NHL draft losers
When it comes to the 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft, some teams fared better than others. Here are the ‘losers’ of this year’s draft:
Vancouver Canucks: The Canucks simply had no means of being a winner in the draft. They had no picks within the top 100 and only five picks in total. Their top selection is Massachusetts high school left winger Brandon McNally. McNally has fourth-line potential, but that’s about it.
The Canucks basically sacrificed their entire draft in order to get immediate defensive help by trading for Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard. We’ll only know if the decision was worthwhile in a few seasons.
Philadelphia Flyers: To Philadelphia’s credit, they strengthened their underrated roster efficiently throughout the off-season with some smart signings, like that of Nik Zherdev. When it comes to the draft though, the Flyers didn’t really do much.
The Stanley Cup finalists had no picks until No. 89, which they used on Lewiston MAINEiacs centre Michael Chaput. Chaput has shown himself to be a good skater, and little else, in the minor leagues. For him to pan out, he needs to do develop some aggressiveness and bulk up his physique and add some consistency to his play.
All in all, the Flyers may have not drafted a single player who will set foot on the NHL ice.
Toronto Maple Leafs: The Maple Leafs didn’t have any first-round options and for some reason decided to trade up in the second-round to select Brad Ross with the 43rd pick.
Ross is a tough aggressive forward in the vein of Darcy Tucker, though it is worrisome to note that Tucker was much more offensively productive at the same point in his career. Ross’s in-your-face type of play has been effective for Portland in the WHL, but he doesn’t have the size to be a pest on the NHL level just yet.
An moderate possibility for the Leafs is Greg McKegg. The Erie Otters forward can play centre and left wing, but needs to work on his off-puck play if he wants to have any sort of chance at making the NHL.
Ottawa Senators: The Senators only had four picks, and none of them were within the top 75. Ottawa traded their No. 16 pick to the St. Louis Blues for Swedish defensive prospect David Rundblad. Rundblad has been developing well over at the Swedish Elitserien and has slowly developed some offensive capabilities.
Rundblad is the highlight of the Senators’ draft, and that was just a lazy move to get a prospect who has improved since drafting rather than selecting one of their own.
New Jersey Devils: The Devils’ best pick was a Jonathon Merrill at No. 38. The Devils got lucky that Merrill’s draft stock had dropped so much due to off-ice issues, as talent-wise he is most certainly a first-rounder who could go on to feature in the NHL.
Merrill showed a lot of potential on the United States Development Team and could be a force to be reckoned with on the blue-line, eventually. Other than that the Devils had no first-round picks and did nothing that was exciting or worth mentioning.
Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens’ biggest mistake is the overvaluation of USDT defenseman Jarred Tinordi. Tinordi is big and strong, but has presented a lack of ability in getting physical. Tinordi also has shown very little ability to contribute to the power play, which severely decreases his value as a defenceman.
Although he may perhaps be a strong defender in the NHL one day, Tinordi is just not a smart pick at No. 22, especially given that most teams had him at around 40.
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