Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’ve begun our journey looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, polling the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Already we’ve seen big changes at the top of the draft, with Erik Johnson falling out of the first-overall slot and the St. Louis Blues picking a potential Hall of Fame captain in his place.
Here are the results of the redraft so far:
1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Giroux beat out Nicklas Backstrom to be the second pick, finishing with close to 35% of the vote. The Philadelphia Flyers captain is among the very best offensive players in the league, and would have given the Penguins another versatile player to fit in beside or behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Though Jordan Staal, who was the real second pick by the Penguins, helped the team to a Stanley Cup as a young player, adding Giroux could have made Pittsburgh even more dominant through the years.
Now we’ll move forward to the third pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks obviously lucked out when Toews fell to them in the third spot, getting their future captain and leader for a run of success nearly unparalleled in the cap era. Toews led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2010 with a Conn Smythe-winning effort, and has captained them to two more titles since. The perennial Selke and Hart trophy nominee was the easy choice at first overall, meaning Chicago will have to go with someone else this time around.
With the third pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!
[Mobile users click here to vote]
Giroux a Penguin? Vomit.
Even if they passed on Staal and Toews and Backstrom, they’d take Kessel over Giroux.
Toews vastly overrated, backstrom or giroux would be 1 overall. Toews is a system player and has never surpassed 60 points in a season.
Actually he’s had 5 but that isn’t the point. It’s his leadership skills that make him the #1 overall. And even with more tpoints Giroux and Backstrom have combined to win 1 Cup where Captain Serious has won 3. Nuff said. Argument over.