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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Thirteenth 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)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)

With so many players jumping into the top-ten that weren’t originally selected there, some players had to drop and Turris is one of them as he slips down nine spots.  Interestingly enough, he goes to a Montreal team that has spent the better part of the last decade looking for center help so this would have been a good fit for them.

Unfortunately for the Coyotes who originally drafted him, he wasn’t a great fit with them.  After being a one-and-done player at Notre Dame, he was pencilled in as a regular for 2008-09.  He spent most of the season in Phoenix but had a limited impact.  As a result, Turris spent most of the following season in the minors which is where things started to go off the rails.

While he rebounded with 25 points in 65 games the following year, it was evident that things weren’t particularly rosy between the two sides.  Turris ultimately held out at the start of 2011-12 in the hopes of forcing a trade.  He ultimately signed in late November but before long, he got his wish and was on his way to Ottawa for defenseman David Rundblad (still considered a quality prospect at the time) and a second-rounder that eventually was flipped as part of a package to pick up Antoine Vermette.

Turris didn’t exactly light it up right away with the Senators as his first two seasons with the team saw him pick up 29 points each time.  However, the switch flipped in time for the 2013-14 campaign which saw him basically double his output from the previous year, finally establishing himself as a legitimate top-six center in the process.  He was able to maintain that for several more seasons before being part of the Matt Duchene three-way trade back in 2017, a swap that didn’t go as well for Ottawa as they’d have liked.

The move ultimately landed Turris with Nashville along with a freshly-signed six-year, $36MM contract extension that still has five years left on it.  His first season with the Predators wasn’t too bad but the veteran struggled last season and had just seven goals in 55 games.  In response, the Predators went out and signed a replacement for him in the top six this summer and it just so happened to be the player he had been traded for in Duchene.  Turris may have lots of job security but as things stand, he’s going to be back in the limited role that he struggled with at the beginning of his career.

We now turn our focus to the team with the 13th pick in the draft, the St. Louis Blues.  They used that pick on Lars Eller, a Danish center developing in Sweden in the Frolunda system.  They didn’t have him for very long though as just three years later, he was traded to Montreal in exchange for goaltender Jaroslav Halak.

Eller spent six seasons with the Canadiens where he showed flashes of offensive upside but ultimately was only able to produce in a limited capacity, ranging from 26-30 points over his final five seasons with the team.  Back at the 2016 draft, he was shipped to Washington for a pair of second-round picks.

Since then, Eller has been a bit more productive offensively while filling an important spot on the third line.  The team was pleased enough with him that they gave him a five-year, $17.5MM extension back in 2018, a deal that has four years remaining on it.

While Eller has nearly 700 career NHL games under his belt (eighth-most amongst players from this draft class) which is a solid return on a pick at this stage of the first round, it’s hard not to wonder what if when it comes to St. Louis.  San Jose initially acquired this pick from Toronto at the draft for goalie Vesa Toskala and winger Mark Bell, then used it in a trade to move up to the number nine slot where St. Louis originally sat.  The Sharks wound up with Logan Couture and looking back in hindsight, the Blues would probably like a do-over on that one.  Couture is obviously off the board now but Eller is still available.  Is he the right fit for them at this spot in the redraft?

With the thirteenth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the St. Louis Blues 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.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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The NHL offseason is almost over and preseason games are just a few weeks away. Even so, the restricted free agent market has yet to thaw and there are still unsigned free agent names out there like Jake Gardiner and Ben Hutton. It seems unlikely that these situations will continue through September, but neither show any signs of change in the coming days.

With the offseason moving at a snail’s pace it’s time to run another edition of our mailbag. You can submit your query by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. Make sure you get your questions in early and we’ll try to get through as many as possible when the mailbag runs on the weekend.

If you missed our last edition it was split into two parts you can read here and here. In the first, Brian tackled questions regarding Kevin Shattenkirk’s fit in Tampa Bay, the early extension of Samuel Girard in Colorado and predicted what contracts the top restricted free agents would eventually get. The second part took a look at the possible next moves for the New York Rangers, David Backes’ future in Boston and speculated on some trade candidates that may be brought up in the future.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twelfth 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)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)

It’s hard to eclipse Benn’s 127-spot jump in our redraft series, but Muzzin has done just that. Rising an amazing 130 selections, the Woodstock, Ontario defenseman has certainly put together quite the career for himself so far. Every team passed on Muzzin before the Pittsburgh Penguins eventually snapped him up in the fifth round, and it’s easy to see why. In 2007 Muzzin was coming off just one half-season of play in the Ontario Hockey League after suffering a herniated disc as a 16-year old and missing an entire year of hockey thanks to surgery. Scoring just eight points in 50 games that season for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, he wasn’t even listed on the NHL Central Scouting’s list of top draft eligible players from North America—a list that includes 200 names.

The Penguins saw something though in order to draft him, but it would never actually pay off for them. Muzzin would never sign with the Penguins and instead returned for three more full seasons with the Greyhounds. That’s where he learned to become an ultra-efficient puck-moving defenseman even without any real standout skills. His decision making and size allowed him to play in basically every situation however and he eventually would earn the OHL Most Outstanding Defenseman award in 2010. That 2009-10 season was enough to catch the eye of the Los Angeles Kings organization who signed him in January 2010 to an entry-level contract.

It still wasn’t a totally smooth road for Muzzin with the Kings, but within three years he had established himself as a full-time NHL player. His second full season in the NHL the Kings would win the Stanley Cup and Muzzin would lead all defensemen in playoff goals with six. Muzzin would remain a rock solid option for the Kings for several more seasons and represent Canada by winning gold at both the World Championships and World Cup—his first two international competitions.

At the deadline last season the Toronto Maple Leafs paid a hefty price to acquire the now-veteran defenseman, and he’ll suit up again for them this season on the final year of his contract. Muzzin ranks fourth among defensemen from the 2007 draft with 229 points and certainly deserves his place in the first half of the first round.

You can bet that Montreal would have been happy picking Muzzin 12th the way his career turned out, but back in 2007 they made an even better pick. Ryan McDonagh, who came in at pick number seven in our redraft originally went to the Canadiens, in one of the best draft classes we’ve seen in some time. McDonagh would never actually pull on the bleu blanc et rouge, but went on to have an excellent career with the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning so far.

Unfortunately for Montreal, McDonagh isn’t available this time around. There’s still plenty of talent on the board, but who should they pick?

With the twelfth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Montreal Canadiens 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: Eleventh 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)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)

Despite his recent struggles, Shattenkirk still moves up four spots in our redraft and finishes out the top-10, taking the place of draft bust Keaton Ellerby who was originally selected by the Panthers in 2007. Though it took Shattenkirk a few years to make his way to the NHL, his debut there was outstanding in the 2010 season when he recorded 26 points in his first 46 games with the Colorado Avalanche. So good in fact that the Avalanche were able to flip him to the St. Louis Blues in a deal that landed them 2006 first-overall pick Erik Johnson.

Johnson was just 22 at the time and still considered a potential franchise defenseman who had put up 91 points in 203 games with the Blues. Though there were other assets included in the trade (top prospect Chris Stewart went with Shattenkirk for instance), the swap of defensemen would turn out to be the most important part. Johnson would never quite become that Norris-caliber defender in Colorado but is still with the team to this day as a solid contributor, while Shattenkirk became one of the most efficient offensive weapons from the blueline in the league.

Through parts of seven seasons with St. Louis, Shattenkirk recorded 258 points in 425 games and received Norris Trophy votes on three different occasions. His ability to quarterback a powerplay was outstanding, but it unfortunately rarely led to much playoff success for the Blues. In 2017 as he neared the end of his contract and approached free agency, he was flipped to the Washington Capitals for a solid package.

Shattenkirk was recently bought out of his contract with the New York Rangers after concerns with his commitment to defense and overall impact on the game. Signing a much cheaper deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning could allow him to recover some of that perceived value, though even if he doesn’t it has already been quite the career. Shattenkirk trails only P.K. Subban in terms of scoring among defensemen drafted in 2007, and comes in at 12th overall from that year. His climb into the top-10 is warranted, though a rebirth in Tampa Bay would only do more for his eventual legacy.

That takes us to pick number 11 from 2007, which originally belonged to the Carolina Hurricanes. After the Panthers went with a defender just ahead of Carolina, the team decided to reach a bit for a forward with a legendary hockey name. Brandon Sutter was ranked 28th among all North American skaters in 2007, but with bloodlines that included father Brent Sutter and uncles Brian Sutter, Darryl Sutter, Duane Sutter, Rich Sutter and Ron Sutter, it was easy to imagine him experiencing a long and successful NHL career.

The pick was certainly not unanimously praised, as Sutter had scored just 20 goals and 57 points in 71 games during his draft year with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL (who were incidentally owned, managed and coached at the time by his father and included his brother Brett Sutter as another top forward). There was obvious talent there, but some questioned the eventual offensive upside of the young forward. Those questions would be amplified during his first season in the NHL when Sutter registered only six points in 50 games with the Hurricanes, but seemed to be answered the following year. In 2009-10 Sutter recorded 21 goals and 40 points, establishing himself as a full-time NHL option that could contribute at both ends of the rink.

Unfortunately, that 40-point season would end up being the best of Sutter’s career to this point. He has just 32 points in his last 87 games in the NHL, a span that encompasses the last two full seasons thanks to injury. Now with two seasons left on his contract with the Vancouver Canucks it isn’t clear what kind of role he will have in 2019-20 and whether he can ever fulfill his draft (and family) pedigree.

If they had another chance knowing what we do now, you can bet the Hurricanes would pick someone else. But who would it be?

With the eleventh pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Carolina Hurricanes 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.

Poll: Who Are The Best Goaltenders In The NHL?

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Earlier this month the NHL Network started their annual exercise rating the top players in the NHL by position, and gave us Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov and Brent Burns as the best players in the world at their respective spots. The rest of the lists created such debate that we polled the members of the PHR community and came up with our own rankings, which differed quite a bit. In fact, our readers decided that there should be a different top name on each list, putting Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Victor Hedman in the top spots.

Most recently we asked our readers to select the best 20 defensemen in the NHL. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Defensemen list currently looks like this:

  1. Victor Hedman (760 votes)
  2. Brent Burns (715 votes)
  3. Erik Karlsson (643 votes)
  4. Drew Doughty (565 votes)
  5. Mark Giordano (481 votes)
  6. Roman Josi (446 votes)
  7. Seth Jones (427 votes)
  8. Alex Pietrangelo (406 votes)
  9. P.K. Subban (332 votes)
  10. Morgan Rielly (330 votes)
  11. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (294 votes)
  12. John Carlson (257 votes)
  13. Shea Weber (248 votes)
  14. Charlie McAvoy (206 votes)
  15. Kris Letang (196 votes)
  16. Dustin Byfuglien (174 votes)
  17. Colton Parayko (172 votes)
  18. John Klingberg (151 votes)
  19. Jacob Trouba (140 votes)
  20. Aaron Ekblad (137 votes)

Now, the network has released their ranking of the best goaltenders in the NHL and the debate is red hot once again. Andrei Vasilevskiy probably doesn’t turn many heads after his first Vezina Trophy at the age of 24 but things quickly become less clear following the Tampa Bay Lightning netminder. The network brings in Sergei Bobrovsky, Ben Bishop and Carey Price in the next three spots, three goaltenders who have certainly had their ups and downs over the last several seasons. The $70MM man in Bobrovsky was recently rewarded for his play, but 2018-19 actually marked the lowest save percentage he’s ever had in a healthy season at .913. Bishop meanwhile put up an incredible .934 to lead the league last season but had been completely out of Vezina conversation the previous two.

Price always brings with him quite a bit of debate, and this year is no different. There is obvious all-world talent in the Montreal Canadiens goaltender but there have been real inconsistency issues over the last two seasons as he battled injury. A nice bounce back to a .918 save percentage and 35 wins put him back in the conversation for the best goaltender in the world, but at least on this list he’s now been passed by three others.

Perhaps most notable on the list is the inclusion of Stanley Cup winner Jordan Binnington, who had played just a single NHL game before his magical run in 2018-19. Binnington helped turn around the entire season for the St. Louis Blues and then took them all the way to their first championship in franchise history. There’s no doubt that Binnington played at a level that put him among the best in the world last season, but with such a short resume it’s hard to know if that success can continue.

Just like our other polls, we want the PHR community to let us know who the best goaltenders in the world are. Like the last poll, we’ll ask you to select just 10 names.  Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the other three polls ended. We’ve included many names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important (which we undoubtedly have) make sure to leave his name down below.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

PHR Originals: 8/19/19 – 8/25/19

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Here’s a rundown of the original content here at PHR over the past seven days.

Our 2007 redraft poll series continues and there has already been a big departure from the actual results of the first round.  James van Riemsdyk dipped from going second overall to the number eight selection while Wayne Simmonds, the final pick of the second round that year (61st), jumped all the way to ninth.  Florida is currently on the clock with the number ten pick and there’s still time to vote on their selection.

We continue our look at the Metropolitan Division with our Salary Cap Deep Dive series.  I took a look at the situations for the Blue Jackets and Devils while Holger did the same for the Islanders and Rangers.  Even after buying out Kevin Shattenkirk earlier this summer, the Rangers still have some work to do to get cap compliant and at least reduce the risk of being hit with a big bonus overage penalty for 2020-21.  Accordingly, they’ll be a team to watch for in the coming weeks.

Gavin held his weekly Thursday live chat.  Topics included potential trade candidates in Boston, some unsigned veterans that could find a new home, Bill Guerin’s hiring with Minnesota, the futures of a pair of blueliners that have been speculative trade candidates in Rasmus Ristolainen (Buffalo) and Justin Faulk (Carolina), and the slow RFA market.

With the NHL continuing to release their listing of best players by position, we continue our series of polls to compare the opinions of our readers with the list from the league.  Our poll this past week has been about the top defensemen in the NHL.  The current leaders are Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay), Brent Burns (San Jose), and Erik Karlsson (San Jose).

With the end of August quickly approaching, training camps are now only a few weeks away.  That means plenty of veteran players will be looking to secure a guaranteed deal in the coming days to avoid having to go the PTO route.  I reviewed the case for center Riley Sheahan while Holger broke down the potential suitors for veteran defenseman Marc Methot who missed most of last season due to injury but has started skating again.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Tenth Overall Pick

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

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)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)

Simmonds represents the second-biggest jump in our redraft so far and is already the third selection that didn’t come from the first round.  Interestingly enough, Simmonds was a pick of the Kings who took Couture (the actual pick of the Sharks in 2007) with the fourth spot in our redraft.

While it’s fair to suggest that San Jose is happy with Couture, Simmonds wouldn’t have been a bad consolation prize by any stretch.  He wasn’t a big point producer in junior which is part of the reason he slipped to the back of the second round but it was clear that at the very least, he could hold his own as a bottom-six winger which would still be decent value at this stage of the draft.

The Kings wasted little time putting him in their lineup as he was a full-time player for them just one year after being picked and he didn’t look out of place.  His sophomore year is what really got him on the radar though as he picked up 40 points and 116 penalty minutes, showing that his offensive game could play up at the NHL level.

That got the attention of many teams, including Philadelphia who traded for him (along with Brayden Schenn) in 2011 as part of the Mike Richards trade, a move that worked out a whole lot better for the Flyers than it did for the Kings as Los Angeles will be carrying salary cap recapture on their books for terminating Richards’ deal until 2032.

Simmonds had a career year in his first season with Philadelphia and earned himself a six-year, $23.85MM extension that wound up becoming one of the top bargains in the league.  He continued his upward ascension, scoring at least 28 goals and picking up at least 50 points over a four-season stretch between 2013-14 and 2016-17.  At that time, he was one of the premier power forwards in the league.

However, as is often the case with players who play his style of game, it starts to take its toll.  He struggled at times with the Flyers last season and was ultimately dealt to Nashville at the trade deadline where he had a marginal impact at best.  Nonetheless, the Devils saw fit to give him a one-year, $5MM deal last month in the hopes that he can give them a boost on the wing.

That takes us to the number ten pick which was held by Florida.  With stay-at-home physical defenders still in vogue, the Panthers opted for hulking blueliner Keaton Ellerby who had established himself as a physical force in the WHL.  Unfortunately, the rest of his game was lacking and that was an issue as he turned pro.

Ellerby spent parts of five seasons with Florida split between the Panthers and AHL Rochester before flipping him to Los Angeles for a fifth-round pick.  He didn’t last too long with them as less than a year later, he was claimed off waivers by Winnipeg in 2013-14.  He spent two seasons in their organization before embarking on an intriguing international journey that saw him play in five countries in four years: Kazakhstan and Switzerland in 2015-16, Finland in 2016-17, Sweden in 2017-18, and Germany last year.  He is currently unsigned for the upcoming season.

Clearly, Florida will get better value with this selection than they did with Ellerby.

With the tenth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Florida Panthers 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: 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!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

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.

Poll: Who Are The Best Defensemen In The NHL?

at CDT | by 9 Comments

Earlier this month the NHL Network started their annual exercise rating the top players in the NHL by position, and gave us Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov as the best players in the world at their respective spots. The rest of the lists created such debate that we polled the members of the PHR community and came up with our own rankings, which differed quite a bit. In fact, for the second year in a row our readers picked Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin at the top of each list.

We asked readers to select the best 20 wingers in the NHL. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Wingers list currently looks like this:

  1. Alex Ovechkin (691 votes)
  2. Patrick Kane (644 votes)
  3. Nikita Kucherov (618 votes)
  4. Artemi Panarin (543 votes)
  5. Mitch Marner (517 votes)
  6. Taylor Hall (482 votes)
  7. Vladimir Tarasenko (459 votes)
  8. Brad Marchand (451 votes)
  9. Johnny Gaudreau (442 votes)
  10. Leon Draisaitl (412 votes)
  11. David Pastrnak (407 votes)
  12. Mikko Rantanen (384 votes)
  13. Mark Stone (340 votes)
  14. Claude Giroux (327 votes)
  15. Jamie Benn (306 votes)
  16. Patrik Laine (294 votes)
  17. Blake Wheeler (289 votes)
  18. Gabriel Landeskog (274 votes)
  19. Matthew Tkachuk (254 votes)
  20. Phil Kessel (228 votes)

Now, the network has released their ranking of the best defensemen in the NHL and the debate has heated up once again. Brent Burns jumped up to the top of the list after an outstanding 83-point season, while Mark Giordano’s Norris Trophy vaulted him to third despite not appearing anywhere on the list a year ago. Burns set a new high in points for his career despite turning 34 in March, while Giordano had nearly 20 more points than his next closest season. The undrafted Calgary Flames defenseman will turn 36 in October but was unstoppable at both ends of the rink.

The rest of the list is populated by both veterans and youngsters, with names like Ryan Suter coming in right next to Miro Heiskanen. While young players are taking over the forward position there is still plenty of older talent locking it down on the back end. One player with a huge jump is somewhere in between; Morgan Reilly finds himself seventh on the board after breaking out in his sixth NHL season. The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman is still just 25 but is now one of the longest-tenured players on the roster with 470 games under his belt.

Just like our forward polls, we want the PHR community to let us know who the best defensemen in the world are. Unlike the last poll however, we’ll ask you to select just 10 names.  Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the other two polls ended. We’ve included many names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important (which we undoubtedly have) make sure to leave his name down below.

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