Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twelfth Overall Pick

By Gavin Lee | at August 29, 2019 4:37 pm

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!

2007 Redraft: Twelfth Overall

Kyle Turris 29% (263)
David Perron 19% (175)
Evgenii Dadonov 11% (99)
Mikael Backlund 8% (71)
Alec Martinez 6% (53)
Carl Hagelin 4% (39)
Alex Killorn 4% (34)
Patrick Maroon 3% (30)
Karl Alzner 3% (23)
Justin Braun 2% (18)
Sam Gagner 2% (17)
Nick Bonino 2% (16)
Lars Eller 2% (15)
Brandon Sutter 1% (11)
Paul Byron 1% (10)
Thomas Hickey 1% (10)
Ian Cole 1% (8)
Riley Nash 1% (7)
Robert Bortuzzo 1% (5)
Carl Gunnarsson 0% (2)
Brendan Smith 0% (2)
Colton Sceviour 0% (1)

Total votes: 909

[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

By Gavin Lee | at August 27, 2019 3:13 pm

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

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!

2007 Redraft: Eleventh Overall

Jake Muzzin 29% (195)
Kyle Turris 20% (132)
David Perron 13% (87)
Evgenii Dadonov 9% (57)
Carl Hagelin 5% (30)
`Mikael Backlund 4% (27)
Patrick Maroon 3% (19)
Alec Martinez 3% (17)
Alex Killorn 2% (16)
Sam Gagner 2% (15)
Justin Braun 2% (11)
Lars Eller 2% (10)
Karl Alzner 1% (7)
Nick Bonino 1% (7)
Brandon Sutter 1% (6)
Paul Byron 1% (6)
Ian Cole 1% (4)
Thomas Hickey 1% (4)
Robert Bortuzzo 0% (3)
Carl Gunnarsson 0% (3)
Riley Nash 0% (2)
Brendan Smith 0% (2)
Colton Sceviour 0% (2)

Total votes: 662

[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.

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Poll: Who Are The Best Goaltenders In The NHL?

By Gavin Lee | at August 26, 2019 4:38 pm

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:

Victor Hedman (760 votes)
Brent Burns (715 votes)
Erik Karlsson (643 votes)
Drew Doughty (565 votes)
Mark Giordano (481 votes)
Roman Josi (446 votes)
Seth Jones (427 votes)
Alex Pietrangelo (406 votes)
P.K. Subban (332 votes)
Morgan Rielly (330 votes)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (294 votes)
John Carlson (257 votes)
Shea Weber (248 votes)
Charlie McAvoy (206 votes)
Kris Letang (196 votes)
Dustin Byfuglien (174 votes)
Colton Parayko (172 votes)
John Klingberg (151 votes)
Jacob Trouba (140 votes)
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.

Who are the best goaltenders in the NHL?

Andrei Vasilevskiy 10% (866)
Carey Price 10% (851)
Sergei Bobrovsky 8% (719)
Tuukka Rask 8% (655)
Marc-Andre Fleury 7% (628)
Braden Holtby 6% (549)
Pekka Rinne 6% (548)
Ben Bishop 6% (521)
John Gibson 5% (399)
Frederik Andersen 4% (362)
Jordan Binnington 4% (362)
Henrik Lundqvist 4% (329)
Connor Hellebuyck 3% (217)
Matt Murray 3% (214)
Jonathan Quick 2% (195)
Robin Lehner 2% (176)
Carter Hart 2% (139)
Devan Dubnyk 2% (133)
Corey Crawford 1% (127)
Martin Jones 1% (63)
Semyon Varlamov 1% (57)
Philipp Grubauer 1% (56)
Antti Raanta 1% (53)
Jakub Markstrom 0% (42)
Jimmy Howard 0% (36)
Darcy Kuemper 0% (28)
Thomas Greiss 0% (27)
Craig Anderson 0% (26)
Cory Schneider 0% (26)
Petr Mrazek 0% (21)
David Rittich 0% (20)
Carter Hutton 0% (17)
Mikko Koskinen 0% (12)

Total votes: 8,474

[Mobile users click here to vote]

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PHR Originals: 8/19/19 – 8/25/19

By Brian La Rose | at August 25, 2019 6:57 pm

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.

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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Tenth Overall Pick

By Brian La Rose | at August 24, 2019 1:57 pm

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

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!

2007 Redraft: Tenth Overall

Kevin Shattenkirk 27% (211)
Jake Muzzin 19% (151)
Kyle Turris 13% (102)
David Perron 8% (64)
Evgenii Dadonov 8% (61)
Mikael Backlund 3% (27)
Alec Martinez 3% (20)
Carl Hagelin 2% (19)
Patrick Maroon 2% (16)
Alex Killorn 2% (15)
Lars Eller 2% (14)
Sam Gagner 2% (14)
Justin Braun 1% (11)
Karl Alzner 1% (11)
Brandon Sutter 1% (11)
Nick Bonino 1% (10)
Riley Nash 1% (9)
Robert Bortuzzo 1% (5)
Ian Cole 1% (4)
Thomas Hickey 0% (3)
Paul Byron 0% (3)
Brendan Smith 0% (1)
Carl Gunnarsson 0% (0)
Colton Sceviour 0% (0)

Total votes: 782

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.

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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Ninth Overall Pick

By Gavin Lee | at August 22, 2019 2:08 pm

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

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!

2007 Redraft: Ninth Overall

Wayne Simmonds 39% (348)
Kevin Shattenkirk 14% (125)
Jake Muzzin 13% (112)
David Perron 8% (75)
Kyle Turris 8% (67)
Evgenii Dadonov 4% (38)
Mikael Backlund 3% (30)
Alec Martinez 2% (14)
Carl Hagelin 1% (13)
Justin Braun 1% (12)
Patrick Maroon 1% (10)
Alex Killorn 1% (7)
Brandon Sutter 1% (7)
Sam Gagner 1% (6)
Nick Bonino 1% (6)
Karl Alzner 1% (5)
Robert Bortuzzo 0% (4)
Riley Nash 0% (3)
Paul Byron 0% (2)
Lars Eller 0% (2)
Brendan Smith 0% (2)
Thomas Hickey 0% (1)
Carl Gunnarsson 0% (0)
Ian Cole 0% (0)

Total votes: 889

[Mobile users click here to vote]

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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Eighth Overall Pick

By Gavin Lee | at August 20, 2019 4:30 pm

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

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!

2007 Redraft: Eighth Overall

James van Riemsdyk 45% (396)
Wayne Simmonds 20% (177)
Kevin Shattenkirk 8% (73)
Jake Muzzin 6% (52)
Kyle Turris 4% (37)
Evgenii Dadonov 4% (33)
David Perron 3% (27)
Mikael Backlund 2% (21)
Patrick Maroon 1% (9)
Carl Hagelin 1% (8)
Alex Killorn 1% (8)
Riley Nash 1% (5)
Sam Gagner 0% (3)
Paul Byron 0% (3)
Lars Eller 0% (3)
Brandon Sutter 0% (3)
Carl Gunnarsson 0% (3)
Alec Martinez 0% (2)
Robert Bortuzzo 0% (2)
Karl Alzner 0% (2)
Nick Bonino 0% (2)
Thomas Hickey 0% (2)
Ian Cole 0% (1)
Justin Braun 0% (1)
Brendan Smith 0% (0)

Total votes: 873

[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.

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Poll: Who Are The Best Defensemen In The NHL?

By Gavin Lee | at August 19, 2019 10:00 am

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:

Alex Ovechkin (691 votes)
Patrick Kane (644 votes)
Nikita Kucherov (618 votes)
Artemi Panarin (543 votes)
Mitch Marner (517 votes)
Taylor Hall (482 votes)
Vladimir Tarasenko (459 votes)
Brad Marchand (451 votes)
Johnny Gaudreau (442 votes)
Leon Draisaitl (412 votes)
David Pastrnak (407 votes)
Mikko Rantanen (384 votes)
Mark Stone (340 votes)
Claude Giroux (327 votes)
Jamie Benn (306 votes)
Patrik Laine (294 votes)
Blake Wheeler (289 votes)
Gabriel Landeskog (274 votes)
Matthew Tkachuk (254 votes)
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.

Who are the best defensemen in the NHL?

Victor Hedman 8% (763)
Brent Burns 8% (720)
Erik Karlsson 7% (646)
Drew Doughty 6% (566)
Mark Giordano 5% (482)
Roman Josi 5% (450)
Seth Jones 5% (429)
Alex Pietrangelo 4% (408)
P.K. Subban 4% (333)
Morgan Rielly 4% (330)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson 3% (295)
John Carlson 3% (261)
Shea Weber 3% (248)
Charlie McAvoy 2% (206)
Kris Letang 2% (197)
Dustin Byfuglien 2% (175)
Colton Parayko 2% (173)
John Klingberg 2% (152)
Jacob Trouba 2% (140)
Aaron Ekblad 1% (137)
Rasmus Dahlin 1% (134)
Miro Heiskanen 1% (121)
Zach Werenski 1% (116)
Zdeno Chara 1% (106)
Jaccob Slavin 1% (104)
Ryan Suter 1% (103)
Thomas Chabot 1% (99)
Duncan Keith 1% (98)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic 1% (95)
Torey Krug 1% (88)
Tyson Barrie 1% (83)
Ryan McDonagh 1% (77)
Dougie Hamilton 1% (71)
Ryan Ellis 1% (71)
Matt Dumba 1% (60)
Ivan Provorov 0% (45)
Mattias Ekholm 0% (45)
Josh Morrissey 0% (42)
Keith Yandle 0% (41)
Jared Spurgeon 0% (39)
Rasmus Ristolainen 0% (38)
Noah Hanifin 0% (36)
Brett Pesce 0% (36)
Darnell Nurse 0% (35)
Shayne Gostisbehere 0% (33)
Nate Schmidt 0% (32)
Erik Gustafsson 0% (32)
Tyler Myers 0% (31)
Hampus Lindholm 0% (29)
Brady Skjei 0% (26)
Matt Niskanen 0% (18)
Jeff Petry 0% (18)
Damon Severson 0% (16)
Dmitry Orlov 0% (10)

Total votes: 9,139

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

9 comments Polls Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

PHR Originals: 8/12/19 – 8/18/19

By Brian La Rose | at August 18, 2019 6:56 pm

With the hockey world being squarely in the summer doldrums, there has been plenty of original content here at PHR over the past week.

Our look at the salary cap situation continued as we wrapped up the Pacific Division. I took a look at the numbers for San Jose and Vancouver while Holger did the same for Vegas. We also kicked off our look at the Metropolitan Division as Holger broke down Carolina’s situation; while their reputation is that of a lower-spending team, they’re going to be pretty tight to the $81.5MM salary cap for the upcoming season.

After polling our readers for their listing of the top centers in the league, we’ve done the same for the wingers. Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, Chicago’s Patrick Kane, and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov currently hold the top three spots but there’s still time vote.

While there aren’t many big names left on the unrestricted free agent market, there are some intriguing depth options and possible reclamation projects available. A player in the first category is defenseman Andrew MacDonald, who Holger profiled. While he was overpaid on his contract with the Flyers, he could still potentially fill a sixth or seventh role for next season. Meanwhile, a player in the latter category is winger Valeri Nichushkin who Holger also examined. The tenth overall pick in 2013 had a disastrous year in Dallas as he went the entire season without a goal but he’s not far removed from being someone envisioned as being a top-six power forward. He’d be a good candidate to consider for a rebuilding team.

Our 2007 redraft series continues. Winger Jakub Voracek moved up a spot to go number six to Edmonton which means Columbus is now on the board. Click here to cast your vote.

The back half of our mailbag is now available. Topics that I covered in this edition are what’s next for the Rangers, what may need to happen for a David Backes trade, teams that could surprise next season, possible trade candidates between now and the start of the preseason, and Ottawa’s lack of spending.

Last month, the Wild parted ways with general manager Paul Fenton. Which GM will be the next one to be let go? Make your prediction here.

0 comments Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

Poll: Which GM Will Be Fired Next?

By Gavin Lee | at August 16, 2019 7:53 pm

Despite missing the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, the Vancouver Canucks decided to extend GM Jim Benning today. The reasons for that are complicated—and obviously do not hinge entirely on his postseason record—just as they were when the Minnesota Wild made the decision to fire Paul Fenton just 14 months into his tenure with the team. The inner workings of an NHL front office are almost never made public (unless there is an intrepid reporter like Michael Russo of The Athletic who gets the incredible story), and it is hard to see why some decisions are made.

Still, even the most casual fan can see the seat of specific executives and coaches heating up. When the Edmonton Oilers decided to move on from Peter Chiarelli during another disappointing season, it didn’t come as much of a surprise. On the other hand, it was easy to see why the Carolina Hurricanes recently locked up Don Waddell after he interviewed for another job.

Looking around the league, who is next? Which GM will be let go, either this year or next summer?

It might be easy to look at the teams that have struggled recently, but many of them have replaced their top hockey operations executive over the last few seasons. The Oilers brought in Ken Holland to change the culture in Edmonton, while Steve Yzerman returned to the Detroit Red Wings to bring a new voice to a stagnant team. Florida has gone through quite a bit of turmoil in the front office since their ownership changed but Dale Tallon now seems to be entrenched as a veteran leader.

There are others though that may not be so lucky. The Ottawa Senators are heading in a new direction after shedding their previous core, but if the young talent doesn’t develop as hoped Pierre Dorion could be held responsible. John Chayka was the youngest GM in history when he took over the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, but they still haven’t made the playoffs under his watch and now have new ownership of their own. Jason Botterill was expected to have success in Buffalo after finding so much of it in Pittsburgh, but the Sabres haven’t been able to build a full roster around Jack Eichel despite some outstanding individual players.

Nothing is certain when it comes to front offices however. Cast your vote below and explain just why you think they’ll be the first to go!

Which GM will be fired next?

Pierre Dorion, Ottawa Senators 9% (256)
Marc Bergevin, Montreal Canadiens 9% (243)
Stan Bowman, Chicago Blackhawks 9% (242)
Kevin Cheveldayoff, Winnipeg Jets 8% (226)
Bob Murray, Anaheim Ducks 8% (220)
Jason Botterill, Buffalo Sabres 7% (186)
Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings 6% (181)
Jarmo Kekalainen, Columbus Blue Jackets 6% (159)
Kyle Dubas, Toronto Maple Leafs 5% (148)
Jim Rutherford, Pittsburgh Penguins 5% (146)
John Chayka, Arizona Coyotes 5% (139)
Brad Treliving, Calgary Flames 3% (93)
Jim Benning, Vancouver Canucks 3% (86)
Jim Nill, Dallas Stars 3% (74)
Chuck Fletcher, Philadelphia Flyers 2% (68)
Ken Holland, Edmonton Oilers 2% (55)
Doug Wilson, San Jose Sharks 2% (49)
Jeff Gorton, New York Rangers 2% (46)
Don Sweeney, Boston Bruins 1% (35)
Dale Tallon, Florida Panthers 1% (29)
David Poile, Nashville Predators 1% (24)
Julien BriseBois, Tampa Bay Lightning 1% (24)
Doug Armstrong, St. Louis Blues 1% (19)
Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings 1% (18)
Lou Lamoriello, New York Islanders 1% (16)
Don Waddell, Carolina Hurricanes 1% (15)
Kelly McCrimmon, Vegas Golden Knights 1% (15)
Brian MacLellan, Washington Capitals 1% (15)
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche 0% (11)
Ray Shero, New Jersey Devils 0% (8)

Total votes: 2,846

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*We’ve used Kelly McCrimmon as the Vegas GM, though he won’t officially take that title from George McPhee until September

11 comments Brad Treliving Chuck Fletcher Dale Tallon David Poile Detroit Red Wings Don Sweeney Doug Armstrong Doug Wilson Edmonton Oilers Jarmo Kekalainen Jason Botterill Jeff Gorton Jim Benning Jim Nill Jim Rutherford Joe Sakic John Chayka Kelly McCrimmon Ken Holland Kevin Cheveldayoff Kyle Dubas Lou Lamoriello Marc Bergevin Pierre Dorion Polls Ray Shero Rob Blake Stan Bowman Steve Yzerman Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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2007 Redraft: Twelfth Overall

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Which GM will be fired next?