Angelo Esposito, Shero’s ’07 first round selection, might be looked at as a bust, but he managed to use him in a deal to acquire Marian Hossa, who helped the team reach the ’08 Stanley Cup Final. His ’09 and ’10 first round picks D Simon Despres and RW Beau Bennett contributed during the past season and are primed for bigger roles next season. He turned ’11 first found pick D Joe Morrow into LW Brenden Morrow and flipped mid-round selections from ’09 (Kenny Agostino) and ’10 (Ben Hanowski) to the Flames in exchange for Jarome Iginla.
He also understands that the currency of today’s NHL is the puck moving defenseman and he has a stable full of them, which have been acquired almost exclusively during the draft. Previously mentioned players such as Pouliot, Maatta, and Dumoulin allowed him to deal Morrow and will likely give him flexibility in dealing with Kris Letang’s impending contract negotiations.
He also has talents like ’07 fourth round pick Alex Grant and ’09 second round selection Philip Samuelsson playing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to bolster organizational depth.
If there has been a weakness in his drafting, it is on the front end, but that started to change with the selection of Bennett, Teddy Blueger (’12, R2), Mattia Marcantuoni (’12, R4) and former Memorial Cup hero Anton Zlobin (’12, R6).
Overall, the draft may not always bring the flash that some would like in terms of pure talent on the ice at the CONSOL Energy Center, but Shero never fails to utilize it to make a bang.
- Brian Metzer, Co-Host PensWeek, Contributer at NHL.com & Editor/Owner at From the Point
ST. LOUIS BLUES
Not that long ago, about 2006 for those who need to be exact, the St. Louis Blues laid claim to what they hoped to be a rich piece of real estate and began prospecting. The end result of their five year rebuild plan was the deepest and fullest well of potential talent collected in the NHL according to many pundits and fans alike. Now two years in to maintenance mode the bucket doesn't come up empty, but it takes much longer to hit the water line.
The organizational base, in net and on the blue line , has been steadily depleted.
Netminders Ben Bishop (traded) and Jake Allen (graduated) plus defenseman Erik Johnson, David Runblad (both traded), Alex Pietrangelo, and Ian Cole (both graduated) no longer wait on the bucket. Only Jordan Schmaltz,the Blues' 2011 1st round pick now at NCAA powerhouse North Dakota, remains as a safe bet to be an impact player at the NHL level. No offense meant to Cade Fairchild and Brett Ponich.
Growth in the future lies upfront. Even with the graduation of 2010 1st rounders Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Wingers Ty Rattie (Portland, WHL) and Dimitrij Jaskin (Moncton, QMJHL) have floated to the top with stellar 2012-13 campaigns. Poised to take big next steps, they are. Conversely, centers Phil McRae and Jori Lehtera are sinking to the bottom. McRae's subpar effort in Peoria (AHL) and Lehtera's unwillingness to leave the KHL (GM Doug Armstrong considers him a "better" (aka more advanced) prospect than Rattie and Jaskin) creates a vacuum down the middle.
Without a pick in the first round, lost in the deal to acquire Jay Bouwmeester from Calgary, the Blues' front office will need to do their homework and get creative to replenish back end future resources. Don't rule out a trade on draft day to move up from their current late second round position. Just don't expect it to impact current areas of strength like the NHL roster or the three remaining key prospects.
- Jeff Quirin can be found at BluenoteZone.com
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
The Tampa Bay Lightning has six picks in the seven rounds of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft on June 30 in New Jersey. The Bolts will pick 3rd, 33rd, 124th, 154th, 184th and 186th. Tampa Bay has no picks in the 3rd and 4th rounds due to the trade with Nashville that brought goalie Anders Lindback and the trade with the Blues that brought in B.J. Crombeen.
The Lightning has a glaring need for defensemen, but in the NHL, when picking third overall, you simply must take the best available player regardless of position. If , by some miracle, cornerstone defenseman Seth Jones is not taken by the Colorado Avalanche or the Florida Panthers, the Bolts would certainly sprint to the podium and draft him. Otherwise, look for the Lightning to address their defensive needs in the later rounds.
Using the “Best Player Available” scenario, here are the prospects (and Lightning Director of Scouting Al Murray’s evaluation) the Lightning could pick in the first round:
Aleksander Barkov - C, Tappara (Finland) – NHL Comparable – Joe Thornton
Jonathan Drouin, LW, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) – NHL Comparable – Patrick Kane
Nathan MacKinnon, C, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) – NHL Comparable – Taylor Hall
All of these players are near NHL ready and could help Tampa Bay very quickly, but one player stands out with superstar potential and that is the player they should pick:
Valeri Nichushkin, RW, Chelyabinsk (Russia) – NHL Comparable – Evgeni Malkin
"He’s a guy with all kinds of talent. He’s big, he’s a tremendous skater, but in February at the Under-18 tournament, that was maybe the most dominant performance I’ve seen at any of those Under-18 or World Junior tournaments. He absolutely took over the tournament. He was good on the forecheck, he was finishing checks, he was making plays or scored big goals in the third period when his team was behind, he never quit on a shift and he was just spectacular. I think when you see that potential and the level he played at in the Russian men’s league; you see a very good prospect.”
Why Nichushkin? According to Hockey Prospectus draft Guru Corey Pronman:
“Nichushkin is an impressive power forward who has a ton of natural gifts. He could be a potential star, if not an elite power winger in the NHL. His best skill is his skating ability, as he is a true plus-plus skater that defensemen need to respect when he’s barreling down the wing.”
Some feel it is rolling the dice to pick Nichushkin because of his KHL contract, but Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times tells us not to worry:
“The agent for Russian draft prospect Valeri Nichushkin said his client is serious about playing in North America and NHL teams should not wonder about his commitment to the league.”
All this, of course, assumes that Bolts GM Steve Yzerman doesn’t trade down..