Day 2 of the NHL Draft was more eventful for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They traded skilled, but often injured, winger Beau Bennett to the New Jersey Devils for a 3rd round pick (77th overall).
Bennett was a good player who just couldn't stay on the ice for the team. I have no problem with the team trading him. I have no problem with the return they got for him, it was pretty good. The team lost me on what they used the pick on.
Also from PensInsideScoop
on Hall: "Tough as nails. Loves to fight and throw bombs." I think Pittsburgh will love this kid. Good size, long limbs. Plays with snarl. Top fighters in this class. Finishes checks. Compared: McQuaid
Hall has decent mobility and footwork. But isn't going to push the pace or join the rush. More stay-at-home, tough, physical, nasty Dman
Really? That's the pick? That is the complete opposite of what drove the Penguins to their fourth Stanley Cup. This is a wasted opportunity. People go out of their way to talk up draftees and if the best you can come up with is an Adam McQuaid comparison and talk about toughness then you wasted a pick.
Here is some information I found on CHL defensemen and their likliehood of playing 100 NHL games based on their offensive ability. I took this information from the
Blue Bullet Report
I used 179 first year draft eligible defensemen who were drafted in the top 90 overall, between 1998 and 2010. Of these 179 defenseman, 22% of them have played at least 100 NHL games while maintaining a career ATOI of 18:30. So where is the cut-off?
The magic number, for adjusted PPG for a defenseman, is 0.44. Of the 56 defensemen that have an adjusted PPG of 0.44 or better, 46% of them have played at least 100 NHL games while maintaining a career ATOI of 18:30. In comparison, only 11% of the 123 defenseman, with an adjusted PPG of 0.43 or less, have played at least 100 NHL games while maintaining a career ATOI of 18:30. Therefore, the defenseman who have an adjusted PPG of 0.44 are four times as likely to be career 18:30 minute per game defenseman than those that do not. It is clear to see those defensemen who can create offense are more likely to be quality NHL defenseman, compared to those that cannot.
Connor Hall sits at 0.23 points per game last year. If he can't drive offense in juniors he isn't going to do it in the pros. Why bother drafting limited players? Take chances on high skill players who might flame out. At least they have a ceiling.
So again, good value on the Bennett trade, but it was wasted. I'd rather have the skilled forward who is always injured. This was a freebie to take a chance on somebody skilled. The team whiffed.
Earlier in the round the Penguins selected a forward and a goaltender.
Kasper Bjorkqvist is the forward and goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Interesting to see a goaltender taken so high. Only reason to do something like that is if you plan on moving one.
The goalie that is moved may eventually be Marc-Andre Fleury but it won't be before the season starts
Calgary was very smart and didn't pony up for Marc Andre Fleury. They went for the underrated Brian Elliott for a second round pick. He's cheaper to acquire and cheaper on the cap. Can't blame the Flames at all for going in that direction. By all accounts Fleury has put together two decent seasons in a row 2014-16. This is true. He had an EVSV% of .930. Elliott in that same time frame is at .932. For his Blues career (2011-16) he was at .941 which leads all NHL goaltenders.
With the Flames not needing a goaltender the market shrinks even more for the Penguins. Dallas was another destination talked about with Fleury. They may be going in a different direction as well.
Expansion draft rules aside I still believe Marc-Andre Fleury's cap space is more valuable than him splitting starts with Matt Murray.
Thanks for reading!
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