The National Post continues to turn out poorly analyzed and in this case, contradictory articles faster than my stomach can churn at the thought of reading another one of their amateur and compost worthy articles. This time the article comes from Michael Traikos with analysis from Mark Seidel who is the director of scouting for North American Central Scouting. The article begins with a rehash of the likelihood of few of these players ever playing in the NHL and some more empty words about things we already know. Now Michael hands it off to Seidel who “took a stab at reviewing how each of the seven Canadian teams did on the draft floor.” A stab in the dark may have been more appropriate. I can see how this conversation unfolded.
Michael – “Hey Mark, I need to meet a deadline and I’m stuck, can you help me out?”
Mark – “Sure I was just reviewing my May 14th draft rankings where I only nailed 6 out of the top 10 picks. I was just wondering how I wasn’t even able to even correctly predict the right draft slot for the names I did correctly have in the top 10. Nugent-Hopkins at 1? Baffled. LOL”
Michael – “Sorry just finished my Salisbury steak with Noah, does half frozen count as medium rare? LOL”
Mark – “LOL”
Michael – “So can you help me out? I’m in a bind. I was too busy designing Maple Leaf concept jersey’s on my Dad’s iPad and forgot about my deadline.”
Mark – “Are you sure? I’m not the greatest at this stuff. I had Rocco Grimaldi going 10th overall and Jonathan Huberdeau going 14th in MAY, of this year!“
Michael – “Dude we have Noah Love writing stories about Wayne Rooney getting hair transplants. We get away with anything around here.”
Mark – “Sure, as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into. I guess if you’re looking for just anything then I’m your guy! brb”
5 minutes later…
Mark – “So I gave Winnipeg an A+ because they’re new and exciting and I got really caught up when they said Jets on television.”
Michael – “Cool. I was the same way until my Jets concept on Icethetics only got voted 1/5. My dad was mad I used his iPad for the whole night because I told him it would be amazing and then it was garbage.”
Mark – “LOL”
Michael – “So what do you have for the Senator’s picks?”
Mark – “Much like scouting, politics aren’t really my thing.”
Michael – “LOL the hockey team!”
Mark – “…NOT! I know what you meant! Check this out:
OTTAWA SENATORS
Grade C-
Top 5 Picks
C Mika Zibanejad, 6th
RW Stefan Noesen, 21st
LW Matt Puempel, 24th
C Shane Prince, 61st
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, 96th
Seidel Says “When Winnipeg went off the board, it looked like the Sens could take a potential franchise defender in Dougie Hamilton, but instead they opted for the late rising star out of Sweden, Mika Zibanejad. Throughout the season we were not even sure that Zibanejad was worthy of a first-round pick but he closed the season strong and had a very impressive combine …
“They went off the board and selected Stefan Noessen from the Plymouth Whalers which sent puzzled looks around the rink from many teams. Noessen is a decent prospect but we believe the Sens should have traded down if they loved Noesen, because they could have gotten him later.
“Pageau is an exciting player but we think he has a lot of work to make the short hop from Hull over to play with the Sens. Overall, with 10 picks in all, we thought the Sens took some unnecessary chances but ultimately the proof will come down the road.”
Michael – “You spelled Noesen two different ways, repeatedly! Don’t worry about it. We’ll just do like Noah and forget about it until someone points it out then we’ll edit it. I’m too busy trading career AHLers in my dynasty league on NHL11 to care.”
Mark – “I hope no one notices the discrepancies in my article about who drafted in what position and what I wrote about the Senators draft picks when I did my mock draft on April 19th. Have a look at it here.”
Michael – “Oh wow. This is what you wrote about the players before they were drafted by the Senators. LOL”
10. Minnesota Wild – Mika Zibanejad (C/RW – Djurgardens – Sweden)
A bit of a wild card but some feel he is the hidden gem
20. Phoenix Coyotes – Matthew Puempel (LW – Peterborough – OHL)
The ‘Yotes continue to stockpile good young players and this kid could be a steal at No. 20.
26. San Jose Sharks – Shane Prince (LW – Ottawa – OHL)
It’s almost too easy to slot a 67 into the Sharks pick, but former Oshawa coach Brian Kilrea loves him and Sharks GM Doug Wilson always listens to his former coach. You can’t argue with the results in Logan Couture, Jamie McGinn and Derek Joslin.
Mark – “I know. I didn’t even bother to include Matt Puempel in my writeup because then I would have had to go back and change the grade I gave them. Someone has to be last and everyone hates Ottawa right?”
Michael – “I went there once and I hated it.”
Mark – “I hate Ottawa and say things that I don’t mean.”
Michael – “OMG I just noticed you had Shane Prince going in the first round. He went 61st overall.”
Mark – “I know. I had him as a first round player and then didn’t mention him in my draft review because whatever it’s just Ottawa and players on Ottawa are garbage. I think he was bad value at 61 but great value at 26.”
Michael – “Yeah I know, I see you did that more than once. You said Zibanejad is believed by some to be a ‘hidden gem’ and Puempel could be a steal at 20. Imagine what he would be if he were taken 24th? You also said Puempel ‘could be the most gifted sniper in this year’s class’ in November. You also said he ‘will be a great NHLer.’ What happened since then?”
Mark – “Shhh I’m ranking tough guys who fight in Toronto who project as 3rd liners!”
Michael – “Be honest, do you really think Mika’s combine results are that important?”
Mark – “Have you ever tried to ride a bike? It’s almost as hard as it was to string together this article in such a short period of time.”
Michael – “And what about Noesen? You think they could have gotten him later?”
Mark – “Well, we’ll never know now will we – see it’s brilliant to say things like that because no one really knows – especially dummy Ottawa fans who can’t read. Besides, everyone knows players should be drafted in the order that I specify.”
Michael – “I heard that the Ducks traded down after the Senators selected Noesen and took his teammate instead – think Ottawa was worried the Ducks might have had interest? Bryan Murray used to work there and probably still knows some people. He also maybe got a handy tip. He’s an excellent drafter, I’m not sure he would have done that if didn’t think the value was there at 21 or he would still be available later.”
Mark – “Not sure. I didn’t watch the draft.”
Michael – “Man. This might be tough to go with. The Sens had three first round picks compared to the Habs who only selected twice between 17th and 94th and you gave them a better grade!” Hope this article will fly under the radar. It’s just the internet though – no one reads the National Post’s sports section anyways right?”
Mark – “Montreal is a hockey factory and has more potential readers.”
Michael – “Not as many as Toronto ;)”
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