A Draft Worthy of Respect

[The Comish]

I admit I’m fascinated with the NHL Entry Drafts of the past. I like to go back to different years and see where players were taken and how they’ve done since being drafted. Looking at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of what looks to be bona-fide NHL players to come out of this draft. The lack of potential “busts” in the first round is amazing. The only first rounder to not yet play an NHL game is the Rangers Hugh Jessiman. Both Jessiman and the Kings Brian Boyle, whose first taste of the NHL came earlier this year (five points in eight games), may fall under the category of big players taking longer to develop.

Okay so there was no Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, Thornton, Lecavalier, etc, in this draft, but it more than makes up for the lack of a superstar with incredible depth throughout. Already, 18 players have over 200 NHL games under their belts.

Other first-rounders who are touch and go right now as NHL regulars include Eric Fehr, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Anthony Stewart, Jeff Tambellini and Shawn Belle. That’s only seven out of 30 players that aren’t NHL regulars as of this year. Here’s the complete first round in order of selection (GP-Pts as of 20 Mar 08):

1-Marc-Andre Fleury Pit (166gp, 71W, 10 SO, 3.03, .903)
2-Eric Staal Car (321-276)
3-Nathan Horton Fla (283-187)
4-Nikolai Zherdev Clb (275-178)
5-Thomas Vanek Buf (237-188)
6-Milan Michalek SJ (232-151)
7-Ryan Suter Nas (222-68)
8-Braydon Coburn Atl (128-46)
9-Dion Phaneuf Cal (235-152)
10-Andrei Kostitsyn Mon (105-62)
11-Jeff Carter Phi (217-127)
12-Hugh Jessiman NYR (0-0)
13-Dustin Brown LA (262-133)
14-Brent Seabrook Chi (224-83)
15-Robert Nilsson NYI (121-58)
16-Steve Bernier SJ (169-89)
17-Zach Parise NJ (235-155)
18-Eric Fehr Was (41-9)
19-Ryan Getzlaf Ana (212-174)
20-Brent Burns Min (259-88)
21-Mark Stuart Bos (106-10)
22-Marc-Antoine Pouliot Edm (71-16)
23-Ryan Kesler Van (230-78)
24-Mike Richards Phi (203-134)
25-Anthony Stewart Fla (46-5)
26-Brian Boyle LA (8-5)
27-Jeff Tambellini LA (75-16)
28-Corey Perry Ana (208-123)
29-Patrick Eaves Ott (168-76)
30-Shawn Belle Stl (9-1)

It’s not only the first round that is impressive, it’s the potential of some of the players taken in later rounds. Second round picks included Patrice Bergeron (239-189), Matt Carle (148-62), Shea Weber (154-69) and Patrick O’Sullivan (119-66). If you like penalty minutes, Daniel Carcillo (68-24, 373 PiM) and Zack Stortini (88-12, 294 PiM) were third round selections. Round five has some promise with Lee Stempniak (212-114) and Brad Richardson (136-40). Round seven included the likes of Nathan Paetsch (118-33) and Joe Pavelski (120-60). Round eight can boast three NHL players in Tobias Enstrom (76-37), Dustin Byfuglien (95-41) and Shane O’Brien (154-36). Montreal took Jan Halak (21gp, 12W, 3 SO, 2.64, .914) in the ninth round, 271st overall.

As for reasons why this draft class is so remarkable? This is the fourth season in the NHL for many of these players, a traditional breakout year. I’ve also heard the theory that due to the lock-out in 2004-05, the players gained a year of experience in the minors without the distractions of call-ups. That could be part of the reason or it could just be that this was an exceptional draft year.

Going back to the 2002 or 2001 drafts, they should both be better due to having more time to develop.

2002
1-Rick Nash Clb
2-Kari Lehtonen Atl
3-Jay Bouwmeester Fla
4-Joni Pitkanen Phi
5-Ryan Whitney Pit
6-Scottie Upshall Nsh
7-Joffrey Lupul Ana
8-Pierre-Marc Bouchard Min
9-Petr Taticek Fla
10-Eric Nystrom Cal
11-Keith Ballard Buf
12-Steve Eminger Was
13-Alexander Semin
14-Chris Higgins Mon
15-Jesse Niinimaki Edm
16-Jakub Klepis Ott
17-Boyd Gordon Was
18-Denis Grebeshkov LA
19-Jakub Koreis Pho
20-Daniel Paille Buf
21-Anton Babchuk Chi
22-Sean Bergenheim NYI
23-Ben Eager Pho
24-Alexander Steen Tor
25-Cam Ward Car
26-Martin Vagner Dal
27-Mike Morris SJ
28-Jonas Johansson Col
29-Hannu Toivonen Bos
30-Jim Slater Atl

Other 2002 Notables:
36-Jarret Stoll
54-Duncan Keith
57-Matt Stajan
58-Jiri Hudler
90-Matthew Lombardi
95-Valtteri Filppula
129-Tom Gilbert
183-Paul Ranger
213-Fredrik Norrena
240-Petr Prucha
241-Dennis Wideman

2001
1-Ilya Kovalchuk Atl
2-Jason Spezza Ott
3-Alexandr Svitov TB
4-Stephen Weiss Fla
5-Stanislav Chistov Ana
6-Mikko Koivu Min
7-Mike Komisarek Mon
8-Pascal Leclaire Clb
9-Tuomo Ruutu Chi
10-Dan Blackburn NYR
11-Fredrik Sjostrom Pho
12-Dan Hamhuis Nsh
13-Ales Hemsky Edm
14-Chuck Kobasew Cal
15-Igor Knyazev Car
16-R.J. Umberger Van
17-Carlo Colaiacovo Tor
18-Jens Karlsson LA
19-Shaone Morrisonn Bos
20-Marcel Goc SJ
21-Colby Armstrong Pit
22-Jiri Novotny Buf
23-Tim Gleason Ott
24-Lukas Krajicek Fla
25-Alexander Perezhogin Mon
26-Jason Bacashihua Dal
27-Jeff Woywitka Phi
28-Adrian Foster NJ
29-Adam Munro Chi
30-Dave Steckel LA

Other 2001 Notables:
32-Derek Roy
49-Mike Cammalleri
55-Jason Pominville
63-Peter Budaj
71-Tomas Plekanec
95-Patrick Sharp
99-Ray Emery
151-Kevin Bieksa
176-Marek Zidlicky
214-Cristobal Huet
227-Marek Svatos
232-Martin Gerber
253-Petr Cajanek

If you had to pick a fantasy team from only one of these draft years (2001-2003), which one would you choose?

Thanks for reading this far down. It says here that when all is said and done, this draft will go down as one of the best in recent NHL history.

[doulos]

It really is disgusting how good of a draft year 2003 was. To see that almost every single player in the first round is an NHLer and that a good majority are impact players is remarkable.

You could make a scary NHL team JUST out of guys drafted in 2003 and they would be able to compete NOW!

[ultrawhiteness]

the theory that the lockout year helping the 2003 class with an extra development year is interesting. i doubt theres any way to prove that huh?

[The Comish]

Yeah the extra year of development SHOULD apply to the 2002 and 2001 class as well. Wasn\'t my theory, just floating what I\'ve heard. I think it was just a very deep draft.

[plug]

Commish, love your articles.... but my question is, are any Dmen going to have an outcoiming paty like Green(2004) or Burns? Coburn and Suter are the 2 that I\'m most curious about.

[The Comish]

Thanks plug, sorry about being so late on this reply - I was on vaction last week!

To answer your question - I don\'t see Coburn with a much higher point upside than what he\'s given us this season. I could see Suter having a nice increase in his points totals next season to maybe 40-45.

Two other young defensemen who could bust out points wise next season are the Sabres Andrej Sekera and the \'Hawks Cam Barker.

Once the Leafs management is able to move either Kaberle or McCabe out of Toronto, Anton Stralman has intriguing upside.

I like Chris Campoli to show a nice increase in points next season as \"the man\" on the point.

I really like Jack Johnson in LA, but he\'s really two or three years away from break out numbers offensively. Once Rob Blake is out of the picture and the kid realizes he can play in this league, he\'s going to be a keeper.

Hope that helps!

[plug]

I\'m really bad at saying thanks. Comish, just doing it now and saying thanks for your opinions!.

[notubble]

just checked this thread out....

How great a feeling it is to see post lockout draft picks by NYR be absolute shit.

Jessiman...montoya...blackburn....im actually happy we got Sjostrom

[ultrawhiteness]

to be fair, dan blackburn would have been a real nice goalie for you guys. i saw him stonewall the hitmen in the WHL when he played for Kootenay and he was just stellar.

just a freak accident that resulted in nerve damage on his glove hand. remember when he tried to make a comeback using a blocker on both hands?

[flexraid]

Im most interested in these two

8-Braydon Coburn Atl (128-46)
9-Dion Phaneuf Cal (235-152)

I wonder if Calgary WAS disappointed the hometown D-Man didnt make it to #9, and they had to draft the kid from Edmonton!! Then, how do they feel now about it?

[ultrawhiteness]

don\'t kid yourself flexraid

dion was in red deer, being coached by two sutters. we will probably never see darryl sutter crack a smile that big ever again... or at least until we win the cup.

[doulos]

ultrawhiteness wrote:

don\'t kid yourself flexraid

dion was in red deer, being coached by two sutters. we will probably never see darryl sutter crack a smile that big ever again... or at least until we win the cup.

So then no, not ever again...

[flexraid]

Im relatively new to this hockey stuff, so I am learning as I go along, but thats a good piece to know. Ive always wondered about that.