Winners and Losers – first day:

OK, look, Ovechkin and Malkin were no-brainers. A chimpanzee could have made those picks, so they don’t count in the scoring . . .

Winners:

Edmonton. They had three of the top 44 picks, and they spread things around. They got a goalie prospect, a scoring forward, and a defenseman. There are risks . . . that Dubnyk will outgrow his position, that Schremp really does have attitude problems, and that Tesliuk will be overpowered. But this is a draft where just about any pick past, oh . . . the second one, carries risks.

Chicago. They are thin down the middle, they picked up three centers. Barker fills out a pretty good group of prospects on the blue line.

Washington. Seven picks altogether, and they drafted to need with four defensemen. Sami Lepisto might be the best value-to-position pick of all the ones they made after taking Ovechkin. If . . . and it’s a huge “if” . . . Chris Bourque ends up being the next undersized high-octane forward, McPhee will look like a genius.

St. Louis. Two goalies were selected before the Blues took Marek Schwarz, but he might end up being the best of the lot. Carl Soderberg addresses a specific need for some offense down the road, and Alexandrov might be a bargain at 83.

Losers.

Carolina. This is one reason I hope the Caps never host a draft. There is pressure to make a splash. Carolina traded up to get Andrew Ladd. He might have been there at eight. After that, they went for a goalie with the 38th pick . . . why? This was their big need? And would Justin Peters have been there at 69, where they ended up taking Casey Borer?

Dallas. The Jimmy Johnson Strategy . . . keep trading down. They did it twice in the first round, apparently knowing the guy they wanted would be available at 28, and that guy was . . . Mark Fistric. Early on, I thought he might be the Caps’ pick at 29, but the more I read the more I thought that was a reach. He might have been there at 52.

Pittsburgh. I have no idea what they’re thinking of. True, Malkin makes their draft, but it’s almost like they popped the IC Light after making that pick. Salmonsson furthers the logjam at center (on the heels of picking Malkin), but that might presage some movement there. After that . . . one scratches their head. Alex Goligoski was ranked 143rd among NA skaters at Central Scouting, but he went at 61 . . . they ranked him as a defenseman above Lepisto at 66? Nick Johnson (75th among NA skaters) went 67th . . . Brian Gifford (130thrd) went 85th. Either Craig Patrick knows something a lot of other folks don’t, or he lost his mind.

Others:

New York Rangers. It would almost be Pavlovian to say their draft sucked. It didn’t. I am not sold on Al Montoya as the sixth pick, but to get Korpikoski at 19 and Graham at 51 were good picks at those slots.

Phoenix. They bear special mention since they drafted a high schooler in the fifth slot – Blake Wheeler -- one who was the 17th ranked NA skater at CSS and 72nd in The Hockey News’ top-100. That’s called stepping out on a limb.



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Play hard, shake hands, drink beer.

"LA needs two hockey teams like Switzerland needs two navies" -- Norman Chad (from "My 10-Point Plan to Save Gary Bettman from Himself")

was it just me or did watching the Ovechkin highlights followed by everyone else just show how damn good Ovechkin really is compared to the rest of the draft?  He looked like a pro while everyone else looked like... well... like they had just been drafted...

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Don't make me angry.... you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.....

my favorite thing about the draft was how excited ovechkin looked. my wife even said "do they all get that excited? he looks so happy!" kinda refreshing after watching the nhl draft. i hope this kid embraces his role in this team and this town.