By Brian Metzer
(This technically falls under the “Diary of a Mad Metz” category)
Draft day – the first step towards rebuilding, retooling or reloading for all 30 NHL franchises. You can bolster your depth chart, your lineup or your trade chips, depending on where you fall in the pecking order of the NHL.
In just 30 minutes the Colorado Avalanche will be on the clock to select what could be a franchise changing player for them. Will they make the pick? Will they trade it? No one is sure, but if you listen to what they have been saying, they will be selecting Nathan MacKinnon rather than stud defenseman in the making Seth Jones.
The draft floor is jam packed and the teams are ready for action. There is a ton of trade chatter according to multiple sources around the league. Will any of those talks yield moves? We will see shortly, but Pierre Lebrun of ESPN has said that a league executive told him that there could be upwards of 10 deals happening today.
That sort of intrigue is what makes this event fun. The fact that it is just days before the start of the NHL free agency period makes it even more exciting. Hopefully the day lives up to the build up!
Stay tuned here throughout as this will be updated with news, notes, and factoids. Keep an eye on Timeonline.com tonight for some of my coverage there as well that will focus specifically on the Penguins draft.
Get ready people… NHL Draft is GO in 17 minutes.
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The Penguins get themselves back into the 2nd round by sending Tyler Kennedy to the San Jose Sharks for the 50th selection. They should get themselves a decent player with that selection. This is a very deep draft.
According to reports, Ray Shero felt that Kennedy would benefit from a change of scenery. He is probably right. Kennedy was a good soldier here, but never really was able to maintain the level of play that he displayed two seasons ago when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were out injured.
Though Kennedy was qualified by the Penguins, it will be up to the Sharks to negotiate a new deal with him.
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The Colorado Avalanche select – from Halifax — Nathan MacKinnon.
The Avs were not lying! They went with the guy that they had been hyping for the better part of two weeks. MacKinnon will definitely sell some tickets for the team and become a great contributor for the team, however, they will still have to address how they are going to stop other teams from scoring goals against them.
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The Florida Panthers make a slightly shocking selection and call out Sasha Barkov’s name, leaving Seth Jones on the board again. Barkov as described by the ISS — Great all around player with tremendous hockey IQ and the playmaking ability to amplify the skills of those around him.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning select Nathan MacKinnon’s teammate, Jonathan Drouin. This kid is a human highlight reel and will be a great compliment to Steven Stamkos and the heir apparent to Marty St. Louis!
ISS — Finesse player with the effort level and hard-working attitude to go with his offensive skill.
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Nashville finally calls out the name of a relieved, but agitated Seth Jones. That is a great get for them at pick four. Imagine a blue line of he and Shea Weber!
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Carolina selects Elias Lindholm from Brynas in Sweden.
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Calgary, gets a great Motley Crue — Kickstart My Heart intro and then selects Sean Monahan, who is going to be a great player!
ISS – Elite playmaking and vision off the wing combined with dominant puck possession.
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The Edmonton Oilers select d-man and nephew of Donovan McNabb, Darnell Nurse.
ISS – He is ferocious defender who excels physically. Great skater who often joins the rush.
ISS style compares to — Brent Seabrook
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3:52 PM — The New York Islanders have sent forward prospect Nino Niederreiter plus a 3rd round selection (7o overall) to the Minnesota Wild for Cal Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck was a junior teammate of John Tavares.
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The Buffalo Sabres select defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from TPS Turk.
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Wowza! The Devils just traded the 9th selection in the draft to the Canucks for goalie Cory Schneider. Huge move for the Devils! Heir apparent to Marty Brodeur.
Where does this leave Roberto Luongo? Guy has got to be hating life.
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The Canucks utilize the ninth selection in the draft that they just acquired from the Devils to pick center — Bo Horvat.
ISS — Horvat is a 200 foot workhorse who is developing a dynamic power game on the puck. ISS compares him to Ryan O’Reilly.
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The Dallas Stars select Valery Nichushkin, who surprisingly was still on the board at 10. They also offered us an opportunity to hear some more Pantera in the building as the Stars theme that the band recorded several years back was played as they went up.
Nichushkin is going to be a great player — ISS — 1st line offensive threat. Can be an offensive centerpiece. Show surprising abilities in defensive situations. The ISS compares him to Jaromir Jagr.
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The Flyers surprisingly go off the board a bit and select Samuel Morin from Rimouski, who was the ISS’s 32nd ranked player.
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The Phoenix Coyotes select son of Tie Domi, Max Domi… the younger Domi plays a vastly different style to that of his father. He should help the Yotes who can always use more goal scoring and skill.
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Mike Colligan points out that Ray Shero was absent from the Penguins table for upwards of 30 minutes. He has since returned and hasn’t made any erratic movements or announcements.
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The Winnipeg Jets select Joshua Morrissey with the 13th selection in the NHL Draft. He was the 21st ranked ISS player. There was plenty of talk about teams perceptions of these players being vastly different after the top ten, which is why you are seeing some guys being selected above their ranks.
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Jarmo Kekäläinen gets a mic hand off from John Davidson and selects Alexander Wennberg for his Columbus Blue Jackets. Wennberg has been compared to a previous Jackets first rounder, Jakub Voracek.
ISS – Very good secondary offensive weapon with room to grow into an impact player.
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Garth Snow goes to the podium and selects Ryan Pulock, who heads to the stage while “Crowd Chant” from Joe Satriani plays.
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The Buffalo Sabres make their second selection of the round snatching Nikita Zadorov, who was the 8th rated player by the ISS. Sort of surprised that he lasted this long, but the Sabres have got to be pleased about his availability this late. The ISS compares him to Jared Cowan.
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The Ottawa Senators select, from Edmonton in the WHL, Curtis Lazar. Lazar is compared to Dustin Brown and is evaluated by the ISS as such: 2nd/3rd line player with PP potential, could evolve into top line sniper.
Gary Bettman went up to announce a trade between the Red Wings and Sharks and boos immediately rained down on him. He smirked and said “I have a trade to announce. Do you want to hear it!?”
They did, but they still booed.
The Sharks hit the podium and immediately make their selection… no thank yous, no pleasantries, just action. They select Mirco Mueller from Everett. Always love those Silvertips!
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The Columbus Blue Jackets select Kerby Rychel, while the Detroit Red Wings select Anthony Mantha.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs step to the podium and call out the name of Frederik Gauthier from Rimouski.
Ray Shero looks to be having a prolonged conversation with David Poile, Predators GM.
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If I were an opposing GM I might have screamed out “Reeeeeach” when the Flames stepped to the podium and selected the ISS’s 79th ranked skater, Emile Poirier.
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The Washington Capitals selected Andre Burakowsky from Malmo.
Still trying to get my head around the fact that this entire draft is going to fit into this night.
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The Canucks finally take the ISS’s 13th ranked skater Hunter Shinkaruk, who lasted far longer than I thought he would…
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The Montreal Canadiens select Michael McCarron, the ISS’s 23rd ranked skater.
I couldn’t help but think of the House of Pain lyric — “I’m taking you back to Malcolm McLaren” when I heard this selection called out…
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The Anaheim Ducks select Shea Theodore, from Seattle in the WHL. They seemingly took far longer than the allotted time to do so, but that could just be me sort of clock watching.
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Columbus makes another first round selection and grabs Marko Dano from Slovan in the KHL…. and the Flames grab Morgan Klimchuk.
and finally, the Blackhawks finish things off with the selection of Ryan Hartman…
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Between rounds I went down to partake of the media meal, which entailed a boxed lunch… you could choose between turkey, roast beef or veggie… I went with the Turkey. Wishing I would have gone with the Roast Beef. Hindsight is always 20-20.
Round two is underway. I will not waste your time with each selection here, as you can find that plenty of other places, but I will chime in with important news.
Something that qualifies as important — the Sabres trade Andrej Sekera to the Carolina Hurricanes for the 35th pick and Jamie McBain.
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The Penguins must really like Tristan Jarry, a goaltender who spent last season playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings, because they felt compelled to move the 50th and 89th picks in the draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets to move up six spots to the 44th spot in the draft to select him.
Round 2 – Pick #44 – traded picks 50 and 89 to acquire the selection.
Name: Tristan Jarry – Goaltender
Western Hockey League – Edmonton Oil Kings
Birthdate: April 29, 1995
Height – 6’1.5”
Weight – 178
ISS Scouting Report: Jarry played the year behind one of the top goaltenders in all of Major Junior Hockey but still managed to showcase himself incredibly well when his opportunities arose. He is a very focused and confident goaltender with great low reactions and quick lateral movements. He has excellent rebound control with his pads and has gotten the reputation as a kid who just stops pucks.
2013 stats: 27 games played – 18-7 – 1.61 gaa – .936 Save%
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The Toronto Maple Leafs acquire David Bolland from the Chicago Blackhawks for a collection of picks.
The Blackhawks also ship Michael Frolik to the Winnipeg Jets for two draft picks.
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The Penguins have made their selection in the third round and have snatched Jake Guentzel, a center from the USHL. Here are his deets.
Name: Jake Guentzel – Center
United States Hockey League
Birthdate – Oct 6, 1994
Height – 5-foot-9
Weight – 157 pounds
ISS Scouting Report: Guentzel is a creative and electric player who displays very good skills. He is capable of centering your number one line and playing on the point on the power play. He brings a great combination of skating, speed, and balance and hockey sense and has a great work ethic. He answered several questions about his lack of size and production last season when he averaged over a point-per-game.
2013 stats: 60 games played – 29 goals – 44 assists – 73 points – 24 penalty minutes
