sbtatter said:Did the smaller % of dub picks have anything to do with them not enforcing the new NHL rules last year, thus meaving some doubt in scouts minds how some of the WHL players can adapt to the new NHL????
The WHL are adopting the NHL rules this year, except only 40% of games will have 2 refs.....
I don't know where you got this from, but it is not true. Not team ever skipped a pick, GM's didn't leave, and the amount of players a scout sees in a year means they don't resort to picking players based on unusual names. If that was true, why wasn't Robin Big Snake drafted?hockeyglove said:There was an article printed a few years ago that embarrassed the NHL. The article focused on the draft picks in the 8th and 9th rounds. Most of the GM's had left the draft by then and left the picks up to scouts and underlings. Some players were picked because of favors owed to parents (look...my kid was drafted by the NHL), by unusual last names (because the scouts had never seen the kid play), or the teams passed on picking altogether. It was a slap in the face for kids hoping to get drafted to watch the charade. It was fitting and proper that if some people in the NHL were going to use the last two rounds of the draft for their personal amusement, it should be cancelled.
The Maltais Falcon said:No, the big issue remains.
Teams only have a two-year window to sign Euros whereas before they retained Euro rights indefinitely. Now, teams aren't going to spend later-round picks on Euros that will take more than two years to develop. Instead, you will see a lot more college players taken later in the draft as they have a longer window to develop and teams will retain their rights for three or four years instead of two. The odds of having a good player on your hands when it comes time to have to sign the prospect will be better now with collegians than with Euros.
Draft Guru said:Very surprised to see Mike Brennan not get drafted.
Oilers Chick said:Biggest surprises:
1) Nigel Williams falling as far as he did.
2) WMU's Chris Frank getting drafted.
Biggest disappointment: By far the number of current collegians who weren't taken. I'm still shaking my head over Alec Richards being passed over.
Also, how does Chris Frank get drafted and these defensemen: Tim Filangieri, Brett Motherwell, Jack Christian, Zach Jones, or Mike Brennan, don't?
Biggest steal: Hmmm...of the players that I've actually seen, I'd say Colorado taking Billy Sauer in the 7th round at #201.
Hedberg said:I don't know where you got this from, but it is not true. Not team ever skipped a pick, GM's didn't leave, and the amount of players a scout sees in a year means they don't resort to picking players based on unusual names. If that was true, why wasn't Robin Big Snake drafted?
strungout said:George McPhee taking 3 QMJHL forwards.
LaLaLaprise said:All three are steals.
Briere is a Q forward, so is Pominville...Dumont as well....do they suck? nope
Schutz = AMAZING...hidden gem...wait till u see him in camp...he has 1st rd talent.
Breault in rd 7 is a disgrace...hes better than his team mates Bouchard who was picked 35th overall.
And the 3rd "Q forward" isnt a Q forward. Alex Biega, a dman from Quebec who is playing prep. Great puck mover, one of the best skaters in the draft.
Balej's Dance said:Breault in round 7 is a disgrace but he isn't better than Bouchard. Bouchard has more talent than Ben with the puck and is more of a playmaker.
Good call on Biega, I had him going in the third. No reason he couldn't have been seen in similar light to a Seabrook IMO.
who are you talking about exactly?VladNYC said:What a bad draft for russians. Alot of really good guys got a slap in the face.
Popov in the 7th round..***.
Kulemin should have been drafted in the first round. Pit should have gotten him to play with malkin. Why they picked a a ****ing center when they got malkin and crosby is beyond me.
WSH did a really good job with their pics. Backstrom and Varlamov were great picks.
Montreal is gonna have an insane team next year if they let their RSL prospects play next year.
Over all, same **** different year.
Marcel the great! said:who are you talking about exactly?
kostitsyn1489 said:Bad pick... Sheppard 9th Grabner 14th
Good pick Frolik 10th Foligno 28th Alexnadrov Boston 2nd pick.
Steal Popov and Sepanen 7th round.
LaLaLaprise said:Bouchard is a poor skater...that will hold him back...he is skilled but he also played on Picard-Hoopers wing...Breault was left to center the 2nd line...
Looking at stats, Bouchard is better...but ive watched these 2 since Midget hockey...Breault has more pure skill, and is a much better skater. I feel his game will translate to the NHL better, but its just an opinion
KzooShark said:Without knowing much of anything about the other defensemen you mentioned, I'd imagine that Frank is one of those thrown out 7th round picks where they see that he's a 240 pound defensemen that likes to hit people through glass and figure he's a project on everything else and maybe they'll get lucky and he'll learn how to do well, all the other things.
He was Western's best actual defenseman last season as a freshman. Granted that's like being voted "Coolest person in the A/V club" in high school with the porous defensive system that's been run in Kalamazoo for 7 years straight now, but who knows.
Balej's Dance said:Definately, Breault is a world class skater. Although I don't feel Bouchard's skating will hold him back. He's a great stickhandler and looks good coming up the ice with a head of steam. I think there's a difference with Bouchard and say someone with poor hockey sense in that Francois has good in game hockey speed. He's kinda like Peter Mueller in that regard. He has the intangible kind that you can't clock...meaning he won't slow down with the puck on his stick and can think a step or two ahead making him just as fast in games as pure burners. I'm not sure about Breault's hockey IQ, what do you think of his natural feel for the game? With my limited viewing of him, Rico Fata seemed to pop into my head.
All that said, you're probably much more informed than I on these Q guys.