Mikko Koivu (Flickr/MPR529)

Mikko Koivu – When I think about the Minnesota Wild and look at their roster, I’m not sure how I can get excited about this team for the next few seasons.  They haven’t made any terrible signings, but I think it could be argued that they’ve overpaid for close to half the team. With no money, a lackluster offense, and coach Todd Richards’ up-tempo system replacing the defense-first Lemaire approach, what remedies do they have? Would be interested to hear a few ideas in the comments.

Hockey Wilderness points out that the reactions from fans outside of Minnesota to the Mikko Koivu extension were venomous, while the Wild faithful seemed to overwhelmingly approve.  The first half of their analysis is outstanding, but their justification for why he was worth $6.75m per season falls a bit flat:

Now, as for why he is worth it, even without the points. Why that is is difficult to explain to people outside of Minnesota. It takes watching the guy play for 82 games a season to see why. It’s those pesky intangibles. The leadership, the steady presence, the battles in the corner. It’s the little things that few people in the league do as well as he does, but that don’t show up in the stat sheet.

Sure, lots of guys have the leadership…Plenty of centers have face off win % above 50%. More than a fair share of players have 70+ points a year. But how many have all of it? There’s your answer.

Blue Jackets Summer Update - If you’re a fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets and want a summer State of the Union update on the team, Matt Wagner’s piece at The Cannon is a must-read.  Some of the quotes from CBJ staff were pretty predictable and empty (GM Scott Howson: “We have committed to building our team through the draft, and finding players through trades or free agency when the right opportunities come up”), but others were encouraging:

[Head Coach Scott Arniel:] “Pretty much everyone is excited – it’s funny, I was really excited to come here to work with them, but it turns out that most of them are even more excited to get to work with me! I think the biggest thing, though, is that pretty much all of them have talked about how they want to get better. I think a lot of our guys feel like they let the team down – they let the fans down, and they let themselves down. Everyone’s been working really hard this off season to keep it from happening again.”

Braden Holtby - With Washington Capitals prospect camp underway, there was a lot of talk about #3 goalie Braden Holtby this week.  Rock the Red had a great interview with the rising star and his feelings on being stuck behind Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth on the depth chart:

“In order to be a successful goalie, you need to believe in yourself that you can outplay any goalie, no matter where they are. Neuvi and Varly are outstanding goalies, and everyone knows that. And they’ve proven themselves in the levels that they played at. But there is still a lot of time left and I believe in my abilities, and that I can be an NHL goalie one day, whether it’s next year or four years down the road.”

Scouting Reports - In the spirit of prospect and development camps, check out PremiumScouting.com, a new scouting website that promises “regular reads about prospects from around the world and a place where you can read up on leagues outside of the NHL.”  A recent entry in their ’30 in 30′ series broke down the Buffalo Sabres’ prospect pool:

The organization, well known for scouting through video is headed by Kevin Devine who just wrapped up his 4th year as Director of Amateur Scouting and 12th overall with Buffalo in a scouting capacity. He hasn’t been around long enough to truly evaluate his performance, albeit the 2008 class seems to be accelerating at a pace that Buffalo has to like…

…With Tyler Ennis having a fantastic pro debut and moving on, the top of the Sabres depth chart loses upside and rather has more projectability. Their first rounder this year in Mark Pysyk is a fine skating defender who shows the smarts and physical attributes to one day be skating and eating minutes for Buffalo. Kassian has upside due to his physical tools but there are question marks around his game and even more so around his character.

Islanders Arena Discussions - Chris Botta at NYI Point Blank takes a look at a new possibility for the New York Islanders as they continue search for a solution in the Lighthouse Project mess:

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano wants to partner with Charles Wang on a development that would consist of a new Coliseum and training facility plus an entertainment and gambling center the quality of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

LeBron who? For all anyone knew, LeBron could have been working out with former UAH Charger captain Dwayne Blais and Mitch Korn at the ‘Plex. There were no names, not even a bar code to indicate who was who to the Preds faithful in the stands. Did it matter? Only a little. Hours and miles away from the premiere of LeBron’s one-man show, “An Evening With Brett Favre”, the story at Centennial was all about Blais and Korn saying “Jump!” and the rookies asking “How high?”

The goalie cubs were drilled and drilled again while at the other end of the rink Blais barked orders at the skaters, commanding them to turn six feet plus and nearly two hundred pounds of hockey player on something thinner than one of those pretty little dimes with ships on them.

Watching the forwards go through their paces is a bit like watching a very stringent dance teacher. As they spin, skid, turn and then skate at top speed. Blais praises some players and taps his sick impatiently on the ice when two rookies collide and end up in a pile. Gravity is nobody’s friend as they skid and try to do the neat as a pin turns that seem to come like breathing to the veterans. In spite of this, he barks and taps, demanding that they focus as they wait in line, run through their routine and then wait again. Everyone is consciously defying the laws of physics and their own tendency to think. The objective, to let the primal that was employed to hunt to take over, only now in the name of play. It doesn’t take long for some of the players begin to show their game face, their posture indicating that this would soon be second nature. The steps, the dance is starting to feel right and they’re going to be ready to play (by Nashville standards) fairly soon.

Almost everyone is all concentration right now. We have still yet to see anything like the gleeful, barking mad enthusiasm that Ryan Ellis exhibited during the expo day at last year’s camp. Maybe that is still to come. I hope so. Having written that, it is only fair to add that the urge to play in the face of all of this drilling is strong. Players slap the pucks that slide within range against the boards, likely in part for the noise but also possibly to get some sense of completion and reassurance that within this work is a game to be played.

The looping, swooping drills and the barrage of frozen rubber being fired at the goalies is almost hypnotic. What can’t possibly be forgotten by anyone is that there is teaching but there is also the underlying need to be teachable now and coachable in the future. A lot is at stake here. that everyone is watching to see who stands out and who will need more tiem to develop and mature.

At the end of the session we saw the return of what could only be described as controlled Ragnoroc. Multiple pucks flew as the players rifled pucks at the goalies and the coaches skated around and through the madness, picking out instances where players did well and seeing areas where there was room for improvement. As we head towards the midpoint of rookie, it will be interesting if we are given a look at who is leading, who is being lead and who will wear navy in Nashville in 10-11.

Tip of the Kats gimme cap to SLPreds for letting me know via Twitter that the person facilitating the power skating exercises was not Gelinas. Thanks!

Better late than never, right! Before everyone’s head starting spinning out of control with all of the players that will be switching teams in the next few weeks, I want to take a look back at what the St. Louis Blues did at the NHL Entry Draft this past weekend. Starting with the 14th overall pick, the Blues were expected to add to their already talented core of offensive youngsters by adding another skilled forward to the mix. I don’t think many people expected them to add two.

14th overall: Jaden Schwartz

Playing for the Tri City Americans of the USHL, Schwartz won the league scoring title with 83 points, the highest total in the league since 2001-02. Although he was taken much higher than his overall rank (28th in CSS, 29th by TSN), Schwartz’s pure offensive talent, if handled the right way, gives him a huge upside in the NHL. He will be able to slowly develop that talent, as well as his 190lb frame, because the Blues are currently stacked with youngsters waiting to break out. Schwartz will play for Colorado College in 2010-11

Trade: David Runblad (17th in ’09) for 16th overall pick (Ott)

Instead of sitting back and waiting for their next pick, St. Louis moved one of their wealth of prospects, offensive d-man David Runblad, to the Sens to grab the 16th overall pick this year. Already having youngsters Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo ready to make a big impact, as well veterans Brewer and Jackman, Runblad was expendable for St. Louis

16th overall: Vladimir Tarasenko

The only reason Tarasenko dropped to 16th is because of Russian Factor, defection is always a possibility. Once again, the young talent of Perron, Berglund and Oshie made this gamble possible for the Blues. The sixth youngest player in the KHL (Novosibirsk Siber)  is only 5’11″, but already weighs 202lbs! Give him two more years in the KHL (already played two at 18 yrs old) before he makes the jump over.

44th overall: Sebastian Wannstrom

Wannstrom led the Junior SEL in scoring last season with 30 goals and 57 points in only 35 games. He struggled however, when called up by Brynas of the SEL, and was held pointless in 18 games. The lack of production at a higher level means the Blues will have to be patient with Wannstrom, likely meaning he will stay in Sweden for at least one more year.

74th overall: Max Gardiner

Gardiner is the first brother of a player picked by the Blues in 2010 (Jake Gardiner went 17th in ’08 to Anaheim). Gardiner has the making of a power forward with his 6’3″ frame, he just has to fill it out in his University years. He was ranked as high as 49th by NHL Central Scouting, and is committed to U of Minnesota for next season.

104th overall: Jani Hakanpaa

Born in 1992, and already 6’4″, 211lbs. Nothing else to say.

134th overall: Cody Beach

Size runs in the Beach’ family; Cody’s brother, Kyle (of the Blackhawks), is 6’3″ 210lbs. Cody is already 6’5″ and plays a very physical game; but like most prospects at this age, he will have to add to his 180 lbs size. He had 157 PIM for the Hitmen last season.

164th overall: Stephen MacAulay

MacAuley will look to become the second most famous player to hail from Cole Harbour, NS. He has already played two seasons with the Sea Dogs in the Q, but will probably have to finish out his career there to maximize his shot.

The Blues did much to replenish the loss of prospect Lars Eller in the Halak deal, and also landed a potential monster on their back end for years to come. While Schwartz and Tarasenko are well on their way to becoming NHL stars, the rest of the draftees will hope to continue to develope over the next few seasons.

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The Draft also spelled the end to Jarmo Kekalainen’s great run as a head scout in the NHL. As of June 30, Kekalainen will be taking over as GM of Jokerit in the Finnish Elite League. Prior to his stint with the Blues, Kekalainen was in Ottawa and part of the team that picked Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Ray Emery. Good luck Jarmo!

Christopher Ralph is a sportswriter with a focus on hockey prospects, the entry draft, as well as occasional Flames coverage here at THW.

NHL GMs and their respective scouting teams made a mockery of the most brilliantly done mock drafts – my Three Round Mega Mock Draft included. I did manage to tie Bob McKenzie of TSN in correctly naming 25 out of the 30 prospects taken in the first round.

The Ducks look to be the big winners on Day 1, committing grand theft larceny in nabbing Cam Fowler in the 12^th slot – I had him ranked 3^rd overall. He will make the retirement of Scott Niedermayer an easier pill to swallow. Picking up my 7^th ranked prospect, Emerson Etem, at 29^th was shear brilliance, with a splash of luck, bringing the Californian kid home.

Emerson Etem {Photo: Chris Ralph}

The following are 10 players are key players to watch on Day 2 of the draft. Some should be snatched up early, while it will be curious to see where some will land. The first five were the leftovers from my Top 30 and you can click on name to view detailed Full Potential Prospect Profile:

1. John MacFarland – Plays well in International play, but underwhelming OHL season. He was, however, a monster at the Scouting Combine.

2. Kirill Kabanov – Who wants to play Russian Roulette?

3. Tyler Toffoli – With his NHL ready elite shot, how long will it take announcers to coin the phrase “Holy Toffoli goes top shelf!”

4. Jordan Weal – Will the Blackhawks (See Paint It Blackhawks for a great review of Chicago’s Day 1 with a look ahead to Day 2 by Co-conspirator Jim Neveau) use one of five second round draft picks to nab the Patrick Kane, albeit somewhat slower, clone?

5. Tyler Pitlick – The top two-way forward remaining. I will already proclaim him a second round steal.

6. Calvin Pikard – Who thought Chet’s brother would be picked after Mark Visentin, who was perhaps the biggest surprise pick of the first round, by the Coyotes.

7. Jon Merrill – I had him ranked 31^st in my Top 100 Prospect Rankings, but other scouting services had him much higher – ISS had him at 11^th.

8. Justin Faulk – Some might think he’s undersized as a blueliner, but he has been described as a “pitbull on ice.” He has perhaps the best slapshot in the draft.

9. Johan Larsson – He had an unbelievable WJC-U18s; 2-way smooth talented center.

10. Teemu Pulkinnen – Injury-riddled season was somewhat redeemed by outstanding WJC-U18s in which he was the top scorer. Will the Wild be able to snag him to match him up with partner-in-crime, Mikael Granlund, who he excels playing with.

Follow along with the draft today by referring to my Top 100 Prospect Rankings.

As a bonus, here are some of my personal favourite dark horse prospects, who might just be available beyond the first round:

- Mackenzie, Matt – D

Tyler Toffoli {Photo Copyright: www.DustinHall.ca}

- Kuehnhackl, Tom – F

- Gauthier-Leduc, Jerome – D

- Silas, Stephen, D

- Rutkowski, Troy – D

- Macek, Brooks, C

- Bunz, Tyler, G

- Bournival, Michael, F

- Thomas, Christian – F

- Ohman, Victor – F

Who and when (will they move up, that is) will the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs finally select in the 2010 Entry Draft?

*For all the latest prospect and draft news and Day 2 coverage,  follow me on Twitter: The Hockey Spy

Tyler Seguin {Photo: Robin Kasem - Flickr}

Today’s article embarks on my final mock draft of the season – 3 Rounds with 10 bonus picks!

Here are my previously complete mock drafts:

• Olympic Edition
• Playoffs Edition

Take a look back at my previous mock and see if you can discover any trends over the season.

Notes: (Please read to get the most enjoyment from this mock draft.)

*The table is “sortable” – that is, if you click on any of the headings it will sort that particular column.

*For detailed prospect profiles (Top 30), check out the Home Page for my monster 2010 Entry Draft Preview. Click on players name to go to prospect profile article.

*Just under the title, you can click “Show” and change the quantity you show on one page or you can simply click on bottom right hand corner of table to scroll through the mock draft.

*Use the “Search” field to find your team’s picks (use city name).

*The THW column refers to where I ranked the player in my Top 100 Prospect Rankings for 2010 NHL Entry Draft. (In the Top 100 Prospect Rankings article, you can view more details about the prospect including: height, weight, TSN ranking and THN ranking.)

*There are differences between my own personal rankings and where the prospect landed in the mock draft. For instance, Goalie Jack Campbell jumped up 6 slots to go 6th overall to the goalie-craving Lightning, whereas undersized offensive spark-plug fell 7 slots down to 33rd overall to the Panthers where new GM Tallon hopes to have found another Patrick Kane.

*For details on the full draft selection order and trade information with respect to draft positions, see NHL.com

*For all the latest prospect and draft news follow me on Twitter: The Hockey Spy

This document is the intellectual property of Christopher Ralph and cannot be used or duplicated in anyway without expressed written consent. Any use of this document without the expressed written consent of Christopher Ralph will result in public exposure and legal prosecution.

Tyler Seguin (TJ W/Flickr)

Tonight in Los Angeles, the Edmonton Oilers will be the first team to grace the podium and make a selection to hopefully improve their hockey club for the future. Unlike most of the past drafts where there was a clear cut undisputed number one, this years first overall pick isn’t a lock. There are two talented young men who both have the potential to make an impact for the rebuilding Oilers. They are different players, one a flashy winger, the other a playmaking center.

Taylor Hall, the more popular and well known name has two memorial cups and two MVP awards under his belt. He’s fast, hard to knock of the puck, and can score in spectacular fashion. He was tied for points with Tyler Seguin (106) despite playing in six fewer games. But many experts suggest that a team should be built around a high quality centerman, rather than a winger (sorry Alex Ovechkin), and since the salary cap was introduced there have been three centerman selected first overall (Sidney Crosby 2005, Steve Stamkos 2008, John Tavares 2009). Any successful team in the NHL has a legit number one center. Crosby in Pittsburgh, Jonathan Toews in Chicago, Nicklas Backstrom in Washington, Mike Richards in Philadelphia, Pavel Datsuyk in Detroit, Joe Thornton in San Jose, Henrik Sedin in Vancouver to name a few. Obviously, the Oilers could acquire a number centre via trade or free agency to compliment Taylor Hall, especially with names such as Marc Savard and Jason Spezza rumored to be on the market. But in the salary cap era, big trades simply aren’t as easy to work as they used to be, and drafting and developing players is the more realistic route to success.

Taylor Hall #4 {Photo: Leon T Switzer @ www.TotalPhoto.ca

The Oilers certainly can’t go wrong in choosing Hall because he’s a very talented player. But which player has the higher upside? Scouts are torn when confronted with that question, but Seguin’s development the past couple years has risen at a higher rate than that of Hall. He is also thought to be the more mature of the two, and the more NHL ready. Seguin has drawn comparisons to Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman, and compiled the same amount of points as Taylor Hall last year despite playing with a much less talented supporting cast. Hall’s style of play makes him more susceptible to injury, although injury can happen to any player at any time in today’s NHL regardless of how they play. It makes for a very difficult decision for the Oilers who need help at every position, and there is speculation that Taylor Hall is going to be their guy at the draft tonight. But with great wingers like Jordan Eberle, Linus Omark and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson already in the system, and sniper Ales Hemsky already on the roster, the Oilers might be wise to consider selecting a player who’s going to be able to get them the puck. And that is Tyler Seguin.