Leafs Trade Up For Franchised-Man
By Mike Beasley /
Toronto Maple Leafs Interim GM Cliff Fletcher wasn’t fooling around during his first Draft with the hockey club since 1996.
Fletcher and the Leafs were all business prior to and during the recent NHL Draft at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa as the Toronto franchise looked to rebuild and retool for their future.
Fletcher started making moves the night before the draft acquiring F Jamal Mayers from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the Leafs 2008 third round pick (70th overall).
Toronto had been scheduled to select seventh overall in the first round, but the 72-year old Leafs GM had other plans.
The Leafs worked out a deal with the New York Islanders that enabled them to move up two spots into the fifth spot.
The Islanders ended up trading their first round pick in the 2008 Draft (fifth overall) to Toronto for the Maple Leafs’ first round selection in 2008 (seventh overall).
The Leafs used the fifth pick to select D Luke Schenn from the WHL Kelowna Rockets.
The 6-2, 216-pound rearguard became the highest drafted Maple Leaf since Scott Thornton was taken third in 1989.
F Jimmy Hayes was the Leafs next pick in the second round (6first overall). The Boston-native played for Lincoln in the USHL last season.
Toronto didn’t have a third round pick but chose C Mikhail Stefanovich from the QMJHL Quebec Remparts in the fourth round (98th overall).
The Leafs then had three consecutive picks in the fifth round. D Greg Pateryn (128th) from Ohio in the USHL, C Joel Champagne (129th) from the QMJHL Chicoutimi Sagueneens then German-born forward Jerome Flaake (130th).
Toronto made G Grant Rollheiser from the BCHL Trail Smoke Eaters their sixth round (158th overall) pick then closed out the draft selecting Camrose Kodiaks D Andrew MacWilliams in the seventh round (188th overall).
Habs Wheel And Deal On Draft Day
By Mike Beasley /
The Montreal Canadiens wasted little time making a splash at this year’s Draft.
Habs GM Bob Gainey pulled the trigger on much anticipated trade involving Calgary Flames LW Alex Tanguay before the first round began.
Montreal was originally slotted for the 25th overall spot but the Canadiens used that pick along with their second rounder in 2009 to acquire the St. Justine, Quebec-native.?In addition to Tanguay, Montreal received Calgary’s fifth round pick (148th overall) in 2008.
Montreal went south of the border for their second and third round picks.
RW Danny Kristo was drafted in the second round (56th overall) out of the USA U-18 Program.
Kristo chipped in with 31 points in 47 games with the United States Development Team.
RW Steve Qualier was the club’s third rd pick (86th overall) from the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL. At 6-3 190 pounds, the Arvada, Colorado-native will add some size on right wing to the Canadiens roster.
Peterborough Petes G Jason Missiaen was Montreal’s fourth round choice (116th). Missiaen played 22 games for the Petes last but at 6-7, the Chatham, Ontario-native takes up a lot of the net and moves extremely well for a tall netminder.
Montreal then used their newly acquired fifth round pick to select Russian F Maxim Trunev (138th overall). Trunev skated with Cherepovets 2 in Russia, last winter.
The Habs didn’t have a pick in the sixth round but ended their selections at the 2008 Draft with C Patrick Johnson in the seventh round (206th).
Sens Get Their Man In Swedish Blueliner
By Mike Beasley /
Draft day started off with the Ottawa Senators announcing that they had put G Ray Emery on waivers.
Later in the day, the Senators started building their future.?Ottawa and the Nashville worked out a deal that saw the Predators trade their 2008 first round pick (15th overall) for the Senators first round pick in 2008 (18th overall) and third round pick in 2009.
The 2007 Eastern Conference Champions flew under everybody’s radar as they selected Swedish D Erik Karlsson with the upgraded spot in the Draft order.
Karlsson played with Frolunda last season, the same club Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson skated for prior to his arrival in Ottawa.
Ottawa’s second round pick (42nd overall) was D Patrick Wiercioch who suited up for Omaha in the USHL last year. The Senators had the early pick as a result of a three-way deal involving Chicago and San Jose in July 2006.
C Zach Smith was the club’s third round selection (79th overall) after two productive seasons with the WHL Swift Current Broncos.
Ottawa then chose twice in the fourth round picking up F Andre Petersson (109th) from Sweden’s HV 71 Juniors then C Derek Grant (114th) from the Langley Chiefs in the BCHL.
In the fifth round, Ottawa GM Bryan Murray didn’t have to look too far to make his next move, choosing D Mark Borowiecki (139th overall) from the CJHL Smiths Falls Bears.
Ottawa traded their sixth round pick to Chicago before finishing the day selecting Swedish LW Emil Sandin in the seventh round (199th overall).
Oilers Select Talented WHL Sniper
By Scott Fisher /
Sam Gagner isn’t the biggest guy in the NHL. And he seems to be working out just fine.
So, the Edmonton Oilers didn’t hesitate to select a player similar in stature when Jordan Eberle was still available with the 22nd pick.
The Regina Pats sniper potted 42 goals in 72 games with the Regina Pats last season.
And Eberle, 5-10 and 173 pounds, is a lifelong Oilers fan.
After GM Kevin Lowe snapped up Eberle, he had to wait until the fourth round to head to the podium again.
The Oilers selected Swedish defenceman Johan Motin 103rd overall. He is projected as a strong, physical D-man who takes care of his own end first.
Edmonton picked winger Philippe Cornet, who plays for 2009 Memorial Cup host Rimouski in the QMJHL, in the fifth round before selecting Finnish centre Teemu Hartikainen and Medicine Hat Tigers blueliner Jordan Bendfeld in the next ?two rounds.
Lowe said prior to the draft he was interested in acquiring a second or third round pick, but decided the asking price (a player off his roster) was too high.
The Oilers did leave the draft table with a diverse group of prospects: an elite scorer in Eberle, some grit in Cornet and some toughness with Bendfeld.
Eberle, of course, is the key.
He plans to add some size before rookie camp in the fall. Few expect the youngster to make an immediate jump to the NHL.
But then, hardly anyone expected Gagner to stick with the big club immediately, either.
Flames Add OHL-er And Trade For Cammalleri
By Scott Fisher /
There were three big stories surrounding the Flames on the opening day of the 2008 NHL Draft.
First, GM Darryl Sutter acquired offensive sparkplug Mike Cammalleri from the L.A. Kings in a three-way deal.
Sutter gave up the club’s first round pick (17th overall) in the deal, but received Montreal’s first rounder (25th overall) in exchange for centre Alex Tanguay.
And finally, the Flames used the pick to select centre Greg Nemisz of the OHL Windsor Spitfires. He was a teammate of Flames prospect Mickey Renaud, the Spitfires captain who sadly passed away suddenly earlier this year.
Nemisz, a 6-3, 197-pounder is projected as an impact power forward, but the Flames also hope they added a number of other players they hope to see on the roster in the future.
Calgary selected centre Mitch Wahl from the Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs with the second round pick acquired in the Cammalleri deal.
The club selected three more forwards in Lance Bouma (Vancouver Giants, third round), Nick Larson (USHL Waterloo, fourth round) and Ryley Grantham (Moose Jaw Warriors, sixth round).
In the days leading up to the draft, Sutter made no secret of the fact he was interested in drafting forwards.
He did just that.
The Flames GM was also able to free up Tanguay’s $5.25-million contract from the books, giving him additional room under the salary cap to pursue free agents.
Canucks Draft Potential Future Captain
By Dhiran Mahiban /
Vancouver picked up five prospects at this year’s NHL Draft: two forwards, a pair of defenceman and a goalie.
Going tenth overall was 5-11 Cody Hodgson from the Brampton Battalion of the OHL. The playmaking centre tallied 40 goals and 45 assists in 68 games with the Battalion.
According to scout Shane Malloy, Hodgson could use two years of work prior to jumping to the show.
“He needs to work on his initial quickness,” said Malloy. “He can use another gear in his foot speed, but that’s something he’ll get better at as he gets stronger and increases his strength.”
In round two, Vancouver took 6-2 defenceman Yann Sauve from St. John of the QMJHL. The Quebec-native is known as a defensive defenceman who Malloy sees as a future three or four type blueliner.
Vancouver didn’t pick again until the fifth round taking local product Prab Rai from Seattle of the WHL.
The 5-11 forward is known for his excellent speed, but the question with Rai, according to Malloy, is his ability to get physical and take a hit to make the play.
In the sixth round, the Canucks took 19-year-old Norwegian forward Mats Froshaug. Froshaug spent the past season in a Junior league in Sweden.
Lastly, with their seventh round selection, Vancouver took goaltender Morgan Clark, the son of goaltending coach Ian Clark. The Texas-native spent the past season with Red Deer. |
