Here's what he had to say about the forwards:
Early departures significantly depleted the stock of forwards this off season as 15 top flight forwards, most of who would have been 1st or 2nd round picks left for the pro ranks. This is a major factor in making the forward position very thin as only the top 10 or 15 are can't miss picks and only the top 35 or 40 are truly quality picks. The CCHA is by far the deepest on returning talent whereas the WCHA is the thinnest. There are about 25 or 30 players who could seriously be considered for the slots 40 to 50, I simply selected the 10 who I thought would be most likely to have a major season. This is a group of players who are expected to step up and be the offensive leaders on their teams, and for every one that does there will be one or two that don't. Since there are only enough quality picks to fill about half the forward rosters spots it may be a prudent draft strategy, that unless you have the opportunity to select one of the elite goaltenders or super offensive defensemen, to fill your forward slots early in the draft.
1. Brian Boyle –BC
2. T.J. Oshie –UND
3. Jonathan Toews –UND
4. T.J. Hensick –UMI
5. Jonathan Matsumoto –BGSU
6. Ryan Dingle –DU
7. Scott Parse –UNO
8. Nathan Davis –Miami
9. Brett Hemingway –UNH
10. Tyler Burton –Colgate
11. Ben Cottreau –Mercyhurst
12. Pierre-Luc O’Brian –Sacred Heart
13. Chad Rau –CC
14. Bryan Lerg –MSU
15. Jack Skille –UW
16. Travis Morin –MSM
17. Jamie Bates –Quinnipiac
18. Andrew Gordon –SCSU
19. Kevin Porter –UMI
20. Peter MacAurther –BU
21. Kyle Okposo –UMN
22. Ted Cook –Niagara
23. Ryan Jones –Miami
24. Ryan Duncan –UND
25. Nick Dodge –Clarkson
26. Blake Wheeler –UMN
27. Darin Olver –NMU
28. Josh Soares –Maine
29. Bryan Marshall –UNO
30. Bear Trapp –Sacred Heart
31. David Jones –Dartmouth
32. Andrew Cogliano –UMI
33. Jacob MicFlickier –UNH
34. Brian Leach –Quinnipiac
35. Chad Kolarick –UMI
36. Scott Champagne –Mercyhurst
37. Tom Fritsche –OSU
38. Ryan Stoa –UMN
39. Mason Raymond –UMD
40. Tim Crowder -MSU
41. Torrey Mitchell -UVT
42. Les Reaney –Niagara
43. Dan Riedel –FSU
44. Curtis Fraser –UAF
45. Peter Lenes –UVT
46. Jon Rheault –PC
47. Mike Santorelli –NMU
48. Chris Myhro –Uconn
49. Mike Howe -UMN
50. Josh Sciba -ND
7 comments:
Wow, not that I disagree with your rankings, but isn't it shocking that Minnesota doesn't have a player in the top 20, especially after last year.
Should be a great year.
Go Gophers!
Brian
Love for Chris Porter can be found on my site, Siouxnami.
P.s. Dude I just unpacked your M-F-ing jersey. It smells ever so slightly like hockey. You need it. You know you want it. Come and get it.
Both Porter and Kozek were in that list of 25 or 30 guys who could have filled spots 40 to 50. The reason that neither made the list is that 1.) they will be playing behind Oshie, Toews and Duncan which means that they wont get the PP time that forwards on other teams get and 2.) the WCHA returns some quality goaltenders and experenced defenses which should result in lower scoring across the conference.
UND is the only team to have 3 players in the top 25 and only UMI and UMN have more players overall.
UND is MY personal pick to win the WCHA this year, and the fact is that they are deep with talent and that results in players not getting the playing time and opportunities that players of lesser talent get on other teams.
You missed one forward that will be in the top 10 in scoreing... Tyler Hirsh.
I didn't miss Hirsch, I left him off my list because at this point he is a HUGE questionmark. I wish Tyler nothing but the best and I have no doubt that he will handle any issues in the long term. What I am unsure about is if he will be able to handle the pressures of playing D-1 hockey at a school like MN this season.
I'm taking more of a wait and see attitude with Hirsch this year.
Siouxnami,
It indeed reeks of Gopher defeat.
Tyler Hirsch.....How many opportunities is Lucia going to give him?
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