Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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 2008 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?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)

2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)

3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)

4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)

5th Overall: Erik Karlsson, Toronto Maple Leafs (15)

6th Overall: John Carlson, Columbus Blue Jackets (27)

7th Overall: Jacob Markstrom, Nashville Predators (31)

8th Overall: Braden Holtby, Phoenix Coyotes (93)

The Coyotes’ original 2008 eighth-overall selection, Mikkel Boedker, had a long career in Phoenix, but squarely belongs in the “disappointing” category of top-ten picks. Not a bust by any means, having played over 700 NHL games, he had just 327 points in those 709 games. Those numbers aren’t great, but they are good enough for 15th in scoring among the class, which was weak for forwards overall. It also means that Boedker’s offense would have been an easily replaceable asset in free agency, so it’s reasonable to wonder if taking Holtby and his Stanley Cup-winning pedigree would’ve made a difference in the Coyotes’ fortunes.

While the organization never had elite scoring talent and failed to build consistent year-to-year performances, goaltending was usually the least of their worries. Immediately after the draft, Phoenix got the three best seasons of Ilya Bryzgalov‘s career, including a Vezina Trophy nomination in 2009-10. After his departure in 2011, Mike Smith immediately broke out, guiding them to the Western Conference Final in 2012. Over 310 starts in the desert, Smith served the Coyotes well with a .916 save percentage. While you’ll hear little argument that Holtby was the better goaltender between those three, the upgrade is marginal enough that it likely wouldn’t have made much of a difference in the team’s fortunes.

The New York Islanders stepped up to the plate for the ninth-overall selection, trading four spots down on draft day in total from the fifth overall pick. It was a move that worked out extremely well for them in hindsight. Their selection at ninth overall was Josh Bailey, who remains third in scoring among forwards from the class on this day. When comparing Bailey’s career with that of the fifth overall selection (Luke Schenn) and seventh overall selection (Colin Wilson) that they dealt away that day, it was an even smarter move from then-general manager Garth Snow. Bailey, who’s remained a career Islander ever since draft day and is currently an alternate captain, has 555 career points and will play his 1,000th game as an Islander this season.

Bailey made his NHL debut in November of 2008, just five months after he was drafted, and played nearly a full NHL season as a 19-year-old. He had 25 points in 68 games during his rookie season, good enough for ninth in scoring on an atrocious Islanders team that finished with just 61 points. From that point forward, Bailey was a surefire threat for anywhere between 30 and 50 points in a full season. He set a career-high of 71 points in 76 games in 2017-18, 15 more points than his next-best season total.

Despite the impressive career as an Islander, there may have been better selections available yet on the board at ninth overall for New York. There’s Jordan Eberle, who did end up an Islander anyway after a few seasons in Edmonton, who’s the only forward that ranks ahead of Bailey in terms of career points from the class not named Steven Stamkos. There’s also current Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon, who perenially remains one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL.

So we ask you, who should have the New York Islanders selected with the ninth overall pick in 2008? Make your voice heard in the poll below.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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 2008 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?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)

2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)

3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)

4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)

5th Overall: Erik Karlsson, Toronto Maple Leafs (15)

6th Overall: John Carlson, Columbus Blue Jackets (27)

7th Overall: Jacob Markstrom, Nashville Predators (31)

In the real draft, Nashville made an all-around solid pick with forward Colin Wilson, a college standout who would carry his hard-working game over into the NHL ranks. Wilson’s 286 career points are good enough for 18th among 2008 draftees. Though he wasn’t a bust, Nashville could have potentially found another outcome by selecting Markstrom with the seventh pick, which might seem peculiar at first, but may have had an enormous positive impact overall. On the date of the 2008 draft, franchise great Pekka Rinne had played just three NHL games to date, establishing himself as a star the following season.

Having Markstrom in the fold behind Rinne would have blocked the younger goaltender, but may have proven a valuable trade asset for Nashville. Markstrom’s value as a prospect was as high as it could be in the early 2010’s given his ceiling, and Florida used that to its advantage, trading him along with forward Shawn Matthias to the Vancouver Canucks for Roberto Luongo and a minor leaguer. Had Nashville opted to keep Markstrom around, it’s interesting to consider that he didn’t establish himself as a regular starter until the 2017-18 season, right around the time Rinne began to take a step back due to injury and age. This could have fit as a perfect transition, however as we have seen, Nashville found that nonetheless with Juuse Saros.

We now turn to the eighth overall selection and one of two first-round picks belonging to the then-Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes, much like the Predators before them and the New York Islanders right after, picked a good player and someone far from a bust in forward Mikkel Boedker. For his career, Boedker had 118 goals and 209 assists for 327 points over 709 games played, enough for 15th in points and 19th in games played among members of the 2008 draft class. Those numbers put Boedker out of an elite class of player, like Stamkos, Doughty, and Karlsson ahead of him, but fit him squarely among good, solid NHLers.

The speedy Danish winger began his career with a pair of seasons in the Frolunda development program over in Sweden prior to joining the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers for the 2007-08 season – his draft year. Boedker dominated with Kitchener, netting 29 goals along with 44 assists in 66 games. Not only that, but the forward notched six points in as many games playing for Denmark’s World Juniors squad that year.

The impressive performance was enough not only to have Boedker selected eighth-overall, but would help him make the Coyotes roster as an 18-year-old. Despite his age, Boedker showed he was ready for the NHL, putting up a relatively impressive 11 goals and 17 assists in 78 games in the desert. After his rookie effort, the Coyotes opted to give the forward more time to develop, having him spend the majority of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 campaigns in the AHL, though he didn’t take too much of a step forward there.

After establishing himself as a reliable secondary option in the seasons before, Boedker broke out in 2013-14, tallying 51 points in 82 games for the final Phoenix team, his 19 goals marking a career-high. Fast forward to 2015-16, Boedker again hit the 51 point mark, ultimately tying his career-high, but was dealt at the trade deadline to the Colorado Avalanche. The deal worked out well for Boedker, who had 12 points in 18 games down the stretch, however the Avalanche would fail to make the playoffs. The trade didn’t work out so well either for what was now known as the Arizona Coyotes. They acquired prospects Connor Bleackley and Kyle Wood, neither of whom ever played an NHL game (in fact, Bleackley re-entered the draft in 2016, and was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the fifth round), as well as veteran forward Alex Tanguay, who provided a similar 13 points in 18 games the rest of the way, retiring at season’s end.

Returning to the winner of the trade, Boedker himself, his run with the Avalanche capping off three straight seasons of solid production which helped him sign a four-year, $16MM deal with the San Jose Sharks in free agency that summer. The forward spent the first two seasons of that deal with San Jose, eventually being traded to the Ottawa Senators. At the conclusion of the contract, Boedker signed with Lugano in Switzerland, likely finishing off his NHL career.

All in all, the Coyotes got fairly decent value for their eighth overall selection, receiving 213 points in 445 games over eight seasons, fetching some worthwhile value on the deadline trade market. However, in hindsight, there were several other names available who may have had a greater impact on the franchise. Who could have had a greater impact in Arizona: an impact defenseman like Tyler Myers or Jared Spurgeon? A Vezina Trophy winner like Braden Holtby? Another scorer, but one who admittedly helped get the puck in the back of the net a bit more, like Cam Atkinson or Jordan Eberle? Or was Boedker the right choice all along?

With the eighth overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft, who will the Phoenix (Arizona) Coyotes select? Cast your vote below.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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 2008 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?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)
3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)
4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)
5th Overall: Erik Karlsson, Toronto Maple Leafs (15)
6th Overall: John Carlson, Columbus Blue Jackets (27)

Instead of the underwhelming Nikita Filatov, the Blue Jackets grab one of the best offensive defensemen of the last decade. Carlson has posted at least 70 points in three of the past four years and reached his career-high of 75 in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign, earning him a second-place finish in the Norris Trophy voting. He logged nearly 26 minutes a night in his 2018 Stanley Cup run and is on track to hit 600 career points early this season. It’s not often that a draft has five defensemen this capable that can dominate the early board but the Blue Jackets have followed the trend and picked their own franchise blueliner.

We now move on to the seventh selection and the first of two first-round selections by the Nashville Predators.

There was always a chance that the Predators could change the direction of their franchise with the 2008 draft, though few would expect it to come from the second round, when Josi was selected 38th. Instead, one would have thought it was either the seventh or 18th pick that would become the franchise-altering talent down the road.

With their first selection, general manager David Poile (who has been well connected to USA hockey for a very long time) decided to dip into the college ranks and take freshman standout, Colin Wilson, from Boston University. Wilson had absolutely dominated the U18s, scored six goals in six games at the World Juniors and had NHL pedigree. His father, Carey Wilson, had scored over 400 points at the NHL level and competed in the Olympics (for Canada), his uncle Geoff Wilson was a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and his grandfather Jerry Wilson played three games for the Montreal Canadiens in 1956-57. In fact, Carey had been acquired by the Calgary Flames just months after Poile had left his role there as AGM, making the selection of Colin a kind of odd family circle.

This wasn’t some nepotistic pick, though. Wilson was a powerhouse for BU, scoring 12 goals and 35 points in 37 games as a freshman, making him the ninth-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting and a sure bet to be an impact player at the professional level. When he won the Jim Johannson Award as the USA Hockey College Player of the Year the following season and led BU to a national championship, it was clear he was ready to make the jump. He played in the World Championship that spring against NHL talent (where Poile was AGM for the U.S. team) and then transitioned to professional hockey in 2009-10.

While he may not be the best player selected that year, Wilson had a solid career, scoring 113 goals and 286 points in 632 games. He was a versatile middle-six forward for many years with the Predators, reaching a career-high 20 goals and 42 points in 2014-15.

After announcing his retirement in early 2021, Wilson continued to have a positive impact in a very different way. He released an emotional piece in The Players’ Tribune that detailed his struggles with a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, his battle to keep a career on the rails, and his hopes that others facing similar difficulties would open up about them in the future.

I played in the NHL. I lived my dream. And I fought through hell to make a career for myself. My name might not be on the Stanley Cup, and that’s fine. Because I know there is an opportunity ahead of me to not just leave my mark on the game of hockey, but also on lives all across the world.

When Jimmy Hayes tragically died in the summer of 2021 because of an apparent drug overdose, Wilson took to the Tribune’s pages again, to go even deeper into his own history of drug abuse. It was an attempt to come clean with himself and perhaps shine a bit brighter spotlight on the growing overdose epidemic, and how it affects people with mental health disorders.

Unlike some of the other players that were picked in the first round, Wilson wasn’t a bust. He sits 18th in points among all players from the draft class. But With the advantage of hindsight, the Predators can pick a different talent, someone that would have had an even greater effect on the organization.

With the seventh overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, who will the Nashville Predators select? Cast your vote below.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images