Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Sixth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
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?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
Now we move forward to the sixth pick, which was held by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Blue Jackets selected Vancouver Giants center Gilbert Brule. Suffice it to say, that pick did not work out well. He spent three seasons with Columbus before being dealt to the Oilers for rugged winger Raffi Torres. After a couple of years there, it was off to Phoenix for a cup of coffee with the Coyotes. He is currently playing in this third straight KHL season after collecting just 95 points in 299 NHL games.
With the sixth pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Columbus Blue Jackets select? Cast your vote below!
For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Fifth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
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?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
Now we move forward to the fifth pick, which was held by the Montreal Canadiens.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Canadiens chose goaltender Carey Price. The pick was a surprise to many and came under criticism since the team already had Jose Theodore between the pipes and Jaroslav Halak in their system. Many figured they would have been better off with a forward like Gilbert Brule or a defenseman like Marc Staal. Of course, the selection has turned out quite well for Montreal as Price has become their franchise player (while Theodore wound up being traded near the 2006 trade deadline).
With the fifth pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Montreal Canadiens select? Cast your vote below!
For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.
Atlantic Division Notes: Lupul, Marchand, Galchenyuk
TSN’s Frank Seravelli reports that Joffrey Lupul is rumored to have failed his pre-season physical and expects to start the NHL season on injured reserve. The oft-injured Maple Leafs forward only played in 46 games last year, scoring 11 goals and 3 assists.
Lupul has faced a variety of injuries in his career, but none more severe than his back issues which have sidelined him for significant periods of time. When healthy, Lupul is an excellent contributor, but his repeated injuries often derail successful campaigns.
Lupul began his Maple Leafs career with a bang, netting 45 goals and 105 points in his first 110 contests spread out over parts of three seasons in Toronto after a 2011 deadline trade with Anaheim. His strong play led to a massive five-year contract extension worth $26.25MM in total despite the fact the skilled forward had seen action in no more than 66 games in a single season since 2008-09. Unfortunately for both parties, Lupul has missed nearly a full season’s worth of games (76 in total) since inking that extension and has produced just 0.46 points-per-game during that time.
The Maple Leafs are currently over the cap by $827K, but moving Lupul to LTIR will free up $5.25MM in space. Assuming Stephane Robidas also starts the season on LTIR, the Leafs go from slightly over the cap to over $8MM under the cap. The Leafs will have the option of freeing up additional space by placing Nathan Horton on LTIR as well, which would further lower their overall cap commitment to around $60MM.
Lupul was originally the seventh overall pick in the 2002 NHL entry draft, chosen by the Anaheim Ducks. Ironically, he has twice been included in trades involving Chris Pronger, first going from Anaheim to the Oilers in exchange for the Hall of Fame defenseman, then returning to the Ducks as part of a package that saw Pronger head to Philadelphia. Toronto would acquire Lupul and Jake Gardiner from Anaheim as part of a trade for veteran blue liner Francois Beauchemin.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Joe Haggerty joined local Boston sports talk show, Toucher and Rich, and discussed Brad Marchand‘s pending free agency. Marchand, of course, ranked 6th in the NHL in goals scored in 2015-16, tallying a career high 37. He is currently playing on what many consider to be the best line in the World Cup, skating on the left of all-world pivot Sidney Crosby with Bruins teammate Patrice Bergeron on the right. Haggerty opines that the Bruins need to lock up the agitating winger before he hits the free agent market, suggesting it will take a seven-year contract with an AAV of $7MM per season. He also listed the Penguins as a potential suitor should Marchand make it to free agency. Haggerty cites the fact both Marchand and Crosby are originally from Nova Scotia and that the success the two players are experiencing at the World Cup might prompt an impassioned plead to Penguins management from their best player to go get Marchand. Of course while Marchand might be getting a glimpse of how fun it might be to play with Crosby every day, he’s also reminded of just how good playing with Bergeron is.
- It appears the Montreal Canadiens have anointed Alex Galchenyuk as the team’s #1 center, with head coach Michel Therrien saying he plans to start the talented American on the top line with Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, as Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette reports. Galchenyuk, who has moved back-and-forth between wing and center since breaking into the league in 2012-13, may have finally earned the trust of the coaching staff on the heels of a strong 30-goal campaign, which included netting 18 over the team’s final 27 games. Veteran center Tomas Plekanec will then assume the role of #2 pivot and is expected to have new offseason additions Andrew Shaw and Alexander Radulov on his wings.
*Mike Furlano contributed to this post.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
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?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
Now we move forward to the fourth pick, which was held by the Minnesota Wild.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, Minnesota chose left winger Benoit Pouliot. He didn’t last too long with the Wild and was dealt to Montreal back in 2009 for left winger Guillaume Latendresse (who wound up as the 45th pick in 2005 but retired a couple of years ago due to concussion troubles). He bounced around after that with stints with the Bruins, Lightning and Rangers, but has settled in well with his current team in Edmonton, picking up 70 points over the last two seasons despite not playing in 60 games in either year. While it took a while, he’s now beginning to show some signs of being a consistent top six NHL forward.
With the fourth pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Minnesota Wild select? Cast your vote below!
For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Third Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
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?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
Now we move forward to the third pick, which was held by the Carolina Hurricanes.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, Carolina chose defenseman Jack Johnson who has played the fourth most NHL games of any blueliner from this draft class. He has twice been dealt in his career – most notably as part of the Jeff Carter to Los Angeles trade – and now patrols the back end for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With the third pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Carolina Hurricanes select? Cast your vote below!
For Trade Rumors app users on iOS, click here to vote.
Snapshots: Dubois, Crosby, Team NA
After being selected as the surprise third overall pick in the latest NHL Entry Draft, Pierre-Luc Dubois is trying to prove to everyone that he derserved to be picked above Jesse Puljujarvi and Matthew Tkachuk. In a piece by James O’Brien at NBCSports, Dubois is clear what his goal is this fall.
(The Blue Jackets) drafted me third in front of the guy everybody thought they were going to draft, but I think they made the right decision. I want to prove that to everybody.
For at least the first few years of his career, he’ll be compared to Puljujarvi constantly which is probably more unfair than anything. The Finnish winger has already been playing against men for parts of two seasons, while Dubois will head back for his final year of junior hockey (that is if he doesn’t surprise everyone to make the Blue Jackets out of camp). It may take him a while, but as GM Jarmo Kekalainen comments when talking about what will set Dubois apart, “I keep coming back to his character and hockey sense.”
- Team Canada has often found trouble pairing players with Sidney Crosby at international competitions, with many high level talents moving on and off of his wing throughout past tournaments. That said, head coach Mike Babcock may have found a group that he’ll stick with this time. As TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron look like the set wingers for the Team Canada captain. It’s a plan Babcock had way back in May, when he was first envisioning what his lineup might look like. The interesting part, is that Marchand is one of Team Canada’s only natural wingers, and Bergeron is highly regarded for his all-around ability and hockey IQ. Perhaps it’s centers that don’t find a home on Crosby’s wing, similar to the way Pittsburgh has never been able to consistently pair Crosby with Evgeni Malkin for any length of time.
- The top two picks of the 2015 NHL draft will be linked once again, as Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel will skate on a line in their second pre-tournament game against Europe tonight. The third musketeer will be Johnny Gaudreau, still unsigned as he’s entered his negotiation freeze during the tournament. With three of the strongest skaters in the NHL on the ice at once, team North America will surely be interesting to watch, the plan all along of the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman when he introduced the slightly off-the-board format.
Las Vegas And The 2017 Entry Draft
With the 2016 NHL Draft well behind us and Central Scouting releasing its first 2017 Draft rankings, the focus now turns to next year’s group of prospects, including the presumptive top pick Nolan Patrick. The other big story line for next off-season will of course be the addition of the Las Vegas expansion team as the 31st member of the NHL, as well as the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. However, Las Vegas will also play a big role in next summer’s entry draft.
Fear not, fans of bottom-dwellers: Patrick will not just be handed to the Las Vegas TBD’s just because they are new to the league. Instead, Las Vegas will be given the same draft lottery odds as a team that finishes third to last in the league. This gives them an edge over the 2000 Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets, the NHL’s most recent expansion teams who chose third and fourth respectively in their inaugural drafts, as Las Vegas will at least have a possibility of picking first overall. However, Las Vegas also stands the risk of falling as far as #6 overall if the lottery balls don’t bounce their way. There is nothing to be determined beyond the first round though; Las Vegas will pick third in each subsequent round.
The other draft factor that has the chance to be interesting is Las Vegas’ ability to trade picks. While the Expansion Draft will allow the team to hand-pick thirty players, and then additionally explore the free agency market, the team may wish to pursue players that have term on their contract and that would be unlikely to go unprotected. The only assets that Las Vegas will have to pursue such players before the Expansion Draft are their 2017 Entry Draft picks, which again will include a top-six pick and the third pick in the second and third rounds, all valuable selections. While GM George McPhee will already be facing the tall task of building a farm system from scratch and may not be willing to part with his draft assets, the potential for Las Vegas to add a franchise player at the 2017 Draft is also something to think about.
Patrick and his peers are surely excited enough at the possibility of being drafted into the NHL, but one of them will also have the title of the first ever draft pick of the Las Vegas franchise, making the 2017 NHL Entry Draft all the more interesting.
Central Scouting Releases Initial 2017 Draft Rankings
Central Scouting today released its annual pre-season ranking of North American and European players eligible for the upcoming NHL entry draft. To nobody’s surprise, Brandon Wheat Kings center Nolan Patrick topped the list of North Americans. Patrick, born in September of 1998, put up 102 points in 71 games in the WHL this year, and added 30 more in just 21 playoff games.
The top ranked European-based prospect was Kristian Vesalainen, who turned 17 last month, and last year had two points in 19 games playing for Frolunda in Sweden. Other top prospects include Victoriaville’s Maxime Comtois, Kelowna’s Callan Foote, and Mississauga’s Nicolas Hague.
The list defines “North American” as a player who plays in a North American league, meaning that an American player playing in Europe, like Auston Matthews last year, would be ranked among the European skaters. Similarly, Swede Alex Nylander, who played last year for the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, was ranked among the North American skaters.
Snapshots: Lightning, Subban, Patrick, Coyotes
The Bleacher Report’s Adrian Dater answered Twitter questions today, and when asked which team won the off-season, he went with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dater’s reasoning is popular, that GM Steve Yzerman managed to convince his biggest name player, Steven Stamkos, to stay at a price lower than many expected, he was able to re-sign Victor Hedman a year before free agency, and extended Alex Killorn as well, while leaving more than enough cap space to re-sign Nikita Kucherov long-term.
With respect to Dater, and he’s far from alone in saying this, it’s not really as thrilling as the names involved would imply. Yzerman carries a sort of reverence through the hockey world, and will be praised profusely with little effort, despite the fact that his accomplishments this off-season are mostly things contending team GMs do with little problem. Dallas Stars’ forward Jamie Benn also signed a long term contract a year out from free agency, and the Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have never really come close to the open market. Stamkos getting as far as speaking to other teams is an anomaly itself. After Yzerman’s messy situation with Stamkos’ mentor Martin St. Louis, his re-upping of a coach who Stamkos reportedly dislikes, and who played him out of position, his offer which was well below what others were willing to pay, and the trade demand by the team’s best young player in Jonathan Drouin, it’s fair to wonder if this was really a wooing by Yzerman, or if he Stamkos signed because he looked around at the other options and couldn’t find a fit. Yzerman has done some great work in Tampa, but Stamkos staying rather than taking more money from his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, or close to home Detroit Red Wings or Buffalo Sabres, is likely the result of the work Yzerman did years ago in making the Lightning a team a player wouldn’t want to leave to begin with. Yzerman’s best move of 2016 may just be not giving into Drouin’s trade demand, understanding the leverage he held, the attractiveness of the Lightning situation, and the fickleness of the typical 21 year old.
More snapshots from around the hockey world:
- NHL.com has some quotes on PK Subban today from around the Predators’ organization. Subban touches on the lack of distraction in Nasvhille, and GM David Poile responds to talk about Subban’s personality saying that while some would prefer a more homogeneous group, the Predators “don’t want that. We can’t win with 20 players that are exactly the same, either skill-wise or personality-wise. I want different types of players, and I want different personalities.”
- James O’Brien at NBC Pro Hockey Talk profiles the Brandon Wheat Kings’ Nolan Patrick today. Patrick, the son of former NHLer Steve Patrick, and newphew of former NHLer James Patrick, is expected to be taken with the first pick in the 2017 NHL entry draft.
- Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports quotes on Twitter Coyotes GM Jonathan Chayka suggesting that today’s signing of former Kings’ defenseman Luke Schenn could open up room for the team to offload an extra defenseman.
Current Status Of Top-Ten Draft Picks
As we approach a month since the NHL Entry Draft took place, teams have started to lock up their newest talents to lucrative deals and will soon begin the process of determining where they’ll play next season (if they haven’t already). For some, the contract seemed a mere formality and was signed within days of the draft; for others, their continuing negotiations are like torture for the fans that have already put in a pre-order for a dozen jerseys, and promised to name their next child Auston, Clayton, or Tyson.
Here is the current status of each of the top ten picks of the 2016 NHL draft:
(Annual average value (AAV) includes potential performance bonuses.)
- Auston Matthews (TOR) – Unsigned – Matthews continues to negotiate with the Maple Leafs on his entry-level deal, though all signs point to an amiable discussion so far. With GM Lou Lamoriello’s known opposition to incentive-laden contracts, perhaps the Maple Leafs and first-overall pick are working out something a little more creative to reward Matthews.
- Patrik Laine (WPG) – Signed, July 3rd: Three years, $3.575MM AAV – After moving up four spots in the draft lottery, Winnipeg was given the chance to draft a potential franchise-altering player in Laine, and they didn’t take long to lock him up. The Finnish winger is an elite goal scoring talent that should step into the NHL right away and be a threat for the Calder trophy. He came in just $200K under the maximum allowed for players signing their ELC.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois (CBJ) – Signed, June 29th: Three years, $3.425MM AAV – The Blue Jackets also moved up after winning a lottery spot, and were expected by many to pick Jesse Puljujarvi, the other Finnish winger who had long been a top choice by scouts. Instead, the team looked down the middle and took the second ranked center in Dubois. Though he’ll probably head back to the QMJHL for another season, Dubois has an extremely high ceiling capable of being a number one center – Columbus will give him every chance to reach it.
- Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM) – Signed, July 13th: Three years, $3.425MM AAV – Even with the glut of young forwards Edmonton already had, they couldn’t pass up a chance at Puljujarvi after he fell to four. They tried to trade the pick but couldn’t find fair value for it, and so added the young Finn to their group. Perhaps that led them to the decision that Taylor Hall was expendable, as they have another elite talent on the wing (though he and Hall normally play opposite sides) that could jump to the NHL right away.
- Olli Juolevi (VAN) – Unsigned – The first defenseman taken in this year’s draft, Juolevi was a rising talent after his Memorial Cup victory with the London Knights. Capable of playing in any situation, Juolevi is as good of a defensive prospect as you can expect to get with the fifth overall pick. Perhaps not a franchise player, he’ll be a big part of Vancouver’s blueline for years to come – that is, whenever he signs his first contract.
- Matthew Tkachuk (CGY) – Signed, July 7th: Three years, $1.775MM AAV – The Flames’ front office must have been ecstatic when Tkachuk was still available when their turn came, as he’s exactly the type of player that President Brian Burke loves. Tkachuck, son of former NHL great Keith, agreed to a deal that will max-out under $2MM even if he hits all of his bonuses. If he turns into the player many believe him to be, at some point skating alongside new Flames’ right-winger Troy Brouwer would be an imposing sight to be sure.
- Clayton Keller (ARZ) – Unsigned – The Arizona Coyotes followed Columbus’ lead and took a center with their first pick of the round (they would later trade for the 16th overall pick to select D Jakob Chychrun) but haven’t signed the USA standout. As we reported yesterday, Keller is standing by his commitment to head to Boston University next season, though the Windsor Spitfires are doing everything they can to bring him to the OHL. He likely won’t sign with the Coyotes until he’s ready to make the jump from the NCAA.
- Alexander Nylander (BUF) – Signed, July 15th: Three years, $1.775MM AAV – The younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs center William and son of former NHLer Michael, Nylander is expected to play a big part in the re-build for Buffalo over the next few seasons. With the team hitting rock bottom last year, they are on a steady climb upwards and have perhaps turned a corner with the huge signing of Kyle Okposo this summer. Nylander has impressed many at camp with his blend of skating ability and hard shot.
- Mikhail Sergachev (MTL) – Signed, July 1st: Three years, $1.775MM AAV – Sergachev is an interesting case, as he came over in the OHL’s import draft and made an impact in his rookie season, winning the Max Kaminsky trophy as the league’s top blueliner. Many think he’ll head back to Windsor for another season, but there has been rumbling that he could crack the Canadiens roster as soon as this year. The left-handed shooting Russian is a born powerplay quarterback, and may eventually slide in next to Shea Weber on the top unit.
- Tyson Jost (COL) – Unsigned – Colorado reached into the BCHL to select Jost, an elite offensive talent out of Penticton, if a little undersized. He’ll be heading to the NCAA this year as well, as he’s committed to the University of North Dakota for 2016-17. This is the usual route for players out of Penticton, as since the CHL is deemed a professional league by the NCAA, the BCHL is the highest level of hockey in North America allowed before heading to college. Like Keller, don’t expect Jost to sign anytime soon.
For the other twenty picks of the first round, only Jake Bean and Julien Gauthier have signed as of yet. Many of the players selected here won’t sign a contract until their 2016-17 assignment/league has been decided. Keep an eye on PHR and Roster Resource to track when they sign and where they’re headed next season.