2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventh Overall Pick
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.
Our look back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft is now in full swing as we poll the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Through the first six picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up the draft board.
1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
3rd Overall: Nicklas Backstrom (Chicago Blackhawks)
4th Overall: Brad Marchand (Washington Capitals)
5th Overall: Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins)
6th Overall: Jordan Staal (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Now we’ll move forward to the seventh pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, which was held by the New York Islanders.
In 2006, the Islanders opted to take winger Kyle Okposo following a strong season with Des Moines of the USHL where he finished sixth in league scoring. While it took a couple of years for him to become a regular (he spent a season and a half at the University of Minnesota and half a year with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport), Okposo quickly became an impact player and had several strong years alongside now-former Islander John Tavares.
Two years ago, he inked a seven-year contract with Buffalo in free agency and while he hasn’t played like a top-line player, Okposo has still been relatively productive with 89 points in 141 games. That has helped him climb to ninth overall in scoring among players selected in 2006.
It’s safe to say that Okposo’s selection was a good one but with the benefit of hindsight, was his pick the right one or was there a better option for New York to take? With the seventh pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the New York Islanders select? Cast your vote below!
2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventh Overall Pick
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Milan Lucic 30% (213)
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Kyle Okposo 15% (106)
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Erik Johnson 12% (90)
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Derick Brassard 10% (73)
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Bryan Little 8% (56)
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Semyon Varlamov 7% (52)
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Artem Anisimov 4% (32)
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Nick Foligno 4% (31)
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Jonathan Bernier 1% (9)
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Steve Mason 1% (7)
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Patrik Berglund 1% (7)
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Michael Grabner 1% (7)
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Michael Frolik 1% (6)
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Jeff Petry 1% (6)
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James Reimer 1% (5)
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Mathieu Perreault 1% (5)
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Cal Clutterbuck 1% (5)
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Nikolay Kulemin 0% (3)
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Jiri Tlusty 0% (3)
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Trevor Lewis 0% (2)
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Michal Neuvirth 0% (1)
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Shawn Matthias 0% (1)
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Chris Stewart 0% (1)
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Jamie McGinn 0% (0)
Total votes: 721
Mobile users, click here to vote.
Kris Versteeg Signs With Avangard Omsk Of The KHL
September 1: Versteeg has officially inked a one-year deal with Avangard Omsk, the KHL team announced (link in Russian).
August 17: The market for veteran NHL players hasn’t really materialized, and several have found their way overseas already. Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma both signed in Switzerland, Toby Enstrom is eyeing a return to Sweden and Paul Postma ended up in the KHL. Well, Postma looks like he’ll get some company in the Russia-based league, as Kris Versteeg is set to sign with Avangard Omsk of the KHL. Player agent Aljosa Pilko first reported that Versteeg was headed to the KHL, and Igor Eronko of Sport-Express passed on news that it will be Avangard that signs him. There has not yet been an official announcement, but this likely signals the end of any NHL dreams for Versteeg this season.
If you looked up “journeyman” in the NHL dictionary, you might find a picture of Versteeg smiling back at you. After being drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2004, Versteeg would play for three AHL organizations before making his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008. A few years and one Stanley Cup later, he’d find himself on the Toronto Maple Leafs and then Philadelphia Flyers during the 2010-11 season. Less than three years with the Florida Panthers and he was back with Chicago to win another Stanley Cup, before splitting the 2015-16 season between the Carolina Hurricanes and Los Angeles Kings. Finally, he settled in with the Edmonton Oilers on a professional tryout—before immediately signing with the Calgary Flames and playing there for the last two seasons.
It’s not that Versteeg isn’t a good player and couldn’t find success at each stop, much the opposite. The versatile forward scored at least 0.41 points per game at each stop save the 14 games he played for the Kings, and leaves the NHL with 358 points in 643 games. That includes four 20-goal seasons, and generally positive possession statistics throughout his career. Unfortunately, injuries stole most of his 2017-18 season and now it looks as though it might be the end of the line in the NHL. Versteeg turned 32 in May, and might not get many more chances to play in North America unless he’s willing to take a minor league contract.
Capitals Officially Sign Sergei Shumakov
The Capitals have added some depth to their group of wingers, announcing the signing of Russian forward Sergei Shumakov to a one-year, entry-level contract. The contract will carry a cap hit of $925K at the NHL level, the maximum amount before bonuses. The maximum minor league salary for this type of deal is $70K. CapFriendly adds (Twitter link) that the contract also has an additional $425K in Schedule A performance bonuses.
It will be interesting to see if this contract contains a European Assignment Clause. Shumakov will be waiver-exempt this coming season and it’s hard to imagine him wanting to spend a lot of time in the AHL knowing that he opted out of a deal back home to join Washington.
The 25-year-old is coming off of a career year in the KHL that saw him collect 17 goals and 23 assists in 47 regular season games; his 40 points ranked in a tie for 19th overall in league scoring. He was expected to remain with CSKA Moscow until early this week when he terminated his contract.
Shumakov will now battle for a spot in Washington’s opening lineup. The team is bringing back virtually the same lineup that won the Stanley Cup back in June but there are some openings in the bottom six following the departures of Jay Beagle and Alex Chiasson. If he can land one of those spots, he should be able to give the Caps some extra scoring punch from their bottom lines.