Re-visiting the 2005 NHL Entry Draft

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

 

 

Thought this would make an excellent point of conversation:

 

Winding back the clock 10 years, looking at the draft picks of that year, and possibly starting up some discussion on how well or bad a drafting team did, or maybe compare players to how their careers have gone since then.

10 seasons is a very good sample size, so comparisons should be pretty fair.

 

Players drafted that year should either in their primes now, perhaps just exiting their primes, or never did do anything in the NHL.

 

Obviously, this was the year Sidney Crosby was drafted first overall and I don't think you will find too many that would say he was a 'bust' in any way shape or form.....whether they like Sid and the Pens or not.

And for those that DO say Crosby was a bust, well, just chalk it up to seriously maniacal, deep rooted, Pens hatred....haha.

 

Anyways, I will post two attachments of the players picked in the first round....but for anyone interested in players beyond that (and there are some very good players way down below that have carved out good to great NHL careers to this point), I also posted the Wikipedia link on the 2005 NHL Draft article.

I chose Wiki because not only does it list all 7 rounds, but also things like what team got what pick in trades, and also who the top North Americans, Europeans, Goalies, etc were.

 

 

And here is the Wiki link for all 7 rounds and the other items of note:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NHL_Entry_Draft

 

There ya go.

Hopefully, NHL history buffs, statisticians, and general NHL fans find some stuff here worth talking about....whether it's comparisons from players drafted low vs players drafted high....how well a team 'killed it' during this draft (or how awful another did).....or even talk about guys drafted in the 6th and 7th rounds that no one gave a mind to then, but today, have nice NHL careers, and in fact, may be an integral part of their current team (Anton Stralman, drafted in the 7th round, 216th overall and current top pairing D-man for the TB Lightning come to mind right away).

[J0e Th0rnton]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Sharks first round pick: Setoguchi......LOL. So much talent. Shame

 

However, our 2nd round pick 35th overall is arguably the best defensive dman in the league an a hell of a puck mover.

 

Marc-Edouard Vlasic

 

Took Babcock choosing him  for Canada and raving to the world about how good he was, and for people other than Sharks fans to see and understand how good he was for him to finally get his due.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Sharks first round pick: Setoguchi......LOL. So much talent. Shame

 

However, our 2nd round pick 35th overall is arguably the best defensive dman in the league an a hell of a puck mover.

 

Marc-Edouard Vlasic

 

Took Babcock choosing him  for Canada and raving to the world about how good he was, and for people other than Sharks fans to see and understand how good he was for him to finally get his due.

 

Ya, looking over the list, there really are some LOL worthy picks now that we have the luxury of hindsight.

And things like that were one of the purposes of this thread. To have some fun with hindsight.

 

Another interesting one, Kris Letang, went in the 3rd round...yet tons of other D-men went before him....some made the NHL, some we never heard a peep from....but not too many D-men that went before him that one can say were better than Letang was/is.

 

Keeping in mind I am not the biggest Letang fan (I have always thought he was just a hair overrated), but looking at some of the names taken before him for the blueline, I would have to say, using hindsight once again of course, that HE was a much better pick than the bulk of those defenseman that went in the 1st and 2nd rounds.

[Brandonn]

Man, we bombed with both Pokulok and Finley..

Then again, Pouliot, Brule, Skille, Lee, Zagrapan, O'Marra, Bourret, McArdle, Pelech; tough first round for quite a few teams.

But man, did the Canadiens ever get a gem with Price, what a pick!

 

Keeping in mind I am not the biggest Letang fan (I have always thought he was just a hair overrated)

Pun intended? ;P

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Man, we bombed with both Pokulok and Finley..

Then again, Pouliot, Brule, Skille, Lee, Zagrapan, O'Marra, Bourret, McArdle, Pelech; tough first round for quite a few teams.

But man, did the Canadiens ever get a gem with Price, what a pick!

 

Pun intended? ;P

 

Hah..no, didn't think of it actually.

 

I mean, if I REALLY wanted to pun with Letang, I could have simply said that the Penguins were lucky he didn't turn out to be a 'flop'

[jammer2]

However, our 2nd round pick 35th overall is arguably the best defensive dman in the league an a hell of a puck mover.



Marc-Edouard Vlasic

 

 It was a masterful 2nd round selection by Wilson. It gives you quite a lot of confidence in management when the GM plucks a gem like that outside of the 1st round.

[MadDevil]

The Devils took Nicklas Bergfors...one pick ahead of T.J. Oshie. Obviously it's all hindsight, but the possibility that the Devils could have had the all Sioux line of Parise/Zajac/Oshie...oh well, at least Bergfors helped them get Kovalchuk I guess.

[J0e Th0rnton]

 It was a masterful 2nd round selection by Wilson. It gives you quite a lot of confidence in management when the GM plucks a gem like that outside of the 1st round.

I dunno man. Their 1st round picks in that time frame are horrid.

 

Always is nice to know we are ranked #2 among teams drafting outside the first round, but our first round picks are often baffling.

 

Wilson wanted to pick way off the chart with his first draft picks ever in 04, Michalek was a safe pick, then so he passed on universally higher ranked Getzlaf and Parise for Steve Bernier.....

Then he took Lucas Kaspar the next year in the first round....

We all know what happened to Setoguchi. All Least Joe Thornton polished him up enough to make him look like a big trade piece for Burns.

 

And 2006 First round pick Ty Wishart. Stunning NHL career for this first round Dman.

07 Couture was awesome obviously and the first time in Wilson's tenure that a 1st round guy worked out. unfortunately we had 2 1st rounders that year and his other pick was Dman Nick Patrecki. What is it with Wilson and Dmen who don't work out?

 

 

The Devils took Nicklas Bergfors...one pick ahead of T.J. Oshie. Obviously it's all hindsight, but the possibility that the Devils could have had the all Sioux line of Parise/Zajac/Oshie...oh well, at least Bergfors helped them get Kovalchuk I guess.

Still on the fence about Kovalchuk. Him jumping ship then possibly coming back

[klindsey]

Hopefully I won't be laughed out of the forum for this, but I think the argument could be made for Price over Crosby.....right now and possibly last season. By no means am I saying Crosby is a bust, but the concussions are catching up to him. 

Price has certainly carried his team where as I always fear Crosby will hit the ice with another injury. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Hopefully I won't be laughed out of the forum for this, but I think the argument could be made for Price over Crosby.....right now and possibly last season. By no means am I saying Crosby is a bust, but the concussions are catching up to him. 

Price has certainly carried his team where as I always fear Crosby will hit the ice with another injury. 

 

Well, @klindsey , I won't be laughing you off the forum for it, but the problem with this is, like him or not, Crosby has a Cup to his credit, two Eastern Conference titles, his team has been pretty much a contender just about every year he has been there, AND he has been an integral part of that all throughout.

 

Meanwhile, it is only just now, starting with last season, that Carey Price is being looked at as a perennial Vezina candidate and possibly an uncrowned Stanley Cup champion, and only just now that the Habs are being looked at as a serious contender for a Cup as well.

That is taking nothing away from Price overall as a player, but you have to figure, Crosby has made more of an impact, a more IMMEDIATE impact, on his team than Carey Price has.

 

Funny thing about the NHL and pro hockey in general:

Goaltending is probably the single most important position to have a star player in, yet goalies tend to go later in drafts because it not only normally takes them more time to round into championship caliber form, but it really is a crap shoot with them.

A goaltender can be all-world for a bit, then fall completely off the face of the professional hockey relevancy landscape.

 

So, and because this thread is all about hindsight anyways, if Pittsburgh were to do it all over again, I'd say they pick Crosby before Price again and again.

 

Just like McDavid and Eichel were picked in the most recent draft ahead of ANY goaltenders that could possibly be Vezina candidates or Stanley Cup champions down the road.

[flyercanuck]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

It's become pretty rare for a team to use their 1st rounder on a goalie...let alone a 5th overall. Mackenzie Blackwood is the best goalie I've ever seen on the Barrie Colts. He's big, fast, athletic, great on skates, has a 1.86 GAA and a .946 save percentage....and went in the 2nd round. 

[MadDevil]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

It's become pretty rare for a team to use their 1st rounder on a goalie...let alone a 5th overall. Mackenzie Blackwood is the best goalie I've ever seen on the Barrie Colts. He's big, fast, athletic, great on skates, has a 1.86 GAA and a .946 save percentage....and went in the 2nd round.

That's good to hear about Blackwood. I know a lot of Devils fans were questioning taking a goalie over a forward at that spot.

[flyercanuck]

@MadDevil

 

As a Flyer fan, I hated the fact NJ grabbed him. I'm pretty confident you got yourself a good one there.

[yave1964]

GREAT draft for the Wings, the first round netted us Kindl, ten years later he is still a usable third pair d-man who can move the puck a little. Servicable.

The second round netted us Justin Abdelkader who has come into his own over the past several years as a Holmstrom/Mccarty type. Solid player.

The fifth round netted Darren Helm, one of the fastest players in the game, a solid two way player and a great penalty killer.

Some bombs along the way, but when you have a draft that nets 3 guys who a decade later are part of the rotation, you cannot complain.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

GREAT draft for the Wings, the first round netted us Kindl, ten years later he is still a usable third pair d-man who can move the puck a little. Servicable.

The second round netted us Justin Abdelkader who has come into his own over the past several years as a Holmstrom/Mccarty type. Solid player.

The fifth round netted Darren Helm, one of the fastest players in the game, a solid two way player and a great penalty killer.

Some bombs along the way, but when you have a draft that nets 3 guys who a decade later are part of the rotation, you cannot complain.

 

See, THAT sort of drafting is what I would like to see Stevie Y incorporate year after year in Tampa Bay.

Really, how else does a franchise like Detroit continue to ice a winning and/or competitive team year after year? Cap or no cap?

 

Years ago, when Yzerman took the Tampa GM job, some scoffed saying he was only doing it to gain experience, that he really didn't care to be long term with the Bolts, etc, after stupid, etc....

But just looking at his body of work with the Bolts so far, I'd say he cares very MUCH about his job, taking it seriously, and building a consistent winner via the draft, year after year, such as what Detroit did here in 2005 and in other years as well.

 

The Lightning, here in 2005, drafted horribly....a slew of unknowns who remain so to this day or guys who never made the NHL, but none of that was under Yzerman's watch, that is for sure.

Blair Jones is the only guy the Bolts drafted who had even a borderline NHL career.