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Poll: 2005 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 isn’t 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 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

The readers voted already for the first overall pick. and the results were hardly surprising. With nearly 88% of the vote, Sidney Crosby retained his status as the top pick of the 2005 Draft. Now we move forward to the second pick, where there are a number of strong choices as we re-select all of the ’05 Draft.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the entire 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • Every team will be represented, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes. We will continue this all the way through the 30th–and final pick of the draft.

We are now at the second overall pick, which was held by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now the Anaheim Ducks).  With their choice, the Ducks selected Bobby Ryan. While Ryan has enjoyed a productive NHL career, there are certainly other names that stand out: Carey Price, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Ben Bishop, and Tuukka Rask just to name a few.

With the second pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim select? Cast your vote below!

World Cup Notes: Grubauer, Kopitar, Caps

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With the news hitting yesterday that Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen will miss 3-4 weeks with an injured shoulder, thus taking him out of the running for the upcoming World Cup, Team Europe has announced his replacement today. Philipp Grubauer will join the squad as the third goaltender, suiting up behind Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss. Grubauer, a Washington Capitals product, played in 22 NHL games last season and put up a 2.32 GAA with a .918 SV%.

The 24-year old has performed well for his native Germany in international competition before, including three recent Olympic qualifying matches. Grubauer led his team with a 0.67 GAA in the three matches and helped Germany lock up a spot for 2018.

  • Recently named Los Angeles Kings’ captain Anze Kopitar is getting used to having a letter sewn into his sweater, as Team Europe named him captain today for the tournament. Kopitar is the most talented player on the roster, and represented his home country of Slovenia remarkably over the years. He also recently led his team to a qualifying spot at the next Olympics, scoring five points in the three games.
  • With the Capitals sending both of their goaltenders to the World Cup (Braden Holtby will be suiting up for Team Canada), Mike Vogel reports that the team will bring in Drew MacIntyre to fill a spot in their training camp. MacIntyre split last season between the Charlotte Checkers and Rockford IceHogs of the AHL, his 14th professional season. The 33-year old has six games of NHL experience, playing for the Canucks, Sabres and Maple Leafs.

Potential 2016-17 Impact Rookies: Schmaltz, Motte, Rantanen, Tuch

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Young talent on ELC’s are often the life blood of successful organizations. With the cost for elite players approaching free agency rising to $8MM or more annually – think Sidney Crosby, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Toews, etc. – teams need to constantly have young NHL-ready talent ready to plug in to replace veterans who are allowed to walk because they simply cost too much to fit under the salary cap.

On that note, we continue our series on rookies who both have a great chance to make their team at some point this year and the talent to make a significant impact. Today we move into the Western Conference’s Central Division.

Nick Schmaltz (Chicago) – Every year the Blackhawks find themselves precariously close to the salary cap ceiling and with significant holes on their roster. With roughly $49MM tied up in just eight players – four forwards, three defensemen and a goalie – Chicago has committed much of its salary cap space to their star players and have left precious little room with which to flesh out the rest of its roster. Every summer it seems the team is forced to move quality players due to cap reasons. Last year the team dealt Brandon Saad, who as a pending RFA was set to become quite expensive. This summer Chicago packaged talented young forward Teuvo Teravainen with Bryan Bickell to entice Carolina to take on the final season of the latter’s bloated contract. The downside of Chicago’s cap crunch is obvious; the upside though is that it gives young players like Schmaltz a great opportunity to make the Blackhawks and contribute right away.

Schmaltz was the Hawks first-round pick in the 2014 draft, 20th overall. He’s played the last two seasons at the University of North Dakota and was better than a point-per-game player in 2015-16. The loss of Teravainen along with the free agent departure of Andrew Ladd leaves two large vacancies on the Blackhawks roster and Schmaltz will be given every opportunity to fill one. With plenty of scoring talent around him, Schmaltz could produce solid offensive numbers right out of the gate.

Tyler Motte  (Chicago) – If Schmaltz is likely to earn one open forward spot for the Hawks, Motte may well have the inside track on the second one. Like Schmaltz, Motte has gone the NCAA route, skating three seasons with the University of Michigan before turning pro. Motte, a 2013 fourth-rounder, had a terrific junior campaign in 2015-16, recording 32 goals and 56 points in 38 games for the Wolverines.

After turning pro, Motte saw action in a total of eight AHL contests with the Rockford IceHogs – five in the regular season and three more in the playoffs – scoring four goals and seven points. Motte, a C/LW by trade, has an excellent opportunity to earn a top-six role and could see plenty of ice time on a line with Toews or Patrick Kane. Currently, the Hawks list Artemi Panarin, last year’s Calder Trophy winner as the league’s top rookie, as a top-six LW. Joining him on the left side is Richard Panik – 25 goals in 181 career NHL games – and Andrew Desjardins – career high of eight goals in 2015-16. The shallow relatively depth on the port side should allow Motte a quality chance to make the team in a scoring line role.

Mikko Rantanen (Colorado) – The Avalanche used the 10th overall selection on the Finnish winger in the 2015 draft. Rantanen, just 19, offers a rare combination of NHL power forward size at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, along with top-shelf offensive skill. He made his MHL debut in 2015-16, going scoreless in nine games and recording a -7 plus-minus rating.

While plus-minus is generally considered a misleading stat, Rantanen’s -7 in just nine games does suggest the youngster could use more work in his own zone. That being said, many young players need to improve on the defensive end of the game and Rantanen is no different. Rantanen did have an excellent debut in the AHL, suiting up for 52 games with the San Antonio Rampage and contributing 60 points. It’s likely Rantanen sees significant action with the Avalanche this year as the talent is simply too hard to ignore.

Alex Tuch  (Minnesota) – The Wild wouldn’t appear to have too many openings up front based on their team depth chart but if a talented player such as Tuch impresses at camp, he could force his way onto the roster sooner rather than later. Additionally, while Jordan Schroeder is currently listed as the team’s 4th line LW, the team did waive the four-year veteran this summer prior to re-signing him to a one-year, two-way deal. Waiving Schroeder was a curious move, and it’s been speculated it was done to reinforce the team’s position that the arbitration-eligible forward wasn’t worthy of a one-way deal. Given those circumstances, if Tuch proves to be the better player in camp, the Wild could easily find a spot for him.

Tuch has played the past two seasons in the NCAA with Boston College, appearing in 77 games with the Eagles and netting 32 goals along with 30 helpers. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, he would certainly add an imposing figure to the Wild’s forward ranks. Tuch is known as a physical player, not afraid to stand up for his teammates. He’s  also a willing and able fore-checker and a solid skater. PHR has previously mentioned Tuch as a potential breakout rookie who could suit up for the Wild as soon as this season.

(All depth charts provided by Roster Resource) 

 

Portzline’s Latest: Columbus Coaches, Dubois, PTOs

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Among one of the best at hiding interesting nuggets of information in his columns, Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has released his latest Truths & Tidbits piece. In it, he goes through a bunch of smaller stories on the Columbus Blue Jackets as the season creeps closer. It’s worth a closer read, but here are the highlights:

  • With the Colorado coaching vacancy still unfilled, the Avalanche seem to be targeting current and former Jackets coaches. Kevin Dineen, Bob Boughner, Jared Bednar have all been linked to the opening and have ties to the Columbus organization. Portzline posits that Av’s AGM Chris McFarland might have something to do with it, as he formerly held the same position with Columbus.
  • The bulk of the post is dedicated to looking back at former drafts, and seeing if the Blue Jackets’ decision to draft Pierre-Luc Dubois third overall instead of Jesse Puljujarvi, the expected pick, was justified. The most interesting tidbit out of this is that back in 2005 Columbus actually had Anze Kopitar ranked as their #3 prospect, ahead of their eventual selection Gilbert Brule (who they had ranked in the 6-8 range). The Jackets would go with Brule at #6 instead of Kopitar (who dropped to the Kings at #11) because of the view that the Slovenian was a less conventional pick. “I’m not drafting a kid who pushes rocks up a mountain and jumps over milk crates and calls it training” is a quote from Doug MacLean, then-GM of the Jackets on why he passed on Kopitar. Brule had just 95 points in his NHL career before heading to the KHL, while Kopitar has collected 684 across his 764 career games, while widely being thought of as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL.
  • Portzline also mentions that the Blue Jackets are not expected to extend any PTOs to camp this fall. “We’re pretty full already” says GM Jarmo Kekalainen. Keep up with who has been given tryouts around the league here, with our PTO tracker.

Pacific Notes: Edler, Kopitar, Maloney

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In the last 15 years, the Chicago Blackhawks are the only current Western Conference team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals that is not currently in the Pacific Division. The Detroit Red Wings represented the Western Conference in 2002, 2008, and 2009, but currently play in the Eastern Conference. Since then, the only current Pacific Division team not to reach the finals is the Arizona Coyotes. The finalists include the Ducks in 2003 and 2007, the Flames in 2004, the Oilers in 2006, the Canucks in 2011, the Kings in 2012 and 2014, and the Sharks this past season.

What are the Pacific teams doing as they look to continue their dominance over the Central Division? Here are some west coast links to let you know.

  • Daniel MacDonald over at Today’s Slapshot has written about trade rumors involving Canucks defenseman Alex Edler. The crux of the situation is that Edler is now on the wrong side of 30, and not necessarily a fit for the Canucks as they re-tool. Edler has been a source of some controversy among Canucks fans, writes MacDonald. It’s still hard to deny that he was one of the best on a very strong defense when they came within a game of the Stanley Cup in 2011. MacDonald notes that Edler’s no-trade clause will make him harder to move. He’s played with a lot of his teammates for years, and he’s lived in Vancouver for a long time. Still, it may be worth considering if it helps them get younger. If the Canucks start slowly, expect the talk to get louder.
  • Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy spoke to Anze Kopitar recently. The interview covered both Kopitar’s participation in Olympic qualifiers for his native Slovenia, as well as his assumption of the Kings captaincy. Kopitar says that the Kings were supportive of his decision to play for his country. This despite the fact that, as a member of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey, he’ll have another slate of international games before he starts his season in Los Angeles. On the subject of the captaincy, Kopitar insisted that things will be no different between him and former captain Dustin Brown. Kopitar made sure to note that “he was the captain that took us to two Stanley Cups.”
  • Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic interviewed former Coyotes GM Don Maloney, and the insight was fascinating. Maloney says he wasn’t surprised by his firing, telling McLellan “I didn’t see any way, shape, or form that this was going to end well for me at the end of the season.” He also offered praise for his successor, new Coyotes GM John Chayka, and the selection of Clayton Keller in this year’s draft in particular. Maloney was recently hired as a scout for the Calgary Flames.

Snapshots: Kings, Whitney, Lockout

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Adam Gretz wrote a piece today on Pro Hockey Talk that opines Dustin Brown has endured one of the biggest falls-from-grace in the NHL, and is now under huge pressure to perform for the Los Angeles Kings this season. Brown was once a feared power forward in the league, capable on any shift of contributing with a bone-crushing hit or a beautiful goal. Now, he’s a bottom-sixer who, while still contributing positively to the Kings’ dominant possession game, is vastly under-performing his contract that sits at a $5.875MM AAV. Brown was stripped of the captaincy, which will now belong to Anze Kopitar, the Kings’ superstar centerman.

  • Former NHL star Ray Whitney is at the Olympics for the first time in his career, but it’s not as a hockey player.  The 22-year veteran is caddying for Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet, who shot a -3 in his first round at the tournament. DeLaet was one of the first through the course this morning, and spoke about his caddy: “He’s a great player in his own right. I think it’ll be great to have Ray there, he was telling me he thinks he’d be on four olympic (hockey) teams if he’d been born in any other country.” It’s true, Whitney was a great player; his 1064 points rank him 64th all-time, while his 385 goals put him just outside the top-100.
  • Hannah Stuart of Today’s Slapshot penned an article examining just what might trigger the next NHL lockout. She argues that by signing contracts that protect them from a work-stoppage – those that have exorbitantly large signing bonuses – they’ve essentially ensured that a stoppage will eventually happen, if only to correct this loophole. Both sides (the NHL and NHLPA) can choose to opt out of the current CBA in September of 2019.

Snapshots: Keith Gretzky, Quebec Expansion, Couture

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In an article appearing on Today’s Slapshot – a division of The FanRag Sports Network – Craig Morgan, who also covers Arizona for AZSports.com, discusses several topics that relate in some way to the Coyotes. Interestingly, Morgan writes about Keith Gretzky, who was recently hired as an assistant GM in Edmonton and who was the director of amateur scouting for the Coyotes from 2007 – 2011 and oversaw the team’s drafts during that time. Gretzky was hired by the Oilers in part due to his scouting experience and success running the drafts for Arizona and more recently Boston. But Morgan says Gretzky’s successes at the draft may be overstated.

Despite success in the first round, where the Coyotes selected the likes of Kyle Turris, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mikkel Boedker and Connor Murphy, the team has struggled to find NHL talent in the lower rounds. According to Morgan, new Coyotes GM John Chayka has said a team’s ability to draft is measured in the later rounds. Clubs need to be able to identify and develop prospects outside of the draft’s first round in order to sustain on-ice success.

During his tenure with the Coyotes, the team selected 29 players in rounds two through seven, according to the article. Of that group, only four have made it to the NHL and just two are still in the Coyotes organization.

Teams typically need to draft and develop two or three NHL contributors every year in order to keep the pipeline of affordable young talent flowing. Even if your first-round pick pans out, clubs need at least one more of their selections to hit for the draft to be considered fruitful. If you aren’t hitting on your draft choices then it’s likely the team will have to go the free agent route to flesh out its roster and consequently put themselves in a salary cap bind. Teams like the Coyotes simply can’t afford to do that.

Now Morgan does go on to say Gretzky’s track record with Arizona does not necessarily have anything to do with the job he did in Boston. Nor is it an indicator of how he’ll perform as the assistant GM in Edmonton.

For more from Morgan and elsewhere in the NHL:

  • Even though they were not awarded an expansion franchise for 2017-18, the group behind the Quebec bid is not giving up on bringing an NHL franchise to Quebec City. Quebec likely will eventually get a franchise, though it may not be via expansion. I believe the league wants to also place a team in Seattle and that would probably be through expansion. Quebec would then be in a position to take in a club looking to relocate. Most of the teams that have been recently linked to relocation currently reside in the East. In order to gain balance between the two conferences, expanding from 15 – 16 clubs in the West is the simplest solution, while keeping Quebec as a fallback in the event of relocation.
  • In a piece for The Players Tribune, San Jose forward Logan Couture lists the six defensive players he considers the toughest to match-up against. Not surprisingly, all of his choices reside with him in the Western Conference, including one who also suits up for the Sharks. It’s hard to argue with any of his choices and it’s easy to understand the apparent western bias since he sees the guys in his own conference at least two times more often during the regular season, to say nothing of the playoffs. Brent Burns and Duncan Keith are elite players who impact the game in all three zones. Roman Josi is rapidly developing into one of the top blue liners in the NHL. Mark Giordano – Couture has a funny story about the Flames standout – might be a late-bloomer but he is undoubtedly a quality player. Finally, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Toews may well be the best two-way pivots in the game today.

Salary Cap Report: Pacific Division

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As the hockey world takes its collective breath before the World Cup, training camps, and the regular season, most teams have checked off their boxes and marked their ledgers. Some teams are not finished building their rosters, with RFAs still to sign and trades to explore. Some teams have plenty of space to maneuver with; other teams will need to get creative to stay under the cap.

We’ll continue our Salary Cap Reports by taking a look at the Pacific Division. Of note:

By the numbers:

Also in the Salary Cap Report series: Metropolitan Division and Atlantic Division.

The Richest Contracts In NHL History

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Friday was a very busy day for Jamie Benn.  First, he underwent surgery to repair an injured core muscle that leaves his availability for Team Canada at the World Cup in question.  Then the good news for him came in the form of an eight year, $76MM extension that makes him the highest paid player in team history.  It’s one of the richest deals in league history but falls just short of the top-10 of all time, at least in part.  Here’s a closer look at the priciest NHL deals ever.

1) Alex Ovechkin (13 years, $124MM) – Following his entry-level deal, Ovechkin essentially signed a two-pronged extension, one for six years at $9MM per season and then another at seven years and $10MM per year.  While you can’t call his contract a bargain, he has been one of the NHL’s top players for many years and is expected to continue to do so for a long time to come.

2) Shea Weber (14 years, $110MM) – Offer sheets have been few and far between in recent years but Weber was the most prominent to receive one as the Flyers inked him to a heavily frontloaded one in the summer of 2012.  Interestingly enough, offer sheets cannot contain any trade restrictions which likely played a role in Weber’s trade to the Canadiens last month.

3) Sidney Crosby (12 years, $104.4MM) – Prior to the current CBA which set a term limit of eight years on any contract, Crosby inked a highly frontloaded deal to stay with the Penguins until he’s 38.  The extra money up front was enough to keep Crosby at an $8.7MM cap hit, matching his sweater number.

4) Ilya Kovalchuk (15 years, $100MM) – New Jersey’s second attempt at a Kovalchuk deal in the summer in 2010 was enough to avoid another cap circumvention penalty.  That’s really the only good news that came from it as just three years later, Kovalchuk ‘retired’ to return to play in the KHL.  The Devils are dealing with a salary cap recapture penalty of $250K until 2024-25.

5) Alexei Yashin (10 years, $87.5MM) – This was an outright disaster for the Islanders, who inked Yashin to this deal back in 2001. He failed to come close to expectations and wound up being bought out with four years left on the deal at a cost of over $17.6MM.  On top of that, the Isles traded Zdeno Chara and the draft pick that yielded Jason Spezza as part of the package to land Yashin.

6) Vincent Lecavalier (11 years, $85MM) – Tampa Bay was hoping they had a fair deal with their franchise player at the time when they signed him to this deal back in 2009.  However, like Yashin, he struggled under the weight of the new deal while injuries took a toll as well.  The Lightning bought him out in 2013 and are in the midst of paying him over $32.6MM not to play for them through 2026-27.  Lecavalier retired earlier this offseason.

7/8) Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews (8 years, $84MM) – Chicago inked their two superstars to identical contracts two years ago, a year before each were eligible for unrestricted free agency.  The Blackhawks continue to find ways to stay under the cap for now but that could become more of a challenge if the salary cap continues to stay close to where it is now as the years progress.

9) Anze Kopitar (8 years, $80MM) – Back in January, the Kings reached this deal with their new captain to avoid the risk of losing him to free agency this summer.  Kopitar has been Los Angeles’ most consistent forward for many years now and should remain their franchise forward for many years to come.

10) Jaromir Jagr (7 years, $77MM) – Washington signed Jagr back in 2001 to what was the richest deal in league history at that time.  However, the lockout in 2004-05 introduced a 24% rollback just two years into the contract which cost Jagr over $21.5MM in salary.  Jagr, now 44, is still going strong in the NHL and signed a one year, $4MM guaranteed deal with Florida in May.  He could also earn another $1.515M in games played and award bonuses.

If you take Jagr’s deal off because of the subsequent rollback, Benn’s new $76MM contract as well as Evgeni Malkin’s current identical pact with the Penguins become tenth on the all-time list.

Free Agent Profile: Kyle Okposo

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Though Steven Stamkos has been dominating the free agent headlines as we inch closer to Friday’s deadline, there’s another player who some teams might value quite highly. Kyle Okposo has been a hugely productive player the last few years, ranking 17th in PPG since 2013-14. Last season he put up 64 points, tying him with Stamkos for the lead among the unrestricted class, and only turned 28 this April.

A three-time twenty goal scorer, Okposo now has 369 points in 529 career games and usually graded out as a positive possession player. The caveat though is that he’s spent a lot of time on the wing of New York superstar John Tavares, and his stats may be inflated because of it.

Potential Suitors

Despite the potential Tavares-shaped red flag, Okposo is sure to get interest from at least a dozen teams this offseason.  His combination of youth, offensive performance and an increasingly physical style will make teams salivate as they imagine installing him on their top line. 60-point wingers don’t grow on trees, and as Arthur Staple of Newsday reports there are already a handful of teams calling for him.

If the rumors are true, the LA Kings do seem like a natural fit for the winger as they’ll be losing both Milan Lucic and Kris Versteeg this summer. Though Okposo plays the right side, and Lucic the left, the offense would be a welcome addition to a team looking to make it back to the playoffs.  Perhaps playing along excellent centers in Anze Kopitar or Jeff Carter would hide some of the regression many believe to be coming.

Detroit also seems like a good fit, as though they are deep on the left side with Tomas Tatar, Justin Abdelkader and Henrik Zetterberg (when he’s not playing in the middle) they have only Gustav Nyquist as a proven top-six guy on the right side. Okposo would be a great consolation prize if they can’t land Stamkos, as the team heads into a new era without Pavel Datsyuk.

Expected Contract

In our Top 50 List we had Okposo receiving a seven-year, $47.25MM deal from the Sabres, giving him an annual salary of $6.75MM. As GM Tim Murray has recently been quoted saying he’s going to go after the “big fish” this summer, perhaps it’s not out of the question that Okposo would land there. Either way, expect him to sign a deal for at least six years, and upwards of $40MM. The Minnesota native may in fact crack $7MM per season, something that only 28 skaters currently do.

If the last few seasons are his true talent, perhaps he’ll be looking to be paid even higher than that, as players like Corey Perry, Phil Kessel and Jonathan Toews all earn a substantial amount more, while providing less offensive production (on a per game basis) the last three years. While it would be hard to see anyone rank him ahead of these players overall, perhaps that’s just a symptom of riding under Tavares’ shadow and in the less-covered portion of New York sports.

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