Sunday, June 13, 2010

First round draft spotlight: the plan for picks 16-30

I want to thank everyone for sticking around for the first (projected) 15 picks of the draft.

These profiles are fun to do, but extremely time-consuming, so I'm going to do the detailed spotlight series right up to the 20th pick, and then from there, I'll do a mock for picks 21-30 in the interest of time, and so I can devote some space to some of the second round and later candidates. The focus has been squarely on the top guys, which is where it should be, but I've got other plans for this blog in the final 12 days or so before the 2010 NHL Enty Draft goes in the books.

So...thanks for all the great feedback. I'm glad the profiles have been well-received. I'll give you five more and then I'll close out the rest of the round and do some other things as we hit the home stretch.

5 comments:

  1. This has been an outstanding series so far - I don't know of any bettter source of info on these prospects... before the draft I didn't really know who was in the mix other than the top two and the three defensemen. Excellent work so far.

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  3. Kirk this is the first blog I read in the morning when I grab my coffee. Thanks for the dedication to this site.

    Any chance you're going to post anything on the New England players that have a chance of being selected this year? I have heard it said that this is a very deep draft for the NE region and that this may be the highest number of New Englanders selected in recent memory. Is that the truth?

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  4. Thanks for the plug, Pie. Please tell your friends about the site! ;)

    As far as New Englanders go, yes-- this is a deep group, but there are no high-end guys like Chris Kreider last year.

    Coyle and Hayes are at the top, and then you've got Arnold and Brickley. I've been a big fan of Brian Billett's going back to last year-- he gets little respect but am holding out belief that some team will draft him. Also- keep an eye out for Mikey Pereira-- he was outstanding in the prep tourney. There are some other prep guys, too, who should be watched like Tommy O'Regan, Cody Ferreiro, Brian Ward, Garnet Hathaway, etc. One New Englander who didn't play in the area this year, and was passed over last year but who may get a look is Luke Curadi, the huge (6-6, 250-pound) d-man who skated with Beau Bennett and Bruins prospect Ben Sexton on the Penticton Panthers (BCHL) this year. He's headed for Dubuque of the USHL and then RPI in 11-12.

    The non-New Englanders who play in the region like Danny Biega (Harvard), Pat McNally (Milton Academy), Marty Ouellette (KUA), Thane Heller (Boston Jr. Bruins), etc. should be watched as well.

    Check out the blog archives from March-- there's a lot on the guys from the preps and the EJHL playoffs. But, since there's an interest, I'll do a New England recap sometime this week or early next.

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  5. That's great, thanks again.

    I saw Curadi play I think a year and a half ago in the AJHL. He looked like a linebacker on skates, just enormous. I was actually surprised that his skating was all right for a guy of his size. He did lack stamina and the ability to make that crisp break out pass. Maybe he's improved in the BCHL. I do find it a bit odd that he is going from the BCHL to the USHL before he gets to school.

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