Byline: Russ Cohen
2009-06-16

This draft is pretty loaded and if you hear otherwise they just aren’t paying attention. I have interviewed some players that will go anywhere from the first round on down so I won’t repeat my work here. Here are my thoughts on some of the top picks not in any particular order.

Ryan Ellis – 5-10, 180 - Defense – He has a great shot up the gut. He’s very advanced at all facets of the game. Size be dammed! He has terrific hockey sense. This blueliner will do anything he can to keep the puck in the zone and more. He is a clutch scorer. He was the OHL’s best postseason point producer from the blue line and he won the OHL defenseman of the year. He should be a top-ten pick.

Matt Duchene – 5-11, 200 – Center – This youngster has blazing speed, perfect body mechanics, a laser of a shot but at 5-11, 200 pounds he won’t be able to muscle in goals the same way that Tavares will be able to. This kid plays in all situations and can outrun OHL defenseman but lets see how he does at the next level. He has a pro slapper and he should be a top scorer. He should go third.

John Tavares (r, photo by Feldman)– 6-0, 198 – Center – He looked better than the previous times that I had seen him in the last WJC. Lets face it he wasn’t challenged enough in the OHL and maybe getting traded to London helped that a bit but in this tournament he was an absolute sniper. He was terrific at face-offs, and he scored in the clutch and played a very good two-way game. He was sensational around the net. I think he will be the top pick in this year’s draft and he will be a marketable player for the Islanders unless they make the mistake of trading the pick. Remember this, Luc Robitaille was once criticized for his skating and he is a future Hall of Famer.

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