NHL Draft 2009

[Danny99]

Well it's that time of year again: draft day.

If the Islanders do not take Tavares, it might be the biggest draft day surprise since the Texans didn't take Reggie Bush.

From what I saw of Hedman at the World Junior's, I was not impressed. He seemed to just be wandering, never really a part of the play.

I'm also really can't wait to see who my Leafs take at 7. My list of four in order for them would be:

1) Schenn
2) Kane
3) Cowen
4) Ellis

What about your favorite team? Do you think Tavares will go Number 1?

 

[Rob Hal]

Regardless of what anyone says, the Isles are taking Tavares. You don't hold a big huge party in your home arena and then not bring home the guy that everyone is expecting you to bring home. They are taking Tavares and are going to try to build a franchise around him...

Hedman and Duchesne are both solid and will go 2 and 3, followed by the Giant's Evander Kane.

Schenn would look good in Toronto colours, but Burke will have to trade up to the fourth or fifth spot to get him. He's not falling to seventh in the draft. If they don't manage to trade up (I would be surprised... Burke is a big-time Draft Day tactician... Pronger, anyone? Sedin twins?), then they'll probably have to settle for Cowen or Pajarrvi-Svensson. Decent choices.

A pretty rich draft, if you ask me... two of the top three should go on to become franchise players... but which will it be?

 

[Canadave]

Schenn would look good in Toronto colours, but Burke will have to trade up to the fourth or fifth spot to get him. He's not falling to seventh in the draft. If they don't manage to trade up (I would be surprised... Burke is a big-time Draft Day tactician... Pronger, anyone? Sedin twins?), then they'll probably have to settle for Cowen or Pajarrvi-Svensson. Decent choices.

I'm expecting to see Burke trade up and take Schenn. Who he gets rid of, it's hard to say, but I'm sure he'll do what he can to get him.

He'd probably be a good fit in T.O., too. The Leafs could really use a strong centre with the potential to score 30-40 goals in a season. Combine that with getting things sorted out between the pipes, and things might start looking up again.

 

[Danny99]

I could see possibly Atlanta or Los Angeles taking a trade for the Leafs to move up, but it's still doubtful.

New York and Tampa are not going to move those picks. Sure Tampa could want to dump salary, but is Burke really going to take on contracts like Malone and others just to move up?

According to news reports I heard, Colorado is going to enter a rebuilding stage. Trading down won't help them.

Atlanta is flailing in their market and could trade down to get immediate help to win now and save the franchise. They could use a number one defenseman, as their defense corbs are current led by Exelby and Hainsey, though they have 18 year old Bogosian too.

Los Angeles has a young team that's on the rise. Do they trade down to win now or do they add another piece to a strong young team? They already have Doughty and Johnson on defense. Could Grabovski go there?

Phoenix...Phoenix is such a mess right now that who knows what they do.

 

[Rob Hal]

Word on the street tonight is that Toronto is entertaining some SIGNIFICANT offers for Kaberle... he may be moved by tomorrow.

L.A. may be looking to part ways with their pick... but it's going to require them getting Heatley in exchange. They are very keen on Heatley.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

I'd like to see Duschene with Stastny. How'd that be for the start of a rebuilding in Colorado?

Maybe package Wolski for another first round pick.

 

[Rob Hal]

Sitting down and watching the draft! Exciting!

First trade: Pronger to Philadelphia! That's the word so far...

 

[Danny99]

As a Leaf fan, I'm disappointed we didn't get the second Schenn, but that's the past.

Cowen or Ellis now...

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Sitting down and watching the draft! Exciting!

First trade: Pronger to Philadelphia! That's the word so far...

Yep. Flyers seriously overpaid, though.

Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, and two first round draft picks (this year and next year) for a guy in the final year of his contract. He better have a great year and re-sign for the amount of investment that was just put into him.

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

Sitting down and watching the draft! Exciting!

First trade: Pronger to Philadelphia! That's the word so far...

Yep. Flyers seriously overpaid, though.

Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, and two first round draft picks (this year and next year) for a guy in the final year of his contract. He better have a great year and re-sign for the amount of investment that was just put into him.

Hope his wife likes Philly.

I'm glad Duschene went to the Avs. Seems like the kind of two way player that can really help through the rebuilding. With Stastny (hopefully staying healthy) and Duschene as the 1-2 punch at center, things could be exciting for a while.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Sitting down and watching the draft! Exciting!

First trade: Pronger to Philadelphia! That's the word so far...

Yep. Flyers seriously overpaid, though.

Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, and two first round draft picks (this year and next year) for a guy in the final year of his contract. He better have a great year and re-sign for the amount of investment that was just put into him.

Pronger's an obvious fit for the Flyers, though I'm not sure he's the right choice. The Flyers were at their best this year when they kept the dirty stuff under control. They lost a well-played series against Pittsburgh because of a few lapses of discipline that cost them games they could have won-- getting Carcillo and Stevens suspended for Game 2, giving up a 5-on-3 goal in OT, getting into a moronic fight with a 3-0 lead. If they clamp down on the goonism, they have serious potential. Pronger, however, is not the player to take the team in that direction. He's pure goon. Scotty Hartnell looks like Mr. Rogers in comparison to Pronger.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The reason why we needed a guy like Pronger is our players weren't actually tough enough to prevent players from going right in front of the net (it seemed half the goals by the Penguins were bullshit rebounds right in front of the net). Since our players couldn't move them from the net, they started acting in dirty ways (cross checking, etc) to get people to move and ended up drawing penalties. Ideally, he could do that without drawing penalties.

BTW, for those in the know, what's the deal with Pronger's wife?

 

[the 4th hanson bro]

The story goes that Pronger's wife wasn't happy about the trade from St Louis to Edmonton and didn't enjoy the prospect of living in Edmonton for 4 years so she "forced" the trade out of Edmonton.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

What was her specific complaints about Edmonton? Maybe Philadelphia could solve those problems (it's at least a more interesting place).

 

[Hunter X]

What was her specific complaints about Edmonton?

People need to have specific complaints about living in Edmonton?

 

[Canadave]

What was her specific complaints about Edmonton?

People need to have specific complaints about living in Edmonton?

Yeah, I thought shrugging and saying "Well... it's Edmonton!" was usually sufficient.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, not being Canadian puts me at a disadvantage.

 

[Rob Hal]

Well, I actually think Edmonton is a pretty nice city... I prefer Calgary myself, but would have no qualms about living in Edmonton. The way that whole thing went down though just left a bitter taste in the mouths of Oilers fans...

Still, Pronger IS a good fit for Philadelphia. He may be a dirty player, but he is a SKILLED dirty player. You don't win the Hart Trophy for nothing. He's still a game changing blueliner and the Flyers are lucky to have him.

 

[Locutus]

What was her specific complaints about Edmonton? Maybe Philadelphia could solve those problems (it's at least a more interesting place).

Also had something to do with him knocking up a weather reporter in Edmonton...

She's since moved on to Global BC in Vancouver.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Hmmm, I wonder if there are any hot weather reporters here right now (I don't watch the local news all that often). We may or may not be OK in that regard.