2002 Draft Evaluation

Robin Kovar has a special place in Oilers lore amongst those of us who follow the draft. In 2002, the Oilers called his name because he was on the official NHL computer list but had been ruled ineligible for the draft. The Vancouver Canucks (Brian Burke) apparently yelled things like "cheaters" in the direction of the Oilers table in what must have been a fairly hilarious exchange. Ah, good times.


Kovar and the other Oilers drafted are evaluated by Guy Flaming over at Hockey's Future. It's an interesting read, among the things you can find out there is that Brock Radunske is headed to Switzerland in the fall.


Hockey's Future is doing an evaluation of all 30 teams and their 2002 drafts. They rank them based on "average games played per draft pick" which I find to be a very curious way of ranking. To me, a "game played" is an excellent weight and the number of picks, while interesting, probably doesn't impact a draft unless (like Vancouver with the Sedins) a team has more than one near the top.

Here's my list of who did well and who did not in 2002:

1. Columbus (drafted 1st): When you're picking first in the draft and have 5 in the top 100 you should come out near the top and I think the Blue Jackets did well. Nash is a supreme talent, although he isn't helping his team win games as much as he should (and will). That Tollefson kid is just a really interesting player. (642 man games, 2 NHL regulars).
2. Toronto (drafted 24th): Seriously. An amazing draft. The Leafs picked 24th in the first round and no others in the top 50 and still have managed to pull three actual NHL players from this draft. Matt Stajan, Alexander Steen and Ian White look like they'll have solid NHL careers and the Leafs needed this kind of draft badly. (531 man games, 3 NHL regulars).
3. Florida (drafted 3rd): Getting Jay Bouwmeester made their draft and they missed badly with Taticek at #9, but Greg Campbell looks like he'll have a career as a defensive center. The Panthers got an impact player and that has to count for a lot and even though they had the third pick that doesn't always mean getting a difference maker. (492 man games, 2 NHL regulars).
4. Pittsburgh (drafted 5th): With their top pick they got Ryan Whitney. They also picked up Maxime Talbot and Erik Christenson who look like they'll have solid NHL careers. The GP total is probably inflated because the Penguins were so poor all three may have arrived sooner than warranted, but I'm pretty confident putting them #4. (366 man games, 3 NHL players).
5. Chicago (drafted 21st): Hawks had a very nice draft. Despite selecting well down in the first round they managed to pick up three actual players in Duncan Keith, Anton Babchuk and James Wisniewski. I nicked them a little because the man games may have been reduced had the team been stronger, but based on where they drafted and how many players look like they'll make it I think Chicago had a stellar draft (377 man games, 3 NHL players).
6. Washington (drafted 12th, 13th and 17th): They'd be higher but Washington had three high picks so can't be given extra credit. Aside from that, like the Pens these kids arrived way too soon based on actual merit and the Caps are one club that may have hurt the development of their best kids in this draft by rushing them. (458 man games, 3 NHL players).
7. Atlanta (drafted 2nd and 30th): Probably nicked a little more than need be because goalies "man games" doesn't quite compute the same way as position players. Still, with two picks in the top 30 the Thrashers got a quality goalie in Lehtonen and an interesting player in Jim Slater and little else. Should have been higher based on draft position (255 man games, 2 NHL players).
8. Tampa Bay (drafted 60th): I may have them a little high but lordy the Lightning had a nice draft. Their top pick (Adam Henrich) didn't work out, but Paul Ranger, Fredrik Norrena and Ryan Craig all appear to be NHL players. (344 man games, 3 NHL players).
9. Buffalo (drafted 11th and 20th): Sabres had a nice draft day, with Keith Ballard and Daniel Paille going in the first round and then picking up Jochen Hecht for 2 second rounders. Dennis Wideman was also a later pick that turned out. The Sabres quality up front has probably cost Paille as many as 100 NHL games he might have played on a different team but his development hasn't been hurt by fast tracking. (350 man games, 2 NHL players).
10. Edmonton (selected 15th): Oilers had 4 picks in the first 44 selections, so although they drafted in the top 15 one would hope their "games played" number would be well inside the top 10 in 2002 by this time (they rank 8th). Missed badly with Niinimaki but selected Stoll and Matt Greene in the second round. (313 man games, 2 NHL players).

Just outside the top 10:

1. Minnesota: They picked 8th and got Bouchard , plus Harding may end up being a player. 357 man games, 1 NHL player.
2. Philadelphia: Got Pitkanen and nothing else yet. 206 man games, 1 NHL player.
3. Calgary: Got Lombardi. 217 man games, 1 NHL player.
4. Anaheim: Got Lupul and he paid off big time. 252 man games, 1 NHL player.

The worst drafts:

1. Vancouver: 1 NHL game by my count (Robert McVicar who played I believe when a Zamboni ran over the starter).
2. Colorado: Got Tom Gilbert who'll have a career but dealt him for 5 minutes of Tommy Gun.
3. San Jose: The Kris Newbury draft.
4. Ottawa: They'll get off this list eventually, as Klepis and Kaigordov have talent.