Damien Cox Thinks Leafs Drafted Dumb
June 23rd, 2008 by SteveApparently the Leafs chose Size over Skill at this years draft.
Apparently the player considered the best shut down defender available in the draft who plays physically imposing, dominating hockey, was a BAD pick, because well… he’s not Scott Niedermayer. Let’s just forget the fact that every time Niedermayer has won the Stanley Cup he’s played alongside a Chris Pronger or Scott Stevens.
Apparently Jimmy Hayes and Mikhail Stefanovich will never be able to find the net because their eyes are too far above ice level. Hayes has been described as a solid skating, mobile, power forward with excellent hockey sense who likes to distribute the puck, similar to Ryan Getzlaf. He also has drawn comparisons to his cousin Keith Tkachuk. I can’t wait to read the next Cox article telling Leafs fans what crappy players Keith Tkachuk and Ryan Getzlaf are and how stupid teams were for drafting a guy who has scored 500 goals in the NHL and one of the most dynamic young Centres in the NHL today. Brian Burke must be kicking himself for winning a Stanley Cup with Getzlaf.
Stefanovich was the top rookie scorer in the QMJHL, but don’t let that confuse you. He’s Belarussian and over 6 feet tall so that probably means he’s the next Andrei Nazarov (who cares that he’s Russian) with fists like cinder blocks and a face that resembles Sloth from the Goonies. I mean it’s not like Johan Franzen has any size, he’s only 6′2″ and 210 lbs… why would anyone want a power forward with a good shot and stick handling ability? CRAZY TALK I SAY!
Damien Cox does have a point when he addresses the fact that the Red Wings won this year’s Stanley Cup with skill. He’d also point out that their closest challengers were the Pittsburgh Penguins. Just in case you were wondering, here’s a quick run down on who the Detroit Red Wings Drafted:
30th - Thomas McCollum, G, Guelph Storm (OHL). He’s 6′2″ and 205 lbs. He had a 25-17-6 record a 2.50 GAA, and a .914 save percentage.
91st - Max Nicastro, D, Chicago Steel (USHL). He’s 6′2″ and 189 lbs. He had 20 points in 58 games, to go along with 78 penalty minutes (Luke Schenn ahd 28 points in 57 games in the WHL, to go along with 100 penalty minutes… he’s obviously less “skilled”).
121st - Gustav Nyqvist, C, Malmo J20 (SuperElit), Committed to U. of Maine in the NCAA. Considered a strong skating, skilled, all around forward. He’s 5′10″ and 165 lbs. I’ll enjoy watching Hayes take the body on him with regularity in Maine’s NCAA match ups against Boston College. Red Wings fans can look forward to Nyqvist lining up as a scoring threat around 2012 or so probably.
151st - Julien Cayer, C, Northwood Prep (NYHS), listed at 6′4″, 185 lbs (he’s really small and skilled isn’t he?). He played a year in the Quebec Junior A league for the St. Jerome Panthers, then another year at Northwood College Preparatory School in NY State. He’s committed to follow his older brother’s footsteps to Clarkson University in the fall. He isn’t overly physical, and is pretty rail thin. He has a bit of a temper, but he’s more noted for his heavy wrist shot, and a bit of skill. He struggled with the Panthers 2 years ago which dropped him in the NHL central scouting rankings a fair bit. He had around 20 goals and 20 assists in 30 games with Northwood, but High School stats don’t really project well to developmental leagues. The Wings won’t really know what they’ve got until they see the numbers he puts up in the NCAA.
181st - Stephen Johnston, LW, Belleville Bulls (OHL), 6′1, 175 lbs (what is it with the Wings getting guys with height and no weight?). He posted 9 points in 56 games last year… not exactly awe inspiring numbers, but he made the jump from high school hockey in Guelph to the OHL last year, so that isn’t really a knock on him as a player. He definitely had a larger impact in the playoffs, when team leader Shawn Matthias was sidelined with a bout of Tonsilitis. In the Bulls’ first round series against the Peterborough Petes, Johnston scored 3 goals (exceeding his regular season total of 2) and 2 of those were game winners. The only NHL team that had contacted him by Thursday night was the Atlanta Thrashers. Basically the kid played with a lot of intensity and the team noticed him when they were checking out Jan Mursak (one of Matthias’ linemates with the Bulls). No idea what his plateau will be, but he’s unlikely to be the next Datsyuk or Zetterberg.
211th (last overall pick) Jesper Samuelsson, C/F, Vita Hästen, Sweden 1 (3rd division), listed at 6′, 180 lbs. He has put up very good numbers in the Swedish 3rd division, and will suit up for Timrå of the SEL next season. Apparently he’s a good skater with lots of hockey sense and decent stick handling skills, lots of confidence and good skill with the man advantage. He’s actually 20 years old so this is sort of like picking up Fabian Brunnstrom only he’s even MORE off the radar. No idea how 3rd division stats will compare to those in the NHL or the SEL even. Guess the Wings will have a better idea after next year. He’s another boom or bust type selection, but who knows with the Wings.
Ok so the Wings go for skill and energy… which is great - but I think Damien Cox is missing something here. It’s all well and good to take flyers on players with the 211th pick, but that’s the RED WINGS. They just won the Stanley Cup. They would have to not win the cup for another 42 years to be in the same position as the Leafs. The Leafs can’t afford to be pulling out the names of the top scorers of every 3rd division and Junior A league around the world as their ticket to success. That isn’t what the Wings have been doing, and it isn’t what the Leafs should start trying to do.
Basically what I’m saying is, the Wings have won a lot, and it has a lot to do with players like Yzerman (4th overall), Lidstrom (53rd overall), Fedorov (74th overall, World Junior Champ, line mate of Alex Mogilny and Pavel Bure), Fetisov (12 year CSKA Moscow veteran when he came to the NHL, Multiple World Championships), Larionov (8 year CSKA Moscow veteran when he came to the NHL, already had the nickname “the professor”, multiple World Championships), Chelios (40th overall, won a cup with Montreal, the Norris Trophy, and a World Cup with the USA), Schneider (44th overall, World Cup with USA), Rafalski (won 3 cups with NJ Devils, and a World Cup with the USA, before Detroit signed him), Vernon (56th overall, won the cup with Calgary), etc. In other words, high draft picks that have played at the highest level for a very long time. These aren’t random draft picks that luckily panned out.
CAN PEOPLE STOP PRETENDING DETROIT DID THIS WITH NOTHING? Yes they build a good team, but they didn’t win a cup by scouring the back woods of Colombia for the great unknown Latin American hockey player… this is bordering on ridiculous.
Posted in Prospects
13 Responses to “Damien Cox Thinks Leafs Drafted Dumb”
By eyebleaf on Jun 23, 2008
that is Cox’s motto: “bordering on ridiculous”
i read his column this morning and was left simply shaking my head.
By Marco on Jun 23, 2008
He’s an idiot…
By LeaferSutherland on Jun 23, 2008
If the Leafs went with Filatov instead, you know we’d all be subjected to reports of how small he is, how he might just pack up and go back to Russia, etc. I’m even positive we’d be told that we needed a “safer” pick and one that knew the defensive side of the game.
Beyond Cox’s article, I have just spent a couple hours reading columns as bad or even worse. Some by our own local media, while other’s abroad. Many of whom claim that Fletcher did the wrong thing in trading up for Schenn, giving up too much valuable futures for a defender not known how to skate end to end rushes on a regular basis. Apparently the going rate on a prospect some claim ito be the greatest stay-at-home-shut-down defenseman the NHL has seen in 20 years worth of entry drafts, is an Andy Wozniewski and a John Pohl, or something.
I find it rather amusing that back during the trade deadline, Fletcher was being criticized for not doing enough when he traded Hal Gill for a 2nd and a 5th. And now he is accused of giving up the farm when trading a 2nd and a 3rd for Schenn.
Ad getting back to Cox for one last thing… Detroit drafted Niklas Kronwall with a first round pick. And won a cup with him, despite never squezzing 8 goals out of him in one NHL season to date.
By Steve on Jun 23, 2008
Actually Kronwall came specifically to mind when I was considering the article myself. More noted for his punishing hits and his skill in his own end, despite putting up points in the AHL. He was 5th in the league in +/- for D-men at +25. That being said, he put up 35 points which puts him 29th in the NHL in scoring from the blue line. So yes, while he’s no Neidermayer, he’s a tad better than Hal Gill.
Should Schenn pan out to be a 20 year talent in the Defense Department, we could be looking at another Scott Stevens type player… who also went #5 overall. He played 1 full season of Junior before making the leap from the Kitchener Rangers to the Washington Capitals. He also played in the run and gun 80’s so he put up a fair number of points early on in his career. In fact his career high of 78 points might be a bit out of reach for Schenn, but we’ll see in due time I guess. I don’t remember ever thinking of Stevens as the “end-to-end” rush type of D man, but he racked up a LOT of assists on some bad teams, and some very good ones.
By scotty on Jun 23, 2008
Cox is a moron and the Leafs could win the Stanley Cup and he’d still say they made bad decisions in the next day’s artcile. He has an unparalleled bias against everything Leafdom so even when he does come up with accurate assessments, it’s difficult to see if they’re true. Yes Filatov, Boedkker and Hodgson may one day put up big numbers and yes Schenn won’t win any scoring titles, but how many players felt motivated to step over the blue line when they saw Stevens, Foote, Hatcher or McSoreley pointing straight in their direction? Cox makes it sound like Schenn has no skill. Did he even watch the World Juniors? Not to mention Schenn is not going to stand idly by and skate back to the bench when one of his teammates gets speared by Sean Avery (unlike many of the current Leafs). He will do the opposite and he’s done it for every team he’s been on. He may not become as scary and effetive as Stevens, but an Adam Foote clone is no slouch and every team would want one (people may forget that “skill-less” Adam Foote won an Olympic gold medal for Canada and he didn’t do it from the bench).
How soon people forget that only one year ago the Ducks won the Cup as much with size and intimidation as the Wings won with skill and team defense. Or have Ottawa fans already forgotten how their “skilled” team crumpled to the checking and toughness of the Ducks. Schenn is going to provide Toronto intangibles for years to come that no Mikkel Boedkker or Colin Wilson could, as good as those players could become!
By Steve on Jun 23, 2008
However Schenn pans out, I feel absolutely no pangs of regret in his selection, or the selection of other highly touted players who may have dropped in the draft.
I personally argued repeatedly on this site that the Leafs needed an injection of skill in the form of Boedker, Hodgson, Wilson, or Filatov… but that was because I felt the Leafs would be frozen out of any of the top 5 rated players. Getting the best defensive minded D man available in the draft is far from a mistake. The Leafs haven’t had a stopper D man of the stud variety in eons.
I look forward to following the development of these draft picks, and am glad that the Leafs went with size AND skill. If they can follow this year’s draft up with another 2 or 3 solid drafts of talented young men, the Leafs should be positioned to succeed in the playoffs in 5 or 6 years. I’m ok with the drought hitting 47 or 48 if it means the Leafs will be contenders for the next 10 to 15 years.
Maybe I’m crazy, but I’d rather the Leafs were a perennially successful team, rather than another clone of the Lightning, or Hurricanes.
By bkblades on Jun 23, 2008
It doesn’t look like Cox is the only one squeezing out every bit of his journalistic expertise, in order to bash the Leafs.
Alan Muir, resident hockey “insider” (boob, rumour monger, take your pick) at SI.com, pretty much bashes the Leafs for picking a shutdown defenceman that in his words “you’re supposed to pick up with those second- and third-rounders.”
Oh, Stefanovich? He’s a bust of a pick and will ruin the draft as a 4th rounder. You know, since he’s not a Staal.
http://www.sportsillustrated.com/2008/writers/allan_muir/06/23/draft.review/index.html
By Steve on Jun 23, 2008
Yeah the Stefanovich comments are a bit asinine. He went from being the top ranked prospect in the Q (according to the CHL’s own rankings) to 98th overall because of questions about work ethic, grit, and his dedication to hockey? Lets remember this is a kid that moved to the other side of the planet to improve his chances of being drafted… that doesn’t imply a lack of dedication to hockey to me. I mean for chrissakes, he was rated 14th overall by McKeen’s in their midterm rankings, and Luke Schenn was ranked 2nd overall.
Adjusting to the QMJHL from a soviet background can’t exactly be easy… but I sincerely doubt that his motivations to play are the issue. It’s far more likely he struggled with a combination of home sickness and culture shock.
I know he’s played 2 seasons for Quebec, but I have a really hard time seeing how questions about his “work ethic” suddenly appear on the scene in the span of 3 or 4 months, after he’s been playing in North America for a year and a half. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. If you insulate the kid properly, and bring him into a comfortable environment, I definitely think this can work out well for the Leafs. How often do you get to select the top rated WHL (Schenn) and QMJHL (Stefanovich) prospects in the SAME draft year?
Oh and Sports Illustrated’s hockey coverage is pretty atrocious by the by. That being said, if they want to pay me to write for them - I’d be up for it… someone feel free to give them the site address..
By bkblades on Jun 23, 2008
Well, if you want to write for them Steve, you’ll have to jump over the body of bluster Jim Kelly himself to have any shot. Since you write for the Leafs, you’re automatically out of the running. Sorry mate.
On the other hand, how many people actually knew Sports Illustrated writes about hockey? Now we know they still don’t. Thanks Alan!
By bkblades on Jun 23, 2008
That should have read “Since you write ABOUT the Leafs,” of course. Wish there was an edit option. Would come in handy with Cox and Muir, too. Hi-yo!
By Steve on Jun 23, 2008
Yeah, I try to not seem too pro-leafs in the bias… or anti-leafs… oh well… I’ll survive without the SI gig. That’s why I have a day job.
By Doug on Jun 24, 2008
There must have been good reasons for a knowledgeable sports writer like Damien Cox to produce such an article.
I think Damien’s editor wanted him to write an article that is critical of the Leafs draft performance. He could have done this for a few of reasons.
1st: maybe he started feeling nautious from all of the positive comments coming from Leaf fans.
2nd: Maybe he wanted payback because Cliff didn’t draft the players he wanted him to draft.
or 3rd: Maybe he was disoriented because his wife made him sleep on the couch.
By Steve on Jun 25, 2008
Damien Cox might just secretly be a Habs or Wings fan… who knows?