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Poll: Who Are The Best Goaltenders In The NHL?

at CDT | by 11 Comments

Over the last few weeks the NHL Network has been releasing their lists of the best players in the league, detailing the Top 20 Centers, Top 20 Defensemen and Top 20 Wingers in separate polls. In response, we’ve polled the PHR community to give our own thoughts on the very best talents around the NHL and have come up with significantly different lists. Among centers, Sidney Crosby edged out Connor McDavid for the top spot here at PHR, while Erik Karlsson overcame his down 2017-18 to take the spot on the blue line.

On the wings, NHL Network had Nikita Kucherov as the very best in the league after his 100-point campaign alongside Steven Stamkos. That didn’t impress the PHR readers though, who have Kucherov at #4 behind three more veteran options. Alex Ovechkin takes home the trophy to place on his overburdened shelf alongside his recent Conn Smythe award for playoff MVP and seventh Maurice Richard trophy. It’s difficult to overcome 607 goals and more than 1,100 points now that Ovechkin has a Stanley Cup to go with them. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Wingers currently looks like this:

  1. Alex Ovechkin (632 votes)
  2. Taylor Hall (532 votes)
  3. Patrick Kane (531 votes)
  4. Nikita Kucherov (521 votes)
  5. Patrik Laine (510 votes)
  6. Vladimir Tarasenko (476 votes)
  7. Brad Marchand (425 votes)
  8. Artemi Panarin (392 votes)
  9. Jamie Benn (371 votes)
  10. Claude Giroux (370 votes)
  11. Johnny Gaudreau (345 votes)
  12. David Pastrnak (329 votes)
  13. Phil Kessel (323 votes)
  14. Blake Wheeler (320 votes)
  15. Filip Forsberg (263 votes)
  16. Mitch Marner (195 votes)
  17. Brock Boeser (175 votes)
  18. Logan Couture (166 votes)
  19. Jakub Voracek (156 votes)
  20. T.J. Oshie (132 votes)

Continuing the series, the NHL Network today released their ranking of the Top 10 Goaltenders, sparking quite a bit of debate among the hockey world. Sergei Bobrovsky takes home their top spot after collecting Vezina votes again last season. The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder has won the trophy twice and consistently puts up some of the most impressive numbers in the league. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer, giving the Blue Jackets a very tough decision on whether to make him the most expensive goaltender in the league or watch him walk away.

Stanley Cup Champion Braden Holtby is second, despite being benched at the beginning of the playoffs by his club in favor of Philipp Grubauer. Holtby would eventually regain the net and carry the Capitals to the promised land, but not without at least some doubt in his ability down the stretch.

Incredibly, Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist, the two highest-paid goaltenders in the NHL don’t appear on the list making their contracts seem quite excessive. Lundqvist at least has a long history of success during his current deal, something that Price will have to prove as he starts in on his eight-year $84MM extension.

Like all of the other polls, we’ll ask the PHR community to give their own thoughts on who deserves at the top of the list. We’ve included a huge number of NHL goaltenders and ask you to cast your vote by selecting 10 names. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or on how the Top 20 Wingers list turned out.

Who are the best goaltenders in the NHL?
Sergei Bobrovsky 9.09% (650 votes)
Braden Holtby 8.38% (599 votes)
Marc-Andre Fleury 8.22% (588 votes)
Carey Price 7.94% (568 votes)
Pekka Rinne 7.76% (555 votes)
Jonathan Quick 7.69% (550 votes)
Andrei Vasilevskiy 7.38% (528 votes)
Connor Hellebuyck 5.89% (421 votes)
Tuukka Rask 5.48% (392 votes)
Henrik Lundqvist 5.03% (360 votes)
Matt Murray 3.87% (277 votes)
John Gibson 3.33% (238 votes)
Frederik Andersen 2.81% (201 votes)
Martin Jones 2.41% (172 votes)
Corey Crawford 2.35% (168 votes)
Devan Dubnyk 2.27% (162 votes)
Ben Bishop 1.52% (109 votes)
Cory Schneider 1.43% (102 votes)
Roberto Luongo 1.03% (74 votes)
Antti Raanta 0.94% (67 votes)
Semyon Varlamov 0.71% (51 votes)
Mike Smith 0.64% (46 votes)
Jake Allen 0.55% (39 votes)
Carter Hutton 0.55% (39 votes)
Jimmy Howard 0.50% (36 votes)
Cam Talbot 0.48% (34 votes)
Philipp Grubauer 0.38% (27 votes)
Craig Anderson 0.25% (18 votes)
Jacob Markstrom 0.20% (14 votes)
Jaroslav Halak 0.20% (14 votes)
Scott Darling 0.20% (14 votes)
Jonathan Bernier 0.15% (11 votes)
Brian Elliott 0.13% (9 votes)
James Reimer 0.13% (9 votes)
Robin Lehner 0.11% (8 votes)
Total Votes: 7,150

[Mobile users click here to vote]

PHR Originals: 8/20/18 – 8/26/18

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

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

It has already been a fairly busy offseason in Winnipeg.  Gavin previewed what still needs to be done in the days leading up to training camp as well as their lengthy list of prominent players that are entering the final year of their respective contracts.  There have been a lot of early extensions handed out this summer and the Jets could certainly look to get involved in that area in the weeks to come.

Our salary cap tour around the Pacific Division continues.  I broke down the situations for Vancouver, Anaheim, and Arizona while Holger did the same for Edmonton and San Jose.

Gavin’s weekly live chat featured discussions on the offseasons in Carolina and St. Louis, Max Domi’s role with Montreal, Clayton Keller, Calgary’s new-look top line, and much more.

Tomas Tatar’s trade to Vegas late at the trade deadline last season caught many by surprise.  He didn’t fare particularly well after the move but the team is certainly hoping a fresh start at training camp will help.  Zach profiled his situation, noting that a bottom-six role could be in the cards for the veteran to start 2018-19.

The list of remaining restricted free agents is slowly dwindling.  Gavin looked at who still needs to put pen to paper on a new deal and assessed some of the more prominent contracts that are in the midst of still being negotiated.

Our 2006 redraft series continued with Claude Giroux and Nicklas Backstrom taking the second and third slots behind Jonathan Toews.  There’s still time to vote for who the Capitals should take with the number four selection.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick

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

Our look back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft is now in full swing as we poll the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now.  Through the first three picks, we have already seen big changes from what actually happened.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
3rd Overall: Nicklas Backstrom (Chicago Blackhawks)

Although the Blackhawks didn’t get Toews this time around, they wind up with a solid consolation prize in Backstrom, who would certainly fit in well as their number one center today.  He quietly leads all 2006 draft points in NHL assists (590) and points (799) and certainly would have made for a dynamic one-two punch alongside winger Patrick Kane.

Now, let’s move forward to the fourth pick in the draft, which was held by the Washington Capitals.

It’s safe to say that their original selection turned out to be the right one as Backstrom has been a go-to player for them for the last 11 years and still has two years remaining on a team-friendly contract with a $6.7MM cap hit.  While Alex Ovechkin draws most of the headlines, Backstrom has made a strong career for himself largely serving as his setup man while emerging as a capable two-way threat as well.  Obviously, with him now off the board as Chicago’s pick, Washington will have to pick someone else this time around.

With the fourth pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Washington Capitals select?  Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: Fourth Overall
Brad Marchand 44.58% (531 votes)
Phil Kessel 42.32% (504 votes)
Jordan Staal 3.53% (42 votes)
Milan Lucic 2.10% (25 votes)
Erik Johnson 0.84% (10 votes)
Bryan Little 0.84% (10 votes)
Artem Anisimov 0.76% (9 votes)
Derick Brassard 0.67% (8 votes)
Semyon Varlamov 0.59% (7 votes)
Patrik Berglund 0.50% (6 votes)
Nick Foligno 0.50% (6 votes)
Kyle Okposo 0.42% (5 votes)
Cal Clutterbuck 0.42% (5 votes)
Jamie McGinn 0.42% (5 votes)
Michal Neuvirth 0.25% (3 votes)
Michael Grabner 0.25% (3 votes)
Jeff Petry 0.25% (3 votes)
Steve Mason 0.17% (2 votes)
Mathieu Perreault 0.17% (2 votes)
Trevor Lewis 0.08% (1 votes)
Chris Stewart 0.08% (1 votes)
James Reimer 0.08% (1 votes)
Jonathan Bernier 0.08% (1 votes)
Shawn Matthias 0.08% (1 votes)
Michael Frolik 0.00% (0 votes)
Nikolay Kulemin 0.00% (0 votes)
Total Votes: 1,191

Mobile users, click here to vote.

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Third Overall Pick

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

We’ve begun our journey looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, polling the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Already we’ve seen big changes at the top of the draft, with Erik Johnson falling out of the first-overall slot and the St. Louis Blues picking a potential Hall of Fame captain in his place.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Giroux beat out Nicklas Backstrom to be the second pick, finishing with close to 35% of the vote. The Philadelphia Flyers captain is among the very best offensive players in the league, and would have given the Penguins another versatile player to fit in beside or behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Though Jordan Staal, who was the real second pick by the Penguins, helped the team to a Stanley Cup as a young player, adding Giroux could have made Pittsburgh even more dominant through the years.

Now we’ll move forward to the third pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks obviously lucked out when Toews fell to them in the third spot, getting their future captain and leader for a run of success nearly unparalleled in the cap era. Toews led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2010 with a Conn Smythe-winning effort, and has captained them to two more titles since. The perennial Selke and Hart trophy nominee was the easy choice at first overall, meaning Chicago will have to go with someone else this time around.

With the third pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: Third Overall
Nicklas Backstrom 50.44% (689 votes)
Brad Marchand 21.96% (300 votes)
Phil Kessel 18.59% (254 votes)
Jordan Staal 1.46% (20 votes)
Milan Lucic 1.46% (20 votes)
Erik Johnson 0.88% (12 votes)
Artem Anisimov 0.51% (7 votes)
Michael Grabner 0.51% (7 votes)
Kyle Okposo 0.44% (6 votes)
Patrik Berglund 0.37% (5 votes)
Nick Foligno 0.37% (5 votes)
Cal Clutterbuck 0.37% (5 votes)
Derick Brassard 0.37% (5 votes)
Bryan Little 0.29% (4 votes)
Semyon Varlamov 0.29% (4 votes)
Michael Frolik 0.29% (4 votes)
Nikolay Kulemin 0.29% (4 votes)
Chris Stewart 0.22% (3 votes)
Jonathan Bernier 0.22% (3 votes)
Steve Mason 0.15% (2 votes)
Jamie McGinn 0.15% (2 votes)
James Reimer 0.15% (2 votes)
Trevor Lewis 0.07% (1 votes)
Michal Neuvirth 0.07% (1 votes)
Shawn Matthias 0.07% (1 votes)
Total Votes: 1,366

[Mobile users click here to vote]

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick

at CDT | by 4 Comments

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

Starting this week, we’re looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain in much the same order, or will some late round picks jump to the top of the board?

On Monday we asked the PHR community to weigh in on who should have been selected first overall in 2006 and after more than 2,500 votes the decision is clear. Though he didn’t get quite the 88% that Sidney Crosby came away for the top honor in 2005, Jonathan Toews earned the majority of votes at nearly 57%. The Chicago Blackhawks legend was an easy choice for many readers, who noted his three Stanley Cups and decade of success in the NHL. Claude Giroux and Nicklas Backstrom both earned more than 10% of the vote, and are solid challengers for the second position.

In reality, the Pittsburgh Penguins held the second pick in 2006 and used it on a familiar NHL name. Jordan Staal, the younger brother of then-Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal ,was a big center for the Peterborough Petes and was in real contention for the top spot going into the draft. The older Staal had just cracked 100 points and led his team to the Stanley Cup, but it wasn’t just the family success that decided Pittsburgh’s selection. The NHL’s Central Scouting Service had Staal ranked only behind eventual first-overall pick Erik Johnson among North American skaters, and ahead of Toews who was already playing at the University of North Dakota. Staal already stood 6’4″ and well over 200-lbs, making him the prototypical first line center in the eyes of many.

Unfortunately perhaps for the Penguins, who passed on the chance to get Toews, Staal didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations. He did find early success with Pittsburgh, slotting in behind Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to win the Stanley Cup in 2009, but was eventually moved out of town as he got too expensive. He reunited in Carolina with his brother for a short time, and has put up a fine if unremarkable career since. Staal has failed to win any major individual awards, and likely wouldn’t be Pittsburgh’s pick if they got another chance at it today. Who would they take if given the benefit of more than a decade of hindsight?

With the second pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Pittsburgh Penguins select? Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: Second Overall
Claude Giroux 34.94% (754 votes)
Nicklas Backstrom 26.46% (571 votes)
Brad Marchand 18.86% (407 votes)
Phil Kessel 12.97% (280 votes)
Jordan Staal 1.67% (36 votes)
Milan Lucic 1.25% (27 votes)
Kyle Okposo 0.42% (9 votes)
Erik Johnson 0.37% (8 votes)
Patrik Berglund 0.37% (8 votes)
Artem Anisimov 0.37% (8 votes)
Trevor Lewis 0.32% (7 votes)
Nick Foligno 0.28% (6 votes)
Cal Clutterbuck 0.28% (6 votes)
Bryan Little 0.23% (5 votes)
Chris Stewart 0.23% (5 votes)
Derick Brassard 0.14% (3 votes)
Michael Neuvirth 0.14% (3 votes)
Steve Mason 0.14% (3 votes)
Jamie McGinn 0.14% (3 votes)
James Reimer 0.14% (3 votes)
Semyon Varlamov 0.09% (2 votes)
Miachael Grabner 0.09% (2 votes)
Jonathan Bernier 0.05% (1 votes)
Michael Frolik 0.05% (1 votes)
Nikolay Kulemin 0.00% (0 votes)
Shawn Matthias 0.00% (0 votes)
Total Votes: 2,158

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Poll: Who Are The Best Wingers In The NHL?

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Over the last few weeks the NHL Network have released their lists of the Top 20 Centers and Top 20 Defensemen in the league, sparking huge debate across the hockey world. In a response to this we polled the readers in the PHR community and came up with our own lists, which varied greatly from the original. For our centers, Sidney Crosby came out just ahead of Connor McDavid for the best in the NHL, while John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron were given much more respect.

On the blue line, NHL Network had Victor Hedman as the best defenseman following his Norris Trophy season while several other respected names found themselves off the list entirely. After nearly 10,000 votes, PHR chose Erik Karlsson as the top dog despite his disappointing 2017-18 campaign. Karlsson just barely edged out Drew Doughty and Hedman at the top of our list, while there were some other interesting inclusions further down. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Defenseman list currently looks like this:

  1. Erik Karlsson (867 votes)
  2. Drew Doughty (862 votes)
  3. Victor Hedman (857 votes)
  4. P.K. Subban (694 votes)
  5. Brent Burns (633 votes)
  6. Roman Josi (429 votes)
  7. Seth Jones (387 votes)
  8. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (378 votes)
  9. Alex Pietrangelo (373 votes)
  10. John Carlson (341 votes)
  11. Dustin Byfuglien (326 votes)
  12. Shea Weber (219 votes)
  13. Aaron Ekblad (215 votes)
  14. John Klingberg (203 votes)
  15. Ryan Suter (194 votes)
  16. Kris Letang (166 votes)
  17. Dougie Hamilton (165 votes)
  18. Duncan Keith (163 votes)
  19. Ryan Ellis (139 votes)
  20. Charlie McAvoy/Ivan Provorov (137 votes)

Today, the NHL Network released their next ranking, this time valuing the Top 20 Wingers in the league. Nikita Kucherov took down the top spot after once again proving he is an elite offensive talent for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Registering a career-high 100 points last season, Kucherov led the Lightning in scoring for the third consecutive season despite only just turning 25 and was rewarded with a huge eight-year $76MM contract extension this summer. He’ll be in Tampa Bay for quite a while putting up huge point totals and driving an offense that is among the best in the NHL.

Behind Kucherov was the ageless Alex Ovechkin who recently took home his seventh Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s best goal scorer, and finally won the Stanley Cup after being ousted annually by nemesis Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ovechkin also broke the 600-goal threshold in 2017-18, and will likely end up among the very best goal scorers to ever play the game. Reigning Hart Trophy winner as the league MVP falls in just behind the top two, as Taylor Hall managed to hold off Patrick Kane and Brad Marchand for third in the ranking. The rest of the group is a mishmash of veteran stars like Blake Wheeler and Phil Kessel, and young talents like Brock Boeser and Mikko Rantanen.

Just like the debate over centers and defensemen, we will now as you at PHR to rank the top wingers in the NHL. The NHL Network did their own fan vote which ended up being somewhat hijacked by Jake Virtanen fans, but also included other names like Mitch Marner and Tom Wilson. Where do you think those players fall in? Since there are an incredible amount of talented wingers in the league, this time we’ll ask you to cast your vote by selecting 20 names. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the center and defense 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.

Who are the best wingers in the NHL?
Alex Ovechkin 6.75% (638 votes)
Taylor Hall 5.66% (535 votes)
Patrick Kane 5.65% (534 votes)
Nikita Kucherov 5.58% (528 votes)
Patrik Laine 5.43% (513 votes)
Vladimir Tarasenko 5.10% (482 votes)
Brad Marchand 4.53% (428 votes)
Artemi Panarin 4.19% (396 votes)
Claude Giroux 3.96% (374 votes)
Jamie Benn 3.96% (374 votes)
Johnny Gaudreau 3.67% (347 votes)
David Pastrnak 3.50% (331 votes)
Phil Kessel 3.42% (323 votes)
Blake Wheeler 3.41% (322 votes)
Filip Forsberg 2.80% (265 votes)
Mitch Marner 2.08% (197 votes)
Brock Boeser 1.85% (175 votes)
Logan Couture 1.76% (166 votes)
Jakub Voracek 1.66% (157 votes)
T.J. Oshie 1.41% (133 votes)
William Nylander 1.38% (130 votes)
Gabriel Landeskog 1.34% (127 votes)
Wayne Simmonds 1.33% (126 votes)
Jonathan Marchessault 1.30% (123 votes)
James van Riemsdyk 1.26% (119 votes)
Mark Stone 1.25% (118 votes)
Mikko Rantanen 0.98% (93 votes)
James Neal 0.94% (89 votes)
Max Pacioretty 0.94% (89 votes)
Jaden Schwartz 0.91% (86 votes)
Jonathan Huberdeau 0.85% (80 votes)
Nikolaj Ehlers 0.79% (75 votes)
Evander Kane 0.76% (72 votes)
Sebastian Aho 0.76% (72 votes)
Jeff Skinner 0.66% (62 votes)
Rickard Rakell 0.61% (58 votes)
Patric Hornqvist 0.58% (55 votes)
Anders Lee 0.50% (47 votes)
Corey Perry 0.47% (44 votes)
Alexander Radulov 0.47% (44 votes)
Viktor Arvidsson 0.44% (42 votes)
Jordan Eberle 0.41% (39 votes)
Clayton Keller 0.40% (38 votes)
Patrick Marleau 0.39% (37 votes)
Kyle Connor 0.38% (36 votes)
Jonathan Drouin 0.37% (35 votes)
Mikael Granlund 0.33% (31 votes)
Teuvo Teravainen 0.32% (30 votes)
Jason Zucker 0.31% (29 votes)
Travis Konecny 0.26% (25 votes)
Alex DeBrincat 0.24% (23 votes)
Anthony Mantha 0.24% (23 votes)
Reilly Smith 0.23% (22 votes)
Brendan Gallagher 0.22% (21 votes)
Mike Hoffman 0.21% (20 votes)
Dustin Brown 0.20% (19 votes)
Josh Bailey 0.20% (19 votes)
David Perron 0.20% (19 votes)
Evgeny Dadonov 0.12% (11 votes)
Yanni Gourde 0.08% (8 votes)
Total Votes: 9,454

[Mobile users click here to vote]

PHR Originals: 8/13/18 – 8/19/18

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

For the second straight year, the Oilers will be heading into the season without the services of veteran defender Andrej Sekera.  Zach broke down what’s left of the free agent market as well as some possibilities to hit the waiver wire if Edmonton decides to try to fill his spot with a cheap veteran.

Our Salary Cap Deep Dive series continues.  I took a look at the situations for the Penguins, Devils, and Flames while Holger assessed the Kings.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings currently find themselves over the salary cap.  Zach went over their situation including possibilities for long-term injury reserve, players that could be snuck through waivers, as well as some potential trade candidates.

While the salary cap rightfully gets most of the attention, there is also a contract cap in the NHL.  Gavin notes that the Coyotes are presently right up against the limit and even if their signed junior-aged players don’t make the team, it’s a situation they’re going to have to carefully navigate throughout the season.

Troy Brouwer was a late entrant into the free agent market after the Flames used a window after their salary arbitration cases to buy out the remainder of his contract.  Zach reviewed his free agent case and what type of deal he may have to settle for this summer.

Topics in our latest mailbag included a look at what the Senators should do with their notable pending unrestricted free agents, projects the Metropolitan Division, reviews Henrik Zetterberg’s injury situation and Detroit, and discusses whether Boston needs to make a move for top-six help now or wait until later in the season.

Teams have been looking overseas for players more and more frequently and this offseason has been no exception.  Zach provided a listing of all of the signings and looked at some of the players that are already projected to have an impact in the NHL next season.  Some of those players came from some non-traditional hockey markets; another non-traditional place that is starting to produce some talent is Southern California as Zach detailed.

With several key defensemen already inking long-term extensions to stick with their current teams, Toronto’s Jake Gardiner is quickly becoming one of the more intriguing UFAs on the back end.  Zach previewed his situation, noting that if Toronto wants to keep their top forward group intact, they may have some difficulties finding enough cap space to keep him in the fold as well.

Draft Pick Landscape: Breakdown By Team

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The NHL trade market lives and dies in the movement of draft picks, a future promise of talent whose value perceived value is impossible to assess. A third-round pick today might be worth a second-round pick three years from now, but vary in value from conversation to conversation among the NHL’s executives. It’s difficult to see who won a trade that involves picks even years after the fact, given that the path a player goes down is immeasurably dependent on the team that drafts him and their development process.

Still, draft picks are the currency which teams use to improve in the short term while others try to stockpile for a rebuild that may never truly come. We’ve already seen quite a bit of movement among the picks for the 2019 draft, including several high selections changing hands this summer. Below is a list of where each team sits as we approach the season, and who has a few more coins in their pocket for any in-season trading.

2019 NHL Entry Draft Selections:

Anaheim Ducks – 1st (ANA), 2nd (ANA), 4th (ANA), 5th (ANA), 6th (ANA)

Arizona Coyotes – 1st (ARZ), 2nd (ARZ), 3rd (ARZ), 3rd (CHI), 4th (ARZ), 6th (ARZ), 6th (CBJ)*, 6th (PIT)

*The Coyotes will only acquire this pick if Ryan MacInnis plays 20 NHL games in 2018-19.

Boston Bruins – 1st (BOS), 2nd (BOS), 3rd (BOS), 5th (BOS), 6th (BOS)

Buffalo Sabres – 1st (BUF), 1st (SJS)*, 1st (STL)*, 3rd (BUF), 4th (SJS)*, 6th (BUF), 6th (TOR), 7th (BUF)

*Conditions on each of these picks could push them to 2020.

Calgary Flames – 1st (CGY), 3rd (CGY), 4th (NYI), 5th (CGY), 7th (CAR)

Carolina Hurricanes – 1st (CAR), 2nd (CAR), 2nd (BUF), 3rd (CAR), 4th (CAR), 5th (CAR), 6th (CAR), 6th (CGY), 7th (BOS)

Chicago Blackhawks – 1st (CHI), 2nd (CHI), 4th (CHI), 4th (BOS), 5th (ARZ), 6th (CHI), 7th (CHI), 7th (ANA)

Colorado Avalanche – 1st (COL), 1st (OTT), 2nd (COL), 3rd (COL), 3rd (OTT), 5th (COL), 6th (COL), 7th (COL)

Columbus Blue Jackets – 1st (CBJ), 3rd (CBJ), 4th (CBJ), 7th (CBJ)

Dallas Stars – 1st (DAL), 2nd (DAL), 3rd (DAL), 4th (DAL), 4th (PIT/MIN)*, 5th (DAL), 6th (DAL), 7th (DAL)

*The Stars will receive the earlier of the two picks

Detroit Red Wings – 1st (DET), 2nd (DET), 2nd (NYI), 3rd (DET), 4th (DET), 5th (DET), 5th (BUF), 5th (CBJ), 6th (DET), 7th (DET), 7th (ARZ)*

*The Red Wings will only acquire this pick if Robbie Russo plays 30 NHL games in 2018-19.

Edmonton Oilers – 1st (EDM), 2nd (EDM), 3rd (EDM), 3rd (NYI), 4th (EDM), 6th (EDM), 7th (EDM)

Florida Panthers – 1st (FLA), 4th (FLA), 5th (FLA), 6th (FLA), 7th (FLA)

Los Angeles Kings – 1st (LAK), 2nd (LAK), 3rd (LAK), 4th (LAK), 5th (LAK), 6th (LAK), 7th (LAK)

Minnesota Wild – 1st (MIN), 2nd (MIN), 3rd (MIN), 5th (MIN), 5th (WSH), 6th (MIN), 7th (MIN)

Montreal Canadiens – 1st (MTL), 2nd (MTL), 3rd (MTL), 4th (MTL), 4th (CGY) 5th (CHI), 5th (EDM), 6th (MTL), 7th (WPG)

Nashville Predators – 1st (NSH), 2nd (NSH), 3rd (FLA), 4th (NSH), 4th (COL), 5th (NSH), 6th (NSH), 7th (NSH)

New Jersey Devils – 1st (NJD), 2nd (NJD), 3rd (ANA), 4th (NJD), 5th (NJD), 6th (NJD), 7th (NJD)

New York Islanders – 1st (NYI), 2nd (CGY), 5th (NYI), 6th (NYI), 7th (NYI)

New York Rangers – 1st (NYR), 2nd (NYR), 2nd (TBL)*, 3rd (NYR), 4th (NYR), 5th (NYR), 6th (NYR), 7th (NYR)

*This pick will become a 1st if Tampa Bay wins the Stanley cup in 2018-19

Ottawa Senators  – 2nd (OTT), 3rd (PIT), 4th (OTT), 5th (OTT), 6th (OTT), 7th (OTT), 7th (CGY)

Philadelphia Flyers  – 1st (PHI), 2nd (PHI), 3rd (PHI), 3rd (NJD), 4th (PHI), 5th (PHI), 6th (PHI), 7th (PHI), 7th (MTL)

Pittsburgh Penguins – 1st (PIT), 2nd (PIT), 4th (PIT), 4th (BUF)*, 5th (PIT), 7th (PIT), 7th (VGK)

*If Conor Sheary scores 20 goals or 40 points in 2018-19 or Matt Hunwick is traded before the 2019 draft, this pick becomes a 3rd.

San Jose Sharks – 2nd (SJS), 2nd (FLA), 3rd (SJS), 5th (SJS), 6th (SJS), 7th (SJS)

St. Louis Blues – 2nd (STL), 3rd (STL), 5th (STL), 6th (STL), 7th (STL)

Tampa Bay Lightning  – 1st (TBL), 3rd (TBL), 4th (TBL), 5th (TBL), 6th (TBL), 7th (TBL)

Toronto Maple Leafs – 1st (TOR), 2nd (TOR), 3rd (TOR), 4th (TOR), 4th (STL), 5th (TOR), 7th (TOR)

Vancouver Canucks  – 1st (VAN), 2nd (VAN), 3rd (VAN), 4th (VAN), 5th (VAN), 6th (VAN), 6th (WSH), 7th (VAN)

Vegas Golden Knights – 1st (VGK), 2nd (VGK), 2nd (CBJ), 3rd (VGK), 3rd (NSH), 3rd (WPG), 4th (VGK), 5th (VGK), 5th (MTL) 6th (VGK)

Washington Capitals – 1st (WSH), 2nd (WSH), 3rd (WSH), 4th (WSH), 7th (WSH)

Winnipeg Jets – 1st (WPG), 2nd (WPG), 4th (WPG), 5th (WPG), 6th (WPG)

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: First Overall Pick

at CDT | by 11 Comments

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.

In the fall of 2016, PHR ran a series where fans were able to choose the order in which draft picks should have been selected during the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. While Sidney Crosby was still the obvious choice for first overall, there was huge turnover for the rest of the first round. Even looking back less than two years later some voters may change their mind, given Carey Price’s (voted second overall) recent struggles.

This time around we’ll be looking at the infamous 2006 draft, in which Erik Johnson was picked first overall ahead of star forwards like Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel and Nicklas Backstrom. Three players from the 2006 first round would never suit up for a single NHL game, while seven others would last fewer than 100 games. The 2006 draft was loaded with talent at the top, but where would these stars go if selected today with the benefit of hindsight?

Over the next month as we wait for training camp to begin, we’ll be going through the entire 2006 NHL Entry Draft and have the PHR community select who they would have picked knowing the result of the player’s career. We’ll include a list of players to vote for, and update the first round as it progresses. While 2005 was a clear cut answer at first overall, there might be a little more debate on who is the first off the board this time around.

The St. Louis Blues had the first selection over a decade ago, and went with a big physical defenseman from the US National Team Development Program in Johnson. After a year at the University of Minnesota, Johnson stepped right into a full-time role with the Blues and hasn’t looked back. With 637 career games under his belt and still an important part of the Colorado Avalanche blue line, Johnson can’t be considered a bust. Was he the right selection though at the very top of the draft?

With the first pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the St. Louis Blues select? Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: First Overall
Jonathan Toews 57.18% (1,521 votes)
Claude Giroux 13.61% (362 votes)
Nicklas Backstrom 11.88% (316 votes)
Brad Marchand 7.41% (197 votes)
Phil Kessel 6.39% (170 votes)
Erik Johnson 0.86% (23 votes)
Jordan Staal 0.49% (13 votes)
Milan Lucic 0.41% (11 votes)
Cal Clutterbuck 0.30% (8 votes)
Trevor Lewis 0.26% (7 votes)
Patrik Berglund 0.23% (6 votes)
Kyle Okposo 0.15% (4 votes)
Shawn Matthias 0.15% (4 votes)
Semyon Varlamov 0.15% (4 votes)
Chris Stewart 0.08% (2 votes)
Michael Grabner 0.08% (2 votes)
Jonathan Bernier 0.08% (2 votes)
Nick Foligno 0.04% (1 votes)
Bryan Little 0.04% (1 votes)
Derick Brassard 0.04% (1 votes)
Nikolay Kulemin 0.04% (1 votes)
Artem Anisimov 0.04% (1 votes)
Jamie McGinn 0.04% (1 votes)
James Riemer 0.04% (1 votes)
Michal Neuvirth 0.04% (1 votes)
Michael Frolik 0.00% (0 votes)
Steve Mason 0.00% (0 votes)
Total Votes: 2,660

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

at CDT | by 14 Comments

Training camps are just a month away and the NHL season isn’t far behind. While the offseason has slowed considerably since the frenzy of unrestricted free agency, there are still plenty of unanswered questions around the league. Where will Erik Karlsson be playing at the start of 2018-19? What kind of impact will Rasmus Dahlin have for the the Buffalo Sabres? Will the Edmonton Oilers bounce back and contend for the Stanley Cup?

Our team at PHR is here to answer any question you have about the upcoming season, and this is your chance to get a more detailed response than during our Thursday evening Live Chat. Just submit your question using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. We’ll run the mailbag this weekend and try to get to everyone’s question.

Don’t forget to check out our last mailbag where Brian La Rose notes how well the Nashville Predators did by inking UFA Dan Hamhuis and RFA Juuse Saros to below-market deals to strengthen their team even further. Brian also dives into the Toronto cap situation, and a potential 2020 work stoppage among several other lengthy answers. If you want to get some similar insight, submit your question now!

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