The NHL Entry Draft Lottery - also known as the Stamkos Sweepstakes - was held today and no, the Leafs didn't move up in the draft, but neither did any other team in the lottery.
The entry draft will take place on July 1st and it looks as if Tampa Bay will get highly touted Sarnia Sting centreman Steven Stamkos, followed in the draft by Los Angeles #2, Atlanta #3, St. Louis #4, NY Islanders #5, Columbus #6, Toronto #7, Phoenix #8, Nashville #9**, Vancouver #10, Chicago #11, Edmonton #12, Buffalo #13, Carolina #14.
**- Nashville drafting in place of Florida.
The top 10 rated prospects are Steven Stamkos, Zach Bogosian, Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Nikita Filatov, Luke Schenn, Mikkel Boedker, Colin Wilson, Tyler Myers, and Cody Hodgson, respectively.
With the Leafs having the 7th overall pick, the projected draft pick for the Leafs will be Mikkel Boedker, a 5'11", 200 pound forward who was the fastest skater in the World Juniors. This year with Kitchener (OHL) he had 29 goals and 44 assists (73 points) in 62 games.
Whoever the Leafs draft, it will be a fine player who could be the face of the club going forward in the rebuilding process.
The pre-draft top 10 rankings were composed of five defenseman: #2 Zach Bogosian, #3 Drew Doughty, #4 Alex Pietrangelo, #6 Luke Schenn, and #9 Tyler Myers.
Hopefully next year if the Leafs miss out on the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, they will play bad enough to finish dead last and draft life long Leaf fan John Tavares.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)