With the 20th Pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins select...
by FrankD on Jun 22, 2010 1:00 PM EDT
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PrintWe're doing this whole mock draft thingymabob here on SBN Hockey. You may have seen it.
Anyways, to spare ourselves as being the one team not included in the network-wide fun, myself, Hooks and GoPens! shared a quick e-mail to discuss Pittsburgh's potential targets.
First off, we narrowed it down by position. The Penguins drafted Simon Despres last season. They have a few good, young defensemen already on the blue line in Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. Should they consider going after a defenseman? We agreed on "no."
Marc-Andre Fleury is locked up until the end of the 2014-15 season. While everyone and their mother may very well be on his case day in and day out during that span, we also decided that "no" was the proper response regarding whether or not the Penguins would be considering a goaltender.
So, that narrowed it down to forwards. Crosby, Staal, Malkin - no, the Penguins don't need a center.
By process of elimination, if you haven't concluded it already on your own, we decided the best place for the Penguins to look in the first round of the draft is at the winger position.
GoPens! touched on the first round considerations earlier this week, and did one hell of a job at it to boot. Definitely check that out for a comprehensive list of some players who may be on the Penguins' radar.
Now, with that said, on to the mock pick.
We agreed that the Penguins, given the 20th pick, the likeliness of him dropping and the whole mentality of "pick the best player available," that John McFarland from the OHL's Sudbury Wolves is a great pick. Over the years (and by that we mean, his obvious growing years), McFarland has garnered comparisons to a grittier Nik Zherdev (vomit) and Chris Kunitz (tolerable). In 2008, there were talks of him possibly being the number one pick in this upcoming class but there's a sense of wonderment as to why or how he fell off that track so fast. I don't think there is any reason for concern though, mainly because I feel the Pens can really make a steal with this pick if McFarland does drop to the 20th pick. Perhaps the issues resided in a lack of focus or distractions off the ice, but I'm going to chalk it up as being McFarland's boredom due to a lack of competition, if only because it helps justify our pick.
If you're really big into the whole prospect scene, I'd love to here your input on the selection. If you think the Pens should look elsewhere, you're of course welcome to disagree with us and toss in your two cents as well.
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Sounds like a good pick to me but I don’t know much about him so heres a little bit from Hockey’s future on him:
McFarland was once a top prospect in his age group, and still possesses the skill that made him a highly regarded prospect. But his stock has dropped a good deal due to inconsistent or indifferent play. Might be a gamble as a higher pick, but could be a worthwhile project if chosen later in the draft.
"Everybody wants me to be a leader, until I make a decision they don't like." -- Jack Shephard
sounds simliar but let’s hope not if he’s the guy we get.
"Everybody wants me to be a leader, until I make a decision they don't like." -- Jack Shephard
by gingerredboy on Jun 22, 2010 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Who I would like to see the Pens Draft
1. Vladimir Tarasenko- Novosibirsk (KHL)
Poor mans OV, can hit and score
2. Jeff Skinner- Kitchener (OHL)
Pure sniper, 50 goals in 50 games this year
3. John McFarland- Sudbury (OHL)
Fast skater, hard wrist shot, and good PKer. Drawing comparisons to Brendan Morrow although his stock has fallen
4. Nick Bjugstad- Blaine (HS-Minn)
Polished Blake Wheeler, blue collar kid with great character.
5 Petr Straka- Rimouski (QMJHL)
Czech-born sniper has drawn comparisons to Martin Erat and Pavol Demitra
6. Brock Nelson- Warroad (HS- Minn)
Hard-skating power forward, nephew of Miracle on Ice hero Dave Christian
7. Stanislav Galiev- Saint John (QMJHL)
similar to Pavel Datsyuk. Great backchecker and has sneaky moves
Also d-men that could be taken into consideration,
Dylan McIlrath Moose Jaw (WHL)
Big, tough, nasty d-man with a mean streak
Jon Merrill U.S. U-18 (NTDP)
Similar to Pen Jordan Leopold. Smart puck mover.
Stephen Johns U.S. U-18 (NTDP)
Local product who idolizes Brooks Orpik. Athleticism a bonus.
Those are my top choices, but to be completely honest I would be happy with any of them and after the top 2, its anyone’s guess where everybody ends up. I’m stranded at a cafe this afternoon with nothing to do so I can answer anyones questions about the draft or prospects.
Isn’t Tarasenko like 160 pounds soaking wet? I know they’re young, but that scares me.
I’d love to see Skinner fall to 20, don’t know if it’ll happen though. I like Brock Nelson too.
You're thinking of Burmistrov, Hooks...
He’s also a top-10 possibility and will probably go before Tarasenko since he came over to play Canadian Junior.
The 34 ranking for Skinner is from NHL Central Scouting Services (not some NHL.com feature) so it does carry some weight, but I think we all know all bets are off once the draft starts. Look at Despres. He was top-10 or at least top-20 in most previews/rankings.
No worries…It’s easy to do. From what I can gather, the only knock on Tarasenko is the “Russian factor”. He plays in the KHL now (and is quite productive for a young player IIRC) and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that’s all NHL scouts/GMs need to hear to get scared. But most seem to agree he’s got high first round talent and could be a steal if he falls in the draft (and wants to play in the NHL long-term).
Burmistrov came over to play in the OHL (I think, maybe QMJHL) and was recently quoted as saying the KHL doesn’t interest him (“It’s for old men” if memory serves). So while scouts don’t see much of a gap in talent between the 3 top Russians — Burmistrov, Tarasenko, Kabanov — Burmistrov will likely be the first off the board unless someone is willing to gamble on the other two.
From what I’ve read about McFarland, his stocked dropped due to questions about his work ethic/character. From www.hockeysfuture.com:
McFarland was once a top prospect in his age group, and still possesses the skill that made him a highly regarded prospect. But his stock has dropped a good deal due to inconsistent or indifferent play. Might be a gamble as a higher pick, but could be a worthwhile project if chosen later in the draft.
The Hockey News Draft Preview touched on similar concerns, while also mentioning the perception that he seemed frustrated when playing for a poor team (Sudbury in 08-09 when he was a -30). Who knows if McFarland will mature & harness his skills, or if that’s even a fair assessment to make at this point. FWIW, they had him going to the Caps in their mock draft with a blurb along the lines of “struggles with bad teams, which won’t be a problem in Washington…”
If you do indeed want my two cents, put me down for Jeff Skinner, a small-ish forward — NHL Central Scouting Services has him @ RW, but I’ve seen him listed @ C — from Kitchener, who just so happened to lead the OHL in goal scoring this year. From his HF profile:
Skinner is a slightly abover average skater, but the main strengths of his game are his goal-scoring ability and his intelligence both with and away from the puck. He isn’t the biggest player, but his leg strength makes him hard to knock off the puck.
There is some talk about his skating being a weakness — although he was a nationally-ranked figure skater in Canada in his younger days oddly enough — but good coaching/training can improve skating. It’s a lot harder to teach someone how to score goals. The draft projections are all over the place; THN has him @ 25, HF has him @ 10 in their staff mock draft, and his CSS rank is 34th (NA-only). In case you’re curious, CSS have McFarland @ 15.
I read an article about early 1st round NHL busts and McFarland fills several of them. Most busts had character/attitude or skating problems. Look at Hugh Jessiman or Alexandre Daigle. I say avoid McFarland and go after someone else. There are plenty of skilled forwards.
by stoopidtom on Jun 23, 2010 1:42 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
*fills several characteristics of busts
by stoopidtom on Jun 23, 2010 1:43 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
If Jeff Skinner is still available by the 20th pick I would love to see the Pens choose him
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Yeah... my bad
On suggesting Skinner. Stupid me didn’t check out the SB Nation mock draft before posting. If I had, I probably wouldn’t have told you guys to pick someone who went #10. D’oh.
Given what you had to work with, McFarland is a logical pick. Although, I think if Shero were in the same position, he’d take another D-man if he was at the top of their remaining board. I don’t Shero is worried about taking too many promising young D-men, as he knows they can be valuable trade chips that could be used to fill other needs via trade.
No love for Ludwig Rensfeldt? I have to admit, I have a thing for Swedes. But he’s big, he can skate and score, and he doesn’t have any attitude problems. Also, it’s unlikely that he was getting fat by playing against much weaker competition, as some of the CHL boys are sometimes prone to.
I waited all year for this?
Dylan McIlrath
Dylan McIlrath a/k/a “the undertaker” is a perfect fit for a team who wants tough, gritty, dominating blue-liners. The next best is Stephen Johns, a local kid from Wampum, Beaver County, another big, tough blue-liner. Have we learned the lesson “in the playoffs defense wins.” Trade up, get these two kids.
I’m a huge fan of McIlrath. I’d love to see him in a Pens jersey.
by Mario's Mullet on Jun 23, 2010 8:26 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm on board
He’s huge and fiesty. I could YouTube his fight vids all day. Even when somebody gets a jump on him, he takes a few in the kisser and just destroys the other guy.
Defense is where the draft is at, forwards are even more hit or miss. Shero has said you can’t have enough capable defensemen in the minor club.
McFarland or Bust
I hope Shero and Co. don’t draft young KHL Vlad he seems prone to falling into the Russian lackluster group.
Draft McFarland I don’t care if he’s had troubles with work ethic or attitude. He’s skilled and his attitude will change with Sid and Orpik putting him in line even the AHL players who have been there FOREVER will straighten him out if he really wants to play in the NHL because he can for sure!
If we want to take a risk I would take Kabanov. He’s got the talent for sure. If not, I would look at Austin Watson who probably won’t be there, or Nick Bjugstad.
by thecheeseisblue on Jun 23, 2010 3:06 PM EDT reply actions
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