Entry Draft Notes Part I of II
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From a keeper league standpoint, here are some quick notes from the weekend’s Entry Draft:
June 22, 2008
Wayne Gretzky envisions Jokinen, Doan and Mueller as linemates. This is bad news for Turris owners, who anticipated that he would be in that middle spot. As such, Turris may fall short of 55-60 points as a rookie. The Coyotes gave up their No.90 pick to the Rangers for Alex Bourret. Bourret is coming off another [...]
Winners and Losers of Draft Day 08
I am not going to comment on the prospects taken, as we already have an expert around here for that with Matt Bugg. In this article, I will discuss the trades that took place, and the potential ramifications of those deals.
June 21, 2008
The Sens gave Chris Kelly a four-year contract extension. I think he could have actually had decent 55-point pop on a new team... but not in Ottawa. The Leafs and Islanders each blew their chance to pick up Nikita Filatov, who could be the steal of the draft. Remember - Jagr was chosen fourth in his [...]
2008 NHL Entry Draft – Live Blog – Fantasy Hockey
As it happens - Matt Bugg gives you his thoughts on the selections and happenings of the draft. Simply refresh the page for the latest update. See below...
2:27 PM- Detroit surprises everyone by taking a Swede from Timra in the seventh round. They did this nine years ago and ended up with a Conn Smyth winner. This kid, Jesper Samuelsson, had 61 points playing Division 1 hockey.
2:03 PM- The 7th and final round is coming to a close, and some weird stuff is happening.
-Tampa selects David Carle. Which doesn't make any sense, since he announced his retirement this weekend because of a heart condition discovered during draft physicals. The mystery further depeneds because one article states Carle opted out of the draft, meaning the NHL should rule the pick ineligible.
-Jersey gets two interesting players in defender Harry Young and power winger JS Berube. Young is 6'4 and racked up 155 PIM this year; he's a great value pick this late as a 5/6 D. Berube is a supreme agitator and power forward in them old of Jean-Francois Jacques.
-Nashville drafts 6'6 Swedish goalie Anders Lindback, who was considered a second rounder earlier in the year. Not very talented.
1:50 PM- The Jackets make a neat little pickup in 6'3 center Sean Collins. He's your prototypical Canadian boy, playing in the Manitoba Junior A league. He finished second in scoring with 115 points in 60 games. Doesn't play a power game, instead thriving on his intelligence. He's one of the smartest players in the draft.
1:39 PM- Into the final round now, and Tampa starts it off with a bang. Matias Sointu was the most skilled Finn in the Draft, but he's 5'10 and 154 lbs.
June 20, 2008
Dobber: Just want to extend my congratulations to Bugg. He had Viktor Tikhonov going 35th in Dobber's Fantasy Prospects Report. The Hockey News did not have him in their Top 100, and TSN did not have him in their Top 75. If that's not a great job of projecting, I don't know what is! Good [...]
June 19, 2008
Angus here... more stuff from Ottawa. RDS is reporting that Tampa Bay and Vincent Lecavalier will agree on an extension at some point in July, keeping him in Tampa for the remainder of his career. Expect something huge. Canucks GM Mike Gillis is not shopping the Sedin twins around and is going to look to re-sign them [...]
A Look at Past NHL Drafts Part II
Many people believe that there are three correct ways of building a great NHL team, the first is through trading to acquire players that will fit a team’s need. The second is through free agency and signing the missing link during the off season, and the third is through the NHL entry draft. Last week we looked at draft position and how it affected a player’s career NHL production, and with the 2008 NHL entry draft just around the corner we’ll look back at the past to see which teams have been particularly strong in the past at drafting in the first round of the NHL entry drafts and juxtapose them to teams that have been extremely weak. You’ll certainly be surprised to see which team is traditionally the first-round draft loser.
June 18, 2008
Angus here again... some more draft stuff. Lombardi is shopping the second overall pick with the LA Kings. Pierre LeBrun thinks the Ducks are going to make a major trade, regardless of whether Scott Niedermayer returns or not. Dobber: Interesting rule changes by the NHL for next season. These should not be underestimated. If a team takes a [...]
June 17, 2008
Angus here... some updates from later on in the day. According to TSN, Olli Jokinen has requested a trade out of Florida. Apparently the Panthers want a first round pick and two young roster players. There will be no shortage of suitors for Jokinen, who is a legitimate top center signed to a cap-friendly deal. Both [...]