NHL Draft Round 2-7 open thread

The Red Wings, with the 32nd pick, selected Landon Ferraro. He is the son of Ray Ferraro. He's 6'0", 170 lbs and played for Red Deer in the WHL, which I believe is the same team Derek Meech played for.

Here is a good profile/scouting report of him. And, another one. He sounds like a solid defensive player who will have the potential to help us on the PK. He also scored 37 goals last year, so he does have goal scoring potential. The one thing that is common when I read about him, is that the scouts always mention his skating ability, his high hockey IQ and his work ethic. He comes from a good hockey family and has the genes. Some guys can score and do little else. Thus, they are a boom or bust type. I don't get that sense with Ferraro. He has the potential to be a good goal-scorer at the NHL level, but b/c of his hockey sense, skating ability, work ethic and his experience playing on the PK, he sounds like the type of guy who will be able to carve out a niche on the Wings in some capacity.

The guys on TSN said we will have to be patient with him, because he won't turn 18 until August. He will probably be in juniors for two more years before he gets his shot at playing in GR in the 2011-2012 season.

NHL draft profile. And, he got into a fight with Kyle Beach. That's a plus.

-With the 60th pick, we took Slovakian Tomas Tatar. He had a great World Junior Championship in 2009, finishing with 11 points in 7 games and was named Slovakia's top forward. He's 5'10 and 165 pounds and is a very, very skilled forward who will probably play center. Some scouts have wondered about his consistency and are worried that his World Junior tournament was just a flash in the pan.

In the Hockey News NHL Draft Preview Issue, one scout wondered, "Was it situational success or is that what he does all the time? I think he had a lot of situational success." Another scout stated, "He made his own breaks at the world juniors and did the same thing in the men's league in the playoffs. He looks like one of those guys who's going to defy the odds." If Ken Holland and Jim Nill picked him, then I would bet on the latter.

Matt Bugg of dobberhockey.com, thinks this pick is the steal of the second round. He also said the same thing about Ferraro. Interesting, to say the least.

Here is Tatar's page at Eliteprospects.com. And, a little You Tube for your viewing pleasure.

-With the 75th pick, we chose Andrej Nestrasil of the Czech Republic. Here is another profile on him. And, thank you to the wonderful world of You Tube. 6'2 and nearly 200 pound winger who looks like he can be bring a physical presence and some goal scoring.

-With the 90th pick, and our last one until the 5th round, we picked D Gleason Fournier. Sounds like a typical Wings D-man prospect. An undersized, potential Power Play quarterback who can fit into our puck possession style system. Here are his stats. He played in the Memorial Cup, and will be one to watch down the line. Give him a few years, though.

-In the fifth round, the Wings took defenseman Nick Jensen (6-1, 187), a St. Paul, Minn., native who played for Green Bay of the USHL. Again, he fits the Wings puck-possession style of play. He is an offensive defenseman who can play the power play, skate well, and make a good pass. Also, he is going the college route by committing to St. Cloud State. So, after another year in the USHL, we can stash him away in college for 4 years and see if he can develop. Max Nicastro, our third round pick from last year, is following that same career path.

-In the sixth round, the Wings took forward Mitchell Callahan (5-11, 175), a native of Whittier, Calif., who plays for Kelowna (WHL). Notice anything interesting? 188 PIM's. Needless to say, he is a tough guy and a 4th line-type player. Worth a shot, I suppose.

-With our last pick we let Hakan Andersson to select a Swedish defenseman, Adam Almqvist (5-10, 169) of HV 71 Juniors. Undersized, offensive defenseman who may develop into a good offensive level at the pro level. Long shot? You bet. But, anything is possible with our scouting department. Here is a link to a thread on HF Boards with some more insight into the pick.

NHL Draft Open Thread

And, huge news right off the bat. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks just traded Chris Pronger to the Flyers for RW Joffrey Lupul, D Luca Sbisa, and 2 1st round picks. With Scott Neidermeyer reportedly returning to the Ducks at probably $6 million a year, they had to trade Pronger to fit under the cap. Lupul does fit their need for a top 6 forward because he is a potential 25-30 goal guy and gives them 5 legit forwards (Ryan, Perry, Selanne, Getzlaf and now Lupul). But, this is a big hit to their D . I imagine they will do everything possible to re-sign D-men Francois Beauchemin and James Wisniewski to a combined total of about $7-8 million annually. Sbisa was the Flyers first round pick last year, and with 2 more first round picks coming their way, they essentially traded Pronger for 3 1st round picks and a top 6 winger. In the short term, it hurts them. Long term, they win this deal.

As for the Flyers, this is an absolute steal in the short term. They have some of the best depth in the league at forward and could get away with trading Lupul. With Pronger, their top 5 D-men (Kimmo Timonen, Matthew Carle, Randy Jones, and Braydon Coburn) is easily one of the best in the game. Pronger is one of the top 4 D-men in the game who still has 2-3 real good years of hockey left in him, and brings a physical presence that is almost unmatched in the game today. But, with the trading of one of their top prospects and two additional 1st round picks in the coming years, this is clearly a win now move. High risk, high reward for the Flyers. Now, they need a goalie.

Update: And, with their first round pick, the Wings traded it to Tampa Bay for the 32nd pick and the 75th pick. They did this a few years ago and acquired Shaun Matthias and Cory Emmerton. Matthias was the player traded in the Todd Bertuzzi deal back in 2007 and is considered a legit top 50 prospect in the NHL. Emmerton also has the potential to be a good contributor down the line. So, history suggests this will work out just fine for us, and this is a deep draft so a quality player will most certainly be available at #32. Draft resumes tomorrow.