What do you think JO?? Successful draft? There is still the glaring need for a center (not that this could have been accomplished through the draft, although could maybe have traded for one, right?).
umm i plan on doing a draft post and adding to the prospect page sometime when i have about an hour or so, hoenstly some of the picks are pretty interesting. obviously you have the mayorov. hes a big kid that thn had at #14, most places had him in the low 20s, the highest ranking he has i believe was #25 and that was tsn. i sat with some agents and some personnel people on friday night, they thought hed slide to about 40 without a transfer agreeement, and no way hed slide out of the 2nd. edmonton was going to pick him in the 4th, and columbus traded up for him in the 4th (3 spots ahead of the oilers).
maxim mayorov has nhl skating ability, weakness is his dangle, he tends to fumble the puck (not give it away like z he tends to cough it up himself). he can flat out skate, thus giving him a legit 1 v 1 threat, toss in a powerful lateral burst to the fact he has speed to burn and thats his strength, he has a good motor and drives with his feet well. i was told somewhere between the first and fourth best skater in the draft. shoot is hard and not afraid to pull the trigger often, not a natural goal scorer, scores a lot of effort goals going hard to the net. has the ability to throw some nifty passes but has yet to develop the patience and poise to wait for things to open up. plays strong on his skates and handles traffic well, plays ok defense, like most young guys id expect this to come with time. can struggle with consistency, but he plays like a missile when he chooses to. same agent as Z. probably a year away from coming over to north america. good size already at six two 180. i was told a blend of a young forsberg, vyborny and chimmera in style of play.
legein was tagged in the second round is an agitator, think darcy tucker (id say tyler wright but hes more skilled than tyler). kid has good aceleration and seperation gear, ok top end speed. hell play hard all over the ice, covering the enitre sheet with tenacity. gritty player who plays every shift and the entire shift with tenacity and an edge. doesnt see the ice that well but has what im told is amazing hand eye cordination, smallish size at five 10 175.
will weber ushl (#1 overall pick in the ushl draft) kid, who is headed to miami of ohio. one of the guys i was with was suprised he wasnt picked in the first, i asked why "hes big, hes mean, and hes fast" hes raw, but he has a big time shot and a great athlete, he has a lot to work on but he is a pro dman. great hands and nice poise, qbs the power play with creativity and a laser rocket shot. can throw the long stretch pass and creatively utilizes it with his size and using the boards for the bounce pass. needs to accelerate his decision making process and stop trying to do it on his own. will stand up his man at the blue line or crunch guys along the boards, really needs to work on his defensive positioning, one of the better athletes in the draft. the kid is like a young racehorse, tons of potential that relies purely on natural talent. hurt in the draft by playing at a weird michigan hs. the kid has a bone jarring slapper and wicked wrister, he can stick handle in a phone booth for a big guy. six five 210.
and with the seventh pick jakub voracek, six one 190. short and simple, play maker, powerful driver to net, character, excellent shot, great player in traffic, good with puck, inconsistent.
this kid was the #1 player but most services in nov, dec and then again in april. had a small late season injury which dropped him, played well in the playoffs in the q. translates as a playmaker at the nhl level better than anyone. creative, vision, passing abillity are exceptional. can make plays with guys all over him, high skill good sized winger who likes to and excels at crashing the net.last year was his first year in na and adjusted to the small ice very quickly. above average skater, with a stiff stride. nimble feet and good agility. has a deceptive gear when he needs it. soft hands, long reach, great dangler, sheilds the puck exceptionally, awesome vision and creativity. top playmaker in the draft. think hybrid of vyborny and forsberg type player.
those are my initial thoughts of those guys based on very little homework and my predraft thoughts. id really like to do my hwk then get back to you guys with something a little more in depth. overall none of these guys play this year, jakub is atleast one maybe two years out, maxim will be brought over after next year. weber is a ways out and so on.
on the centre, i really dont think i know how to answer that, it seems to me the long term solutions are in place with brassard and brule. its someone to hold down the fort this and possibly next year. after next season you have a ton of ufa free agents, this year you have some but you have such a demand with about 12 teams looking for a #1 centre. id venture a guess that an adequate ufa centre is signed to like a two year deal possibly. im talking about a 2mm to 3mm tops player. right now the team is about five mill from what the team will spend. i think either some point this year or after this season you see brule back in the middle of the ice from the wing he played most of this year. will brassard make the team? i really dont know, he might, he may not. honestly maybe we see some brule in cuse also. i have no idea, hitch will get more free reign with his control this year than last. do you see feds on d? do you see him being bought out? i doubt hes bought out it will cost 4mm with the cap hit split over two years, thus essentially true money terms if you can get a player you think is better than feds for 2mm next year its worth it, if not no. feds isnt worth $6,080,000 a year, though hes worth more than 2mm. so i wouldnt do it.
after next year you have foote and feds at ufas 10.58mm in salary, plus vyborny as a ufa 2.2mm (will he come back or go home to czech?) chimmer and shelley as ufa (1.6mm) and possibly hainsey? (i seem to think he resigned an extension but im not positive). so you have essentially 15mm coming off the books after next season. then you have the rfas who need to be resigned fritsche, picard, platt?, and methot along with leclaire. about 6mm in current salary. so you bump those guys to say 8mm youve got 7mm or so to spend next year, plus an increase in payroll. the key is making the playoffs, you dont pay the players during the playoffs. so for a franchise like columbus 18k extra seats sold makes it so you can get aother player/better player. so essentially you have 28mm in payroll for 07 08 and committed to 11.6mm for 08 09. so lots of play room there in the future. i dont see a splash this year....
did that answer your question?
