Written By: J. Henry
Offsides NHL Correspondent
The NHL draft is a time when high school, collegiate, and amateur hockey players are at the mercy of the 30 NHL teams’ countless scouts, head and assistant coaches, general managers, and owners. How a player performs is scrutinized, from his first shift to the post-game interviews. An offseason can drop a player in projected rankings from 10th to 70th. Even something as simple as a player mentioning intent to play in the KHL, the NHL’s Russian counterpart, will affect how eager teams are to pick him.
Offsides NHL Correspondent
The NHL draft is a time when high school, collegiate, and amateur hockey players are at the mercy of the 30 NHL teams’ countless scouts, head and assistant coaches, general managers, and owners. How a player performs is scrutinized, from his first shift to the post-game interviews. An offseason can drop a player in projected rankings from 10th to 70th. Even something as simple as a player mentioning intent to play in the KHL, the NHL’s Russian counterpart, will affect how eager teams are to pick him.
Being a NHL scout is one of the toughest jobs in the NHL, aside from being Sean Avery’s roommate. You are hired to analyze and predict how a 17 year old will play in 5, 10, 15 years. Will he be an offensive or defensive defenseman; will he be a top 6 forward or will he wait in the minors for someone to be injured so he’s called up. They’re expected to know the future based on watching teenagers play a game they love. It isn’t easy.
Some scouts are convinced that a player will be a superstar and will break several records (Alexander Daigle, Pavel Brendl, Eric Lindros), other scouts downplay a player’s style and say they’re either too short (Theory Fleury), stature is too small (Wayne Gretzky), or they aren’t disciplined enough (Mark Messier) to play in the NHL. The last two I named are in the NHL Hall of Fame; Fleury should expect a nomination in the coming years.
I will take a look at the first 5 picks selected at the draft in this post.
The first round of the 2011 NHL entry draft was held Friday night in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center. The coveted first pick of the draft was owned by the Edmonton Oilers, who finished last at the end of the 2010-2011 season. They chose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a center for the WHL Red Deer. Nugent-Hopkins was at the top of scouts lists as early as September 2010 and never dropped out of sight. The 6’ center had a fantastic season earning Eastern Conference All-Star First Team recognition for his league leading 75 assists and finishing fourth in points with 106.
The Colorado Avalanche chose Kitchener Rangers Left Winger Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog was chosen not only for his skills on the ice, scoring 36 goals in 53 games and a +27 rating, but also his skills off the ice. Landeskog was chosen at 17 to be the captain of the Kitchener Rangers, the youngest in 30 years. His leadership resume doesn’t end with the Rangers either, he was Sweden's U16, U17, and U18 captain. Look for Landeskog to be given the Alternate Captain ‘A’ when he makes his NHL debut, if not the Captain ‘C’.
The third pick of the draft, Jonathan Huberdeau was chosen by the Florida Panthers. He had an incredible season with the QMJHL’s St John Sea Dogs finishing with 105 points in 67 games, enough for third in the league. He didn’t stop in the regular season; in addition to scoring 30 points in 19 playoff games helping the Sea Dogs win the 2010-2011 Memorial Cup, Huberdeau won the 2011 Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy, given to the Memorial Cup MVP.
The New Jersey Devils missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1995-1996 season, but there is a silver lining to having an off-season; you get an earlier draft pick – something the Devils hadn’t had the pleasure of (outside of trading). With the fourth pick in the NHL draft the Devils chose a defenseman, Adam Larsson from Sweden. While not a points intensive defenseman, Larsson will easily gain a top 4 spot when he hits his prime in the NHL, if not sooner. Scouts say that he models his game after Nicklas Lidstrom.
With the fifth pick of the draft, the New York Islanders took Ryan Strome. The 6’1” center for the Niagara Ice Dogs scored 106 points in 65 games this past season leading the Ice Dogs to the playoffs. In his 92 games with the Ice Dogs, Strome is fourth in scoring all-time on the team and has the record for most assists (73, 2010-2011) in a season. Strome isn’t just a sniper either, he’s played defensively on a few penalty kill shifts, not without putting in a few shorthanded goals. Expect him to be a part of the Islanders team in the next 5 years, centering behind Taveres.
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