NHL draft review/running diary

Thank goodness for draft day. Hope springs eternal, around 300 young men realize lifelong dreams, and the wheeling and dealing makes the trading deadline look like small potatoes.
So, a look at the first round, which is, admittedly, a little bit all over the place. It’s part recap, part running diary, all good.

Leading up to the first round, three trades were consummated. Calgary sent Andrei Zyuzin to Chicago for Adrian Aucoin. In theory, it could be a great deal for the Flames. Aucoin comes with a hefty price tag ($4 million a year), and has shown real ability in the past. It’s on him now, to show he can still play at a high level.

Amid speculation they were interested in re-acquiring Curtis Joseph, the Toronto Maple Leafs sent a trio of draft picks to San Jose for Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell. Toskala was part of an excellent goaltending rotation in San Jose, and should be able to shine in Toronto. Bell, like Aucoin, has shown some great ability in the past, and will have to find his scoring touch again.

Lastly, the Nashville Predators continued their purge (leading this corner to wonder if they’ll meet the salary minimum next season) by sending Tomas Vokoun to Florida for three draft picks. Vokoun is an impact goalie the Panthers will love.

And now, the draft. More than anything, the thing that had me excited about this year’s draft, was the idea many teams were expected to unveil their new Reebok threads. I missed watching the first two picks, so I didn’t see if Chicago or Philadelphia did, but enough about that.

The picks. Chicago drafted Patrick Kane with the first overall pick. Kane should spend next season in London with his junior team, but is a great pick for the Blackhawks. Chicago is something of a Heartland market, and Americans love to cheer for Americans. Kane, an American, could be the Hawks first American star since the days of Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte. In a draft without a consensus number one, Kane was a great pick.

Philadelphia, expected by many to take Kyle Turris next, took James Van Riemsdyk with the second pick. Van Riemsdyk is a big forward out of the US Under-18 program, and he’ll be given every opportunity to make the Flyers roster in the fall. A very good pick for the Flyers.

Phoenix took Turris with the third pick. Turris is regarded as the top goal-scorer in the draft, although he’s still at least a year away from the NHL. He is an elite scorer, and will play in the NCAA next season.

Los Angeles was the first team to go off the board, taking defenseman Thomas Hickey with the fourth pick. Hickey was looked at as a second-round pick coming into the draft, but I refuse to second-guess Dean Lombardi.

Washington was the first team to unveil new uniforms, revamping their original logo and going back to a red, white and blue colour scheme. The new jersey isn’t great, but their pick figures to be. Karl Alzner was expected to be the first defenseman picked, and he figures to become the main building block on Washington’s blue line.

With the sixth pick, the Edmonton Oilers selected Sam Gagner. The London Knights grad was among the Canadian Hockey League’s top scorers this past season, and is the son of a former NHL player.

At this point, I should mention, that while this draft is being viewed as shallow in terms of start power, nearly every player projected to go in the first round is expected to become a solid NHL player.

Draft hosts, and generally a mess on the ice, the Columbus Blue Jackets selected Jakub Voracek with the seventh pick. Voracek had a very strong rookie season in the Quebec Major Junior League last year, and was downright dominant during the Q League playoffs. He is regarded as one of the best players in this draft, and one of the most NHL-ready. If not next season, then the year after, Voracek will become the running mate Rick Nash thought he had in Nik Zherdev. Columbus also unveiled their new white unis. They’re nothing to write home about, but the new primary logo (formerly their alternate uni logo) is excellent.

At eight, the beautifully-dressed Boston Bruins showed off their new jerseys (essentially carbon copies of their 60s-era garb). With these new jerseys, they may be the best-dressed team in the world. Cam Neeley announced their pick, it was Zach Hamill, a Western League forward. Hamill is an offensive player (he led the WHL in scoring last season) playing for an incredibly defensive team. Hamill has the ability to be an elite scorer for the Bruins down the road.

In a complicated bit of maneuvering, the Sharks tabbed Logan Couture with the ninth pick. As is the case with most young players, there is some question about his skating ability, but Couture brings a full skill set, as well as great leadership qualities.

Wonderful new goalie in hand, the Florida Panthers claimed to have fans, then drafted defenseman Keaton Ellerby with the 10th pick. The Kamloops Blazers’ defenseman is a big kid. He’s 6’4” and will grow into that frame, and uses all of his size in the corners and other areas of the ice. Also, the Panthers made their logo bigger. It’s HUGE now.

TSN is making a big deal of this now, so I guess I will too. At the NFL draft in May, we watched Brady Quinn tumble through the first round. At the NHL draft, we saw Russian forward Alexei Cherepanov tumble as well. Teams are scared of Cherepanov for two reasons: there is no transfer agreement in place between the NHL and Russian Ice Hockey Federation, and he is seen as having some attitude issues. That said, he scored more points as a rookie in Russia than either Evgeni Malkin or Alex Ovechkin did, and he was nothing short of dazzling at the 2007 World Junior tournament.

With the 11th pick, Carolina (can you believe they won the Cup two years ago) drafted Brandon Sutter from the Western League. Sutter, of course, comes from one of the NHL’s most storied families, and projects as a second-line, penalty killing, C-wearing forward.

With the 12th pick, the Montreal Canadiens went a little off the board selecting Ryan McDonagh. Already sporting a full-size frame, the slick-moving, puck-moving defenseman is known in Minnesota’s hockey circles as Mr. Hockey. He will play NCAA hockey next season, and joins a Canadiens’ stable of young American defensive prospects (Mike Komisarek, Ryan O’Byrne, David Fischer) the Habs are very high on.

The St. Louis Blues selected Lars Eller with the 13th pick. Eller is the highest-selected Danish-born player ever. Eller comes from Danish hockey royalty with tremendous offensive upside. Al McInnis was on hand with the Blues to make the pick.

At 14, the Colorado Avalanche went for another American puck-moving defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. He captained the U.S. Under-18 team in April, and after some time in the NCAA could develop into a bigger Brian Rafalski.

With their second pick of the first round, the Edmonton Oilers drafted WHL defenseman Alex Plante at 15. Plante is a big, physical defenseman (and my personal favourite player in this draft) is going to be a dream come true for the Oilers.

Finally, we’re halfway through the first round. Another player sliding down the board is Angelo Esposito. In the earliest rankings of this draft, Esposito and Cherepanov were top-three talents, and both are falling fast.

Minnesota moved up to 16, and I agree with the TSN guys. There’s a good chance they’ll take Esposito here. Well, not the last time I’ll be wrong. Colton Gillies, a big, physical, fast, second-line type of forward is the pick for the offensively-challenged Wild. Gillies is a safe pick, but Minnesota is too close to being very good to waste time with safe picks.

With the 17th pick, the New York Rangers ended Alexei Cherepanov’s free fall. Again, Cherepanov is absolutely the most skilled player in this draft, and the Rangers have a real potential offensive dynamo on their hands. Adam Graves (an all time SWS favourite) represented the Rangers at the podium.

St. Louis moved up to 18, and with their second selection of the first round went off the board to pick Ian Cole. The U.S. Under-18 product is another puck-moving defenseman heading to the NCAA this fall. Cole, for all his skill, is better in his own end than most young offensive defensemen are.

Despite spending the trading deadline trying to get rid of their first-round pick, and trading their pick earlier in the draft, the Anaheim Ducks finally made a pick at 19, and went with Logan MacMillan from the QMJHL. MacMillan was a late bloomer this past season, but plays very well in both ends of the rink, and the TSN guys just compared him to Sami Pahlsson.

With the 20th pick, everyone’s new favourite team, Pittsburgh, just completed a coup the likes of which we’ve rarely seen. They are going to add Angelo Esposito, who should have been a top-five pick, to the group of centres that already includes Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Jordan Staal. Until the Penguins win anything, it’s too early to compare them to the Oilers of the 80s, but those are four serious centre men. I can’t help but wonder, moving forward, when the Penguins are in Montreal, who’s playing the home game? Last Super Bowl weekend, Pittsburgh was in Montreal, and no less than 25 per cent of the people in attendance were wearing Crosby jerseys.

Edmonton moved up to 21, and there was quite a delay. It’s like they were moving up to slip ahead of Montreal and grab Esposito, then Esposito went to Pittsburgh at 20. With this pick, the Oilers snapped up Riley Nash, a second-tier junior player that’s heading to the NCAA in the fall. Nash is a highly-skilled player, won his league’s rookie of the year award, and figures to be a big part of the Oilers’ future.

With the 22nd pick, Montreal selected another American, this time a forward. Max Pacioretty is headed to the NCAA this fall, and projects as a power forward with good defensive instincts. Habs message boards will probably tear this kid apart for the next few days, but he is a project, and only time will tell.

Nashville is up at 23, amid news the ownership picture is only getting murkier, and selected WHL defenseman John Blum. The offensive-minded defenseman has great hockey sense, and was critically important to the Vancouver Giants’ Memorial Cup championship last month.

With the 24th pick, the Calgary Flames selected Mikael Backlund, a Swedish centre. It’s rare for the Flames to select a European player, but Backlund was tabbed by many as a top-15 pick, and led last year’s World Under-18 tournament with 7 goals. You can’t fault a team for taking the best player available.

Peter Griffin-- err, Ted Nonis and the Vancouver Canucks picked Patrick White at 25. White is another U.S. Under-18/USHL product, and none of the top scouting services agreed on White’s place in the draft. He is off to the NCAA in the fall, and the Canucks seem to think he can become a strong power forward. This kid’s very articulate, and Peter Griffin was just talking about his strong hockey sense. He could be a good one.

David Perron experienced something of a free fall, not to the degree Cherepanov and Esposito did, but a free fall nonetheless. Perron was in many team’s top-15, and the St. Louis Blues’ third pick of the first round may yet prove the best. Perron, like Voracek, was a standout performer in the QMJHL last season, and has great offensive potential.

Steve Yzerman is on hand to make the 27th pick of the draft for the Red Wings, and he’s calling on Brendan Smith from the Ontario Provincial Junior League. Smith becomes the third player in the first round committed to the University of Wisconsin in the fall, and the TSN guys can’t stop talking about his skating ability. It should come as no surprise that the Red Wings may have yet another steal on their hands.

The Sharks acquired the 28th pick, and grabbed Nick Petrecki, another American defenseman. He’s a hard-hitter, and was pegged as a top-15 pick as well. And again, there’s no chance I’ll question Dean Lombardi.

With the 29th pick, the Ottawa Senators have as good a track record as anyone at the draft. James O’Brien was the youngest player in the NCAA this year, and played very well as a forward with Minnesota. The TSN guys say he could be a forward or a defenseman in the future. You can’t put a price on lining up a replacement for Christoph Schubert.

Finally, we’re at the end of the first round, and I’m pretty sure I’ll never watch the draft again.
It’s Phoenix, and frankly, I’m certain they’ll blow it, but here we go. Nick Ross? Who the hell is Nick Ross? He’s not even at the draft! They just showed clips of him hitting guys, and well, it’s better than I first thought, but Phoenix still probably blew it.

That concludes day one of the NHL draft, and I am spent. Next year, I’m getting drunk while I do this.