Ok, this is my final draft guide until 2015. u/TylerBlozak contacted me to say he has 2012-2014, so maybe they’ll step up over the next few days to keep the nostalgia going.
Duncan Seimens should appeal to the dozen of you who enjoyed Semen Varlamov the other day.
Dougie Hamilton looks like he’ll eat our souls… while at a museum or something.
My major memory here is how wrong I was about most of the guys I liked. – I thought Cristopher was the better Gibson. Thought Musil and Bartschi were going to be better than they turned out as well. Had no doubt Armia was going to be a cromulant top 6 wing for the Sabres to start building around… I had so many bad takes for this draft. I blame the new baby… who’s now 13.
LocksTheFox
Mike Paliotta mentioned! He was captain my first year at UVM.
Kucherov at 95 or Phillips at 9, which has aged worse haha. Kucherov is a surefire HOFer, Phillips….didn’t even get a second contract and has since played in the German third tier, the Swedish second tier, Hungary, Scotland, England, Poland, and Slovakia
CaptainJingles
I was so excited when the Blues got Rattie and Jaskin. :/
SUICIDE_BOMB_RESCUE
I still remember when RNH’s vision was being compared to Gretzkys in this draft. I thought it was ridiculous then and even more ridiculous now.
bobby_booch
Trocheck looks like he’s posing for the poster of a quirky 90s comedy.
Reddit040
Both Mika and Trochek pics made me laugh out loud and uncontrollably
MOLightningBro
Danault looks like he’s rocking Phil Esposito’s 1970 haircut
carcatz
Rocco Grimaldi’s Nashville run was so damn fun. The dude HUSTLES and is so exciting to watch but damn it John Hynes only cared that he was short and pretty much iced his career as soon as he showed up. He wouldn’t have been like a superstar by any stretch but I wish he could’ve been given a longer chance under a coach who values offense
EatonHass_24-7
It’s easy to see why Joel Armia was drafted so high. On paper, he is the total package. There are games, even as recently as last season, where he shows glimpses of a Hart trophy caliber player, no exaggeration. But for some reason he just can’t put it all together.
Mac_Gold
Crazy how many players who were ranked outside the first round made massive jumps. Scheifele especially. And it turned out to be a great pick
Xarkkal
Oh Captain my Captain! ❤️
noodleyone
Kucherov at 95….
TheIncredibleShrek
Funny that Saad slid all the way to 43rd and in a redraft probably would go close to where he was originally projected
Stinky_Toes12
Imagine if edmonton had gotten kucherov over rnh and vasilevsky over yakupov the next year
Constant-Squirrel555
I wonder how it would’ve affected RNH if he stayed in junior another year
AuxNimbus
Weird to see some of them without beards. Only one who never aged is RNH
IHazenArgument
John Gibson and J.T. Miller look like they were moonlighting as members of an emo/pop-punk band
daveloper80
JT Miller’s picture is excellent
Electric-Lettuce
Damn I remember getting this exact draft guide when it first came out, still probably have it back at my parents somewhere… this makes me feel old as hell
drakethesnake94
JT Miller looks like Kevin Bacon if he tried to play a teenager in a movie
jaicecreambar
Thanks for posting all these. Super interesting looking back.
Who’d have thought the best player in the class was ranked 95? The 2nd(?) best player drafted at 104 and not even on the list (Gaudreau).
Gold_Gain1351
Klefbom 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
MarshmallowLuka
So that’s what Nate MacKinnon and Jesse Forsberg have in common: they are both gamers
arunnair87
Can’t believe the Rangers reached for a pick and it turned out good only for us to do the typical NY thing and trade the dude.
brechbillc1
This was a pretty damn stellar draft class. Lot of these guys had or have had long careers in the league and there is a bonafide HOFer in this class not in the top 60.
darkmatt27
Damn all these post make me remember how bad we have been at drafting except for like 2 or 3 years in the last 20 years.
Even when we got some good pick like sergachev and McDonagh we traded them for flops…
Burnoutboi
Klefbom looks like my twelve year old nephew in that pic. I hope retirement is relatively pain free.
CaptinDerpI
Duncan Siemens my GOAT
b_dubs2145
Found it funny when they called oleksiak the poor man’s Tyler Myers
Repulsive-Minute-559
Pretty good draft ngl
7hoth
This was the first draft I closely followed. Oilers fans were told they were getting Pavel Datsyuk with RNH, it did not happen, still a great player.
Kucherov here AINEC, he’s all time. I have a memory of someone on TSN saying something to the effect of “the best prospect in the world is Nikita Kucherov but he’s not gonna get picked in the first round.” Have never been able to find a clip.
Zibby, Miller, Scheifele, Trochek, Danault, Couturier, RNH; this draft was loaded with good centres in hindsight. Some other guys initially projected better and even started to trend towards their ceilings before tapering off.
jrmehle
I’ll always remember this draft because it was in Minnesota and it is the only draft I’ve been able to attend in person. The Wild traded Brent Burns, which had been expected, because they had failed to re-sign him. There was audible gasping in the arena. I was pretty read up on the situation though, so I just remember turning to my buddy and going “Yep, there it is.” I also happened to be standing at the main gate when Allen Walsh walked in with RNH, Huberdeau, Landeskog, and Strome followed by TSN’s camera crew so that was a cool moment.
rodger_klotz
Obligatory fuck Reid boucher
FBR_MC
Holy fuck, Zack Phillips mention
Podo13
Ha. I was trying to remember “Who was the Blues 1st rounder in 2011?” Then I saw Duncan Siemens and it all flooded back immediately.
(Blues traded the pick to Colorado in the Shattenkirk/EJ trade. It was top 10 protected and we finished in 11th by 1 point. Colorado took Siemens and he was a mega-bust of a top 10 pick)
Also, was Edmundson not even a top 100 prospect? Interesting.
Nativejoel
Crazy to think the best player of the draft is ranked 95.
The 2nd highest point player of the draft isn’t even on the list.
Radu47
Bonkers that they thought RNH would struggle asap because he was smaller and he recorded one of the better u18 seasons ever
16 all time in u18 points per game ahead of kovalchuk
In fairness he got injured, but that same old school mentality, that led people to think Eichel would have a more impressive rookie season than McDavid due to being a bit bigger
conesy23
Mark McNeill has been playing in the DEL2 the past several seasons, and that‘s a bit of a letdown given where he was drafted
Radu47
Trocheck looks like a moody teen character from an 80s sitcom
bbistheman
These always have at least 1 russian player thar I’ve never heard of
Fancy_Beyond9797
Seeing Brett Ritchie right before JT Miller makes me so sad. I could never figure out what Ritchie was doing on the ice for the Stars. He never really looked like he either cared or knew what he was supposed to be doing out there. This was the middle of the bad Stars drafts era where we had like no prospects with high end talent, which pretty much lasted until Heiskanen came along. (IIRC Hintz put his game together after that even though he was drafted before)
Key-Tip-7521
Zibanejad and Trocheck’ pic omg
gmoney4949
Kucherov is a steal but as a Sens fan we didn’t miss and still had JPG
Basic_Ask1885
Dougie Hamilton looks like he was a very disruptive child
heythisisnew27
Rip Klefbom
NowFook
Interesting how weak 12-39 but then you have Scheifele, Miller, Trocheck 40-60 and Kucherov at 95
Would be nice if we could find a late gem for once …
49 Comments
Siemens Avalanche.
Dougie with the murderous intent
Kucherov “inconsistent”.
Ok, this is my final draft guide until 2015. u/TylerBlozak contacted me to say he has 2012-2014, so maybe they’ll step up over the next few days to keep the nostalgia going.
Duncan Seimens should appeal to the dozen of you who enjoyed Semen Varlamov the other day.
Dougie Hamilton looks like he’ll eat our souls… while at a museum or something.
My major memory here is how wrong I was about most of the guys I liked. – I thought Cristopher was the better Gibson. Thought Musil and Bartschi were going to be better than they turned out as well. Had no doubt Armia was going to be a cromulant top 6 wing for the Sabres to start building around… I had so many bad takes for this draft. I blame the new baby… who’s now 13.
Mike Paliotta mentioned! He was captain my first year at UVM.
Kucherov at 95 or Phillips at 9, which has aged worse haha. Kucherov is a surefire HOFer, Phillips….didn’t even get a second contract and has since played in the German third tier, the Swedish second tier, Hungary, Scotland, England, Poland, and Slovakia
I was so excited when the Blues got Rattie and Jaskin. :/
I still remember when RNH’s vision was being compared to Gretzkys in this draft. I thought it was ridiculous then and even more ridiculous now.
Trocheck looks like he’s posing for the poster of a quirky 90s comedy.
Both Mika and Trochek pics made me laugh out loud and uncontrollably
Danault looks like he’s rocking Phil Esposito’s 1970 haircut
Rocco Grimaldi’s Nashville run was so damn fun. The dude HUSTLES and is so exciting to watch but damn it John Hynes only cared that he was short and pretty much iced his career as soon as he showed up. He wouldn’t have been like a superstar by any stretch but I wish he could’ve been given a longer chance under a coach who values offense
It’s easy to see why Joel Armia was drafted so high. On paper, he is the total package. There are games, even as recently as last season, where he shows glimpses of a Hart trophy caliber player, no exaggeration. But for some reason he just can’t put it all together.
Crazy how many players who were ranked outside the first round made massive jumps. Scheifele especially. And it turned out to be a great pick
Oh Captain my Captain! ❤️
Kucherov at 95….
Funny that Saad slid all the way to 43rd and in a redraft probably would go close to where he was originally projected
Imagine if edmonton had gotten kucherov over rnh and vasilevsky over yakupov the next year
I wonder how it would’ve affected RNH if he stayed in junior another year
Weird to see some of them without beards. Only one who never aged is RNH
John Gibson and J.T. Miller look like they were moonlighting as members of an emo/pop-punk band
JT Miller’s picture is excellent
Damn I remember getting this exact draft guide when it first came out, still probably have it back at my parents somewhere… this makes me feel old as hell
JT Miller looks like Kevin Bacon if he tried to play a teenager in a movie
Thanks for posting all these. Super interesting looking back.
Who’d have thought the best player in the class was ranked 95? The 2nd(?) best player drafted at 104 and not even on the list (Gaudreau).
Klefbom 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
So that’s what Nate MacKinnon and Jesse Forsberg have in common: they are both gamers
Can’t believe the Rangers reached for a pick and it turned out good only for us to do the typical NY thing and trade the dude.
This was a pretty damn stellar draft class. Lot of these guys had or have had long careers in the league and there is a bonafide HOFer in this class not in the top 60.
Damn all these post make me remember how bad we have been at drafting except for like 2 or 3 years in the last 20 years.
Even when we got some good pick like sergachev and McDonagh we traded them for flops…
Klefbom looks like my twelve year old nephew in that pic. I hope retirement is relatively pain free.
Duncan Siemens my GOAT
Found it funny when they called oleksiak the poor man’s Tyler Myers
Pretty good draft ngl
This was the first draft I closely followed. Oilers fans were told they were getting Pavel Datsyuk with RNH, it did not happen, still a great player.
Kucherov here AINEC, he’s all time. I have a memory of someone on TSN saying something to the effect of “the best prospect in the world is Nikita Kucherov but he’s not gonna get picked in the first round.” Have never been able to find a clip.
Zibby, Miller, Scheifele, Trochek, Danault, Couturier, RNH; this draft was loaded with good centres in hindsight. Some other guys initially projected better and even started to trend towards their ceilings before tapering off.
I’ll always remember this draft because it was in Minnesota and it is the only draft I’ve been able to attend in person. The Wild traded Brent Burns, which had been expected, because they had failed to re-sign him. There was audible gasping in the arena. I was pretty read up on the situation though, so I just remember turning to my buddy and going “Yep, there it is.” I also happened to be standing at the main gate when Allen Walsh walked in with RNH, Huberdeau, Landeskog, and Strome followed by TSN’s camera crew so that was a cool moment.
Obligatory fuck Reid boucher
Holy fuck, Zack Phillips mention
Ha. I was trying to remember “Who was the Blues 1st rounder in 2011?” Then I saw Duncan Siemens and it all flooded back immediately.
(Blues traded the pick to Colorado in the Shattenkirk/EJ trade. It was top 10 protected and we finished in 11th by 1 point. Colorado took Siemens and he was a mega-bust of a top 10 pick)
Also, was Edmundson not even a top 100 prospect? Interesting.
Crazy to think the best player of the draft is ranked 95.
The 2nd highest point player of the draft isn’t even on the list.
Bonkers that they thought RNH would struggle asap because he was smaller and he recorded one of the better u18 seasons ever
16 all time in u18 points per game ahead of kovalchuk
In fairness he got injured, but that same old school mentality, that led people to think Eichel would have a more impressive rookie season than McDavid due to being a bit bigger
Mark McNeill has been playing in the DEL2 the past several seasons, and that‘s a bit of a letdown given where he was drafted
Trocheck looks like a moody teen character from an 80s sitcom
These always have at least 1 russian player thar I’ve never heard of
Seeing Brett Ritchie right before JT Miller makes me so sad. I could never figure out what Ritchie was doing on the ice for the Stars. He never really looked like he either cared or knew what he was supposed to be doing out there. This was the middle of the bad Stars drafts era where we had like no prospects with high end talent, which pretty much lasted until Heiskanen came along. (IIRC Hintz put his game together after that even though he was drafted before)
Zibanejad and Trocheck’ pic omg
Kucherov is a steal but as a Sens fan we didn’t miss and still had JPG
Dougie Hamilton looks like he was a very disruptive child
Rip Klefbom
Interesting how weak 12-39 but then you have Scheifele, Miller, Trocheck 40-60 and Kucherov at 95
Would be nice if we could find a late gem for once …