When drafts take nearly two hours long, one of two things happened. Either people went slowly and carefully or they just forgot to show. Usually it is a little of Column A and Column B but last night was even a tossed Column C salad as internet problems seemed to rule the night at times. This was a draft where Sidney Crosby went 12th and Teemu Selanne went in the middle rounds.
First off, we will take a look at what we drafted and then offer a little bit of quick analysis and some rationale too. Remember yesterday, we posted the settings of the league as you can see HERE.
| The Injury Ninja | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | (2) | Steven Stamkos (TB – C) |
| 2. | (31) | Corey Crawford (Chi – G) |
| 3. | (34) | Cam Ward (Car – G) |
| 4. | (63) | Nicklas Lidstrom (Det – D) |
| 5. | (66) | Martin Brodeur (NJ – G) |
| 6. | (95) | Erik Karlsson (Ott – D) |
| 7. | (98) | Mark Streit (NYI – D) |
| 8. | (127) | Tyler Ennis (Buf – LW) |
| 9. | (130) | Jamie Benn (Dal – LW) |
| 10. | (159) | Teemu Selanne (Anh – RW) |
| 11. | (162) | Patrice Bergeron (Bos – C) |
| 12. | (191) | Jamie McBain (Car – D) |
| 13. | (194) | Gabriel Landeskog (Col – LW) |
| 14. | (223) | Steve Downie (TB – RW) |
| 15. | (226) | Andy McDonald (StL – C) |
| 16. | (255) | Sergei Gonchar (Ott – D) |
| 17. | (258) | Andrew Brunette (Chi – LW) |
| 18. | (287) | Artem Anisimov (NYR – C) |
| 19. | (290) | Marek Zidlicky (Min – D) |
| 20. | (319) | Nik Antropov (Wpg – C) |
There you have it, the team as constituted. Yes it is a bit Center heavy but with the Forward and Utility positions as they are, it was a viable option. In a league where goalie points were quite high (2 points for a win and 3 for a shutout), it was claar goalie was a viable way to go. Snagging three goalies in rounds 2, 3, and 5 that will start was a pretty good move. There was nothing normal about this draft at all and in some ways that is what made it different.
Zach Parise (41st) went after Ilya Kovalchuk (32nd) and that was not the only head scratcher of sorts. Like we said (and yes it is still not a done deal) but Teemu Selanne (159th) is a bonafide steal if he plays. Selanne had 80 points last year and could come close to that again this year, if he gives it one more year. By the way, Todd Bertuzzi (320th) was Mr. Irrelevant. Considering Nik Antropov was before him and one year removed from a 60+ point season, well it was a gamble that could not be passed up.
That was the thing with this draft. Really, there were runs but then there were head turners galore. Tobias Enstrom (123rd) went in the 8th round despite being around 50 points the last couple seasons. Without Enstrom last year, there was no “Buff The Stuff”. People often forget this sort of thing when drafting. Even Rick Nash went with the 49th pick which is actually pretty close to right if he continues to be mired around 70 points with below average power play totals.
Chris Stewart went with the 104th pick and made have been one of the steals of the draft right up there with Selanne. Let’s be honest, Stewart is a beast and can dominate games. The only downside to him is as quick as he can dominate, he can almost vanish into thin air. With a little different dynamic this year in St. Louis (maybe not a wining one), he should be able to increase his point totals. He could even push around the 65-70 point mark if all things break right which would be a boon to many fantasy owners.
The question now becomes what do you think? We will have a little more analysis of the draft tomorrow night on the show. Call this a sneak preview and I hope you enjoyed it. There will be more of these to come.
