After the Awards Show fiasco, you would be forgiven if you thought the NHL Entry Draft on Friday night was for a different league. The way TSN/NHL put it on was fantastic. It moved quickly, didn't have any random celebrities and the analysis was the focus, as it should be.
Despite a lack of interesting trades, besides the Pgh/Nash one, and the fact that the top five basically went in order or their rankings, the draft was good entertainment, at least until around the 20th pick when I decided I'd had enough.
I Would have loved to see someone trade up and get the top pick, but still, considering there was only one real trade, it was a pretty fun night. Well, I guess if you're a hockey nerd it was fun, my wife did not think so and was like "What the hell is this? it's just people talking!" Then she went on to make fun of me pretty bad! Good times.
The Oilers, Gagner, Coyotes
The drafting of Leon Draisaitl gives the Oilers one of the greatest, youngest, highest ceiling top two lines anyone in the NHL has had...maybe ever. It is exciting to see what the Oilers are building, but the question right now is if Leon Draisaitl can play in the NHL next year.
Because, if he can, you have to figure the Oilers would be interested in finally trading Sam Gagner. If that is the case, I think the Coyotes need to attempt to acquire him.
Now, obviously, it should not be for Keith Yandle, but the Coyotes have some good pieces besides him that could probably interest the Oilers and I think Gagner - who once scored eight points in a game - could still develop into a top line player. Sure, he isn't your typical first line centre, but the Coyotes don't have a lot of options right now after buying out Ribeiro and maybe with Hanzal and Gagner you can have two lines that are about equal. This would also free up Antoine Vermette to be the premier third line centre he can be.
James Neal Trade
Once again, Twitter provides us with instant analysis that quickly becomes a consensus and almost them seems to prevent anybody from actually analyzing the trade.
Like most people, I was shocked to see the 40 goal scoring Neal traded for a third liner(Spaling) and a guy who hasn't scored 30 goals for 5 years (Hornqist).
I can't really pretend I think this is a good move for the Pens, but I can try to understand it.
First, Jim Rutherford is one of the most experienced GMs in hockey, and it's doubtful he's an idiot, so there has to be some rhyme or reason to the deal, right?
I see that the savings aren't huge, salary wise. But, the Penguins do get a two for one, they get grittier, they lose perhaps the league's dirtiest player, and there is reason to believe that playing along side Malkin or Crosby, Hornqvist goal totals will rise, while Neal's will fall without Malkin, making the difference less than it seems.
Then there is Spalding. My scouting report book calls him a "perfect penalty killer with untapped offense," so,maybe they like him higher in the lineup than Nashville did.
It's hard to say, personally I'd still rather keep James Neal, but I think it's important to remember GMs know players better than fans, and they know their personalities and the dressing room dynamic. To me, I don't know if it's a bad trade, but I do question if the Penguins could have gotten more for Neal. But again, who knows?
Conclusion
Overall, the draft is always one of my favorite times of year, and this year it mostly lived up to the hype. I for one am becoming a huge Gary Bettman fan too. The guy is hilarious; watching him get booed and eat it up was definitely one of the highlights of Friday night. Actually, the Flyers fans were pretty vicious and that only made the night better. If I had one complaint, I would say there should be a rule that you can't give shout-outs to your draft party, you can't thank Luc Robitaille and you can't thank the host city. In this respect, Tim Murray, Buffalo's GM, just walked up and said the players name and it would have been the best part of the night, if not for the awesome and always entertaining Garth Snow.