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Meltzer's Musings: Voracek, Russians in 2015 Draft

June 22, 2015, 10:49 AM ET [240 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
MELTZER'S MUSINGS: JUNE 22, 2015

1) Flyers All-Star right winger Jakub Voracek was honored with the 2014-15 Golden Stick Award, which goes annually to the best Czech player in any league. Voracek, who was in the thick of the Art Ross Trophy race all season and later captained the fourth-place Czechs at the IIHF World Championships, accepted the award in Prague on Saturday.

2) Can you imagine the storylines if the Flyers draft Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman Ivan Provorov with the seventh overall pick of the first round and then, based upon how the next
21 picks fall, end up taking either Cape Breton right winger Evgeny Svechnikov or Lada Togliotti right winger Denis Guryanov with the 29th overall pick?

There would be all sort of narratives that fall along these lines: Wow, Ron Hextall really is changing the culture. He even drafted two Russians in the first round of the NHL Draft.

In reality, "culture change" would have very little to do with the picks. Provorov, who has been playing and going to school in North America since he was 14, would be a top 10 pick in this year's draft regardless of his nationality. Svechnikov, who is also playing in North America, has both NHL size and skill. it would a surprise if he fell from his projected middle first-round range to the end of the round where the Flyers have the pick acquired from Tampa Bay Lightning.

In Guryanov's case, a first-round selection by Philadelphia would be more a reflection of changes in the bigger picture -- the expected creation of a multi-year NHL transfer agreement with the Russian Hockey Federation and the economic downturn in Russia with a corresponding effect on the KHL and its affiliated junior (MHL) and minor (VHL) leagues.

3) The Hockey News' 66th overall ranking on Guryanov is way out of line with where all the scouting services and the mainstream pundits place him. Big and strong on his skates with above-average stickhandling and shooting ability, the winger is ranked 24th overall by International Scouting Services, 21st overall by Bob McKenzie on the TSN list, 20th by Craig Button and 22nd by McKeen's. Central Scouting placed him seventh on its European list behind.

While THN is a highly respected source that bases its ratings on input from a panel of NHL scouts, whose anonymity is scrupulously protected, the publication is far from infallible when it comes to ranking and projecting European players in particular in their Draft Preview. Infamously, THN described Peter Forsberg in 1991 and a second-rounder who could slip into the late first round before the Flyers took him sixth overall. More recently, THN omitted Erik Karlsson from its top 50 in 2008 before the Ottawa Senators selected the future Norris Trophy winner in the first round.

That is not to say that Guryanov is a lock for future NHL stardom or even that he is absolutely certain to get taken in the first round. Rather, it simply means that Guryanov has some good company in being projected much lower by THN's scout contributors than other NHL franchises are likely to value him in this draft.

4) Twelve years ago on Sunday, the NHL conducted the first round of the now-legendary 2003 NHL Draft. The Flyers selected Jeff Carter 11th overall with a pick originally belonging to the Phoenix Coyotes (and Mike Richards with the 24th overall pick. On June 22, 2003, the second through ninth rounds were held.
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