Ice Hockey: NHL Draft 2004 Coverage

The NHL draft is well underway. 10 picks already in the first round.

1 (1) Washington ALEXANDER OVECHKIN LW
2 (2) Pittsburgh EVGENI MALKIN C/W
3 (3) Chicago CAMERON BARKER D
4 (4) Carolina (from Columbus) ANDREW LADD LW
Notes: Carolina traded the 8th and 59th picks to Columbus to obtain Ladd
5 (5) Phoenix BLAKE WHEELER RW
6 (6) New York ALVARO MONTOYA G
7 (7) Florida ROSTISLAV OLESZ C
8 (8) Columbus (from Carolina) ALEXANDRE PICARD LW
9 (9) Anaheim LADISLAV SMID D
10 (10) Atlanta BORIS VALABIK D

Interesting stuff so far. A couple surprises. And a standing ovation for The Great One.

I thought Barker was only supposed to go at 5 or 6

More from round 1.

11 (11) LA Kings LAURI TUKONEN W
12 (12) Minnesota A.J. THELEN D
13 (13) Buffalo DREW STAFFORD RW
14 (14) Edmonton DEVAN DUBNYK G
15 (15) Nashville ALEXANDER RADULOV RW
16 (16) New York PETTERI NOKELAINEN W
17 (17) St. Louis MAREK SCHWARZ G
18 (18) Montreal KYLE CHIPCHURA C
19 (19) New York (from Calgary) LAURI KORPIKOSKI W
20 (20) New Jersey (from Dallas) TRAVIS ZAJAC C
21 (21) Colorado WOJTEK WOLSKI LW

Originally posted by sniper474
I thought Barker was only supposed to go at 5 or 6

The NHL draft is so weird. Since players can get drafted, but stay in college or high school or even juniors, it makes choosing players a little different.

Chicago needed a defensemen very very badly. Barker was the top American defensemen.

The first 2 picks were expected, then everything predicted tends to fall apart.

Round 2 is over, here is what happened:

1 (31) Pittsburgh JOHANNES SALMONSSON W DJURGARDEN
2 (32) Chicago DAVE BOLLAND C/RW LONDON
3 (33) Washington CHRIS BOURQUE C CUSHING ACADEMY
4 (34) Dallas (from Columbus) JOHAN FRANSSON D LULEÅ
5 (35) Phoenix LOGAN STEPHENSON D TRI-CITY
6 (36) NY Rangers DARIN OLVER C NORTHERN MICHIGAN
7 (37) Florida (from Florida through Colorado and NY Rangers) DAVID SHANTZ G MISSISSAUGA
8 (38) Carolina JUSTIN PETERS G TORONTO ST. MICHAEL'S
9 (39) Anaheim JORDAN SMITH D SAULT-STE-MARIE
10 (40) Atlanta GRANT LEWIS D DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
11 (41) Chicago (from L.A. through Philadelphia) BRYAN BICKELL LW OTTAWA
12 (42) Minnesota ROMAN VOLOSHENKO LW KRYLJA
13 (43) Buffalo MICHAEL FUNK D PORTLAND
14 (44) Edmonton ROMAN TESLIUK D KAMLOOPS
15 (45) Chicago (from Nashville) RYAN GARLOCK C WINDSOR
16 (46) Columbus (from NY Rangers through Calgary) ADAM PINEAULT RW BOSTON COLLEGE
17 (47) NY Islanders BLAKE COMEAU RW KELOWNA
18 (48) NY Rangers (from Edmonton) DANE BYERS LW PRINCE ALBERT
19 (49) St. Louis CARL SÖDERBERG C/W MALMÖ
20 (50) Phoenix (from Dallas through Florida and NY Rangers) ANVER LISIN RW SARATOV
21 (51) NY Rangers (from Montreal) BRUCE GRAHAM C MONCTON
22 (52) Dallas (from San Jose) RAYMOND SAWADA RW NANAIMO
23 (53) Florida (from Calgary) DAVID BOOTH LW MICHIGAN STATE
24 (54) Chicago (from Dallas) JAKUB SINDEL C SPARTA
25 (55) Colorado VICTOR ORESKOVICH RW GREEN BAY
26 (56) Dallas NIKLAS GROSSMAN D SÖDERTÄLJE
27 (57) Edmonton (from New Jersey and Phoenix) GEOFF PAUKOVICH LW US NAT'L U-18
28 (58) Ottawa KIRILL LYAMIN D CSKA
29 (59) Columbus (from Toronto through Carolina) KYLE WHARTON D OTTAWA
30 (60) NY Rangers (from Philadelphia through Phoenix) BRANDON DUBINSKY C PORTLAND
31 (61) Pittsburgh (from Vancouver) ALEX GOLIGOSKI D GRAND RAPIDS
32 (62) Washington (from Boston) MIHAIL YUNKOV C/W KRYLJA
33 (63) Boston (from San Jose) DAVID KREJCI C KLADNO
34 (64) Boston (from Detroit through LA) MARTINS KARSUMS RW MONCTON
35 (65) Tampa Bay MARK TOBIN LW RIMOUSKI

Round 3 is also done. Here we go.

1 (66) Washington SAMI LEPISTO D JOKERIT
2 (67) Pittsburgh NICK JOHNSON RW ST. ALBERT
3 (68) Chicago ADAM BERTI LW OSHAWA
4 (69) Carolina (from Washington through Colorado) CASEY BORER D ST. CLOUD STATE
5 (70) Calgary (from Columbus) B PRUST C
6 (71) Buffalo (from Phoenix) ANDREJ SEKERA D TRENCIN
7 (72) Colorado (from NY Rangers) DENIS PARSHIN LW CSKA
8 (73) NY Rangers (from Florida) ZDENEK BAHENSKY C LITVINOV
9 (74) Anaheim (from Carolina) KYLE KLUBERTANZ D GREEN BAY
10 (75) Anaheim T BRENT C
11 (76) Atlanta SCOTT LEHMAN D TORONTO ST. MICHAEL'S
12 (77) Ottawa (from Los Angeles) SHAWN WELLER LW CAPITAL DISTRICT
13 (78) Minnesota PETER OLVECKY W TRENCIN
14 (79) Minnesota (from Buffalo through Nashville) CLAYTON STONER D TRI-CITY
15 (80) NY Rangers (from Edmonton through Phoenix) BILLY RYAN C CUSHING ACADEMY
16 (81) Nashville VACLAV MEIDL C PLYMOUTH
17 (82) NY Islanders SERGEI OGORODNIKOV C TVER
18 (83) St. Louis VIKTOR ALEXANDROV C/W NOVOKUZNETSK
19 (84) Montreal ALEXEI YEMELIN D SAMARA
20 (85) Pittsburgh (from Calgary) BRIAN GIFFORD C MOORHEAD
21 (86) Dallas JOHN LAMMERS LW LETHBRIDGE
22 (87) Ottawa (from Colorado through Nashville) PETER REGIN C/W HERNING
23 (88) Washington (from New Jersey through Dallas) CLAYTON BARTHEL D SEATTLE
24 (89) Ottawa JEFF GLASS G KOOTENAY
25 (90) Toronto JUSTIN POGGE G PRINCE GEORGE
26 (91) Vancouver (from San Jose through Dallas) A EDLER C
27 (92) Philadelphia ROB BELLAMY RW NEW ENGLAND
28 (93) Columbus (from Vancouver) DAN LACOSTA G OWEN SOUND
29 (94) San Jose (from Boston) THOMAS GREISS G KÖLN
30 (95) Los Angeles (from San Jose through Montreal) PAUL BAIER D DEERFIELD ACADEMY
31 (96) Columbus A PLEHANOV C
32 (97) Detroit J FRANZEN C
33 (98) Calgary (from Tampa Bay through Columbus) DUSTIN BOYD C MOOSE JAW

Just a note, The Wild pick another player from Tencin Slovakia, the home town of Marian Gaborik.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Alexander Ovechkin became the second Russian player to go No. 1 in the NHL draft when he was picked by the Washington Capitals on Saturday. (First Round)

Yevgeny Malkin went second, to Pittsburgh, marking the first time Russians have been selected with the top two choices.

Ovechkin, 18, was the top-rated European skater by the NHL's Central Scouting department. He was praised for his speed, size and stickhandling as well as his willingness to jump back on defense and land checks.

Washington earned the right to the top pick by winning the draft lottery. After entertaining as many as 15 trade offers by clubs looking to move up, the Capitals decided the best move was to draft Ovechkin.

"Ovechkin has always been number one," Capitals general manager George McPhee said. "We could have done a trade for volume, but none of those players would have been as good as this guy."

He joins Ilya Kovalchuk as the only Russian players to be chosen with the first pick. Kovalchuk, who tied for the NHL goal lead this season with 41, was picked No. 1 by Atlanta in 2001.

Originally posted by crayon

Originally posted by sniper474
I thought Barker was only supposed to go at 5 or 6

The NHL draft is so weird. Since players can get drafted, but stay in college or high school or even juniors, it makes choosing players a little different.

Chicago needed a defensemen very very badly. Barker was the top American defensemen.

The first 2 picks were expected, then everything predicted tends to fall apart.

If this is the cass then why have a draft at all? If you select the player wouldnt you expect him to be playing for your team the next season? But if he has the right to go back to college or even the juniours, what is the purpose of the draft?

Originally posted by Ben
If this is the cass then why have a draft at all? If you select the player wouldnt you expect him to be playing for your team the next season? But if he has the right to go back to college or even the juniours, what is the purpose of the draft?

Not sure why they do it the way they do it. There are several good players that have been drafted in the last few years that are still playing with their college or junior teams.

As long as the players do not sign a contract, they can continue to play amatuer hockey.

The team that drafts a player has the players rights for 6, 7, or 8 years or something like that. So there is no rush. And you don't want them getting hurt if they are only 18 and not quite big enough yet.

Also, since this is the case, serious injuries are fewer and lifespan of a hockey player tends to be a little longer than football, maybe even basketball. In football you want that talent right now, because blown knees and other career ending injuries are much more frequent.

But this actually might help out the NHL teams if there is a lockout this season. You don't have to sign your draft picks to keep them, so they can still be yours the next time the NHL plays, then you can sign them, and they have had another year of hockey experience.

[Edited on 6/27/2004 by crayon]