Official Draft Thread

[bryant08]

This year's draft should be extremely interesting, with the unbelievable amount of buzz generated about prospective superstars John Tavares and Victor Hedman. I'm also excited to see what Burke does in his first draft with the Leafs. As of now our picks are:

1st round: 7th overall - Nazem Kadri

2nd round: 50th overall (NYR) - Kenny Ryan

2nd round: 58th overall (CAR) - Jesse Blacker

3rd round: 68th overall (7th in the round) - Jamie Devane

4th round: No picks, CAR 4th forfeited due to Jonas Frogren illegal signing

5th round: 127th overall (7th in the round) - Eric Knodel

6th round: 157th overall (7th in the round) - Jerry D'Amigo

7th round: 187th overall (7th in the round) - Barron Smith

[Crowned]

Excellent thread, I'm going to sticky it. It can be updated with scouting reports, video clips, etc as we approach the draft.

If anyone wants to add anything, post it and I'll merge it into the initial post with all the information.

[totallyr]

I was hoping we grab Brayden Schenn hoping he brings the same as Luke but i keep hearing so many good things about Matt Duchene so now i want them both, do your thing Burke. Been reading that Duchene is better than Tavares, whether that's true i don't know.

[bryant08]

With Washington being out, and Carolina being very close to elimination, a couple of things happen. Our 2nd rounders from those teams will be around the 48-50 spot, and we do not, according to Damien Cox, recieve an extra conditional 4th rounder from the Rangers (the Antro deal), because for us to recieve it the Rangers needed to advance to the Conference Finals. Nevertheless, I'm happy if the current result continues and Carolina loses, as two picks in that range are valuable in helping us move up, or grabbing two quality prospects.

As we come closer to draft time, you'll see me on here more. Can't get enough of that NHL draft

Edit: The Canes score to tie it up right after I post this

[Griff83]

Few players I like from this draft

Dmitri Kulikov- Good offensive defencemen. Good skater. Plays with a nice edge. Accustomed to the NA game by playing for Drummondville. If we end up staying at #7 and all thats left is Cowen, Schroeder, Kadri etc..., Id rather just trade down to the #11-13 spots and select Kulikov. He and Schenn would make a great young D pairing. One very offensive and one very defensive.

Chris Brown- Power forward type. Very physical. Good hands. Reminds me alot of someone like David Backes or Chris Kunitz. We could really use a good powerforward thats effective on the forecheck and can chip in around 20 goals a season. He should be around in the 2nd round when we are about to pick.

AJ Treis is a total sleeper pick in the later rounds. Very small player at only 5-7 or 5-8 but he has possibly the best set of hands in the draft and he plays much bigger then his size.

[bryant08]

Few players I like from this draft

Dmitri Kulikov- Good offensive defencemen. Good skater. Plays with a nice edge. Accustomed to the NA game by playing for Drummondville. If we end up staying at #7 and all thats left is Cowen, Schroeder, Kadri etc..., Id rather just trade down to the #11-13 spots and select Kulikov. He and Schenn would make a great young D pairing. One very offensive and one very defensive.

Chris Brown- Power forward type. Very physical. Good hands. Reminds me alot of someone like David Backes or Chris Kunitz. We could really use a good powerforward thats effective on the forecheck and can chip in around 20 goals a season. He should be around in the 2nd round when we are about to pick.

AJ Treis is a total sleeper pick in the later rounds. Very small player at only 5-7 or 5-8 but he has possibly the best set of hands in the draft and he plays much bigger then his size.

I've heard plenty of good things about Kulikov. Haven't heard of Treis, minimal stuff about Brown. What do you think of Cowen, Griff? I know he's definitely a risk, but can you imagine a shutdown pairing of Schenn-Cowen in the future? I've only seen Cowen a few times, and he's looked decent. It's really the size and shutdown ability that interests me.

I'm really interested in Zack Kassian. Ridiculously tough player, really a Burke-like player IMO. I personally hope we stay at 7, and find a way to add another pick in the first round.

[Griff83]

Few players I like from this draft

Dmitri Kulikov- Good offensive defencemen. Good skater. Plays with a nice edge. Accustomed to the NA game by playing for Drummondville. If we end up staying at #7 and all thats left is Cowen, Schroeder, Kadri etc..., Id rather just trade down to the #11-13 spots and select Kulikov. He and Schenn would make a great young D pairing. One very offensive and one very defensive.

Chris Brown- Power forward type. Very physical. Good hands. Reminds me alot of someone like David Backes or Chris Kunitz. We could really use a good powerforward thats effective on the forecheck and can chip in around 20 goals a season. He should be around in the 2nd round when we are about to pick.

AJ Treis is a total sleeper pick in the later rounds. Very small player at only 5-7 or 5-8 but he has possibly the best set of hands in the draft and he plays much bigger then his size.

I've heard plenty of good things about Kulikov. Haven't heard of Treis, minimal stuff about Brown. What do you think of Cowen, Griff? I know he's definitely a risk, but can you imagine a shutdown pairing of Schenn-Cowen in the future? I've only seen Cowen a few times, and he's looked decent. It's really the size and shutdown ability that interests me.
I'm really interested in Zack Kassian. Ridiculously tough player, really a Burke-like player IMO. I personally hope we stay at 7, and find a way to add another pick in the first round.

Ya I like Cowens game also. Thats just a big risk to take for a franchise that doesnt have alot of bluechippers. If this team had a deeper prospect pool I might feel more comfortable with selecting him but drafting a kid that just had knee surgery and might not even be able to participate at the NHL combine really scares me. Ive had knee surgery myself and its a very tricky injury and it can effect his ability to to skate but also who knows if he will mentally be the same player after the injury that he was prior to it. Cowen-Schenn would be a fantastic combo but I'd rather go with a safer pick (Schenn or trading down). Cowens game is also very similar to that of Schenn's. I would prolly rather pair him up with someone whos a bit more offensive minded.

[Mike Hunt]

At 7, I can't really think of anybody who's projected in that range (ie, Schenn, Kane, Cowen, Kadri, Swedish dudes) that really scares me. The team needs talent all over the place and you can't really go wrong with any of those guys, I'm guessing. I wouldn't mind seeing the team move down and take a chance on a little guy like Shroeder or even get a small offensive defenseman like Ellis or Kulikov (we saw what Ian White could do this year).

In the second or 3rd round, I'd like to see the team take a risk on a goalie. Olivier Roy could be an interesting guy. He seems to have that competitive mentality you want in a goalie. Even this Miko Koskinen guy I've been hearing more and more about is interesting. He's a little older (21) but you have to be intrigued by a 6'7" guy in goal.

I am still of the belief that Hedman and not Tavares is the best prospect in this year's draft so if by some miracle the leafs found a way to move up, I'd be glad to see him selected (though I'd understand moving up in order to acquire Tavares or even Duchene).

[bryant08]

For me, Hedman is definitely the better prospect than Tavares. A huge frame, measured out to 6'6 at the combine, skates like Bouwmeester, and has that defensive shut-down potential as well. But Tavares brings the incredible amount of media attention around him, and the guy really has a talent for putting the puck in the net. If we somehow ended up with the first overall pick (it won't happen), it'd be a tough pick IMO. Burke has said he wants Tavares, but who knows who he really wants.

[Griff83]

At 7, I can't really think of anybody who's projected in that range (ie, Schenn, Kane, Cowen, Kadri, Swedish dudes) that really scares me. The team needs talent all over the place and you can't really go wrong with any of those guys, I'm guessing. I wouldn't mind seeing the team move down and take a chance on a little guy like Shroeder or even get a small offensive defenseman like Ellis or Kulikov (we saw what Ian White could do this year).

In the second or 3rd round, I'd like to see the team take a risk on a goalie. Olivier Roy could be an interesting guy. He seems to have that competitive mentality you want in a goalie. Even this Miko Koskinen guy I've been hearing more and more about is interesting. He's a little older (21) but you have to be intrigued by a 6'7" guy in goal.

I am still of the belief that Hedman and not Tavares is the best prospect in this year's draft so if by some miracle the leafs found a way to move up, I'd be glad to see him selected (though I'd understand moving up in order to acquire Tavares or even Duchene).

If we cant move up Im also someone who'd like to see the team trade down to #10-13 and grab someone like Kulikov, Ekman Larrson or John Moore (My sleeper pick for the leafs). In the process we would almost certainly be able to aquire a 2nd rounder in the process and then we would be left with three second rounders. This would leave us alot of options. We could just select three players in the second round or we could package two of them and parlay it into a late first rounder. Either way this draft is very deep in terms of the top 60 players and if we cant move up and grab one of the top 6 players (Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, MSP, Kane or Schenn) then I'd like to manipulate the depth of this draft similar to how the islanders did last season loading up on 2nd round selections. Heres a interesting idea someone came up with on HFboards in regards to a trade down option.

#7

for

#25, #31, #37 and #56

These are the picks the Islanders hold. Basically you can either keep the #7 and draft something from the left over pile, or you can trade down to the late first round and end up with 4 solid prospect in the top 60. Add to that we would also still have our own two seconds and in this scenario would could potentially leave this draft with good 6 prospects in the top 60 players then just 3 with #7, #50 and #58. This is a deep draft and I really believe there are going to be some players taken at the end of the first round and second round that end up better then players taken in the 7-14 range, very similarly to the 2003 draft.

Cowen(#7)
Chris Brown(#50)
Matthew Hacket(#58)

or

Calvin De Hann(#25)
Jordan Caron(#31)
Oliver Roy(#37)
Chris Brown(#50)
Brayden McNabb(#56)
Matthew Hackett(#58)

Something like this could go along ways to replenishing our somewhat shallow prospect base and I think theres a good chance teams are going to strike it rich with many of these players taken in the second round because there is many talents that would be first round picks in many other drafts.

[Griff83]

Using the 2003 draft as a example because thats the comparison being thrown around by scouts, lets look at who was picked at #7/8/9 and the players picked around #20-30

#7 Ryan Suter
#8 Braydon Coburn
#9 Dion Phanuef

#19 Ryan Getzlaf
#20 Brent Burns
#23 Ryan Kesler
#24 Mike Richards
#28 Corey Perry

Players taken in the second round

Shea Weber
Loui Erikkson
Patrice Bergeron
Matt Carle
Patrick OSullivan
David Backes
Jimmy Howard

So as you can see there was TONS of awesome players taken near the end of round one and also plenty in the second round. If this draft plays out similar and the scouts are correct in that the depth of this draft rivals 2003, then I wouldnt at all be against trading down and getting a late first and many second rounders.

[why22]

im hearing of magnus par svenson i hear he is an amazing offencve talrent compared to forsberg or sundin we could use a yuong offensive player

[Mike Hunt]

You have to give credit to the teams right at the top of the draft. Usually, by this point, I have a pretty good idea as to what the top-2 teams are going to be doing at the draft. This year, there have been almost no whispers as to who's going where. None of the "experts" on TV seem to be on the same page. It all makes for a lot more drama than usual. It also maximizes the value of the top picks when multiple players might get picked #1.

[The Duke]

Burke said he turned down Luke for a top 3 pick already.

But I'm guessing it wasnt the #1

[bryant08]

Burke has also turned down the 7th overall and Kessel for Kaberle. Eklund reported it's straight up and Burke rejected that, but I highly doubt that.

[The Duke]

It was 7th + Kaberle for Kessel ... (Burke rejected)

Burke essentially said that Kaberle will be a biggest trading asset after the Free Agency Period

[bryant08]

^Dreger says Kessel+draft pick (not 1st) for Kaberle was offered.

Now that is an extremely legit offer. The issue is re-signing Kessel, and whether or not we can get more after all hell loose breaks on July 1st.

[beater97]

I really don't know how much more you can get then Kessel and a pick?

[bryant08]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282967

Deal dead, but hopefully this still means we're getting a bunch of offers in for Kaberle. I'm still hoping he's dealt tonight.

[bryant08]

Nazem Kadri

Scouting reports:
http://www.mynhldraft.com/2009/NHL-Draf ... azem-Kadri
http://thehockeywriters.com/12-nazem-ka ... -rankings/
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=413176

Videos:
http://www.andrewsstarspage.com/index.p ... 37-2008-09 (includes his draft video profile from nhl.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIUqCi0Pd8A (talks about his dad being a Habs fan, and how they both hate the Leafs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM-MVT3EaF4 (talking with the media after the pick)

The scary thing for me is that Central Scouting had him ranked 15th for North American Skaters which is extremely low. Here's a tidbit on some of his favourites:

NHL Team: Montreal Canadiens
NHL Player: Vincent Lecavalier
Shootout move: "Fake shot, back hand, fore hand"
Goal celebration: "One knee sweep ice"
Video game: NHL '09
Movie: Old School
TV show: King of Queens
Actor: Will Farrell
Artist: Lil Wayne
Website: OHL.com
Book: Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis
Pump up song: "Someday" by Flip Syde
Home cooked meal: Penne pasta with blush sauce
Sport (other than hockey): Basketball
Place to shop: Champs
Place to visit: Mexico

http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdet ... 75&tab=prf (that's his scouting profile where I found his favourites)

And finally, the most important part:

"I was a die-hard fan when I was growing up (of the Canadiens) but today I found a new favourite team," said Kadri.

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