I've said it once and I'll say it again , with a little hindsight (not too unrealistic) even though said players would make the team better in different ways then players selected thus draft would have been different.
Pittsburg could have had E.Staal rather then Fleury and Toews rather then J.Staal.
Relevant to this discussion. Here's part three (of 4), since it's the most interesting.
The noteworthy moment comes towards the end where Boston offers the 5th + 37th pick to Washington in exchange for the 4th pick. McPhee asks who they want to pick, and Boston responds "the Swede." How different things might have been if Backstrom went to Boston and Kessel to Washington. Fun to imagine.
I actually watched all 4 parts of the video and have a couple comments:
1. I was amazed at how candid the GMs were with each other regarding who they were interested in. I would have expected at least a little bit of dishonesty.
2. lol at Ovy for being uncomfortable about talking in front of a large crowd in a foreign language. LOSER.
Agree on this, I remember that Kessel was predicted to go first whole year, but couple of months before the draft he's stocks went down a little. Can't recall why but eventually there was no consencus on how the first 3 or 4 drafts will go.
He only scored one goal at the WJHC (though he picked up ten assists) and had an up-and-down season with the Golden Gophers (spending most of the year on the 3rd line).
Equally important was that his reputation became very negative. WJHC teammate Jack Johnson called him a dirtbag and there were a lot of reports going around that he didn't get along with teammates. He became viewed as a prima donna, and someone who didn't commit 100% to his team.
Completely agree with this. Feel backstrom is slightly over-rated. He doesnt have half the compete and intensity that kessel comes out to play with. He seems to rely fully on skill, which he has a ton of. Get a spark lit under this guy and he could be one of the top 5 players in the league.
I actually watched all 4 parts of the video and have a couple comments:
1. I was amazed at how candid the GMs were with each other regarding who they were interested in. I would have expected at least a little bit of dishonesty.
2. lol at Ovy for being uncomfortable about talking in front of a large crowd in a foreign language. LOSER.
In terms of point #1, I think they know "what goes around comes around." They're being honest with each other knowing that lies will result in them being lied to.
Yet, you still see some trickery on McPhee's part in the video, though it's not straight up lies. When he talks to Boston's assistant GM, he says there are two guys they like when they clearly have their mind set on Backstrom. He even pauses for a moment, then mentions Kessel's name first (as if to imply they like Kessel more). Then there's the obvious faking of a conversation with Ross Mahoney (caps head scout) about Boston's proposal. I assume you'd see similar if in videos focused on other GMs, as well.
Completely agree with this. Feel backstrom is slightly over-rated. He doesnt have half the compete and intensity that kessel comes out to play with. He seems to rely fully on skill, which he has a ton of. Get a spark lit under this guy and he could be one of the top 5 players in the league.
Backstrom has already had a season where he's been one of the top five players in the league. Apparently he doesn't need the "compete and intensity" of Phil Kessel.
Completely agree with this. Feel backstrom is slightly over-rated. He doesnt have half the compete and intensity that kessel comes out to play with. He seems to rely fully on skill, which he has a ton of. Get a spark lit under this guy and he could be one of the top 5 players in the league.
You should watch Backstrom some more, he has just as much compete as Kessel. It seems that some people here think "XXXXXX plays on Washington, which hasn't gone far in playoffs. He must have no desire or heart."
Hindsight threads like these really make my head want to explode. The blues were just starting their rebuild. If Toews plays for the blues during those crap years, does he still become the same player he is today? Do the Bruins get the steal of a draft by getting Johnson (the consensus #1 pick) in the 5 spot? If Johnson doesn't screw up his knee early in his NHL career I think he is a completely different player. I remember being in awe of his first step and acceleration out of the zone in his first season. He was never quite able to get that back IMO. Obviously if he had played for the Bruins he wasn't going to screw up his knee on a blues golf outing. I guess I just can't evaluate things like this in a vacuum because every action has an effect on future events...
[QUOTE=dan1el;43715425]There may or may not have been a thread about this already, but I don't know.
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2-Pittsburgh takes Phil Kessel #2.
Imagine a Crosby-Malkin-Kessel power play. The other team would **** their pants. Plus how good do you think Kessel would be doing if he had one of those to guys on a line with him?
I think the Penguins and Ray Shero would stick with Staal. Don't forget he was a key piece of a team that won a cup. When you look at Staal's numbers you have to remember he gets no PP time and is in a shutdown center role. If they choose anyone over Staal, it would be Toews in my opinion. Kessel isn't a Shero type player, too one dimensional.
Even if a dman is projected to go first overall I don't think I would ever pick a dman first overall...ever. Dmen take longer to develop in the actual NHL while forwards can make an immediate impact and turn around a team.
