2011 National Hockey League Entry Drafts (Part 5)
Coming to the last two teams in the entry drafts, we will be mentioning the expected top two picks, both players immensely talented. They surely have what it takes to take the lead up front and also change the entire outcome of a game with the abilities
they possess.
Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog
Colorado Avalanche is one team that may be influenced by Hopkins who was mentioned in the previous part of this article. Avalanche has certainly shown interest in Hopkins but when it comes to picking players then it doesn’t matter whether or not you like
the player.
Though that matters to some extend but the main emphasis is on building a team that can come out and give the opposition a tough time each time it is seen on ice.
Hopkins is immensely talented and has great skills but the thing is that he doesn’t fit into the top two teams that are bidding for the drafts.
The first thing that needs to be mentioned here is that Hopkins is a centre, which means that he will best fit into a team where there are no centre as he would want to play as many minutes as possible.
This is one reason as to why he doesn’t fit in the Avalanche’s squad, it is already flooded with centres like Paul Stastny, Pascal Dupuis and Ryan O’Reilly.
All these players are experienced campaigners and even if Hopkins comes in, they will be preferred as they understand the National Hockey League (NHL) much better.
The second major factor that leads to him being not suitable for Avalanche is that it requires size and strength at the moment.
This strength and size can be given to Colorado in the form of Gabriel Landeskog.
Landeskog is six feet and 196 lbs which makes him one of the physically dominant players in the sport.
He is one superb player who is said to be the future Jarome Iginla and some refer to him as being the most ready player to play in the NHL.
He will bring size and strength in Avalanche who can most definitely improve on what Colorado did this season.
Edmonton Oilers: Adam Larsson
The number one pick in the 2011 drafts of which there is a high chance that it may happen is that off Adam Larsson heading to Edmonton Oilers.
Oilers is another team that may be looking at Hopkins to join hands with it.
However, Oilers doesn’t need a player who can score as it already has a very good player for that, Taylor Hall, who scores game in and game out.
The alarming factor for Oilers to look up is that it was the third team to give up most goals after Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers.
Jordan Eberle is another one of the players in Oilers who can and has paired up with Hall to bag goals consistently.
Now, what it needs is to construct a strong backline which can cut down the attacks and decrease the number of goals it concedes.
Larsson is most definitely a solution for the problems that Oilers is facing at the back as his huge figure can play a very important role in strengthening Oilers at the back.
His ability to handle pressure makes him even more important since Oilers somewhat lack that at the moment.
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