The Hockey News: Rory Boylen's Blog: THN at the NHL Draft: Round 1 winners and losers

THN at the NHL Draft: Round 1 winners and losers

Drew Doughty was taken No. 2 by the Los Angeles Kings. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images)

Rory Boylen
2008-06-21 03:05:33

OTTAWA - A ton of trades stole the Stamkos show in Friday’s first round and a lot of this year’s opening round winners added upgrades that will help them win right away.

So who were the biggest winners?

Montreal: Far and away the biggest winner and Ken Campbell will attest to that. Adding a scorer in Alex Tanguay and the right to negotiate with Mats Sundin, this team just needed a nudge to contend and they gave themselves a full-on bodycheck.

Phoenix: Yes they left themselves a little thin on defense, but they acquired a leader in Olli Jokinen – at a bargain price - who is a proven scorer and just as hungry to make the playoffs as all of the inexperienced youngsters the Yotes possess. Not to mention drafting two scorers into the coffers.

Nashville: Got a big, solid center, which are so important to success in the NHL today, with their first pick and then, mere hours after dealing goalie Chris Mason to St. Louis, made Chet Pickard the first goalie picked in the draft.

Los Angeles: In a few years, no one will want to face Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, Thomas Hickey and Colten Teubert with Jonathan Bernier holding down the fort.

And now, the sad sacks.

Florida: How do you not get a first-rounder when dealing away your biggest asset on draft day? Especially after the Roberto Luongo fiasco? This team continues to be a mess.

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New York Rangers: Not to take anything away from Michael Del Zotto, who is a fine first-round selection for a team in need of an offensive defenseman, but, as Ryan Kennedy points out, the Rangers already have Bobby Sanguinetti to do the same job. A Tedenby, Nemisz or Gustafsson would have been the wise choice.

New York Islanders: Twice traded down and didn’t get anything of great significance in return. Passing up the likes of Filatov, Boedker, Wilson could come back to haunt them. Better make those other picks count.

All-in-all, it was one of the most thrilling first rounds the league has ever seen.

The Hockey News will cover the NHL Entry Draft from all angles with live coverage and up-to-the-minute pick-by-pick updates on both June 20 and 21 in our Draft Central.

Rory Boylen is THN.com's web content specialist. His blog appears Thursdays.

For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

COMMENTS (10)

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AJ Black Posted
(2009-04-30 06:28:01)

Oh, ok, so the Rangers taking the best player on the board is bad. Taking lesser talents is good. Right, I'm not a big fan of Sather but I prefer him to you genius.

Joe Gregory Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:54)

Wow. Don't tell me they pay you for this... Having two offensive defensemen is a bad thing? Especially when they are so hard to get in FA or trades without getting raped compared to obtaining wingers.

tyler durden Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:53)

Islanders did just fine. They picked a solid set-up man for Okposo, while their abundance of second and third rounders allowed them to take a chance on guys like Petrov and Toews. They also have 3 second rounders in another deep draft next year. Guys like Ness, Trivino, and Niemi were also considered first round talent by many scouts. All in all, a good draft.

Jonathan Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:52)

Did the writer of this article even look at the Rangers depth in their prospect pool? Defense was the most widely needed position and every Rangers fan, before the draft, was clamoring for defense. In fact, most thought that D.Z. was the pick before the draft and had him going their in their mock-ups. I find it pretty laughable that a hockey writer of all things is saying that the Rangers should've drafted on need in the first round rather than best player available. That kind of logic worked real well for them in 2003 when they picked Huge Bust.

public Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:52)

god forbid any team ever has two offensive defenseman, who by the way are above average defensively as well....oh wait who were the teams in the SC final?.....pitt and detroit?....stuart, lidstrom, rafalski.....gonchar, whitney, letang.....but it wont work out for the rangers

tov Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:50)

Isles did just fine picking up some sleepers with their 2nd and 3rd round picks!

Rick Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:40)

Nice to see the Leafs not mess up in this year's draft. They completely ripped off the Isles to move up two spots. Good move in a LONG time...

dave Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:40)

how could you not talk about Toronto? Luke Schenn, i don't think he is a franchise player....

Joe Willix Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:39)

I'm sure not going to fault the Rangers for their pick. Let's face it...when your defense is made considerably better by adding Jason Strudwick to the lineup, you're in trouble.

Dave Posted
(2009-04-30 06:27:37)

The Islanders pass over possible future stars in Filatov and Schenn to add 2nd and 3rd rounders, which are at best crapshoots. What's next, trading Spezza and Chara for Yashin?