Elliott (57^th)

Howard (60^th)

Holtby (61^st)

 

Another goalie run here. This to me is where we really ran out of elite starters. I was a bit surprised to see Elliott go where he did but if you followed my goalie strategy above you can understand why this would be a nice pick.

 

I took Holtby at 61. I was kind of hoping for Rinne but Holtby works just fine. I'm high on a bounce-back season for him and the Capitals. I really think that Barry Trotz will make the team in front of him much more dependable and that new goalie coach Mitch Korn will have Holtby back as one of the best young goalies in the game. I had him head and shoulders above the remaining goalies, although I technically could have gone after Frederik Andersen and tried to tie up the Anaheim tandem, which should be elite. I just didn't want to have to play the "when do I draft John Gibson?" game.

 

Mike Smith (84^th)

Bernier (87^th)

Mason (93^rd)

Halak (97^th)

Luongo (107^th)

 

So now all of the legit starters have gone. I don't mind Smith here. I hate Mason, but you guys have figured out as much by now. Halak is a nice grab but I wouldn't want to be counting on him.

 

Luongo is the real steal here. He'll be a workhorse for Florida. Sure, the Panthers will stink but he'll still win 30 games and pile up a ton of saves and can probably salvage a 2.50 GAA. That's better than all of the goalies in this group.

 

Andersen (120^th)

Gibson (126^th)

Lehner (128^th)

Kuemper (138^th)

Khudobin (141^st)

Anderson (151^st)

Stalock (154^th)

Allen (157^th)

 

So now we are basically in the backup/tandem zone. Andersen was really solid value here but Russ failed to draft Gibson with his next pick at 123. Gibson then goes immediately after. That's what I was saying about the Gibson game.

 

Lehner inexplicably goes before Anderson or any backups who play for much better teams.

 

I snag Kuemper at what I feel is a really nice spot. I considered Allen and Stalock but I feel like Kuemper has the surest path to a starting gig. Maybe I shouldn't be putting too much value in the number of starts my third goalie makes and instead should be looking at how low his GAA will be but I can't resist Kuemper.

 

This is basically where the goalies stopped getting picked. I took Hiller as the next goalie in the 20^th round because hell, he's a starter and might actually be decent. If I spot start him correctly he could be a winner. Maybe I should be thinking quality over quantity and snagging a guy like Niklas Svedberg or Martin Jones who will put up great stats in just a few starts but I gamble on the starter again.

 

Eddie Lack, James Reimer and Niklas Backstrom all go late.

 

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One of the strategies I went into this draft with was to take defensemen early and often. This was because we started six versus four for any other position. Lots of value to be had in grabbing D early. It sure seemed like I was the only one in on this strategy because as the early parts of the draft unfolded I was basically the only one taking defensemen.

 

I took Erik Karlsson 6^th overall after Ovechkin, Crosby, Stamkos, Lundqvist and Malkin went in the top five. I wasn't considering anyone else.

 

Then in the third round I grabbed Shea Weber. This may have been a mistake. Don't get me wrong, Weber is a killer in this format but there were several similar defensemen around like Byfuglien (still a defenseman with most providers), Phaneuf and Hedman.

 

I'm really high on the Nashville power play though. I hope I'm not wrong here.

I was eyeing up Nicklas Backstrom in this spot also, and he went shortly after my Hedman pick. That left me with zero forwards and a depleted set of options at my next pick.

 

I took Patrick Marleau in the fourth. I'm sure there are those who will frown on this pick because Marleau doesn't offer upside but man, is this guy dependable. Marleau hasn't missed a game since 2008-09 and only 31 games in his entire career. Not only that but he's basically a lock for 30 goals, 20+ PPP, 250+ SOG and actually hits a decent amount for a "finesse" player.

 

I would have loved to have made a sexier pick and it's why I second guessed the Weber pick but geez, Marleau is still a solid player.

 

Picking "solid" players kind of became my MO for this draft.

 

I followed up the Marleau pick with Henrik Zetterberg in the fifth. I really wanted to take James Neal to double-down on my Nashville power play belief but Eric Daoust took him two picks before I was up. My old flame Eric Staal went one pick prior. So I settled for Zetterberg. Who, again, is a solid pick. I really need him to stay healthy though.

 

This wasn't the last of Daoust scooping me. We were both using the Dobber projections in the Fantasy Hockey Geek program. I'm sure we weren't the only two. It makes draft prep much easier and is basically required in an Experts league.

 

My next picks were Holtby, Jarome Iginla, and Daniel Sedin. Sedin going outside of the top 80 is kind of crazy. He doesn't need much of a bounce-back to pay dividends.

 

I really wanted to grab Henrik Sedin with my next pick to try my hand at the whole "tandem" theory but alas, Daoust scooped me once again. I settled for Brent Burns who won't be as productive as he was last year as he moves back to defense (I think that's a mistake, by the way) but he'll still be really good.

 

Side note here: if the Sharks are really set on skating Burns on D even though he’s more effective as a forward and the Jets are set on keeping Byfuglien as a forward even though he prefers to play defense, wouldn’t that make for a brilliant swap?

 

Back to the draft. This is right around where we went on a run of RW, which seems to be the weakest position this year. In the span of 10 picks we had seven RW go in the following order:

 

Gustav Nyquist

Evgeny Kuznetsov (c/LW)

Jakub Voracek

Kyle Okposo

Patric Hornqvist

Tomas Hertl (LW)

Radim Vrbata

Martin St. Louis

Roberto Luongo (G)

Bobby Ryan (LW/RW)

 

After I take Burns, I'm thinking RW all the way. There’s a cluster of good ones at a shallow position I need to fill. I've got my eye on Voracek or Hornqvist. I can't make up my mind which but I'm sure I'm getting one of them. WRONG!

 

Russ and Austin Wallace are there to scoop me four and two picks ahead of mine respectively. I settle for Vrbata, which seems like a reach until you remember that Vrbata has elite shooting ability and gets to play with the Sedins. I wasn't going to reach to pair Vrbata with Sedin if Voracek or Hornqvist was on the board but with the run of RW we just saw, I had no issue going for him.

 

I'll add that I thought those Nyquist and Kuznetsov picks were reaches by Demetrios Fragopolous. Are you really going for those two over proven guys like Voracek and company? I look forward to your contrarian piece on the matter! ;)

 

My next few picks: Torey Krug, Martin Hanzal, Kuemper, Troy Brouwer, Craig Smith (Rick Roos promises to have a Cage Match talking all about why that was a bad pick), Mike Richards (in the best shape of his life!), Radko Gudas, Mike Ribeiro (that Nashville power play!), David Desharnais, Hiller, Tyler Ennis, TJ Brennan, Johnny Gaudreau and Daniel Alfredsson.

 

I really like the Brouwer pick. He hits and shoots a decent amount and should get time on the top power play and top line with Ovechkin. Say no more.

 

I'll admit, the Gudas pick felt a bit premature but he'll fill the hits category like crazy at a position I'm not totally counting on points from.

 

I liked the Desharnais pick. Counting on big numbers playing a full season with Max Pacioretty and hopefully PA Parenteau. Parenteau, by the way, went a couple rounds ahead of Desharnais and I actually liked the pick. If Parenteau can click on that line then he'll score a bunch and at a thin RW position he still came in at good value for Mr. Roos.

 

Once I got to my last three picks it was time to start swinging for the fences. TJ Brennan could be a beast for me with hits AND points. Worth a roll of the dice.

 

I was amazed to see Gaudreau still available with all the hype. I guess all of us writers are SO rational that we went the other way and overlooked his Calder potential.

 

My final pick, Alfredsson, was my favourite. Even if he only plays 45 games for me, that'll be 45 games of elite play. And if he doesn't play well I wasn't counting on my bench skaters for anything anyhow. By the way, Zetterberg says that this is an important week for Alfredsson as he decides his future.

 

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Let's talk about some of my most and least favourite picks by the other writers in this draft though we already touched on some.

 

I thought that Brad Wilson taking Drew Doughty ahead of Hedman was bad. I don't want to call the guy out but this is a mistake I see a lot of people making. Now maybe Brad likes Doughty's upside with a full year of Marian Gaborik and maybe he doesn't like Hedman in Tampa Bay without Martin St. Louis. There's logic to this pick, I just don't agree with it.

 

Even worse was seeing Duncan Keith go before Hedman to Anthony Lancione. At least Doughty hits people. Keith is a 45-point defenseman with a couple of outlier seasons. He shouldn't be going ahead of Hedman or Zdeno Chara for that matter. But again, there is logic here as the Blackhawks should be loaded and maybe pissed off about missing the out on a chance to repeat. And Keith has scored like a madman twice in his career so it's not inconceivable he does it again.

 

I guess I just REALLY like Hedman. He's in my top five for defensemen in all formats.

Sticking with defensemen. Kris Letang and Chara didn't go until the seventh round (73^rd and 76^th overall respectively). You could make a great argument that I screwed up not taking one of them at 72, where I took Iginla. Kudos to Lancione for a bounce-back with the Letang pick.

 

Mark Giordano is always a great value pick. He went 98^th to Russ.

 

I also really liked Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green as back to back picks for Roos at 110 and 111. Kronwall doesn't do as well in this format as he used to because he stopped hitting as much but still has 50+ potential. Green, even though he isn't what he used to be, and is a total band-aid boy, has upside and still scores as an elite defenseman in leagues that count hits and SOG. I was upset for forgetting about him.

 

Daoust scooped me on Shane Doan right before my Craig Smith selection. Doan should be a beast this year now that he's put the Rocky Mountain Fever behind him. Once given time to heal over the Olympic break, Doan scored at a 55-point pace, while producing on the power play and firing off his fair share of shots. He's still a multi-category stud and when he isn't coming down with rare illnesses he's a solid bet to play 82 games. Really like him as a late pick.

 

There were plenty of other good/bad picks but those are the ones that stood out. Hope you enjoyed the return of Steve's long-ass ramblings!

 

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Watch Okposo work his way to the slot for a pretty goal:

 

 

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You can follow me @SteveLaidlaw.