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Thoughts on the 2012 NHL Draft Lottery
Blog — By PuckCentralHQ on April 12, 2012 4:46 PMI’d like to start by saying this is my first blog post for GongShow, and my first article I’ve written that wasn’t for my own blog, I’m very excited to be a part of such a great bunch of beauties! Oh and please go easy on me at first!
Anyway I’m going to start by talking about my thoughts on last nights eventful Draft Lottery!. As we all know Edmonton won the draft lottery, which gives them their third straight first overall pick (It’s okay guys,you can relax now and unclench your fists, we’re all pissed). As if Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins weren’t enough the hockey gods have to torcher us even more, but it’s alright karma will get them in the next 3 years when all their players rookie contracts run out! (Good luck paying for that,suckers!). Okay, maybe I’m being a bit hard on the Oilers, it’s not their fault that they won the lottery.
Nail Yakupov, the Russian Sniper from the Sarnia Sting is likely to go first overall, which doesn’t exactly fit their needs. What they need is defenseman, and his name is, Ryan Murray. Obviously the Oilers could take anyone they want since they pick first but taking anyone other then Yakupov would be stupid, just plain stupid, so in my opinion they’ll probably trade the pick to the Blue Jackets and take Ryan Murray at the number 2 spot. Seems WAY too easy,I know. You can bet other teams are going to be in on this, and why wouldn’t they be? Yakupov is a stud and is suppose to be the best thing since Sid the Kid. So here’s a few scenarios that I think could go down, and since I’m suppose to be writing about Junior hockey I’ll throw in MY top three picks, or at least my top three picks at this moment, and a brief write up on each player!
Scenario 1: Oilers keep the first overall pick and draft Nail Yakupov first overall. This would give their first line an NHL12 GM-Mode type feel: Hall-R.N.H.-Yakupov.
Scenario 2: Oilers trade their first overall pick to Columbus for their second overall pick straight up. Oilers get that Defenseman they need/want and Columbus gets the best player in the draft, and probably the new face of their franchise. Plus they get the sex appeal of having the first pick, which will surely impress all 25 fans (I’m kidding, doesn’t Columbus have a good fan base? I don’t know, who cares)
Scenario 3: Oilers trade with a third party team. Me being a Leafs fan I’ll use them in my example (Yeah I know, here I am ripping on the Oilers and Blue Jackets and I’m a freakin’ Leafs fan…). The Oilers trade the first overall pick to the Leafs for their fifth overall pick, one of their young Defenseman, and a second rounder. This could work with basically any team in the top 10 since there’s so many good defenseman available, but the farther back you go in the draft order, the better the player,or second pick will have to be.
It’s still too early to tell obviously, but at this point I think scenario 2 is most likely to happen.
My Top 3 Picks:
1) Nail Yakupov,RightWing- He’s an elite talent, who can change a game in a split second. He has ridiculous speed, a lethal shot, and dirty hands, plus his celly’s are world class. People say he doesn’t have heart or drive but they obviously haven’t seen him play because he has it all. His biggest knock is his lack of defense, but teams aren’t drafting him for his defense and he doesn’t hurt his team, he just doesn’t help out too much.
2) Ryan Murray,Defenseman- Probably the best defenseman in a VERY deep defensive draft. He is very calm in all situations, and has immense poise with and without the puck. Has great leadership, and will likely be a future captain for whoever drafts him. Doesn’t do one thing spectacular but he does everything really, really well. Isn’t expected to put up a lot of points in the NHL.
3) Mikhail Grigorenko,Center- He’s a big (6’3,200lbs) highly skilled center. He’s fast, with incredible hands, and wicked release. He’s strong in both ends but is MUCH better when he has the puck. He makes the players around him better. Some question his constant effort, but most say he does everything so effortlessly it makes it look like he’s not actually trying when he is.
Please share your opinions! and follow me on twitter:@PuckCentralHQ. Also check out puck-central.blogspot.com!
84 Comments
solid players
I know,eh!
ohhh fer sure !!!
yep
Sucks for CBJ but the Oilers are going to be a dynamite team with all that talent…doing it the Penguins way
They’re going to be scary good in a few years!
Oh yeah! If they don’t win the cup in the next 3 years.. Ill become a leafs fan. Hah such young talent!
I don’t know the CBJ don’t have a solid D core so they wouldn’t part with Johnson and the further back you go the more you risk losing the guys you want…. Ebs is a first line player with the oilers too and at some point having Ebs, RNH, Hall and Nail will get unaffordable…. They need a defenseman
They wouldn’t have to give up Johnson though? and CBJ don’t really have good defense, there’s worse but I wouldn’t call them solid. Murray is the person they should take if they can’t move up to first.
CBJ is a solid young D. EDM drafting an 18 yr old D doesnt do anything for them now. Need a vet D.
And sorry guys I butchered my spelling a bit!
Columbus has a great fan base when they are winning… oh wait.
But I don’t know what to expect with the draft it will be interesting to say the least.
I’m very excited for it to be honest, there’s so many “what if’s” going into it. It’s going to be a very exciting first round!
The only thing with Columbus picking up a Russian is the skepticism the organization has with them. With guys like Zherdev and Filatov leaving the team for the KHL they may have a black flag on Russian players.
I highly recomend you read my article on Nail Yakupov on my blog puck-central.blogspot.com, I talk about how these Russians want to be here. They’re the next generation of Russians, the ones who want to be here in North America, that’s why they came to the CHL, and why so many more are coming over! There should be no black flag on these guys!
** recommend
Nail is great but the Oil need to focus on D
I agree, trading the pick would make the most sense for them.
agree
Can’t wait to see these boys in a few years.
They’re going to be scary good. There’s a lot of high end talent in this draft!
Nail is going to have the biggest impact in the NHL
I agree. This kid is the real deal.
First off, welcome to the Gongshow family! Nice first article, I kinda lost touch with the draft when the Pens started winning and finally got to look forward to playoffs rather then the draft haha and I totally agree with the trade scenario 2 seems like win win for both clubs.
Thank you! I really appreciate it!.
im a big dumba fan, i think the oilers should trade down to a spot where they can grab him, plus theyll be able to get a player and a pick in the deal as well
Dumba is great but he`s more of a risk, he could slip a bit, but I think he`ll be a steal if he does slip. Just a few months ago I had him ranked second!
seen Grigorenko play couple nights ago, wont be ready for nhl for a couple years , could be a solid player tho
I’m sure he’ll be rushed in like most top prospects.
true true
oilers are going to make a cup run if a couple of years
I think you might just be right!
Would make no sense if the Oilers end up with Nail when all is said and done, need to trade the pick or trade Nail for a D man if the keep the number 1.
Well Nail is going to be a great player but I think D is definitely their big need and this is the draft to adress it, makes most sense to trade down.
Loving the comments guys! Thank you.
good pick
oilers should trade down, get a high pick and a player and try to get dumba
Couldn’t agree more! I don’t know if that’s what they’ll do but thats what I’d do.
Crazy stuff
i wonder if the flames will ttry to grab one of those picks
Hoping the leafs will swap picks with edmonton
crazy to see edmonton win the lottery 3 years in a row, it’ll be interesting to see how good they can be once their super young picks gain a little experience. they’ll be fun to watch for years to come for sure
nails probably the best player there
I hope ur suggestion of trading the first pick to the leafs acctually pans out
Ah, who am I kidding, nothing good ever happens to the leafs
really looking forward to this years draft
I hope the Oilers pic a d man. Even if you score 7 goals every game, you still lose if they score 8!!!
solid
I think Murrays gonna be a stud
I really agree with that fact that the oil should trade their pick, they really need a defencemen whether its dumba or Murray.
I also agree that in 3 years the Oil front office are going to have some tough decisions to make with all these young guys coming off their entry deals. My friends had this discussion and compared it to the Hawks team that had to be broken up after the cup, but unlike the Hawks the oilers wont have a cup to show for their effort
Is anybody NHL-ready?
Well Yakupov,Murray,Forsberg are for sure but then theres other players that might not be but will be in the NHL anyway, which will be like Grigorenko,Galchenyuk,Reinhart, and I’m sure a bunch of others.
unreal
Nail is an unreal player
if i was a columbus fan i would be so pissed
Nail is a beauty
Going to be interesting to see what the Oil do
one does not simply out tank edmonton
yakupov would be under used in edmonton
Lucky 3yrs in a row
oilers!
Blue Jackets
Beauty
go oilers
habsss got third. i don’t even think it’ll do anything for them -.-
HABS
I think scenario 2 is good but it makes no sense for Edmonton to draft down 1 spot, they could just take Murray first and let Yakupov go to the Jackets. If they were going to trade to the Jackets they would have to ask for something else like CBJ 1st and either their 2nd or 3rd for Edmonton’s 1st, otherwise trading makes very little sense if it’s just switching 1st pick for second. Other than that I really enjoyed the article. keep it up!
great insight
they better rock the gongshow tie during their draft day!
Unreal!
oilers are soo lucky
it almost seems like its fixed
http://virtualincomesystems.com/lxstang91
so fixed
great draft
beautyy for sure
nicee
pliers are lucky
sick
nice stuff
good stuff!
cool
cool
solid