NHL Draft: You Don’t Need A Top Two Pick
By Adam Savard
2009 NHL Draft
Mar 5, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) skates the puck against the Vancouver Canucks at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes won 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Taking it from the top, John Tavares is an absolute stud for the Islanders. Victor Hedman is a top-pair defenseman for Tampa Bay, one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference over the last few seasons. Drafting third would land you Matt Duchene, one of the young burners in Colorado with 309 points in 409 games. Yep, I’d take that. By comparison Tavares has 388 points in 423 games. It’s a drop off but far from massive.
How would you like to have picked sixth this year? Oliver Ekman-Larsson is among my favorite players to watch in the league. He is an ultra-smooth skater with a rocket point shot that has produced twenty goals already this season. Arizona has themselves a great one in OEL to build the blue line around.
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The selections outside of the top ten also produced important pieces to various teams. Nick Leddy was recently rewarded for his success by the New York Islanders after being the sixteenth pick by the Chicago Blackhawks. Kyle Palmieri was on pace for his best back-to-back season before injuries slowed him this year. And Simon Despres is a critical contributor on the back-end for the Penguins.
Perhaps the player showing the greatest upside was drafted at number nineteen by the New York Rangers. Chris Kreider is having a career season on Broadway and has tallied 74 points in his last 135 games and seems to be playing to his first round status. One of the fastest skaters in the NHL, Kreider can blaze paths for his wingers to create by backing off opposing defenses. As long as he can stop that running into opposing goaltenders thing, he’s got a bright future ahead of him.
Next: Plenty Of Depth In 2010 NHL Draft