2007 NHL Entry Draft Recap

by user Mtellqvist32

To say this year’s draft was interesting would be an understatement. The highly anticipated day included some much unexpected moves, although was not nearly as active on the trade front compared to past years. Gary Bettman’s words of “We have a trade to announce…” were about as frequent as Paris Hilton’s trips to jail – two, for those of you at home keeping score.

For one, the first major trade of the day saw the Toronto Maple Leafs acquire goaltender Vesa Toskala from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for three draft picks, including their 13th overall selection. Secondly, the Nashville Predators sold off yet another asset, sending top goaltender Tomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers – the Predators have cut over $16 million from their payroll in the last week. And with the growing possibility that forwards Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya having played their final games with the Predators, that number should well exceed $25 million. Hello, Mr. Ballsillie (or not…)

Around the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks, as expected, selected Patrick Kane of the OHL’s London Knights with the 1st overall selection. The 5-foot-9 Kane finished first in Ontario Hockey League scoring, tallying 145 points, including 62 goals in 58 games. The Blackhawks continue to add to their prospect depth, a pool which already includes the likes of Jonathan Toews, Cam Barker and Jack Skille.

Following Kane in the draft was James Van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia Flyers) and Kyle Turris (Phoenix Coyotes). With the ‘big three’ then out of the way, things got interesting.

At fourth overall, the Los Angeles Kings made a very surprising selection, taking Thomas Hickey, who was ranked 26th among North American skaters. The Kings were obviously looking for some defensive talent, but wouldn’t Keaton Ellerby or Karl Alzner have been better selections, ranked 4th and 5th, respectively? The Capitals chose Alzner with the subsequent selection, while Patrick Kane’s fellow Knight, Sam Gagner, was selected sixth overall by the Edmonton Oilers. Meanwhile, Oilers GM Kevin Lowe had been working the phones all weekend in hopes of making some sort of deal. Lowe has been reportedly seeking a power forward and/or powerplay quarterback defenseman, and in terms of the defenseman, two names that are continually connected to the Edmonton Oilers are the Ottawa Senators’ Wade Redden as well as the Philadelphia Flyers’ Joni Pitkanen. The Columbus Blue Jackets, 7th overall, were the first club to select a European, adding Jakob Voracek of the Czech Republic.

The Hurricanes selected the son of Brent Sutter, Brandon, with their selection, while the Montreal Canadiens passed on local boy Angelo Esposito in order to select defenseman Ryan McDonagh. With the Maple Leafs original selection, now owned by the St. Louis, the Blues selected Lars Eller of Sweden. The Blues also selected Ian Cole (first rounder from Bill Guerin trade) and David Perron (first rounder from Keith Tkachuk trade.

Meanwhile, Angelo Esposito was finally taken 20th overall, and by the Pittsburgh Penguins of all clubs. The Penguins could have a tough time in the future keeping so many youngsters under contract and intact, with the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Ryan Whitney, Marc-Andre Fleury and now Angelo Esposito among their roster.

The highlight of the first round was the fall of Alexei Cherepanov. Cherepanov, a Russian talent who broke the records of both Pavel Bure and Jaromir Jagr, dropped considerably. Lack of a transfer agreement with the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) caused the once-ranked 5th overall Russian to fall to 17th, being selected by the New York Rangers. One of the league’s wealthiest clubs, the Rangers could easily afford to buyout the Russian contract of Cherepanov should a transfer deal still not be in place.

The second round saw some first-round talent carry over, namely Taylor Ellington (VAN), William Sweatt (CHI), Michael Repik (FLA), Keven Veilleux (PIT), and Akim Aliu (CHI). The Toronto Maple Leafs first selection of the draft came 74th overall, selecting Dale Mitchell of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals.

In the fourth round, 94th overall, the Columbus Blue Jackets selected Maxim Mayorov, originally ranked 14th – another Russian falling due to no IIHF transfer agreement.

Like most draft years, this year was no exception. Some selections in the first round of action were shocking, and in less than five years from now, will be able to look back at the draft and analysis a much clearer picture. How was that player picked so high, and how did that player fall so low?

For more information, check out the following links:

NHL.com - Entry Draft Page TSN.ca - 2007 Entry Draft

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