Patrick Stefan

Im not always on this board but do you guys think he was a waste of a first round pick?

Im not always on this board but do you guys think he was a waste of a first round pick?

first round pick - no
#1 pick - yes
IMO

1 Atlanta Patrik Stefan C Long Beach IHL 1
2 Vancouver Daniel Sedin LW MoDo Sweden E1
3 Vancouver Henrik Sedin C MoDo Sweden E2
4 NY Rangers Pavel Brendl RW Calgary WHL 2
5 NY Islanders Tim Connolly C Erie OHL 4
6 Nashville Brian Finley G Barrie OHL G1
7 Washington Kris Beech C Calgary WHL 7
8 NY Islanders Taylor Pyatt LW Sudbury OHL 8
9 NY Rangers Jamie Lundmark C Moose Jaw WHL 3
10 NY Islanders Branislav Mezei D Belleville OHL 9
11 Calgary Oleg Saprykin C Seattle WHL 10
12 Florida Denis Shvidki RW Barrie OHL 5
13 Edmonton Jani Rita RW Jokerit Finland E5
14 San Jose Jeff Jillson D Michigan CCHA 11
15 Phoenix Scott Kelman C Seattle WHL 6
16 Carolina David Tanabe D Wisconsin WCHA 27
17 St. Louis Barret Jackman D Regina WHL 15
18 Pittsburgh Konstantin Koltsov W Cherepovets Russia E9
19 Phoenix Kiril Safranov D SKA Russia E6
20 Buffalo Barrett Heisten LW Maine HE 14
21 Boston Nick Boynton D Ottawa OHL
22 Philadelphia Maxime Ouellet G Quebec QMJHL G2
23 Chicago Steve McCarthy D Kootenay WHL 13
24 Toronto Luca Cereda C Ambri Switz. E14
25 Colorado Mikhail Kuleshov LW Cherepovets Russia E8
26 Ottawa Martin Havlat C Trinec Czech E3
27 New Jersey Ari Ahonen G JYP Finland EG2
28 NY Islanders Kristian Kudroc

Some great defensemen, but when it comes to forwards are there that many F you would rather have then Stefan?

I would say that Stefan is clearly the best two way forward of the lot, and he set another career high in goals, assists, and points this season.

Just a pretty bad draft overall IMO. I have no problems with the Thrashers taking Stefan #1 overall.

You have to go all the way down to Barrett Jackman at 17th to say we made the wrong pick (arguably). IMO I would take Stefan before any other guy taken from 2-16. The Sedins are good...TOGETHER but I'm glad we didn't deal for both of them becuse I like how we've been drafting in the 1st lately (Heatley, Kovalchuk, Lehtonen, Slater, well maybe Phaneuf instead of Coburn but it's still up in the air). After Jackman the next best guy is Havlat at 26. At the time Stefan was the best player...I can name worse 1st overall's than Stefan

IMO we got one of the top 3 picks from all players selected in the 1st round (I kind of look at it as if you got one Sedin you only got 1/2 a player)

Oops, I forgot Boynton, but still out of the 4 it's still not as bad as what people think.

It was a weak year.
Nobody would have reached for Jackman with the top pick.
I think DW did the right thing.

[QUOTE=btn]1 Atlanta Patrik Stefan C Long Beach IHL 1
2 Vancouver Daniel Sedin LW MoDo Sweden E1 Better than Stefan
3 Vancouver Henrik Sedin C MoDo Sweden E2
4 NY Rangers Pavel Brendl RW Calgary WHL 2
5 NY Islanders Tim Connolly C Erie OHL 4
6 Nashville Brian Finley G Barrie OHL G1
7 Washington Kris Beech C Calgary WHL 7
8 NY Islanders Taylor Pyatt LW Sudbury OHL 8 Case could be made
9 NY Rangers Jamie Lundmark C Moose Jaw WHL 3
10 NY Islanders Branislav Mezei D Belleville OHL 9
11 Calgary Oleg Saprykin C Seattle WHL 10
12 Florida Denis Shvidki RW Barrie OHL 5
13 Edmonton Jani Rita RW Jokerit Finland E5
14 San Jose Jeff Jillson D Michigan CCHA 11 More potential
15 Phoenix Scott Kelman C Seattle WHL 6
16 Carolina David Tanabe D Wisconsin WCHA 27
17 St. Louis Barret Jackman D Regina WHL 15 Defintely better
18 Pittsburgh Konstantin Koltsov W Cherepovets Russia E9
19 Phoenix Kiril Safranov D SKA Russia E6
20 Buffalo Barrett Heisten LW Maine HE 14
21 Boston Nick Boynton D Ottawa OHL Defintely better
22 Philadelphia Maxime Ouellet G Quebec QMJHL G2 Will be a Number one Goalie
23 Chicago Steve McCarthy D Kootenay WHL 13
24 Toronto Luca Cereda C Ambri Switz. E14
25 Colorado Mikhail Kuleshov LW Cherepovets Russia E8
26 Ottawa Martin Havlat C Trinec Czech E3 Way better
27 New Jersey Ari Ahonen G JYP Finland EG2
28 NY Islanders Kristian Kudroc

QUOTE]

In short Daniel Sedin,Taylor Pyatt,Jeff Jillson,Barret Jackman,Nick Boynton,Martin Havlat and potentially Maxime Ouellet were better picks but stefan was a good top 10 pick but not worth #1 overall

In short Daniel Sedin,Taylor Pyatt,Jeff Jillson,Barret Jackman,Nick Boynton,Martin Havlat and potentially Maxime Ouellet were better picks but stefan was a good top 10 pick but not worth #1 overall

I think for the Thrashers he's turned out really good (as of late this season) as a defensive forward. I wouldn't take any of the people you listed over him, well for Atlanta at least. He's never going to be a big goal scorer or anything, but he really helps out a lot with the penalty kill, which is a type of player the Thrashers need (seeing as how the defense bites).

Most of the players you gave were defensemen and well the Thrashers don't do so well with devolping defensemen. They've never really had a good defenseman to train the young guys, so I don't think those guys would do as well as they have with Atlanta.

The Thrashers have two offensivily gifted young fowards. Looking back I think the Thrashers drafted a type of player they need now but didn't have as much of a need for a few years ago.

The only players that I would take ove Stefan would be Havlat, Boynton and Jackman. And probably either Sedin and Ouellete. But he fits nicely right behind them.

I think for the Thrashers he's turned out really good (as of late this season) as a defensive forward. I wouldn't take any of the people you listed over him, well for Atlanta at least. He's never going to be a big goal scorer or anything, but he really helps out a lot with the penalty kill, which is a type of player the Thrashers need (seeing as how the defense bites).

Most of the players you gave were defensemen and well the Thrashers don't do so well with devolping defensemen. They've never really had a good defenseman to train the young guys, so I don't think those guys would do as well as they have with Atlanta.

The Thrashers have two offensivily gifted young fowards. Looking back I think the Thrashers drafted a type of player they need now but didn't have as much of a need for a few years ago.

Really?Jackman could be a top 2 defenseman and Havlat could be a top line player

Really?Jackman could be a top 2 defenseman and Havlat could be a top line player
I'm sure they will both be great players and will be great on any team. But at the same time I tend to think of the Thrashers as far as devolping players as being a black hole almost. They've gotten better, but the only young defensemen they've really devolped into a NHL player is Exelby. Havlat I've never seen play, but I've heard he is more of an offensive player than a defensive one, which Stefan has (well appears to have) turned into in the last few months. Without him, I think the penalty kill would be much less effective. He's becoming a good player, and he has potential, just not as the type of player everyone thought he would be.

Now if you asked me who I think should have been the number one pick with no regard to the team choosing, yeah I would pick another guy every time. If the Thrashers hadn't gotten Kovalchuk, Heatley, and Lehtonen, then I would think they needed to pick someone else.

Barret Jackman would of been nice, but you can play this same hindsight game every year (I'd prefer Phaneuf over Coburn for instance). The thought of Havlat, Heatley and Kovalchuk makes me drool, but Stefan looked the best at the time, what else can you do.