Speaking of Swedes, Håkan Andersson's handiwork is evident again, as Detroit selected obscure Swedish Division I forward Jesper Samuelsson with the final pick of the draft.
The 20-year-old Samulesson ripped apart Division I hockey this year (62 points in 40 games and has been signed by Elitserien club Timrå. That's not too different from the path taken by Fabian Brunnström (although he actually played as low as Division II).
By the way, yet another Brynäs affiliated goaltender went in this draft, as Nashville chose huge Anders Lindbäck (6-foot-6) with the 207th overall pick. The 20-year-old, who has dressed as a backup a few times for the Elitserien squad but has yet to appear in a game, is a project. He spent most of the season with Allsvenskan (top minor league) club Almtuna, and did not stand out apart from his size.
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With the seventh round pick (196th overall) Philadelphia acquired from Tampa Bay in exchange for Vaclav Prospal, the Flyers chose Joacim Eriksson -- Jacob Markström's backup goalie both for Brynäs' J20 SuperElit team and the Swedish Under-18 World Championships.
The Flyers traded their final pick (208th overall) to Anaheim. I assume it's for a late round pick next year.
Butterfly stylist Eriksson has decent size (6-foot-1, 189 pounds). He didn't get to play much during the J20 season prior to Markström being called up to Brynäs' senior squad in Elitserien. He dressed in 34 regular season games, starting 16 matches (3.31 GAA, .875 save percentage).
In order to get Eriksson some work, he ocassionally played for J18 team (2.31 GAA, .908 save percentage in nine regular season starts) and was also loaned to a Division I senior team, Valbo AIF (despite its name, Division I is two steps below the Elite league). Eriksson made two starts for Valbo, giving up eight goals.
After Markström was called up to the big team, Eriksson got into a groove, and played quite well for Brynäs' J20 team during the SuperElit playoffs (1.83 GAA, .942 save percentage). He earned a backup spot to Markström at the U18 World Championships, but did not get into a game.
Personally, I would have rather seen the Flyers select 6-foot-3 Leksand goaltender Eddie Läck, who has already established himself as a good young Allsvenskan goaltender and actually did as well or better than teammate Ed Belfour this year when given playing time. Eriksson, however, is two years younger than Läck, so it's not really an apples-to-apples comparison of where each player is right now.
I will reach out to my European scouting contacts in the weeks ahead for their take on Eriksson's potential.
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1:35 PM Saturday: With their sixth round pick (176th overall), the Flyers have selected Mississauga St. Michael's center Zac Rinaldo.
I don't know much about him, but will say this based upon looking at his statistics: He's got average to below average size (5-foot-11, 169 pounds), so he's not a heavyweight. Rather, he's an agitator and middleweight scrapper (191 penalty minutes in 63 games).
Rinaldo scored seven goals and 14 points this season. He was not an offensive player in Junior A hockey, either (16 goals, 32 points, 193 penalty minutes in 44 games for Hamilton in 2006-07).
Central Scouting had him rated 118th among North American skaters.
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1:18 PM Saturday: Congratulations to Ron Hextall's son, Brett, for being selected by Phoenix in the sixth round of the draft.
Brett, a forward, is headed to University of North Dakota.
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In an interview, Paul Holmgren admitted that the club would have taken top-rated goalie Chet Pickard if he'd been there at the 19th spot in the first round.
“One of the goalies we really liked went just ahead of that pick. We were in a situation where we picked one of three guys we had at three different positions, and we stuck to our list. We’re very happy with the pick," said Holmgren.
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11:30 AM Saturday: With their second pick in Round 3 (84th overall), the Flyers took Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Jacob DeSerres.
This past year, DeSerres served as backup to Tampa Bay prospect Riku Helenius, and performed well whenever he got a chance to play (2.28 GAA, .922 save percentage, 3 shutouts in 29 games -- marginally better stats than Helenius put up, actually).
In an age of butterfly goalies, DeSerres plays more of a standup/hybrid style and is considered a good skater. Like most young goaltenders, he needs some work on rebound control and stickhandling.
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11:00 AM Saturday: With most of the top goaltenders off the board, the Flyers took Rouyn defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon with the 67th overall pick. He has a big shot and pro powerplay potential but has some skating concerns.
A little bit of an off-the-board pick, with the higher rated Jyri Niemi, Michael Stone, Kristofer Berglund and Johan Motin all still available.
Bourdon was named Defenseman of the Year in the QMJHL this year and earned a First-Team All-Star selection after tallying 13 goals, 59 points, 114 penalty minutes (eight fights) and a plus-39 rating.
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10:54 PM First round of the draft is over.
I still don't quite get the Eminger trade (no way is he worth a first round pick, and I would have prefered to have seen Carlson taken with the pick). Frankly, I was totally unimpressed with Eminger in the Flyers-Capitals playoff series.
We'll see what's to come tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if the Flyers made a move to get a second round pick or they made other moves on the NHL roster.
As of now, the Flyers have these picks:
Round 2: None
Round 3: 67th overall, 84th overall
Round 4: None
Round 5: None
Round 6: 178th overall
Round 7: 196th overall, 208th overall
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10:30 PM: Flyers up next at 27th. Markström still on the board, as is Carlson.
10:38 PM: Nope. The pick is traded to Washington for Steve Eminger and the 84th pick. I'm not wild about Eminger, although he was originally a first round pick. At this point, Eminger is basically a 6th defenseman type.
Wonder what this means for Lasse Kukkonen? I suspect he's played his last game as a Flyer.
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9:45 PM Luca Sbisa is it. He's a solid all-around defenseman -- the fifth best D in the draft, in my opinion.
Sbisa earned points for leaving EV Zug in Switzerland early to play in the WHL for Lethbridge. In general, there’s no evidence that shows players who leave Europe early for the CHL do better in the NHL. It does, however, sometimes make prospects more attractive in the eyes of scouts and speed up off-ice adjustments. In Sbisa’s case, the usual “is the Swiss kid too soft” question mark was erased by the poise he showed in the Western League.
Without question, mobility is the converted forward’s calling card. He covers a lot of ground in a hurry and starts the breakout with smart, crisp passes. Just as important, he’ll take a hit to make a play. He doesn’t do much hitting, but will finish his check in the corners.
Offensively, Sbisa got out of the gates quickly, averaging nearly a point per game over the first 18 games of the season. Thereafter, he produced a modest 18 points over the final 46 games of the regular season.
Prior to the draft, a Western Conference scout said of Sbisa: “I don’t see him as a big powerplay guy, anyway, although people are going to compare him against [Mark] Streit. He’s more of a guy you might see on a second powerplay unit and who plays about 18 minutes a game. He could be more reliable defensively than Streit. As he matures, I think you’ll see a guy who’s pretty good with or without the puck.”
Sbisa isn't just a good skater, he also has good size (6’2”, 192 pounds). His pre-draft
rankings: Central Scouting #12 North American (#6 defenseman), ISS #10 overall (#5 defenseman), THN #17 overall (#8 defenseman), McKeen’s #15 overall (#7 defenseman), Redline #8 defenseman.
Note: For those who want to see Sbisa in action from this past season, the
Lethbridge archive at Hockeywebcasts.com is a tremendous resource, although it's not free.
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9:35 PM Pickard goes to Nashville one spot before the Flyers pick at 19th. I figure the Flyers will either go for Carlson, Sbisa or Del Zotto.
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8:05 PM: The Flyers have traded R.J. Umberger and the 119th pick to Columbus for the #19 and 67th pick.
Umberger and the Flyers were not close to a new contract agreement (Paul Holmgren alluded to it the other day, in saying he had not made progress on one of the impending restricted free agents).
IMO, this sets the club up to potentially take one of the two top goaltenders. The Devils have been rumored to be targeting a goalie with the 21st.
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First things first: The Flyers have denied the Sportsnet Jeff Carter report from early this morning. As of now, there's no deal.
As of 4:00 PM, the Flyers have not announced any trades to acquire new draft picks to deal existing ones. The club's current picks are as follows:
Round 1: 27th overall
Round 2: None
Round 3: None
Round 4: 118th overall
Round 5: None
Round 6: 178th overall
Round 7: 196th overall, 208th overall
PLAYING PAUL HOLMGREN-- PART I
The Flyers have pledged, as always to take the best available player in the first round, regardless of the player's position. That means if a highly rated forward falls to them in the 27th spot (and the club uses the pick), they will opt for a forward even if goaltending and defensive depth are of greater need in the farm system.
One thing that I have heard, however, is that top-rated goaltender Chet Pickard is unlikely to still be on the board when the Flyers' first pick comes up. So unless they really like Jacob Markström (who was also gone before 27th in TSN's mock draft), Thomas McCollum or Jake Allen (for whom they may be able to trade down and still get in the second round), it's unlikely a goaltender will be the best player available.
Also, in a year in which scouts consider as many as 16 defensemen potential first-round worthy selections, the odds of the pick being a blueliner are pretty high.
Rather than trying to project a specific player or potential handful of players, I will give you a personal list of the
best players available, from 1st to 30th. This is not intended to be a mock draft, predicting where I think each player will go. Beyond the top nine, the order is pretty much interchangeable.
1. Stamkos - No brainer
2. Doughty -- Potential franchise D
3. Bogosian -- Another potential #1 or #2 D
4. Filatov -- Potential first liner
5. Pietrangelo -- Top notch potential, not as advanced as Doughty or Bogosian
6. Schenn -- Shutdown D with intangibles
7. Boedker -- Outstanding speed and hands
8. Wilson -- Rod Brind'Amour style player
9. Pickard -- Best goalie in draft
10. Sbisa -- Two-way D with mobility
11. Boychuk -- Small but highly skilled
12. Meyers -- Huge and a fine skater, but a project
13. Tedenby -- Undersized, but pure offensive talent
14. Cuma -- Safe, mobile D
15. Hodgson -- Skating concerns knock him out of top 10
16. Karlsson -- Very undersized D but highly skilled
17. Del Zotto -- Needs to improve play in own end; powerplay QB
18. Bailey -- Two-way forward.
18. Beach -- Concussion and discipline issues
19. Teubert -- Nastiest hitting D in the draft
20. Eberle-- Another undersized, but skilled player.
21. Carlson-- USHL defenseman with size and two-way upside
22. Galoubef-- Already a fine college D at age 18.
23. Gardiner-- US high school defenseman. Skilled but level of competition a concern.
24. Ness -- US high school D. Very undersized but fast and skilled.
25. Markström -- Could be first Swedish goalie to be drafted in first round
26. Robak -- D with attractive speed and skills, but consistency issues
27. Wahl-- Good playmaker, size and grit are concerns
28. Gustafsson-- Injuries a concern, but has size, strength and speed.
29. Nemisz-- Size and hands, but consistency and skating issues.
30. Josi-- Very mobile D, already a regular in Swiss Nationalliga.
More to come later tonight.
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