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2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Thirtieth Overall Pick

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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. Throughout this first round, we’ve seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)
25th Overall: Michal Neuvirth (St. Louis Blues)
26th Overall: Chris Stewart (Calgary Flames)
27th Overall: Andrew MacDonald (Dallas Stars)
28th Overall: Viktor Stalberg (Ottawa Senators)
29th Overall: Nikolay Kulemin (Phoenix Coyotes)

After being originally selected in the middle of the second round (44th overall to Toronto), Kulemin jumps to the bottom of the first round in our redraft and is the second straight player originally drafted by the Maple Leafs to come off the board.

Kulemin spent two post-draft seasons back home in Russia, playing with Magnitogorsk of the RSL (now the KHL) before crossing the pond in 2008.  He made an immediate impact with Toronto, cracking their lineup as a 20-year-old and tallying a respectable 31 points in 73 games in his rookie season.

While his numbers were largely the same in his sophomore campaign, he became one of their top scorers in 2009-10, tallying 30 goals along with 27 assists (numbers that remain his career high), providing the team with exceptional value in the first season of his two-year bridge deal.  His second season wasn’t anywhere near as productive though as his point total was cut in half and as a result, Toronto opted to again give him a short-term deal that only covered his remaining RFA years instead of locking him up long-term.  That turned out to be a prudent decision.

Following another stint in Russia during the lockout in 2012-13, Kulemin’s numbers rebounded slightly that season as he approached the half a point per game mark.  Unfortunately for Toronto, he struggled the following season, posting just 20 points and ending any thought of another contract with them in the process.

Despite his drop off in production, the Islanders surprisingly stepped up with a four-year, $16.75MM contract that didn’t make a lot of sense at the time and didn’t work out as well as they hoped.  While he had a decent run over the first three seasons (averaging just over 25 points per year in that span), that’s not a good return for that cap hit.  Last season was even rougher for him as he missed 69 games due to injuries including the final 67 games due to shoulder troubles.

Not surprisingly, that didn’t help his case for another contract in the NHL but he was able to land a three-year deal with Magnitogorsk and he’s off to a good start there with 10 goals through 25 games.  Considering he’ll be entering his age-35 season when that deal expires, there’s a good chance that he’s played his final NHL game.

While Kulemin never really became an impact scorer in the NHL aside from his third year in Toronto, he still carved out a nice career for himself.  He sits 14th in games played among players from this draft class and 16th in points, not bad for a player picked in the middle of the second round.

We now move to the thirtieth and final pick of the round which was held by the New Jersey Devils.  They opted for a physical, stay-at-home defenseman in Matt Corrente, a pick that didn’t pan out too well.  He played in 34 games with the Devils before bouncing around the minor leagues.  He retired following the 2015-16 season where he spent some time in the ECHL.  They’re clearly going to wind up with a better player in this draft than Corrente but who should they pick?  Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Marshall Warren Commits To Boston College

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The U.S. National Development Team, as usual, is churning out top prospects this year and yet another has committed to a top college program. The team announced yesterday that Marshall Warren, a top-four defenseman for the U-18 squad, is set to join Boston College next season. Warren had previously indicated that he would play at Harvard, but has opted instead to join the Eagles, much like 2018 first-round selection Oliver Wahlstrom. Warren joins No. 1 defenseman Cam York (Michigan) and top-nine forward Patrick Moynihan (Providence) as USNTDP products to make their commitments in the past week.

Warren, 17, is considered a borderline first-round pick in the upcoming 2019 NHL Draft, unlikely to fall outside of the third round. At 5’11, 168 lbs., Warren isn’t going to check his way into a pro career, but is a strong skater with a history of solid production. Warren is capable in his own zone, but excels at carrying the puck and making plays. Warren notched 18 points in 34 games against USHL competition last season, outpacing even guaranteed first-rounder York. The young defender has been scoring at a slower clip so far this year and has growing to do, both physically and developmentally, but seems like he has upside yet to be tapped.

The Eagles hope that they can put Marshall in a position to truly blossom, as he becomes yet another addition to BC from this current US National Team. After adding the top college-bound player from last year’s draft in Wahlstrom, Boston College is set to add five USNTDP players currently, including Marshall, presumptive top-ten forward Matthew Boldy, No. 1-ranked goaltender Spencer Knight, forward Danny Weight, and defenseman Drew Helleson. Not to be outdone, rival Boston University will add five players of their own from the program in first-round talent Trevor Zegras up front and Alex Vlasic, Case McCarthy, Dominick Fensore, and Cade Webber on the back end. Marshall becomes just the latest piece of what should be a reignited rivalry and constant battle between national powers over the next few years.

Cam York Commits To The University Of Michigan

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In 2017, the University of Michigan watched shutdown defenseman Luke Martin get selected in the second round of the NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. Last year, smooth-skating Wolverines rearguard Quinn Hughes was drafted seventh overall by the Vancouver Canucks, the second defenseman off the board. With both players expected to turn pro after this season, there was some understandable concern about the Michigan blue line moving forward. Well, those fears can be put to rest, as the team is unlikely to miss a beat after today’s announcement. Cam York, one of the top draft-eligible defenseman of the 2019 class, is headed to Ann Arbor. The U.S. National Development Program announced that their star defender made his commitment to the University of Michigan official today.

York is considered by most to be one of the top two or three defensemen in the upcoming draft, alongside Canadian Bowen Byram and Swedes Philip Broberg and Victor Soderstrom. The Anaheim, California native is a guaranteed first round pick next June, if not top-ten. A product of Shattuck St. Mary’s, York joined the USNTDP last season and quickly earned a spot on the U-18 team. This season, York has been the program’s top defender and has the numbers to prove it. With 16 points through 21 games, York leads the team’s defensemen in scoring and is top-six overall in both points and assists.

At 5’11, 172 lbs., York is not a dominant physical presence on the back end, however he does possess a solid two-way game. Yet, where York is really dangerous is when he has the puck on his stick. A talented puck-mover, York pushes the pace of the game and sees the ice better than most his age. With passing accuracy and a strong shot, the 17-year-old is an offensive dynamo on the blue line. York should be able to dominate the college game with Michigan, so much so that he’s unlikely to be a Wolverine for more than a season or two. Michigan fans will take what they can get, as York will continue the team’s recent streak of having top play-makers on the blue line.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Ninth Overall Pick

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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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)
25th Overall: Michal Neuvirth (St. Louis Blues)
26th Overall: Chris Stewart (Calgary Flames)
27th Overall: Andrew MacDonald (Dallas Stars)
28th Overall: Viktor Stalberg (Ottawa Senators)

With their original selection off the board in Foligno, the Senators instead wind up with Stalberg, a speedy winger who winds up going a lot higher than his original draft slot (161st overall to Toronto).

It took a little while for Stalberg to make it to Toronto as he spent three years at Vermont after being drafted before turning pro.  He made an impact with the Maple Leafs fairly quickly, splitting the season between the NHL and AHL in his rookie year.  However, that was his only year with the team as they moved him to Chicago as part of a five-player deal that saw them land winger Kris Versteeg.

The 32-year-old spent parts of three seasons with the Blackhawks with some mixed results.  Although he had a 22-goal season in that time, he was more of a complementary piece and as a result, he was allowed to walk in free agency in 2013 just weeks after Chicago won the Stanley Cup.

Nashville believed that Stalberg could become more of a consistent contributor and as a result, they inked him to a four-year, $10MM deal that summer.  It didn’t happen.  By the second year of his deal, he had cleared waivers and spent a big chunk of the year with Milwaukee of the AHL.  In the 2015 summer, the Predators bought him out; he remains on their books this season with a cap hit that’s just over $1.16MM.

He joined the Rangers that offseason and spent one year with the team before moving onto Carolina in free agency the following year.  His time with the Hurricanes was short-lived as he was dealt at the trade deadline to Ottawa in February of 2017.

After being unable to land a contract that summer, Stalberg signed with EV Zug of the Swiss NLA and was quite productive last year with 50 points in 46 games which tied for second in league scoring.  He remained with them to start this season but transferred to Omsk of the KHL in late October.

Stalberg will once again be a free agent this summer and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him try to land an NHL deal one more time.  If that doesn’t happen, he’ll wrap up his NHL playing days with 168 points in 488 games which is pretty good for a player selected in the sixth round.

We move to the twenty-ninth pick which was held by Phoenix.  After landing Peter Mueller with the eighth pick, they looked to the back end and selected Chris Summers.  That pick hasn’t panned out particularly well as the blueliner has spent the majority of his professional career at the minor league level.  They’ll wind up with a better player in our redraft but who should they take? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Eighth Overall Pick

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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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)
25th Overall: Michal Neuvirth (St. Louis Blues)
26th Overall: Chris Stewart (Calgary Flames)
27th Overall: Andrew MacDonald (Dallas Stars)

After taking Ivan Vishnevskiy with their actual pick. the Stars wind up with a better fit on the back end in MacDonald, who jumped up 133 spots from his actual selection.

It took until 2010-11 for MacDonald to make it to the NHL on a full-time basis with the Islanders where he showed some offensive upside early, recording 27 points in his rookie campaign.  That remains his career-high to this date.  He remained with the Isles until March of 2014 when he was flipped to the Flyers for a pair of draft picks, one of which was later flipped to Boston as part of the deal that brought them Johnny Boychuk.

At the time of the trade, MacDonald was logging over 25 minutes a night and his ice time stayed rather high after joining Philadelphia.  As it looked like he was going to be a key shutdown defender for the foreseeable future, the Flyers inked him to a six-year, $30MM contract extension less than six weeks after the trade, a move that hasn’t worked out as well as they hoped.

He has spent considerable time as a healthy scratch in each of the last five seasons and even cleared waivers in the 2015-16 campaign which saw him suit up in his first minor league games since 2009-10.  All in all, he has played in 251 games with the Flyers since the trade but has been more of a complementary player than a core one.  Suffice it to say, the contract – which runs through next season – hasn’t worked out as well as they hoped for.

That said, MacDonald has still carved out a pretty good career for himself considering he was initially a sixth-round pick.  It’s unlikely he’ll remain in Philadelphia when his contract expires and given that the league is trending away from stay-at-home players in favor of strong skaters, it will be interesting to see what type of market he has in the 2020 offseason.

We move to the twenty-eighth pick which was held by Ottawa.  They made a very good pick with their original selection, landing wigner Nick Foligno who has played the sixth-most games of anyone in this draft class.  He went twelfth overall in this redraft so the Senators will wind up with someone else this time around.  Who should they take? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Seventh Overall Pick

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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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)
25th Overall: Michal Neuvirth (St. Louis Blues)
26th Overall: Chris Stewart (Calgary Flames)

Stewart winds up dropping eight spots from his original selection but still managed to remain in the first round.  He looked to have considerable promise following his sophomore NHL season in 2009-10 where he potted 28 goals and 36 assists in 77 games with Colorado.  That, along with a solid start the following season, was enough to help convince St. Louis to part with young blueliner Erik Johnson, who was the number one pick back in 2006; the Blues also added Kevin Shattenkirk in that trade.

Although Stewart finished up the 2010-11 campaign strong, things started to go downhill for him after that.  He became more of a secondary scorer with St. Louis and at the trade deadline in 2014, he was flipped to Buffalo as part of a deal that the Blues pick up goaltender Ryan Miller in an effort to shore up their goaltending.

Stewart’s stay with Buffalo didn’t last too long as at the trade deadline one year later, he was moved to Minnesota for a second-round pick although his stay there was even shorter.  In the summer of 2015, he left the Wild to sign in Anaheim but after struggling with the Ducks, he went back to Minnesota in free agency one year later.  Last season, the Wild opted to place him on waivers late in the year where he coincidentally wound up with Calgary.

Stewart was unable to land an NHL contract over the summer and opted to sign with Slovan Bratislava of the KHL in September.  However, before he had even played a game, he decided to head back across the pond and signed with Hamilton of the ACH where he has played once so far this season.

As things stand, Stewart sits fourteenth overall in points from this draft class with 321 (160-161) in 652 games.  It’s still possible he could add to that total if he can catch on with another team down the road but given his declining speed and the fact he couldn’t get a deal this summer, that’s far from a guarantee.

We now move to the twenty-seventh selection which was held by Dallas.  They initially selected defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy, a productive player at the junior level but saw limited NHL success.  He played in just five games with Dallas and has been in the KHL since the conclusion of his entry-level contract.

As a result, the Stars are set to wind up with a better player with this selection than their original one. Who should they take? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick

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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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)
25th Overall: Michal Neuvirth (St. Louis Blues)

While there usually aren’t many goalies that go in the first round, we’re on a bit of a goalie run here as Neuvirth becomes the third goalie in the last four picks while moving up nine spots overall from his original selection by Washington.

He took a fairly long road to the NHL as didn’t become a full-time player with the Capitals until 2010-11 where he became their starting goalie which helped enable them to move Semyon Varlamov to Colorado.  He never was really able to repeat that level of performance and was eventually dealt to Buffalo to allow the Caps to add Jaroslav Halak as a deadline rental for the stretch run.

Neuvirth’s time with Buffalo didn’t last very long as he served as Jhonas Enroth’s backup for most of the 2014-15 season before once again being dealt at the deadline.  This time, he was off to the Islanders to serve as the backup, coincidentally to Halak who he was traded for less than a year earlier.  His time in New York was largely uneventful and he departed for Philadelphia in free agency in the summer of 2015.

Things started off well for the 30-year-old in his first season with the Flyers but they haven’t gone as well since then.  Injury issues have been a concern over the last two years and he has been inconsistent when he has played.  Neuvirth is in the final year of his contract and with the young goalie depth Philadelphia has, it’s safe to suggest that he won’t be with them too much longer.

Overall, Neuvirth has played in 251 career regular season games, ranking him fifth among goalies from that draft class.  He hasn’t been able to become a legitimate starter but has still been able to carve out a nice career as a backup.  Given the increasing role of backups in recent years, he should have some suitors this summer if he can show he’s healthy.

Now, we move on to the twenty-sixth selection which was held by Calgary.  They, too, selected a goalie in Leland Irving although he hasn’t had anywhere near the type of success they hoped he would.  Irving has played in just 13 NHL games, the last of which came back in 2012-12.  Since then, he has bounced around several other leagues in the AHL, KHL, SM-liiga, and this season, the EBEL.

As a result, the Flames are set to fare a lot better with this selection than their original one. Who should they take? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Fifth Overall Pick

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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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)
24th Overall: Steve Mason (Buffalo Sabres)

Mason gets a strong boost from his original draft position of 69th overall (to Columbus).  He made quite the impact as a 20-year-old in Columbus, ascending to the number one role with the Blue Jackets without spending much time in the minors (just three games).  He played in 61 games in 2008-09 (tied for a career high), winning 33 (also tied for a career high) while posting a league-best ten shutouts (a career high as well).  That earned him the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year and he looked like the next elite goalie in the league.

Things didn’t go so well after that, however.  He struggled in the next three years as their starter, posting save percentages between .894 and .901, well below the league average.  That helped pave the way for his departure to Philadelphia in April of 2013 where the Flyers hoped he could become their starter of the future.

For a time, he was able to somewhat live up to that expectation.  In his first three seasons there, he posted the best three full-season save percentages of his career but had a losing record in that span as well.  He stayed with them through the 2016-17 campaign before moving on to Winnipeg in free agency.

His first (and only) season with the Jets didn’t go well as concussion troubles limited him to just 13 games and he didn’t fare particularly well in those appearances.  As a result, Winnipeg dealt away Joel Armia to Montreal as an incentive to take on the final year of Mason’s contract which they subsequently bought out.  While Mason has had a couple of offers to be a short-term backup, he has turned those down and is content with being at the end of his career if he can’t land more of a regular position.

As things stand, Mason leads all goaltenders from the 2006 draft class in games played (476) while posting a 2.70 GAA and a .911 SV%.  If he is indeed at the end of his career, he’s had a good run.

It would have been interesting to see how Mason would have fared in Buffalo where he would have been behind Ryan Miller for several years to start his career.  That would have given him the opportunity to develop at the minor league level at a slower pace instead of being thrown into the fire but would he have had as successful of a run?

We now move to the twenty-fifth selection which was held by St. Louis.  They made a good pick initially, selecting center Patrik Berglund who went to San Jose at the number sixteen slot in this series so they’ll have to take someone else here.  Who should they take?  Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Fourth Overall Pick

at CDT | by 1 Comment

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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)
23rd Overall: Leo Komarov (Washington Capitals)

Komarov winds up with a very nice boost from his original draft slot as he was a sixth-round pick (180th overall) by Toronto.  It took him quite a while to make it to North America as he spent his first three post-draft seasons in Finland before spending three more full years in the KHL.

He finally crossed the pond in 2012-13 where he split the year between the KHL, AHL, and NHL.  His time with Toronto was short-lived as instead of re-signing with Toronto in the 2013 offseason, he opted to return to the KHL.  While that raised a few eyebrows at the time, it turned out to be the right decision.  He had a career year while he was eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2014.

Toronto handed him a four-year, $11.8MM contract and while he wasn’t the most productive player, he still played an important role on the Maple Leafs, logging 16:24 per game in that span while collecting 113 points in 285 games.  However, his physicality set him apart as he had a staggering 984 hits, just shy of 3.5 per contest.

However, with the Maple Leafs needing to cut some of their veterans this summer with big contracts on the horizon for their young core, the Estonia native had to move on.  He fared surprisingly well on the open market, landing a four-year, $12MM deal with the Islanders in July where he is off to a decent start with four points and 29 hits through his first ten games.

Given how much time he spent overseas, Komarov isn’t close to the leaders in this draft class when it comes to production or even games played but he has still carved out a nice career for himself as a physical bottom-six forward.  That’s a far cry from Washington’s original pick in Varlamov but given how much the Caps have relied on quality veterans in their bottom six in recent years, Komarov certainly would have fit in well with them.

Now, we move onto the 24th selection in the draft which was held by Buffalo.  To say that the Sabres didn’t do well with this pick would be an understatement.  They chose Swedish defenseman Dennis Persson who was one of just three players picked in the first round to not play in a single NHL game.

Persson spent three years after being drafted in Sweden where he split time between the Elitserien and Allsvenskan.  He then joined Buffalo’s farm team for three seasons (Portland and Rochester) but was never more than a depth player at that time.  Following the conclusion of the 2011-12 campaign, he headed back home, signing with Brynas for three years followed by MODO for two, the last of which came in 2015-16. and he hasn’t played since then.

Clearly, the Sabres are going to fare better in our redraft than they did the first time around.  Who should they take with the twenty-fourth selection? Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Third Overall Pick

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

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 21 picks, we’ve already seen potential Hall of Fame players switch teams, and multiple captains move up and down the draft board.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

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)
7th Overall: Milan Lucic (New York Islanders)
8th Overall: Kyle Okposo (Phoenix Coyotes)
9th Overall: Erik Johnson (Minnesota Wild)
10th Overall: Derick Brassard (Florida Panthers)
11th Overall: Bryan Little (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Nick Foligno (Atlanta Thrashers)
13th Overall: Semyon Varlamov (Toronto Maple Leafs)
14th Overall: Artem Anisimov (Vancouver Canucks)
15th Overall: Michael Grabner (Tampa Bay Lightning)
16th Overall: Patrik Berglund (San Jose Sharks)
17th Overall: Jeff Petry (Los Angeles Kings)
18th Overall: Jonathan Bernier (Colorado Avalanche)
19th Overall: Mathieu Perreault (Anaheim Ducks)
20th Overall: Michael Frolik (Montreal Canadiens)
21st Overall: Cal Clutterbuck (New York Rangers)
22nd Overall: James Reimer (Philadelphia Flyers)

Considering Philadelphia’s long-term struggles between the pipes, it’s only fitting that they wind up with Reimer, a goaltender, with this selection.  While he wouldn’t have come close to providing the value that Giroux (their original selection) did, he would have at least given them another NHL-caliber option between the pipes at a time where the Flyers had churned through a lot of different netminders.

Reimer gets quite a boost from his original selection as the Maple Leafs selected him with the 99th pick.  As is often the case with goaltenders, it took a while for him to make his mark as he didn’t make his NHL debut until 2010-11 after spending time at both the AHL and ECHL levels.

The 30-year-old has been remarkably consistent when it comes to his playing time.  In each of his eight NHL seasons (not including 2018-19), he has played between 32 and 44 games.  In other words, he has basically been a platoon player for most of his career but Reimer has still posted decent numbers, including a .914 SV%.  For comparison purposes, Philadelphia has only had a team save percentage above that mark in one of those years.

We now move on to the twenty-third pick which was held by the Washington Capitals.  The Caps used that pick on Semyon Varlamov, who they viewed as their goalie of the future (and our readers viewed as the top goalie of this draft class as he went thirteenth to Toronto).  It didn’t take too long for him to make an impact as he became a starter in the RSL (now the KHL) in his post-draft year and he was in North America for the 2008-09 season where he got into six games with the big club.  One year later, he was their full-time backup.

However, with Michal Neuvirth already in the fold and Braden Holtby close to being NHL-ready, Washington decided to deal him to Colorado for a 2011 first-round pick (used on Filip Forsberg) and a 2012 second-round pick (that they later dealt away).

In his time with the Avalanche, Varlamov has been their number one netminder (when he has been healthy, something that hasn’t always been the case).  In parts of eight years with the team, he has posted a quality .917 save percentage.  He led the league in wins in 2013-14 and is off to a fine start this season, leading the league with a .953 save percentage through his first seven starts.  Interestingly enough, his future in Colorado past this season is uncertain after history repeated itself in the summer with the Avs acquiring Phillip Grubauer from Washington with the idea that he will be their goalie of the future.

Although Washington’s original choice is no longer available, there are still some quality players to choose from.  Who should they take with the twenty-third selection?  Have your say by voting in the poll below.

Mobile users, click here to vote.

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