Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2010 17:59:55 GMT -5
Hello everyone, and welcome to the new improved season of "The Sloppy Second." Today I will preview the Season 9 draft, which position is the strongest, which is the weakest and who I think you should grab in the later rounds.
This is said to be the strongest draft class in EA NHL Simulation history, we have good forwards, and great crop of d-men and even some credible back-up goaltenders. It's surely to be filled with some surprising picks, and maybe a couple blockbuster trades.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs having the 1st overall selection in the draft it is expected a D-man will go 1st Overall in the draft for the first time in EA NHL Simulation history. Mike Green a offensive defenseman is expected to be called by the Maple Leafs d-man, but their are some players who may over throw the highly likely selection. Names like Patrice Bergeron, Bryan Little, Erik Johnson, and Peter Mueller come to mind first, as possible selections that could be chosen 1st overall by the Maple Leafs.
Mike Green, the projected 1st Overall pick
All five of these players have one thing in common, their young and they will get better as the years past and when push comes to shove, likely will not be in another draft here.
In the past couple of drafts here, the center position has been the deepest, but this year is a different story. 44 d-man rated 80 or above are available to boost teams bluelines. That's enough to have 1 1/2 rounds of d-man only selections, if you add in a 79 overall d-man to round out the final selection. Names like Mike Green, Mike Komisarek, Erik Johnson, Zach Bogosian, and Karl Alzner headline the list of available d-men. There's plenty of puck moving, hard hitting and offensive and defensive defensmen to be had this draft, and that's why it is the deepest.
Besides goaltending, the weakest position of this draft is the right wing position, with only two stand out names, Peter Mueller and David Booth, and the rest of the right wing draft selections with the exception of a few will likely be in the later rounds. So if you need a Right Winger, you may want to take them early if you need a solid one, because by the time your 3rd or 4th pick comes around, there may only be depth right wingers left.
Speaking of the 4th and 5th rounds, this is probably the most difficult time to draft. There's no longer any stand out choices, and you'll want to get the best pick possible with the later picks to improve your team more than a divisional rival, so here's a list of 10 players I feel you may be able to grab in the 4th or 5th rounds.
RW Chris Clark GRN 79
RW Sergei Barbashev SNP 77
RW Aleksander Gogolev DNG 77
C Chad LaRose GRN 77
LW Peter Nordstrom GRN 76
LW Ville Leino DNG 75
D Cory Murphy OFD 75
D Lukas Krajicek DFD 75
D Christian Backman DFD 76
D Randy Jones DFD 76
Chad Larose, who could be a good late round selection
Good luck to all teams in the draft tonight and remember, one selection can make or break your draft.
I'll be back after the draft for a draft recap show, until then good night.
