It's not necessarily about the high level theory of "well, a player is doing this here" vs "The concept of this player doing this here" - it's really about specifics. You don't draft a concept or a hypothesis, right? You're taking a player and you have to evaluate that player against all of the other players you're looking at.
Copponi is smart and he can skate. But I'm not sure if this translates into being an NHL player given some other things I see in his game. Then on top of that, you have the draft pick investment now vs. waiting it out to sign him next year, perhaps.
It's a fairly weak year for the Americans, so if you have a U.S. scout that "gets a pick" - it's not completely out of bounds to suggest that he goes in the 6th or 7th round...there are some connections out there for him, no doubt. I'm going to write him up for our Blackbook, he's worthy of getting a profile, even as an '03...