Saturday, June 21, 2008

Day 2 of the Draft

A lot of eyebrows were probably raised when the New York Islanders selected Aaron Ness at 40th overall in the second round of the draft, after Garth Snow's comments about coach Don Lucia's coaching abilities last winter. I think that if anything, this move goes to prove that Okposo's departure last year was orchestrated by Okposo and his advisor more than the Islanders desperate desire to sign Okposo.

After a slow first round, 10 future college players were taken in the second round of the draft.

One of those players taken in the second round was Ohio State recruit Zac Dalpe. Unfortunately, he was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes. Dalpe said he was committed to Ohio State and not the OHL, but left a little bit of an opening, saying it would depend on what the team that drafted him wanted him to do. The Hurricanes and Whalers are both owned by Peter Karmanos, so I think it would be safe to say the 'Canes would want him playing in Plymouth.

Anaheim had three picks early in the second round and picked a nice trio of players in Nicolas Deschamps(Pieree McGuire just squealed like a little girl), Eric O'Dell, who originally committed to St. Cloud before signing with the OHL this past year, and Justin Schultz, a talented puck-mover that is going to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is having the best Draft Day(s) of any college program with Jake Gardiner selected 17th, Peter Wiercioch and Justin Schultz selected back-to-back at 42 and 43 respectively, Derek Stepan selected at 51

Michigan is following close behind with every member of their recruiting class being selected with Brandon Burlon at 51, Robbie Czarnik at 63, Greg Pateryn at 128, and David Wohlberg at 172.

Brad Schlossman kept track of all the future college players on his site.

Mark Olver of Northern Michigan, born on January 1st, 1988, which is the oldest a player can be and still get drafted, was taken in the 5th round by Colorado.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Wisconsin is having the best Draft Day(s) of any college program with Jake Gardiner selected 17th, Peter Wiercioch and Justin Schultz selected back-to-back at 42 and 43 respectively, Derek Stepan selected at 51."

Patrick, not Peter.

And you forgot Cody Goloubef, #37 overall. (=

Anonymous said...

Understanding this is the Western College Hockey Blog, but you left out BU who's having themselves a pretty nice draft as well -- Wilson, Trovino, Nicastro, Saporini and Warsofsky..........

Anonymous said...

When was O'Dell ever a St. Cloud commitment?

Anonymous said...

Also, Patrick Johnson went in the 7th round to Montreal.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what another draft year for the Badgers. If everybody stays for 2009 they might have created the most talented defensive corps ever assembled(draft wise.) If Eaves does not do well with this year's and next year's I could see him on the hot seat. Let's see what he does with that.

Check that: He might have already created the top defensive(draft-wise) ever for this year.

Ryan said...

I'm not totally sure how this works, but Colorado drafted Jonas Hollos in the 6th round and he was born Aug. 27, 1987. I didn't think 87 born players could be drafted?

Anonymous said...

Friday and Saturday's seven rounds saw a total of 211 picks made. Here's how they breakdown:

Leagues
110 - CHL (46 OHL, 37 WHL, 27 QMJHL)
39 - Europe
15 - U.S. high school
10 - USHL
9 - NCAA
8 - U.S. NDT
6 - BCHL
5 - OPJHL
3 - CJHL
2 - AJHL
1 - MJHL
1 - GHL
1 - EJHL
1 - midget

Positions
111 - Forwards
77 - Defencemen
23 - Goaltenders

The European breakdown looks like this (please note I'm counting players from the CHL in this list, which is why there are more than 39):

Sweden 17, Russia 9, Finland 7, Norway and Czech Republic 3, Denmark and Switzerland 2, Belarus and Germany 1 each

Anonymous said...

This is a very below average draft year because many regions of North American and Europe have very weak crops of late 89's and 90's.

In Ontario they are raving about their number of draft picks but they are the only region that had a strong year. Wonder if Ontario had so many picks because other regions were so down this year.

Western Canada and Minnesota were decent, but look how weak it is in Michigan, NTDP, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, Czech Republic (only 3 draft picks, Slovakia (no draft picks), Germany, and Finland.

The draft the next two years figures to be stronger than this year especially the 2010 draft with some high-end late birthdates like and a very strong group of 92's from all over the world.

Anonymous said...

Will be interesting how these players do at Wisc. Eaves seems to struggle with top end talent. Skille, Turris, and even Pavelski all seemed to need to leave to develop. OZ may be able to get top talent but at least at forward top talent at Wisc. hasn't faired well. Will be interesting how all this top end talent does at D. Smith seemed to be a bust in his first year and Golubef although steady seemed to see his stock drop. McDonagh seemed to remain consistent and McBain has shown steady improvement.Some how Williams was flushed out early(again part of UW's reputation) Klubernatz' first two years were his best with a decline in the last two. Time will tell with the recruits.

Anonymous said...

Hey Wisconsin hater, get your facts right before you post like some expert.

Pavelski left because of development? He left because the Sharks offered him a contract he couldn't refuse. A kid isn't named Captain for the following season and then signs because of development.

As for KT and Skille, they both wanted to play in the NHL and their parent clubs wanted them, especially Turris. Skille didn't "develop" much further in Rockford otherwise he would have been a regular in Chicago.

As for your assessment of D, Goloubef's stock dropped??? So going from 48th to 34th in NHL Central Scouting rankings is a drop? His stock went up because of his play at UW in the 2nd half of the season. He went from a late 2nd rounder to an early 2nd rounder, HUGE drop there.

McDonagh and McBain had great seasons and will arguably be the best pairing in NCAA next year.

Yeah Smith was a bust so far, I'll give you that.

Nigel Williams left because he wasn't good enough to play in the WCHA at that point.

As for Klubertanz, don't blame the coaches for a guy who just plain sucks. He looked good as a sophomore because he was playing w/ Tom Gilbert, anyone could look good paired w/ him.

Also, love the "flushed out early (again part of UW's reputation)", wow that has happened so much in the past 5 years. Get your head out of your butt.

Anonymous said...

Wisc.'s Geoffrion was never expected to remain in college for three years and his stock with Nashville has gone down against Thang and Ryan who have risen while at ND. Hopefully he has a great camp this month. How can McBain and McDonagh's seasons be said to have been great when Wisc. struggled to be .500 and was loaded with draft picks? McDonagh didn't get the invite to WJ's and unless Eaves held him back that would indicate outsiders didn't think his season was great. If the D do develop anyone else think it is time to turn the reins over to OZ? Eaves struggles with team building and relationships with staff and players and it hurts the programs he is involved with for any length of time.

Anonymous said...

anonymous 9:17 seems to be a Gopher fan being pissed of by all the rants about Donny boy.

Anonymous said...

Someone is questioning Wisconsin and pro development? Are you kidding me? I'm not a Badger fan whatsoever, but I do know they have sent more players to the NHL than any other college in the nation.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing the Thrashers aren't too happy wasting a 2nd round draft pick on Kozek, the Avalance are shaking the heads about the regressive development of Brad Malone with his whopping 3 points, the Caps must be crapping in their pants about the development of Joe Finley. He came into UND slow and clueless and will leave UND slow and clueless. The basic fact is some picks pan out other times they don't with nothing to do about the program. This just sounds like a bitter Sioux fan who can't handle all the Badger picks that filled the draft. I don't expect anything less out of Sioux nation.

Anonymous said...

I agree, the draft is a projection. Projections are not sure things. Everyteam has had busts, Wisconsin, North Dakota, St Cloud and MInnestoa are not expemt from this.

As much as i dont like the badgers or Eaves, he is going to have a tough time keeping 6 1st and 2nd round defensmen happy. There is only so much special teams min to go around. I could see disent from some of them but its a tough task to keep that many highly touted prospects happy.

Eaves is great a developing tallent on the Blueline...look at Tommy Gilbert...he wasnt anything more that a solid defensemen when he got there, now he was an all rookie team guy. I think eaves is a d**k but he's a good coach.

Anonymous said...

I don't know how anyone could say Geoffrion had a disappointing season. He scored 30 points in 36 games in his 2nd season for christ's sake. In comparison Drew Stafford scored 35 points in 40 games in his sophmore season and he was the #13 overrall pick. Geoffrion is a 2nd round pick, but yet has near identical stats as Stafford in their sophmore seasons. I guess Stafford must have been a huge disappointment after his completion of his sophmore season too.{me laughing}

Anonymous said...

who said Geoffrion had disappointing season? poster said his stock dropped in relation to Thang and Ryan of ND, and that he wasn't expected to be at Wisconsin for three years. All seem true.

Anonymous said...

Wow Go4 4 life. Who ever said they were a sioux fan. Maybe you should get your facts straight before you get your panties in a bunch. I know your team sucks but that is no reason to go maaking assumtions.

Anonymous said...

Cam Fowler is gone from the NTDP and headed to Windsor!!! Windsor is in a definite need of good defensemen and would never have just taken a center in the import draft with the 7th overall pick if Fowler wasn't leaving the NTDP to go to there

Anonymous said...

goeffrion is having good camp. He may have been one of best players out there on the first day. Much better showing than in past. Thang looks great,great skater makes it look effortless. His shot is quick, hard and accurate.

Anonymous said...

Eaves hardly deserves the pass he has been given. This season with the consensus best recruiting class and McBain, Goeffrion, Davies, & Street having good years, Becky needed Minnesota to help them back into the NCAAs. The year before they missed the tournament altogether.

Eaves has a lot to prove considering the talent Becky has recruited and the results his teams have achieved. Since the championship, which would have been the longest of shots without Elliot, Eaves has done little worth mentioning on the positive side.

Anonymous said...

I don't think its unusual for a 2nd rd pick to stay in NCAA for 3 seasons. On average, I'd say 1st rounders=2 yrs (except for the top 15 picks who usually only stay 1 year); 2nd - 4th rounders=3 yrs in NCAA and 5th round or later=4 years in NCAA. Michigan seems to convince their guys to stay longer than other schools

Anonymous said...

"Since the championship, which would have been the longest of shots without Elliot"

You kidding me, with exception to the 2nd period of the Maine game they dominated that entire tournament. You can bring up the Cornell game, but they outshot them something like 70 to 30 and Elliott had to make only a couple decent saves the entire game. The BC game was 2-1, but even Melrose, Thorne, and that East Coast guy said Wisconsin vastly outplayed BC the entire game. Schneider was the only thing that kept BC in that game.