WHO WOULD YOU DRAFT????

[bigl0l8477]

hey hockey fans,

since i am a pittsburgh penguins fan i am excited for the upcoming NHL entry draft on june 21st. the penguins are rumored to be trying to trade up for the first overall pick with the interests of drafting goalie phenom MARC-ANDRE FLEURY. while alot of fans in pittsburgh think the pens need offense (lets face it...the pens need everything), i feel they would be making the right move by drafting fleury. he is supposed to be the best goalie prospect in the last 7+ years. even better than luongo, dipietro, krahn, blackburn, and lehtonen. there are other good players available in the draft including nik zherdev (plays like kovalev), eric staal (big power forward), and milan michalek (marian gaborik type). im just curious to see who, if you had a top-five pick, who you would take.

i also think thomas vanek from minnestoa is a good mid-late round pickup for whichever team gets him. i think he will have a good NHL career.

[j.e.lew]

I'd take Staal, Power guys that can score are priceless. As long as he's not Eric LIndros!

[bigl0l8477]

LOL...i agree with the lindros part. staal is good, but you cant go wrong with a franchise goalie (look what giguere did for the ducks). but thats the problem, you just cant tell how good the players are gonna be. staal could score 50 goals a year and fleury could suck in the nhl. the nhl draft is probably the biggest crapshoot in all of pro sports.

[Tigers#1]

Are the Penguins going to be able afford to trade up in the draft? What spot are they at now?

I would never take a goalie that high, unless i was pretty well stocked everywhere else. And the Penguins could use some more scaters, unless Fleury is ready to start next season. It'd be wiser for them to trade for a minor league goalie they like, than trade up in the draft IMO.

[podstock]

Eric Lindros -- how can such a massive athlete (size, strength, etc) be injured so often?

[Tigers#1]

Originally posted by podstock
Eric Lindros -- how can such a massive athlete (size, strength, etc) be injured so often?

His whole family has had concussion problems. It doesn't matter how big you are, you can still hurt your head just as easy as anyone else.

[bigl0l8477]

here is the deal with lindros:

when he was in juniors he used to dominate, so he could just skate through the middle of the ice with his head down and not worry about anything. then when he got to the pros against bigger and better people, he still skated with his head down which led to a few of his concussions (the ones where scott stevens, darius kasparaitis, and jason wiemer hit him). he also plays a very tough style and puts himself in danger. thats why he has all those concussions.

[Tigers#1]

Never heard that, but i could see him doing that.

[bigl0l8477]

here is why i would take fleury in the pens case:

the draft this year doesnt have a clear cut superstar like in the past (kovalchuk, bouwmeester, heatley, thornton), and fleury is supposed to be an awesome franchise goalie. so it doesnt really matter who the pens take, the player will probably not make much of an impact right away. since the player they get will not have much of an impact right away, the pens might as well just go and draft a franchise goalie, which they have never had before. if fleury going to be as good as he is supposed to be, then you cant go wrong having him. having a franchise goalie is huuuge (giguere, luongo in a couple of years, brodeur, hasek on the sabres) because a franchise goalie can single-handedly carry a team. the pens do need skaters, but they could also use a good goalie.

plus if the pens finish in last next year and get the #1 pick, they can get OVECHKIN!!!

[Tigers#1]

But, would you really move up to #1 to get him? I just think, that if he's a few years away now, within those years, odds are they are going to find a #1 goalie, and he'll be useless. But if it were a position player, you would still have room for him.