenty of #3-#5 d-men, Cole to me embodies these players. I have yet to find a single area of his game that impresses me. He is not particularly large or physical. He is not a very good skater. He doesn’t own a big league shot. He plays a simple game, however no one seems extremely impressed at vision, playmaking or transition game. Rather, it appears as if no one has found any glaring holes to his game. It feels a bit like when people talked about Jeff Woywitka a couple of years ago, noting it was a player that was all-round solid without any holes or stand-out abilities… he, of course, is now an AHL journeyman that at times plays on the Blues’ third pairing. Cole was also extremely underwhelming at the Blues’ prospects camp where he was noted for getting pushed around easily and for having marked problems with the pace of the drills and games. Be as it may, Cole ended up selected 18^th overall by the Blues, an organization that has picked reasonably well the past couple of years, but that in all honesty hasn’t exactly been performing well at the draft table for the past 10 years. I am very skeptical to the pick and have a really hard time seeing Cole top out as anything but a marginal NHL player

Mike continued with stocking up on d-men, going for high-school player Tommy Cross next. Cross has pretty much similar upside to Cole in that he will likely at best fill a 2^nd pairing role, however I find there is much more to like about Cross. First of all, he has very solid size and will likely top out around 6’3”/230lbs – and he is a solid skater to go with that. He also has a very strong defensive game, playing a simple yet very effective style. Add to this that he is scheduled to attend Boston College – a program noted for developing players well – and I think odds are Cross will round into a very solid defensive d-man in the mold of Aaron Miller. I like this pick – it is safe and it will likely bring a type of player that fills a solid role on a fantasy team

T.J. Brennan was next in line to fill the Seals D prospect depth chart and again, it is a d-man that rose in rankings, but who was picked way earlier in the NHL draft than was expected in pre-draft projections. Granted, in a draft as shallow as this one, relative position beyond #20 differs for every person asked, however it is noticeable that Brennan was picked by the Sabres, a team that has replaced it’s scouts with video and who has drafted a total of ONE NHL regular defenseman since the 1998 draft (Keith Ballard). Brennan is a classic offense-first defender. There are several examples of these being drafted out of the QMJHL – some, like Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Kris Letang are immediate hits, while many others fail to translate their game to the NHL because of defensive deficiencies. With Brennan, he has a lot to like, but I feel much like with Ian Cole, that Brennan is lacking a real standout skill. Add to that the fact that he has a glaring weakness in his defensive game and I believe his road to the NHL will indeed be a long and rocky one. Brennan could carve out a niche as a 3^rd pairing player that sees plenty of PP time such as Tom Preissing or Freddy Meyer but I would be surprised if he has upside beyond this

Kevin Marshall was the next d-man picked and I absolutely love this pick… yeah, I know, he’s a Flyers prospect and I have by orange tinted glasses on, but what is there not to like? Marshall is described as Sean Avery on D; he has a very all-round skills set with solid mobility, solid size, extreme strength and an all-round under rated game. He played a key role on D for Lewiston, being an integral part in winning the QMJHL championship and participating in the Memorial Cup. Marshall has played in all situations and performed well in every role given to him. While his future value will likely primarily be as a shut-down defender, it is noticeable that he has posted pretty impressive offensive numbers and his vision and passing game is clearly underrated. Add to this the fact that Marshall is a winner – and particularly, an extremely poor loser and you have a guy that will be a solid pro and the type of complementary player that is crucial to championship teams. It wouldn’t surprise me if Marshall turns out to be the best defender the Seals picked in this draft

The “what? who?” moment of the draft for me was when the Seals went with Nico Sacchetti - and two other GMs go “shit…”. Still not sure what that was all about, I am still certain that Sacchetti has some redeeming features to his allround make up. For one, he is a University of Minnesota recruit, which typically is a strong indication that he is a good player. He also has tons of speed and grit and has been putting up big numbers in high school. With all that being said, I still totally fail to be excited? What’s the best case scenario for this guy? I could see him rounding into a solid 2^nd/3^rd liner at best, but not in the next 3-4 years at the least.

Out of character, Mike waited until his 9^th pick to go the overager route and given the perceived lack of depth in this draft that was certainly not expected. That said, I really, really loved Mike picking Steve Mason at 63. Mason has had two very solid seasons for the London Knights, posting 50-16-4 record, with around a .920 save%. The win-loss record is of course partly due to the Knights having been a power-house team; however, it should be noted that the team has been playing very freewheeling offense and more or less no defense, which makes Mason’s save% all the more impressive. The Knights have started this season without Kane, Gagner and Kastitsyn who have all moved to the pros… they are 0-6 with 4.00 GAA in games without Mason and 5-0 with 1.60 GAA in games with Mason to start this season and to me that says alot about his skills level. I believe he will be a solid starter at the NHL level and can only say that I am sorry I didn’t get him myself

Continuing with overagers, the Hawks Petri Kontiola merited a pick on the back of posting 91 points in 107 games over the past two seasons in the Finnish top pro division. This of course is great numbers for a player that is just turning 23; however it should be noted that 70 of these 91 points were assists and that Kontiola in no respect can be described as a game breaking player. I have a feeling that Kontiola, much like other high-scoring young Finns like Antti Mietinen, Jussi Jokinen, Tony Salmelainen and Perttu Lindgren, will have significant problems breaking into the NHL in a scoring line capacity. With Toews, Kane, Havlat and Ruutu entrenched in 4 of the top6 positions in Chicago, with Williams and Lang holding onto another 2 and with Skille, Blunden, Bolland and Brouwer certainly ahead of him on the depth chart in the AHL, it is very hard for me to see where Kontiola fits in with the Hawks. There is certainly some upside, but I believe Kontiola will see spot duty in the NHL at best and be back in Finland within 3 seasons

Colby Cohen was somewhat surprisingly still available at 74 and could turn into a great sleeper pick. True, he is very far from a safe bet, but at 74 you are looking for upside and Cohen has this in spades. After a very successful year with the Lincoln Stars in the USHL – averaging more than a point per game as a defender with 60pts in 53 games – Cohen is now enrolled with Boston University and will likely benefit from a couple of years in the Hockey East. Cohens USHL numbers are extremely impressive and should be seen in the context of Blake Wheeler – the 5^th overall pick in 2004 – who as a RW scored 47pts in 58gms in his USHL debut season. Cohen has good size and mobility; his stand-out traits however is in a very hard slap shot and great vision. Like many offensive minded rearguards, he needs work first and foremost on his defensive game and this will likely see him remain in college for more than one year to get seasoning; however, he could very well develop into a 3ft/35lbs heavier version of JM Liles, which would clearly be a player type that would be an addition to any fantasy team. Solid pick at 74!

At 94, Mike scooped up Casey Pierro-Zabotel, a player that received some pre-draft hype as a potential sleeper. Looking at CPZ’s scoring history, one goal per game and two points per game is of course mighty impressive even if it is the BCHL – but of course it is might impressive when considering how 116pts in 55gms compare with other BCHL players like Kyle Turris (121pts in 53 gms) and Travis Zajac (112pts in 59gms 2003/04). That being said, while those two players could be considered game breakers, Zabotel is more of the not so mobile, one dimensional garbage man that stands around the net and sweeps in loose pucks. Zabotel has been widely compared to Tomas Holmström; and I believe it may be an accurate description style-wise, however I believe CPZ has a considerable way to go to round out his game to anywhere near what Holmstrom is. I would be surprised to see CPZ emerge as a scorer for Michigan Tech; and I would expect him to at best round into a 4^th liner at the NHL level – if he can significantly upgrade his defensive game

Mike turned to the QMJHL at 95 for Russian forward Maxim Gratchev, a pick that is puzzling to me in any of a number of dimensions. Gratchev is in his 4^th season in the QMJHL and as of this writing has managed 128 pts in 189 games. Considering that the league leaders typically manage around 120 pts in 55 games, and that Gratchev is relatively old in the overall context of the league, it becomes quite clear that Gratchev is unlikely to emerge into a scoring role at the pro-level, even if his game translates better to the pros than juniors. Add to that the fact that Gratchev likely will have more lucrative offers from Russian clubs to play as a top6 forward (rather than be a marginal NHLer) and I think odds are he will go back to Russia. It should be noted, though, that electing to play 4 years in the CHL says a lot about Gratchev possibly being willing to continue the long-road towards an NHL shot – but I fail to see how Gratchev would make the NHL without at least a couple of seasons’ seasoning in the AHL. Like Zabotel – I don’t see Gratchev ever making a fantasy hockey contribution

Some pundits suggested Kent Patterson was the best goalie prospect available in the 2007 draft – and I believe Mike was one of them; or at least he bought into the hype. I am not about to dispute this fact, as honestly I have a very hard time to assess the relative ability of Patterson vs. for instance Cann or Smith. HOWEVER, the question that immediately sprung to mind with regards to Patterson is… “in a year where the goalie talent pool is possibly the shallowest ever, and where consequently all goalies are likely picked earlier than their talent merits… does picking THE best goalie available – never mind that he was chosen 113^th overall – really constitute a great pick?”. In my opinion, with every goalie in the draft looking as a career backup at best, I have a very hard time getting excited by Patterson irrespective of any minor hype. He’s certainly not a bad pick at 97 (hey, what can one expect at 97?), but at the end of the day I don’t expect Patterson to make the NHL

Mike went with only his 3^rd overage pick of the day at 100 with Finn Juuso Puustinen, an energetic winger with the WHL Kamloops Blazers. Puustinen went 149^th overall in 2006, but impressed in his first season in the relatively low-scoring WHL by putting up 71pts in 64 games and he seems on track for a repeat this season. Puustinen has solid hands, good speed and vision, however is lacking in grit, size and has defensive deficiencies. His MO fits very well with several other Finnish forwards such as Jussi Jokinen and fellow Seals draftee Petri Kontiola. It is noticeable with Finnish players how few have – despite being great prospects – really established themselves as upper echelon offensive players in the NHL over the past 10 years. There are of course Olli Jokinen, Selänne and Koivu; however past these guys, there are very few forwards that have excelled offensively. Bearing this in mind, and also considering the fact that Puustinen isn’t likely to ever win any prices for his defensive game or grit, I expect him to at best top out as a versatile 3^rd liner and possibly niche PP player. Jussi Jokinen is likely maximum career aspiration; however a career in Europe is entirely likely.

57.) Joel Gistedt (Coyotes, #36, 2007)

Grade: C

The skinny: Unexciting pick... Gistedt does have upside, but after having seen him in the Swedish Elitserien, I am not completely sold on his potential as a future NHL starter.

7.) Zach Hamill (Bruins, #8, 2007)

18.) Kevin Shattenkirk (Avalanche, #14, 2007)

22.) Bobby Hughes (Hurricanes, #127, 2006)

58.) Taylor Dakers (Sharks, #140, 2005)

60.) Andy Greene (undrafted)

67.) Antoine Lafleur (Rangers, #48, 2007)

82.) P.K. Subban (Canadiens, #43, 2007)

83.) Mike Hoeffel (Devils, #57, 2007)

89.) Darren Helm (Red Wings, #132, 2005)

105.) T.J. Galiardi (Avalanche, #55, 2007)

106.) Wayne Simmonds (Kings, #61, 2007)

Grade: C

Best pick: Kevin Shattenkirk – the next Bryan Rafalski!

Worst pick: P.K. Subban – the next Gerard Dicaire!

The skinny: Hamill and Shattenkirk are great pickups and some of the later guys like Helm and Simmonds could be finds; ultimately, though, there are very few players that feel like future contributors considering Brad had 11 picks, whereof 5 top60

Brad started a busy draft by picking up crafty pivot Zach Hamill from the Everett Silvertips. Hamill entered the year as a first round hopeful and a strong year that saw him win the WHL scoring championship propelled him into 7^th overall. Hamill has amongst the best hands of all players in the draft and has a skills-set very similar to that of Sam Gagner; the only question marks have been around his mobility and sometimes apparently wavering intensity. Being on the small side, an upgrade to his quickness will go a long way to improving his impact at the NHL level. The future is very bright indeed for Hamill; he is likely to in a couple of years be part of an emerging Boston offense with Phil Kessel, David Krejci and vets Marc Savard and Marco Sturm, which likely will support an easy transition into the pros. Hamills upside is similar to that of Savards; they are similar as players, although Savard is quicker and grittier than Hamill. Very solid pickup.

Kevin Shattenkirk was the first pick of the Storm, a smaller defenseman in this year of the small defenseman. Where Shattenkirk excels is his skating and ability to carry the puck up the ice with more poise than most. One unusual trait for a defenseman is that he is either unable or very weak at skating backwards. He just never does it. But most scouts see the basics in his positional play and his ability to play the angles as such strength that this is not a concern. Shattenkirk was the leader and captain of the U.S. National Development Team so he shows hallmarks of being a future letterman in the NHL. This looks to be a pretty solid pick for the Storm at #18 as McKeen’s had Kevin rated up in the stratosphere at #7. Shattenkirk will attend Boston University which bodes well for his future development.

Bobby Hughes was the 127^th pick overall in the NHL in ’06 and found himself picked 22^nd this year by the Storm. This represents a quantum leap for this player after a season of 40G 56A for 96pts in only 59 games. Indeed there are some that believe that Hughes will be pushing hard to crack the Carolina line-up and will be centering one of their lines sooner rather than later. That being said, with Staal, Brindy, Williams, Cole, Stillman, Whitney and Walker on the roster it is very likely that Hughes will hone his skills in the AHL for all of this season. Though not a big player, Hughes is a very tenacious player with the heart of a warrior that will play through pain and injury. He is in many respects similar to Justin Williams in his skills set, however with less speed and size. It was somewhat surprising to see Hughes picked this early and I have somewhat of a hard time believing he will live up to the confidence Brad has in him; given that there were several interesting options available at 22

Continuing with overage prospects, Brad went with Sharks hopeful Taylor Dakers, who has a successful junior career with Kootenay Ice behind him. The Sharks are generally known for prowess in drafting goalies (Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Toskala to name a few) which speaks volumes for Dakers; on the other hand it also means that he faces stiff competition to emerge as a starter down the line. With the trade of Toskala and the “promotion” of Dmitri Patzold to the bench in the NHL, it is clear that Thomas Greiss and Taylor Dakers are the two goalies that the Sharks are betting on for the future, with Greiss currently in pole position as the starter in Worcester. Dakers has so far only played in two out of ten games, but has performed very well. Look for Dakers to stage an attempt at NHL playing time around 3 years from now. He should at the very least be a solid backup at the NHL level, but could challenge for a starters job

After picking at 58, Brad was again up at 60 and may have found a gem in undrafted and unheralded Devils defenseman Andy Greene. Greene is an offensive d-man, and with Rafalski bolting to Motor City, a void was created on the Devils PP for Greene to step in. When your consider the Devils blueline includes Martin, Rachunek, White, Vishnevski, Matvichuk, Oduya and Mottau, it is clear that Greene was pegged as a PP quarterback from the get go, especially with Elias leaving the point to fill the void after Gomez’s departure. Early in the season, the Devils’ powerplay has struggled early, which is reflected in Greene’s so far not outstanding stats, however he may very well be good for 30pts and significant ice time in all situations. The only downside with picking Greene – at 26yo, what you see is very much what you get and Greene will of course not be more than a 3^rd pairing d-man in the CNGHL ever, however at 58, this is likely more than the average pick contributes. Solid pick with interesting upside; don’t expect Greene to be an all-star though

Scouts predicted Antoine Lafleur to be picked somewhere in the 4^th or 5^th round, however the Rangers thought differently and scooped him up in the second round. I was always somewhat high on this player. I mean, what’s not to like about a tall butterfly goalie with fast reflexes and good first shot stopping abilities that models his game after Roberto Luongo? Well…there are those rebounds, and he does give up some juicy ones. In addition he tends to over-handle the puck, so let’s just call him a work in progress like any young goalie invariably is. If you just look at the raw materials, there is a lot to like about a rangy 6’4” stopper that doesn’t give shooters much net to see. This was likely the Rangers’ thinking as well – with Lundqvist and Montoya, they could certainly afford to take a gamble with respect to adding a goalie, and with a goalie pool as thin as this drafts’, they likely decided to go for a high-upside project rather than a prospect with backup ceiling. It is far too early to label Lafleur a great (or terrible) pick; however I had to laugh out loud when I noted he is sporting a 4.62 GAA and a .850 save% after 14 games for the PEI Rocket in the QMJHL… He has actually 57 GA in 14 games which should be compared to a total of 132 GA in 70 games last season! It is difficult to assess whether PEI Rockets suck this season because of Lafleur – or whether his stats suffer from the team in front of him not playing well. But it is safe to say that if nothing else, his confidence level is likely abysmal at this point and I believe his road to the pro level looks rather rocky at this point. Maybe the scouts were right!

P.K. Subban may just win the prize for most one-dimensional in the whole draft. He has an amazing shot, great vision and solid outlet passing; however some scouts claim that he still isn’t quite clear on where the defensive zone actually is and I’m still trying to find anyone that has seen Subban ever lay a hit on anyone. Had Subban been the next Kovalev, this would’ve been less of a problem; since he however is a defender it may pose somewhat more of a problem in making it to the pro-level… put differently – picture Mariusz Czerkawski on defense… It shocked me to see Subban go this early in the draft – sure, his offensive numbers are good, but in all honesty, there are several dozens of defenders that have scored at a point per game level in the OHL and have topped out at the AHL level. Subban was high on my list of players not to pick; I feel this was pick was wasted

In general it’s a split decision for Mike Hoeffel. Without question there are some that believe him to be an outstanding prospect, while there are an equal number on the other side that remain lukewarm. At best I personally see him as a third or fourth line energy player as he possesses questionable hockey sense, mediocre hands and next to no acceleration gear in his skating—however he *was* rated #31 by ISS and they viewed him as a player that had all the tools “but just needs to put it all together” and compared him to Cory Stillman (perhaps they actually meant Corry Stillman?) Needles to say I disagree. Nonetheless, Hoeffel will be joining the Golden Gophers talent machine and will have to compete with the likes of Kyle Okposo for ice time and just to crack that lineup will likely take all of the tenacity he is reputed to have. To add insult to injury – even if he, in ISS’s perspective manages to put it all together, I don’t see that package as being especially tempting. It is quite revealing that Hoeffel was drafted by the Devils – he is pencilled in as a long career of working the corners in the defensive zone, chasing past the red line, dumping it in and going for a line change

Darren Helm was fittingly picked by the Red Wings; and his type of play is a blend of the styles of current great Wings checkers like Maltby, Draper and Franzén. He is a gritty and tough competitor, plays defense first, but has good enough hands to also contribute offensively. Helm has also consistently stepped up in the playoffs, showing his true worth when the going gets tough, including scoring 22 pts in 23 games as his Medicine Hat Tigers somewhat surprisingly won the WHL championship this past season. Helm will likely be a valuable contributor also in the CNGHL – he could very well be solid enough defensively for him to be a standout on the PK and I wouldn’t be surprised if he reaches 40 pts with several SH in the NHL. Very solid – if somewhat unspectacular – pick, and solid value!

Brad went with a shot in the dark, landing T.J. Galiardi at 105. Galiardi is a winger with a solid frame and mobility, who has found a way of scoring both in high school and with Dartmouth in the ECAC – however, he has decided to leave university to focus on hockey, now playing with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL. Galiardi has so far scored 12 points in 17 games, which puts him 4^th on the team, however one should consider that Ryan White – who projects as a 3^rd line checker, has 18 points in the same number of games. Galiardi has a solid all-round skills set – however, there is nothing about him that really stands out as spectacular and I think therein lies the rub – it is difficult to see what Galiardi has that will enable him to be successful at the next level. Galiardi will likely play out his junior eligibility in the WHL, at which point it will be easier to assess his future – at this point, I don’t expect him to make the cut and I could very well see the Avs not signing him to a contract.