slava29

(Out a day early to get it to you, the reader, before the draft begins)

Why should you read this series of articles? Not one of Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Osgood, Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm or Pavel Datsyuk were selected in the first round. Everyone knows about the top prospects in the upcoming draft. How many know about the top scouting staffs and especially, the directors of amateur scouting - the secondary stars of the draft? I plan to single out the decision makers on each team and see how they've done recently. I'm going to focus on the most recent drafts (2005-2008) only.

Stuart McDonald, who pens Stu's Slant every Saturday, will give you immediate reaction to each player selected Friday.

PART 1

PART 2

With the draft coming up, most people tend to focus on who is being drafted and have considerably less knowledge about who is doing the drafting. I plan to single out the decision makers on each team and see how they've done recently. I'm going to focus on the most recent drafts (2005-2008) only. The teams are presented in alphabetical order with five articles each to be published prior to the draft. Please note: This is not an assessment of each team's current prospects but an examination of the people currently doing the drafting and how well those people have done in recent drafts.

With the draft coming up, most people tend to focus on who is being drafted and have considerably less knowledge about who is doing the drafting. I plan to single out the decision makers on each team and see how they've done recently. We'll focus on the most recent drafts (2005-2008) only. The teams are presented in alphabetical order with four articles each to be published prior to the draft. Please note: This is not an assessment of each team's current prospects but an examination of the people currently doing the drafting and how well each of those people have done in recent drafts.
 

With the draft coming up, most people tend to focus on who is being drafted and have considerably less knowledge about who is doing the drafting. Many of the organizations have changed over the last few years, however, I plan to single out the decision makers on each team and see how they've done recently. I'm going to focus on the most recent drafts (2005-2008) only. The teams will be listed in alphabetical order and ranked from A+ to F. The Top 15 teams are graded between an A+ to a C+, while the bottom 15 receive a C to an F. The teams are presented in alphabetical order with four articles each to be published prior to the draft. Please note: This is not an assessment of each team's current prospects but an examination of the people currently doing the drafting and how well each of those people have done in recent drafts.

With players being hyped at younger and younger ages (see John Tavares), it's important to remember the ones that got away. Some players that look to be world beaters at 17 turn into fringe NHL'ers or AHL stars. How is a poolie to know a young stud from a young dud? An examination of Rob Schremp's career so far will help to shed some light onto why players don't live up to the hype.
 

Here's a rundown on which prospects have gotten out of the playoff scoring gate quickly.   

As NCAA and Major Junior seasons wrap up, players with good seasons are usually rewarded with NHL entry level contracts of varying lengths. Over the next two weeks I'll update you on the recent signings - significant and otherwise. This week it's the Eastern Conference.