HOCK.ly - Future of Hockey Content June 25, 2013 | Page 7

believe to be a second rounder in a stocked draft.

We saw the job Stan Bowman has done with the Hawks since they won their last Cup. That enabled him to hold on to “core” players but with smart trades (They traded overrated Cam Barker for Nick Leddy), drafting (Brandon Saad 2nd rounder in 2011 and the coming of age for Marcus Kruger, 5th rounder in 2009 who got his feet wet in the 2010 run) and prudent spending the Hawks are back in the Cup and they are in good shape for next year.

The Columbus Blue Jackets got close to making the playoffs, they have a Vezina winning goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky and their GM, Jarmo Kekalainen, acquired Marian Gaborik, divested the team of the former regime’s top picks John Moore, Derick Brassard and Derek Dorsett all during that season while getting back Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and blue chip defenseman, Tim Erixon, thanks to Scott Howson who preceded him. Risky, yes, cheaper, yes, set for the future, yes and they have three first round picks in a draft that might rival 2003 when its all said and done. They also have some great home grown talent too in Ryan Johansen, Ryan Murray and Boone Jenner to name a few, setting themselves up for a very long time.

The key to survival in today’s NHL is drafting smart and building assets, developing well, spending on youth and getting the kind of coach who understands today’s game. When looking for free agents it’s a good idea to scour Europe first and then look at the NHL list. There’s still a lot of players out there who don’t command cap-busting salaries.

You can read more of Cohen’s articles on www.sportsology.info and you can check out his lastest books on http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0034P5DNC

"The key to survival in today’s NHL is drafting smart and building assets, developing well, spending on youth and getting the kind of coach who understands today’s game."

and now they can cash that in for what I believe to be a second rounder in a stocked draft.

We saw the job Stan Bowman has done with the Hawks since they won their last Cup. That enabled him to hold on to “core” players but with smart trades (They traded overrated Cam Barker for Nick Leddy), drafting (Brandon Saad 2nd rounder in 2011 and the coming of age for Marcus Kruger, 5th rounder in 2009 who got his feet wet in the 2010 run) and prudent spending the Hawks are back in the Cup and they are in good shape for next year.

The Columbus Blue Jackets got close to making the playoffs, they have a Vezina winning goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky and their GM, Jarmo Kekalainen, acquired Marian Gaborik, divested the team of the former regime’s top picks John Moore, Derick Brassard and Derek Dorsett all during that season while getting back Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and blue chip defenseman, Tim Erixon, thanks to Scott Howson who preceded him. Risky, yes, cheaper, yes, set for the future, yes and they have three first round picks in a draft that might rival 2003 when its all said and done. They also have some great home grown talent too in Ryan Johansen, Ryan Murray and Boone Jenner to name a few, setting themselves up for a very long time.

The key to survival in today’s NHL is drafting smart and building assets, developing well, spending on youth and getting the kind of coach who understands today’s game. When looking for free agents it’s a good idea to scour Europe first and then look at the NHL list. There’s still a lot of players out there who don’t command cap-busting salaries.

You can read more of Cohen’s articles on www.sportsology.info and you can check out his lastest books on http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0034P5DNC

"The key to survival in today’s NHL is drafting smart and building assets, developing well, spending on youth and getting the kind of coach who understands today’s game."