6/22 - 2003 NHL Entry Draft (day 2 starts @ 10 am)

[BadCompany]

Marc said:

I was thinking the same thing

Regehr is a cornerstone of their D so he ain't going anywhere

Leopold is young and really came on in the 2nd half, so I guess he is not going anywhere

Lydman is a sort of a mini Lidstrom. Solid all-around. I think he stays

Ferrence is a good 5th-6th d-man with offensive flair

add Boughner in there as the veteran

and that leaves one man: Denis Gauthier. Injury prone and starting to enter the big payday years, he could be available for sure.

Although CGY has a decent core of forwards(Iggy, Drury, Conroy, Saprykin, McAmmond, Gelinas, Kobasew, Nystrom, some good checkers in Yelle, Donovan, Clark,etc) I could see them using Gauthier+one of those decent forwards to get another real good forward.

You guys are thinking much too short term. Boughner?? Come on. The guy won't be there in 2 years, let alone the 6 it will take Phaneuf to develope...

[MPLABBE]

It won't take 6 years for Phaneuf to develope..unless you mean into a elite d-man.

[Lord Stanley]

Marc said:

Suter at 4 is a joke btw..

What did ou expect..it's SI..it's not like they know anything about hockey down there..hehe

Everytime I see one of these Mock drafts I tell myself I should come up with one..maybe I should come up with one

I'll give it a try later..maybe tonight..stay tuned..I'll be back

[Rimmer]

BC, why would it take 6 years for Phaneuf to develope? In another thread you posted the link to an article in which it said that Phaneuf could play in the NHL as a 20-year old just as S. Stevens did. Also, do you think that he has so much less potential than Regehr, Leopold, Gauthier, Morris, Komisarek?

Even if Boughner leaves via free-agency, that leaves the core of Gauthier, Regehr, Lydman, Leopold and Ference that with one veteran signing will look very good and will only get better with another season or two of experience for the youngsters. They also have Commodore who plays the style similar to Boghner's and could fill in if the need arises and a few others.

I'm not saying that having another great young D prospect wouldn't be great for them, I'm only trying to say that it's not what they need most. they have more pressing needs, like offense. they were 4th from the bottom in goals scored while at the same time they were 14th worst in goals allowed despite the not-so-good performance from Turek.

maybe I'm just trying to find some reason why they should pass him so he could land with us.

R.

[BadCompany]

Rimmer said:

BC, why would it take 6 years for Phaneuf to develope? In another thread you posted the link to an article in which it said that Phaneuf could play in the NHL as a 20-year old just as S. Stevens did. Also, do you think that he has so much less potential than Regehr, Leopold, Gauthier, Morris, Komisarek?

Even if Boughner leaves via free-agency, that leaves the core of Gauthier, Regehr, Lydman, Leopold and Ference that with one veteran signing will look very good and will only get better with another season or two of experience for the youngsters. They also have Commodore who plays the style similar to Boghner's and could fill in if the need arises and a few others.

I'm not saying that having another great young D prospect wouldn't be great for them, I'm only trying to say that it's not what they need most. they have more pressing needs, like offense. they were 4th from the bottom in goals scored while at the same time they were 14th worst in goals allowed despite the not-so-good performance from Turek.

maybe I'm just trying to find some reason why they should pass him so he could land with us.

R.

Well, a quote in an article, and reality are far from being the same things. If I had to bet, I would say Phaneuf doesn't become an elite - or even just very good - defenseman until he is 25, 26. That would be in 6 years. You say they have "more pressing needs" but isn't that the common trap? We need size now lets draft Terry Ryan, Brent Bilodeau and Lindsay Vallis? Look at Ron Hainsey. He was considered blue-chip, top 3 defenseman prospect. He was drafted in 2000. There is a good chance he won't start next season with the club. That means he won't be breaking into the lineup until 2004, or four years after being drafted. Never mind actually having an impact. It took Markov another two years after that before becoming very good - remember, Markov started the year before last in the AHL. Hainsey won't be an impact, or top 4 player, in my opinion for another 2 years. That would make it 2005-06, or, six years after he was drafted. Nothing wrong with it, its normal. It just means he won't be top four until he is around 24 - 26. Heck, they say defensemen don't hit their prime until 27-30...

Who knows what could happen to the Flames over the next few years. Boughner could leave. Leopold might not pan out. Gauthier could suffer a career ending, or debilitating injury that prevents him from playing his style. Suddenly - very suddenly - Calgary is down three defenseman. Remember 1993 for Montreal? Desjardins, Lumme, Svoboda, Brisebois, Daigneault, Haller, Odelein, Hill - it was considered a young, up and coming defense, with tonnes of depth. 6 years later, 2000, Christian Laflamme, Barry Richter and Miroslav Guren were taking regular shifts (okay, not regular, but you get the point).

When you have depth, you can deal it to shore up your weaknesses. The Flames had a lot of young defensemen, as you point out, and they dealt one to shore up their front. Morris for Drury. If Phaneuf is the best player available, they should take him, just as Montreal should take Marc-Andre Fleury if by some bizarre fluke he does fall to #10. Even though we have our goalies already, it doesn't hurt to have too many assets...

The Sutters like hard-nosed, defensive, character players who aren't afraid to get dirty. One Sutter is Phaneuf's coach, and can't stop raving about him. The other is GM of the Calgary Flames. Seems pretty logical to me...

[MPLABBE]

BadCompany said:

Well Remember 1993 for Montreal? Desjardins, Lumme, Svoboda, Brisebois, Daigneault, Haller, Odelein, Hill

and Schneider...

but Lumme was long gone and so was Svoboda..

[JFM]

I have just received my copy of the Red Line Report Draft issue. Along with having my copy of THN Draft Preview, I thought it would be interesting to post a comparison of each respective top 30 prospects. Red Line also has 2 mock drafts from 2 of their staffers. One last thing that I will mention about RLR's top 30. They compiled their list completely in house, meaning that no NHL GMs or scouts were consulted. They rate them as they feel that each player selected is the BPA at said pick. So without further rambling, here are the lists starting with each top 30:


Red Line Hockey News
1. Marc-Andre Fleury 1. Eric Staal
2. Nathan Horton 2. Marc-Andre Fleury
3. Nikolai Zherdev 3. Nathan Horton
4. Andrei Kastsitsyn 4. Nikolai Zherdev
5. Milan Michalek 5. Ryan Suter
6. Tomas Vanek 6. Milan Michalek
7. Braydon Coburn 7. Braydon Coburn
8. Eric Staal 8. Tomas Vanek
9. Anthony Stewart 9. Ryan Getzlaf
10. Hugh Jessiman 10. Zach Parise
11. Ryan Getzlaf 11. Dion Phaneuf
12. Petr Vrana 12. Dustin Brown
13. Zach Parise 13. Andrei Kastsitsyn
14. Dion Phaneuf 14. Marc-Antoine Pouliot
15. Pat O'Sullivan 15. Konstantin Glazachev
16. Jeff Carter 16. Jeff Carter
17. Dustin Brown 17. Ryan Kesler
18. Ryan Suter 18. Robert Nilsson
19. Danny Fritsche 19. Anthony Stewart
20. Mark Stuart 20. Pat O'Sullivan
21. Evgeny Tunik 21. Mark Stuart
22. Ryan Kesler 22. Hugh Jessiman
23. Brent Seabrook 23. Richard Stehlik
24. Steve Bernier 24. Steve Bernier
25. Ivan Khomutov 25. Jeff Tambellini
26. Robert Nilsson 26. Brent Seabrook
27. Igor Mirnov 27. Dan Fritsche
28. Mike Richards 28. Eric Fehr
29. Ryan Stone 29. Corey Perry
30. Shawn Belle 30. Kevin Klein

Now I will show the 2 mock drafts done by 2 scouts from RLR. I will only post the top 10 of each for obvious reasons.

1. Eric Staal 1. Nathan Horton
2. M-A Fleury 2. Eric Staal
3. Nathan Horton 3. M-A Fleury
4. Nikolai Zherdev 4. Nikolai Zherdev
5. Tomas Vanek 5. B. Coburn
6. B. Coburn 6. M. Michalek
7. M. Michalek 7. Tomas Vanek
8. Ryan Suter 8. Dion Phaneuf
9. Ryan Getzlaf 9. Ryan Suter
10. Dustin Brown 10. Hugh Jessiman

Enjoy folks!!

[MPLABBE]

Red line are high on Stewart, Kastystin, Jessiman and especially Vrana!

[StickHandler]

Interesting how different the 2 lists are...

Does anyone have the McKeen's top-30?

[Habsolution]

Here's my prediction for draft day :


1-Florida = Eric Staal : On most draft list Staal is listed as number one. Florida will be looking toward adding another quality center after Jokinen as most succesful organization rely on good one two punch at center. They already got the franchise goaltender and defenseman so they'll try to grab the franchise center while picking the BPA.

2-Carolina = Marc-André Fleury : The hurricanes are looking toward rebuilding. It is often said that most GM build their team from the net out and the past SC finals have proven once more that having top goaltending is the most important asset a team can have. Since goaltenders take a long time to develop the canes aren't going to wait any longer and drafting a goalie is going to a more pressing issue than a franchise center like Horton.

3-Pittsburgh = Alexei Zherdev : It's going to be a tough choice because they'll also want Horton but ultimately the fact that they can retain the rights to european prospects longer without signing them is going to be a deciding factor in drafting Zherdev. If they don't want him to step in as soon as next year and that the NHL lose a year because of a lockout then they would have a lot of time to evaluate if it is worth signing him or not. He's also arguably the BPA with Coburn and Horton.

4-Columbus = Nathan Horton : He's the BPA and the BJs are going to want a franchise center to play with Nash. Future legion of doom ?

5-Buffalo = Coburn : This will come as a surprise because many people think the sabres will draft Vanek. But Regier said in an interview lately(picked that up on HF) that he wouldn't draft Vanek because he thought he was lazy. The sabres are going to go with the BPA and will add a stud blue liner to their defense.

6-San Jose = Michalek : The sharks are already loaded at defense and will look toward adding more offense. Michalek is the best forward in their opinion, they would also like Kastitsyn and Parise but they are scared because of Parise size and Kastitsyn rumored health problems.

7-Nashville = Phaneuf : They are looking for a defenseman. Poile stated he would pick one the 3 top dmen in the upcoming draft. Phaneuf looks like a can't miss prospect and they already got delmore who can play a good offensive game so they'll be looking to add Phaneuf physical presence and intimidation to complete the trend of drafting a top player at every position (Hartnell(LW)-Legwand(C)-Upshall(RW)-Hamhuis(D))

8-Atlanta = Suter : Atlanta's most pressing need is a dman and Suter is the only one left. They jump on him.

9-Calgary = Parise : They aren't scared by Parise size and grab him to be the future center of Iginla's line.

10-Montreal = Kastitsyn : Some scouts were seen at the U18 WJC scouting Kastitsyn games. Among them were habs and wings scouts. AS goes for the big gamble and draft Andrei while hoping his disease won't ever affect his NHL carreer.

[spider_ice]

BadCompany said:

Who knows what could happen to the Flames over the next few years. Boughner could leave. Leopold might not pan out. Gauthier could suffer a career ending, or debilitating injury that prevents him from playing his style. Suddenly - very suddenly - Calgary is down three defenseman. Remember 1993 for Montreal? Desjardins, Lumme, Svoboda, Brisebois, Daigneault, Haller, Odelein, Hill - it was considered a young, up and coming defense, with tonnes of depth. 6 years later, 2000, Christian Laflamme, Barry Richter and Miroslav Guren were taking regular shifts (okay, not regular, but you get the point).

Eric Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider, Gary Leeman, Patrice Brisebois, Kevin Haller, J.J. Daigneault, Lyle Odelein, Sean Hill, Rob Ramage were the D's when the habs lifted the cup.

Lumme was with the habs in 1989-1990 after he went the canucks.
Svoboda was with the habs in 1991-1992 after he went to buffalo traded for haller

i remember 1993 for sure

for the draft
i would try to moved up to 6-7 for Vanek or Coburn
Coburn with help the weak left side of the habs D
Vanek could be a great winger and a vital righthanded scorer on the pp

if we stay at 10 go with the bpa and dream that parise is still available

[GoMtl]

i have a question that doesnt really have anything to do with our first round choice or any of the rest...

my friend played with a kid last year in calgary before he moved back here to the west coast. his name is charlie johnson and he now plays for harvard in the ecac, where he recorded 4 goals and 16 assists, 20 pts in 30 games in his freshman year. he's 5-11, 180lbs and is a playmaking forward. do you think these numbers will get him drafted (my friend and i were wondering), he was also born in january of 84, making him older than most of this years crop. i'm not that sure on what kind of numbers it takes to get drafted so i thought i'd ask you guys. my friend tells me he's a very good playmaker with good speed, but with only 8 penalty minutes this year, i take it that he's not the most physical guy.

[Rimmer]

BadCompany said:

Well, a quote in an article, and reality are far from being the same things. If I had to bet, I would say Phaneuf doesn't become an elite - or even just very good - defenseman until he is 25, 26. That would be in 6 years. You say they have "more pressing needs" but isn't that the common trap? We need size now lets draft Terry Ryan, Brent Bilodeau and Lindsay Vallis? Look at Ron Hainsey. He was considered blue-chip, top 3 defenseman prospect. He was drafted in 2000. There is a good chance he won't start next season with the club. That means he won't be breaking into the lineup until 2004, or four years after being drafted. Never mind actually having an impact. It took Markov another two years after that before becoming very good - remember, Markov started the year before last in the AHL. Hainsey won't be an impact, or top 4 player, in my opinion for another 2 years. That would make it 2005-06, or, six years after he was drafted. Nothing wrong with it, its normal. It just means he won't be top four until he is around 24 - 26. Heck, they say defensemen don't hit their prime until 27-30...

Who knows what could happen to the Flames over the next few years. Boughner could leave. Leopold might not pan out. Gauthier could suffer a career ending, or debilitating injury that prevents him from playing his style. Suddenly - very suddenly - Calgary is down three defenseman. Remember 1993 for Montreal? Desjardins, Lumme, Svoboda, Brisebois, Daigneault, Haller, Odelein, Hill - it was considered a young, up and coming defense, with tonnes of depth. 6 years later, 2000, Christian Laflamme, Barry Richter and Miroslav Guren were taking regular shifts (okay, not regular, but you get the point).

When you have depth, you can deal it to shore up your weaknesses. The Flames had a lot of young defensemen, as you point out, and they dealt one to shore up their front. Morris for Drury. If Phaneuf is the best player available, they should take him, just as Montreal should take Marc-Andre Fleury if by some bizarre fluke he does fall to #10. Even though we have our goalies already, it doesn't hurt to have too many assets...

The Sutters like hard-nosed, defensive, character players who aren't afraid to get dirty. One Sutter is Phaneuf's coach, and can't stop raving about him. The other is GM of the Calgary Flames. Seems pretty logical to me...

I agree with most of what you've said but it seems to me that we had a little misunderstanding. When you said it would take 6 years for Phaneuf to develop, you were thinking of top 2-3 d-man. I was thinking of playing regularly as a 4th or 5th d-man.

I agree that you can never have too many good d-men in your system and that they are a prized commodity (I think I mentioned that in another thread to justify why should AS pick DP if he is BPA at #10 and why I would personally like for it to happen).

The point I was trying to make is that Flames don't necessarily NEED to pick Phaneuf as everybody expects them to. Although, the Sutter connection does make a strong case. But maybe, just maybe, they won't go after BPA, but pick according to their needs and in that case I think they would pick a forward.

If they indeed do pick Phaneuf, I would expect them to trade one of their d-man for some help at forward.

R.

[BadCompany]

Yeah, you guys are right on the list of defensemen. I was just tossing out names from the early 1990's, and wasn't thinking expressely of the 1993 team, though I did say that. Anyways, you get the point.

As for Phaneuf - or the big center - taking six years to become elite, that is exactly what I meant. Sure, he could be in the NHL in two years, just like our big center could be in the NHL in two years, but they aren't going to be significantly better than what we have now. In other words, I wouldn't expect Jeff Carter to outscore Yanic Perrault, or play significantly better defense in his first couple of years. Same for Phaneuf, who probably won't outplay a Stephane Quintal.

So in effect, for the first 4 or 5 years, whatever player we draft won't be significantly better than what we had last year (in all likelihood, anyways). Which means that it will take 5 or 6 years to notice a difference. Of course Phaneuf in 6 years will be much better than the Quintal we had last year, but not next year. Same with say Bernier or Carter. They most likely won't be better than guys like Kilger, or Juneau. So they aren't really going to help the team in the short term. They will in 5 or 6 years, when, if the stars align properly, a guy like Carter will be a much better player than Juneau was last year, but that will only be in the future. And who knows, maybe in 5 or 6 years, through trades and free agency, we will already have a huge team, and the need for a big center won't be as great. I sincerely hope we won't have to wait 5 or 6 years to fix that problem anyways.

I'm just saying that you can never go wrong with best player available. That's all.

[Rimmer]

BadCompany said:

I'm just saying that you can never go wrong with best player available. That's all.

Agreed. But as we all know, that's not how it's always done. I trust AS would do just that, though.

R.

[Thomas]

Habsolution said:

9-Calgary = Parise : They aren't scared by Parise size and grab him to be the future center of Iginla's line.

I agree with all your other selections except this one. If the top 3 D are all gone by this time, the flames will be pressured into drafting a big center for the team. Getzlaf or Jessiman may end up being drafted here, unless Calgary goes with the BPA. I could also see them drafting Brown, considereing he will probably still be available and seems like a Sutter type of guy.

[MPLABBE]

Habsolution said:

Here's my prediction for draft day :


1-Florida = Eric Staal : On most draft list Staal is listed as number one. Florida will be looking toward adding another quality center after Jokinen as most succesful organization rely on good one two punch at center. They already got the franchise goaltender and defenseman so they'll try to grab the franchise center while picking the BPA.

2-Carolina = Marc-André Fleury : The hurricanes are looking toward rebuilding. It is often said that most GM build their team from the net out and the past SC finals have proven once more that having top goaltending is the most important asset a team can have. Since goaltenders take a long time to develop the canes aren't going to wait any longer and drafting a goalie is going to a more pressing issue than a franchise center like Horton.

3-Pittsburgh = Alexei Zherdev : It's going to be a tough choice because they'll also want Horton but ultimately the fact that they can retain the rights to european prospects longer without signing them is going to be a deciding factor in drafting Zherdev. If they don't want him to step in as soon as next year and that the NHL lose a year because of a lockout then they would have a lot of time to evaluate if it is worth signing him or not. He's also arguably the BPA with Coburn and Horton.

4-Columbus = Nathan Horton : He's the BPA and the BJs are going to want a franchise center to play with Nash. Future legion of doom ?

5-Buffalo = Coburn : This will come as a surprise because many people think the sabres will draft Vanek. But Regier said in an interview lately(picked that up on HF) that he wouldn't draft Vanek because he thought he was lazy. The sabres are going to go with the BPA and will add a stud blue liner to their defense.

6-San Jose = Michalek : The sharks are already loaded at defense and will look toward adding more offense. Michalek is the best forward in their opinion, they would also like Kastitsyn and Parise but they are scared because of Parise size and Kastitsyn rumored health problems.

7-Nashville = Phaneuf : They are looking for a defenseman. Poile stated he would pick one the 3 top dmen in the upcoming draft. Phaneuf looks like a can't miss prospect and they already got delmore who can play a good offensive game so they'll be looking to add Phaneuf physical presence and intimidation to complete the trend of drafting a top player at every position (Hartnell(LW)-Legwand(C)-Upshall(RW)-Hamhuis(D))

8-Atlanta = Suter : Atlanta's most pressing need is a dman and Suter is the only one left. They jump on him.

9-Calgary = Parise : They aren't scared by Parise size and grab him to be the future center of Iginla's line.

10-Montreal = Kastitsyn : Some scouts were seen at the U18 WJC scouting Kastitsyn games. Among them were habs and wings scouts. AS goes for the big gamble and draft Andrei while hoping his disease won't ever affect his NHL carreer.

Vanek fell off the face of the earth before the draft? where is he?

[Thomas]

Marc said:

Vanek fell off the face of the earth before the draft? where is he?

Wow, didn't notice that, really changes a lot of those picks considering hes rated above a lot of the players near the end of that list. If hes still there when Calgary picks im sure they would grab him. I see the sharks picking Vanek over Michalek maybe..

[MPLABBE]

Thomas said:

Wow, didn't notice that, really changes a lot of those picks considering hes rated above a lot of the players near the end of that list. If hes still there when Calgary picks im sure they would grab him. I see the sharks picking Vanek over Michalek maybe..

agreed...I see NJ or Nash picking Vanek.

I am not a huge Michalek fan...anyone forward who is considered ''lacking pure offensive ability'' scares me..especially for a high pick..

[Habsolution]

Marc said:

Vanek fell off the face of the earth before the draft? where is he?

Each draft there's a player that kinda falls ... and one that surprises. Regier said Vanek was lazy and that he wouldn't use his pick to get him. That's what motivated me in pushing him out of the 10 first. Until a few days ago I would have never said that. But it's not that surprising considering the fact that Vanek wasn't a concensus top 15 in the middle of the season.

[MPLABBE]

but still..I would be VERY bitter if we passed on Vanek at 10.

IMO, Michalek is way more likely to fall out of the top 10 than Vanek.

[Habsolution]

Marc said:

but still..I would be VERY bitter if we passed on Vanek at 10.

IMO, Michalek is way more likely to fall out of the top 10 than Vanek.

Yeah especially if Vanek turns out to be another Hossa

I've come to trust Savard on that matter though. If Vanek is still available at 10th and Savard passes on him I'm gonna reserve my judgement. There's also the fact Vanek has stated he would stay another year in Minnesota so ... I dunno ...

But eh ... I haven't more of a clue than anyone else what's going to happen. And if things do happen like I called them luck would be a big part in that. Besides you just know something is going to happen (pick swap, trades, etc) come draft day. I just can't wait ! ;D

[MPLABBE]

11 days to go my friend...

[Bandit]

Well there hasn't been much discussion (that I've seen) on who we could pick up in the 2nd round and beyond. Here are a few that (with my trusty THN preview) have picked out.

Brian Boyle, imagine if this guy blossomed. I'd love to see us pick him with our 40th. He's athletic, and huge, and looks like he might only get better. I'd risk a pick

Brent Seabrook, might be gone by the time our 40th comes around but another player I would potentially take.

Petr Vrana, I know we have enough smallish, skilled Europeans, but I think in the second or third round there's no sure thing, so take the chance on skill.

Matt Egener, sounds vicious, if we can't get another D before him, I'd take him

Kamil Kreps, From THN he sounds like he'd be a 1st rounder, but was a little confused about his write up. He runs around hitting everything, but then they question his physical play???

Corey Crawford, if he's still around in the mid rounds I'd snatch him up.

Ideally this is how I'd like the draft to unfold.

10th - Parise or Phaneuf (whoever is still there)
trade for mid 20's - Bernier
2nd-Boyle or Seabrook (depending on need and availabilty)(if we got Phaneuf take Boyle, if not take Seabrook)
2nd- Vrana
I don't know if any others will be around beyond that, but I think our future would look nice and big, and skilled.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

OK! It's time for me to stop beating the Bernier drum. I still don't know why he's rated so low with his scoring touch, great +/-, attitude and size, but it seems that SI and others all agree he's not David Letterman Top Ten List material. If it was me I'd go for him, but I'd live with Horton, Staal or Zherdev if that's who Savard picks.
If it's a choice of a possible third line player or Bernier, a possible 1st line forward or possible bust, my choice is to roll the dice and try for someone with the potential to be great.

As we say in the US, "In Gainey and Savard we Trust".


still puzzled though. Look at how well Ward is using his size now that he has a few years of development under his belt to go with his potential and skill.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Ward is below average size for the NHL, but he should be able to hold his own.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

mr said:

Ward is below average size for the NHL, but he should be able to hold his own.

Ward is listed as 6'3" and 200 lbs. on the Bulldogs site. I watched him play lat night and he plays big. He may be smaller than the NHL average (questionable), but he's way bigger than the Hab's average!

[seventeen]

Habsolution said:

Each draft there's a player that kinda falls ... and one that surprises. Regier said Vanek was lazy and that he wouldn't use his pick to get him. That's what motivated me in pushing him out of the 10 first. Until a few days ago I would have never said that. But it's not that surprising considering the fact that Vanek wasn't a concensus top 15 in the middle of the season.

The difficulty in picking these guys is well illustrated by the comparison of Mike Bossy and Pavel Brendl. Scouts had serious defensive concerns about both players, as well as concerns about how they would handle the rough stuff. How could you know that one would be a hall of Famer and the other a struggling minor leaguer (so far). Bossy scored a minimum 50 goals in the QMJHL 4 years in a row, yet didn't go till 15th in his draft year. Regier says Vanek is lazy. Perhaps he's something other than lazy. Mario looked like he didn't work very hard, so would Regier pass on him during his draft year too? Tough call. You have to go deeper to see if they're lazy in other matters of life and lack the discipline and work ethic you need to become a star. Vanek seemed to come through when his team needed him, that's for sure.

[Montrealer]

Welcome Clan, to the board.

By the way, we don't want no stinkin' Turner Stevensons with our first round picks! Got it! Skill over size! Skill over size! *cough*

[Habsolution]

seventeen said:

The difficulty in picking these guys is well illustrated by the comparison of Mike Bossy and Pavel Brendl. Scouts had serious defensive concerns about both players, as well as concerns about how they would handle the rough stuff. How could you know that one would be a hall of Famer and the other a struggling minor leaguer (so far). Bossy scored a minimum 50 goals in the QMJHL 4 years in a row, yet didn't go till 15th in his draft year. Regier says Vanek is lazy. Perhaps he's something other than lazy. Mario looked like he didn't work very hard, so would Regier pass on him during his draft year too? Tough call. You have to go deeper to see if they're lazy in other matters of life and lack the discipline and work ethic you need to become a star. Vanek seemed to come through when his team needed him, that's for sure.

You're right he could just be an intelligent player hiding for most of the game ready to snipe the big one home but he could also be that talented guy with no drive playing in a league where the caliber ain't that good so he doesn't have to work very hard to get goals. I guess we'll see with time.