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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: 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.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)

The first player on our list that ended up below where he originally went is van Riemsdyk, who drops six spots but remains in the top-10. The big winger from New Jersey would have fit in perfectly alongside some of the other impressive young forwards in Boston and certainly would have been an upgrade over Zach Hamill. Alas, he was already gone when the actual draft happened and the Bruins didn’t have a chance to put van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel together—a duo that would find themselves skating together in Toronto years later.

While Hamill played just 20 NHL games and never recorded a single goal, van Riemsdyk has made a living off of putting the puck in the net. The 30-year old winger has scored 228 goals in his 675-game career, putting him sixth among all players drafted in 2007. Interestingly his 441 points put him ninth however, behind several names that we’ve yet to see in our redraft series.

Still, it’s easy to see why our voters believe he’s the right choice here. After scoring a career-high 36 goals in 2017-18, van Riemsdyk ended up back in Philadelphia where he registered another solid season. With 27 goals and 48 points in just 66 games he showed he could still be an effective top-six option and deserving of the $35MM contract he signed in 2018.

After Boston whiffed on their pick, the San Jose Sharks were on the clock. Not only would they pick one of the best players from the draft with their first selection, but San Jose would have one of the best drafts in the entire league. Logan Couture was the ninth selection of the first round, five spots after he went in our redraft. The OHL center was actually considered something of a reach by the Sharks given he was ranked #19 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. The team actually traded up to secure Couture, sending the St. Louis Blues an extra second-round selection to swap picks in the first (the Sharks had already added an extra first by trading Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell to the Toronto Maple Leafs).

After going back to the Ottawa 67’s for two seasons there were actually some who doubted whether Couture would really be a top offensive player at the professional level. After all he never really did have a dominant OHL season, trailing John Tavares in the scoring race by 14 points in 2008-09 despite being two years older. He never even got the chance to suit up for Team Canada at the U20 World Juniors.

Maybe junior hockey just wasn’t made for Couture though, as it didn’t take long for him to show the world what he was all about when he reached the professional ranks. In his first full season he recorded 53 points in 42 games for the AHL’s Worcester Sharks and made his presence known in the playoffs for San Jose with four goals in 15 games. The following year he recorded his first 30+ goal season and finished second in Calder Trophy voting to Jeff Skinner. He never looked back. Though Couture’s 240 career regular season goals are impressive, it’s his postseason performances that have made him into such a superstar in the league. With 48 goals and 101 points in 116 playoff game he has put himself among the elite in terms of “clutch” players in the NHL. Add in that he’s capable at both center and the wing and can play the powerplay and penalty kill and there isn’t a team in the league that wouldn’t pay up to get Couture on their roster.

Unfortunately in our redraft, the Sharks will never get a chance to pick him. The talent is getting thinner but there are still several names worth considering.

With the ninth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the San Jose Sharks select? Cast your vote below!

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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: 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.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)

Three different Montreal Canadiens draft picks have now moved up into our top-ten, with McDonagh joining Subban and Pacioretty. Amazingly none of the three are still with the team, and McDonagh didn’t even really get a chance. After his selection as the fourth defenseman off the board in 2007, McDonagh followed through on his commitment to attend the University of Wisconsin and immediately became a full-time player for the school as a defensive stalwart. After his sophomore season ended however his draft rights were included in a trade to acquire Scott Gomez from the New York Rangers, as the Canadiens were desperately looking for help at the center position. Gomez had just recorded 138 points over two years with the Rangers but was still owed quite a hefty salary. He would fall off the proverbial cliff in Montreal, scoring just 20 goals and 108 points in three seasons and ending up with a buyout in 2013.

McDonagh meanwhile quickly became a household name in New York, eventually ascending to the captaincy in 2014 after participating in the Olympics with Team USA. His presence as one of the premier two-way defensemen in the league was rarely questioned through the years with the Rangers, especially in the postseason where he suited up 96 times. In 2018 with McDonagh getting closer to unrestricted free agency and the Rangers starting the process of a rebuild he was flipped to the Tampa Bay Lightning where he set a new career-high with 46 points in 2018-19.

The 30-year old defenseman’s 287 regular season points put him behind only Subban among 2007 drafted defensemen (and 14th overall), while his leadership qualities and solid presence in the defensive zone continue to make him an extremely valuable player. His place at No. 7 comes as no surprise and the Blue Jackets certainly would have welcomed him to the organization if given the chance.

In hindsight, the team selecting after Columbus likely should have taken McDonagh instead. The Boston Bruins came up to the podium in 2007 with the eighth overall pick, and with it decided to select star WHL center Zach Hamill. Ranked ninth among all North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Hamill was coming off a 93-point season with the Everett Silvertips, breaking several franchise records and leading the entire WHL. Unfortunately, that’s really where his playing career peaked.

He returned to Everett the next season and didn’t have quite the same offensive production, before failing to really establish himself as a star in the AHL the following two years. Over three seasons from 2009-12, Hamill suited up 20 times with Boston but recorded just four points. He hasn’t played an NHL game since, instead finding himself in the German second league in 2018-19. Unless something incredible happens in the next few year Hamill will never score a single goal in the NHL, making him the first real draft bust of the 2007 group. The Bruins would obviously like a do-over, but who comes next in our draft?

With the eighth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Boston Bruins select? Cast your vote below!

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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: 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.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)

While the Oilers were probably pretty happy with the way Sam Gagner turned out for them through the first part of his career, our community believes that there was a better forward option available. Voracek had already come over to North America the season leading up to his draft and put up an impressive rookie campaign in the QMJHL. In fact, his 110 points in 71 games for the Halifax Mooseheads during the 2006-07 season earned him the league Rookie of the Year award along with a place on the CHL prospects team. The young forward also participated in the World Junior despite being just 17 years old and scored three points in six games for the Czech Republic.

Voracek has blossomed into an exceptional offensive player at the NHL level too. Stepping into the league full time in 2008, he registered 38 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets, a total that he would eclipse in every season thereafter. His best production came just two years ago with Philadelphia when he put up 85 points in 82 games, but there have been other outstanding years dotted throughout his career. In total, Voracek has 639 points in 846 career games which actually ranks him third among all players picked in 2007.

Even with all of that success, Voracek’s name likely rings of pain for Blue Jackets fans. Not for anything he did, but something the front office decided to do in June, 2011. Voracek, coming off a 46-point season with the club, was traded along with a first and a third round pick the day before the 2011 draft. The return? Jeff Carter, who was coming off an outstanding 36-goal season with the Flyers. Voracek was scheduled to be a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level deal and was leveraged to get a player considered an elite talent in the league. Carter was in the early stages of an 11-year contract (which he is still under) and the Flyers needed some extra room to go after free agent goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

Unfortunately, nothing went right for the Blue Jackets after that. Carter would get hurt and eventually force another trade after voicing his displeasure in Columbus, going to Los Angeles in exchange for Jack Johnson and another first round pick in 2013. You would think that pick would help balance out what they gave to Philadelphia in the first place, but where the Flyers selected Sean Couturier and Nick Cousins with their two picks in 2011, Columbus grabbed Marko Dano in 2013. Carter would continue to star in Los Angeles and win two Stanley Cups and an Olympic gold medal in three years, while Voracek and Couturier are still the backbone of the Flyers offensive attack (along with Claude Giroux, of course).

Looking back, it’s hard to argue with the selection of Voracek at seventh overall. But perhaps if they had picked someone else none of that would have happened. Now you’ll get the chance to re-write history since the Czech forward is already off the board.

With the seventh pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Columbus Blue Jackets select? Cast your vote below!

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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: 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.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)

The Montreal Canadiens have now lost two players to the redraft top five, but amazingly neither of them were their first pick that year. Pacioretty was selected well ahead of Subban however, and he deserved it. Coming into the 2007 draft, the USHL star was already listed at over 6’1″ and weighed in at 203 pounds. He was a grown man already, ready to take on the next level of hockey at the University of Michigan. The goal-scoring forward ended up registering 39 points in 37 games as a freshman and won the CCHA Rookie of the Year award. He would also suit up for Team USA at the World Juniors, though he was held scoreless in the tournament.

Scoreless wasn’t something said to describe Pacioretty for long. Jumping to the AHL following just one year in college, he recorded 29 points in 37 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs and got into 34 contests with Montreal. After bouncing back and forth the next two years he broke out in his first full NHL season with 33 goals and 65 points in 2011-12, establishing himself as one of the premier goal-scoring wingers in the league. Though the next season was shortened by a lockout, Pacioretty would go on to record four more 30+ goal seasons between 2013-2017, taking on the Canadiens’ captaincy in the process.

Traded to the Vegas Golden Knights prior to last season, Pacioretty trails just Kane and Benn in goals from the 2007 draft class. His 488 points put him sixth in the group. In 45 career playoff games he has 15 goals and 30 points, and has routinely done most of his damage at even-strength. Though he may not have the high ceiling that players like Kane and Benn bring, Pacioretty has been a consistent top-six forward in the league for quite some time and is still an effective option. Not bad from a pick in the last third of the first round.

In hindsight, the Edmonton Oilers may have rather used the sixth pick on Pacioretty. Instead they decided to go with Sam Gagner, who was ranked sixth among all North American skaters after a simply incredible season for the London Knights of the OHL. Coming from the USHL himself, Gagner put up 118 points in 53 games centering a line with Kane and Sergei Kostitsyn. Unlike Kane however he also took home the gold medal as part of Team Canada at the World Junior, despite not even being drafted yet.

There was little doubt that Gagner was going to be an NHL talent. While some may have wondered if his offense would be good enough without Kane alongside him, he quickly put that thought to rest stepping directly into the NHL with the Oilers. Gagner put up 49 points in that 2008-09 season, finishing seventh in Calder Trophy voting. Unfortunately the 79 games he played that season would be the most he ever had in a single year with the Oilers as nagging injuries took away small chunks of playing time regularly throughout his career in Edmonton. Still he recorded at least 37 points in every season before bouncing around the league the last several years.

Gagner’s NHL career may be almost over at this point after spending the majority of the 2018-19 season in the minor leagues, but that doesn’t mean it has been a disappointment. In 802 career games the 30-year old has 446 points, which actually puts him eighth among all 2007 draftees. Sure, the Oilers may have had better options but Gagner was far from a bust. That doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily be the pick in our redraft though!

With the sixth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Edmonton Oilers select? Cast your vote below!

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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: 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.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)

After seeing the second and third picks going to players that weren’t even picked in the first round, Couture’s bump is only a small one from the ninth slot but it’s certainly a well-deserved one as he has emerged from one of the top scorers from this draft class.

Interestingly enough, Couture didn’t exactly get off to a great start.  His post-draft year was underwhelming as his production dipped by 20 points while he failed to show much progression in his development.  That took him off the radar of making the big club for the following year and it turned out that one more year in junior was great for him.  His production jumped back to a level where it should be for a top prospect in his second post-draft year and with his team being ousted from the playoffs early, he was able to get a head start on his pro career, joining AHL Worcester for their postseason.

That experience certainly made a difference as in 2009-10, his first full pro campaign, he averaged well over a point-per-game with the Baby Sharks and earned two stints with the big club.  The second came about a month before the playoffs and Couture was there to stay.

While his offensive numbers weren’t eye-popping in that first year, Couture made a big leap in his first full NHL season with 32 goals and 24 assists in 79 games.  Since then, he has been the model of consistency, ranging between 0.69 and 0.86 points per game in the eight seasons since then on his way to becoming the fourth-leading point-getter in this draft class.  The high mark actually came in 2018-19.  Even more impressive is that Couture has been more productive in the playoffs over the years relative to his regular season production which is something that can’t be said for a lot of players.  He’s entrenched as a core piece in San Jose and it’s hard to imagine they’re not anything but thrilled with how his selection turned out.

Let’s shift our attention to the next pick now which was held by the Washington Capitals.  A decade ago, stay-at-home defensemen were still in demand and Washington opted to go in that direction with the selection of Karl Alzner from Kelowna.  While he had shown some offensive upside in his draft year, his ceiling was viewed as a shutdown defender.

For the most part, he has lived up to that reputation as he logged an average of over 20 minutes a night over parts of nine seasons with the Capitals which isn’t necessarily a bad outcome from a first-round selection.

Things haven’t gone quite as well since he left to go to Montreal, however.  He has not adapted well to the requirements for a defender in the current NHL which prioritize mobility and puck-moving skills.  While the Canadiens played him in every game in 2017-18, he saw just nine games of NHL action last season and cleared waivers twice.  With three years left on his contract with a $4.625MM AAV, his contract is going to be an anchor on Montreal’s books for a while.  Needless to say, Alzner worked out a whole lot better for the Capitals than he has for the Canadiens and he currently sits tenth in games played from this draft class.

With the fifth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Washington Capitals select?  Cast your vote below!

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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth 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.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)

Even though Kane held onto his top spot this redraft is already extremely different than how it actually went down. Two players from outside the first round have jumped up with Subban moving 40 spots. The Toronto native was a dynamic defenseman for the Belleville Bulls in 2007, coming off a 56-point campaign putting him fifth in team scoring among a group that included future NHL players like Shawn Matthias and Matt Beleskey. Subban’s puck-carrying nature was divisive even then, leading to a ranking of 102nd among North American skaters according to NHL Central Scouting.

You could conclude that the Canadiens reached to pick Subban in the second round given that ranking, but his infectious personality was immediately embraced by Montreal fans—especially because he had grown up one himself, despite being from Toronto. Subban would return to the Bulls in 2007-08 but made the World Junior team as the extra defenseman. In 2008-09 he would return to the tournament in a much bigger role and give everyone a glimpse of exactly what was coming. He led the tournament in points from a defenseman, was named to the tournament All-Star team and took home his second gold medal.

An NHL career followed soon after one year in the AHL, and Subban never looked back. An immediate presence on the Montreal blueline he would win a Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman in just his third season (though it was the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign). In 434 games for the Canadiens he registered 278 points, but would find himself traded on a day that lives in hockey infamy. On June 29th 2016 in the span of what felt like just a few minutes, Subban was traded for Shea Weber, Taylor Hall was traded for Adam Larsson and Steven Stamkos decided free agency wasn’t for him and re-signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In a new career chapter in Nashville, Subban would once again become a Norris finalist and help the team to the Stanley Cup Final. This spring everything changed once again however, with Subban shipped off to the New Jersey Devils in a cap-saving move.

The 30-year old Subban leads all defensemen from the 2007 draft with 408 points and has been a legitimate top-pairing player for years. He comes in at No. 3.

After Phoenix came the Los Angeles Kings back in 2007 and though they too went off the board to pick a defenseman, it unfortunately wasn’t Subban. Instead the Kings picked Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Thomas Hickey, who was coming off an impressive campaign in the WHL but was not nearly the highest-ranked blueliner on the board. Hickey was listed 26th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting behind other names like Karl Alzner and Ryan McDonagh, though there were several defensemen ahead of him on that list that barely scraped their way into the NHL at all.

That’s not the case for Hickey, who while not living up to his draft pedigree is still an effective enough player for the New York Islanders. The Islanders actually acquired Hickey off waivers from the Kings after he failed to crack the NHL lineup and was passed over on the depth chart by young defensemen like Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez and Slava Voynov. He has ended up playing in 449 NHL games for New York, recording 115 points.

Those numbers aren’t exactly what you want from fourth overall, meaning Hickey clearly won’t be the choice here in our redraft. The Kings would certainly like another chance to pick someone from the rest of the group.

With the fourth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Los Angeles Kings select? Cast your vote below!

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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Third 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.

Starting this week, we’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)

Already Benn has made one of the biggest jumps in any of the three years we’ve covered in this series. The Dallas Stars captain had only played a single year of junior hockey in the BCHL when he was picked in 2007, but immediately made the Stars look like geniuses thereafter. A dominating power forward for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL the following two seasons, Benn would step right into the NHL in 2009 and never really look back. Scoring 22 goals and 41 points as a rookie he would finish seventh in Calder Trophy voting, actually four spots ahead of James van Riemsdyk who was the real second overall pick.

Benn has scored at least 22 goals in every season of his career save for the lockout-shortened 2012-13. He reached his peak on offense a few years ago when he recorded 41 goals and 89 points in 2015-16, establishing himself as a star in the league and earning an eight-year, $76MM extension to stay with Dallas for the majority of his career. Second among all 2007 draftees in goals and points, it’s easy to see why the voters took him ahead of the other available names.

Third overall in 2007 belonged to the Phoenix Coyotes, who must have seen Benn up close at some point but decided that Kyle Turris was the BCHL star they wanted. The British Columbia native had just put up 66 goals in 53 games for the Burnaby Express, leading the league by 15 (though he actually lost the overall scoring title to undrafted Tyler Bozak). Turris looked like a lock as a future first-line center, but unfortunately things didn’t go quite that smoothly in Arizona.

After a year at the University of Wisconsin, Turris decided to sign with the Coyotes but things wouldn’t last in the desert. After a few years bouncing back and forth from the minor leagues, Turris sat out the beginning of the 2011-12 season as a restricted free agent to try and force a trade but eventually would decide playing hockey was better for his career. After just six games with the Coyotes that season however, Turris was shipped to the Ottawa Senators. He would become an excellent player when given the minutes in Ottawa, but in 2017-18 he was flipped again when the Senators got a chance at Matt Duchene.

While Turris has been a fine player, he is coming off a terrible year with the Nashville Predators and ranks 11th in scoring from the 2007 draft. Certainly not a bust if you take his whole career into account, but you can bet the Coyotes would have liked a different player if they could do it all over again.

With the third pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Philadelphia Flyers select? Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Second 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.

Starting this week, we’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

On Monday we asked the PHR community to weigh in on who should have been selected first overall in 2007 and after more than 2,100 votes (and probably even before that) the decision is clear. Though he didn’t get quite the 88% that Sidney Crosby came away with for the top honor from our 2005 redraft series, Patrick Kane was still the obvious choice to retain his top spot. Kane earned more than 85% of the votes with no other player earning even 4%. That certainly makes the decision for second a mystery, one that we’ll look at today.

Back in 2007, the Philadelphia Flyers held the second overall pick and decided to take a powerhouse winger from just a couple of hours up the road. Middleton, New Jersey native James van Riemsdyk had been a top prospect for years, though he had had gone a different route than fellow American-born winger Kane. While Kane decided to take his talents to the OHL in his draft year and play for the London Knights, van Riemsdyk stayed with the USNTDP and suited up with future NHL names like Colin Wilson, Jimmy Hayes and Kevin Shattenkirk. The young forward had been committed to the University of New Hampshire for years and wouldn’t join the Flyers organization for another two seasons.

When he did, it took him no time at all to make an impression. Jumping straight to the NHL in the 2009-10 season, van Riemsdyk recorded 15 goals and 35 points in his rookie campaign but finished 11th in Calder Trophy voting—the award went to Tyler Myers, who put up 48 points as a rookie defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres, a total he has never matched. van Riemsdyk was an obvious talent and would record his first 20-goal season the following year, but after a disappointing 43-game season in 2011-12 he found himself on the way to the Toronto Maple Leafs by way of trade. The Flyers would receive 2008 fifth-overall pick Luke Schenn, who had stepped directly into the NHL and was seen as a potential star shutdown defender.

Things didn’t quite work out that way for Schenn, but van Riemsdyk quickly morphed into a top goal-scoring threat for the Maple Leafs. In six years with Toronto the winger recorded 154 goals in 413 games, topping out with 36 in 2017-18. He found his way back to Philadelphia as a free agent last summer, and put up another 27-goal effort in just 66 games. In all, van Riemsdyk ranks sixth among 2007 draftees with 228 goals in his 675-game career and looks like he still has several years of top productivity left. While he hasn’t been the superstar that Kane turned into, he certainly wasn’t a bust with the second overall pick.

That doesn’t mean he was the best available pick though.

With the second pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Philadelphia Flyers select? Cast your vote below!

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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

Team Canada Announces Roster For Hlinka-Gretzky Cup

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One of the tournaments that has a huge impact on draft position is the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, held each year in August for the best U18 players in the world. Many of these players will be eligible for selection in the following draft, though some are even younger than that. It gives many fans a first chance to see some of the top stars that they’ll hear about for the coming season and an inside look at the prizes they’re competing for in the first round.

Today, Hockey Canada released its 22-player roster for the tournament, which starts on August 5th in the Czech Republic. Among the names are some spectacular talents, including Quinton Byfield who took home the 2019 CHL Rookie of the Year award and is projected to go very near the top of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Plenty of other talent like Cole Perfetti, Hendrix Lapierre and Jamie Drysdale have made the team, giving Canada a very exciting crop to keep an eye on.

Below is the full roster:

F Theo Rochette
F Ozzy Wiesblatt
F Justin Sourdif
F Jean-Luc Foudy
F Ridly Greig
F Connor McClennon
F Will Cuylle
F Hendrix Lapierre
F Quinton Byfield
F Jake Neighbours
F Cole Perfetti
F Mavrik Bourque
F Seth Jarvis

D Daemon Hunt
D Lukas Cormier
D Jamie Drysdale
D Jeremie Poirier
D Kaiden Guhle
D Donovan Sebrango
D Ryan O’Rourke

G Tristan Lennox
G Dylan Garand

Snapshots: Hughes, MacKenzie, Dwyer

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Jack Hughes hasn’t played a game in the NHL and Quinn Hughes has played just five, but already some are looking ahead to another member of the family. Young Luke Hughes, a 15-year old defenseman who will join the USNTDP next season is on the radar as a potential top pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and was recently profiled by Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet.

Hughes has the same exceptional skating ability as his older brothers, but already stands 5’11” and has plenty of time to grow. Even if he never becomes a hulking defenseman there seems to be a good chance the trio will all be in the NHL at the same time down the road. The young prospect is currently committed to the University of Michigan for 2021-22, the same school that Quinn went to for two seasons before signing his entry-level deal with the Vancouver Canucks a few months ago.

  • The CHL has hired former NBA executive Dan MacKenzie as the league’s first full-time president, responsible for growing the junior leagues and “enhancing the player and fan experience.” All three commissioners—David Branch of the OHL, Gilles Courteau of the QMJHL and Ron Robison of the WHL—will stay in their current positions and work with MacKenzie, who has spent the last eight years as managing director of NBA Canada.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have hired Patrick Dwyer as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Checkers. Dwyer only just finished his playing career after suiting up for a season with the Belfast Giants, but is very familiar with the Hurricanes organization. The 36-year old played 416 NHL games, all with Carolina and recorded 93 points. He’ll join new Checkers head coach Ryan Warsofsky in trying to replace the success delivered by Mike Vellucci before he left for the Pittsburgh Penguins organization earlier this summer.

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