Monday, July 1, 2013

Post-Draft Monday Musings

All sortsa random stuff rattling around my head after spending Sunday in Newark:

*That was the fastest seven hours I've experienced - what a terrific experience. The NHL should stick to the one-day draft extravaganza rather than trying for tv ratings with a two-day affair.

*Oh, New Jersey, you stink. Funny that their fan fest was sponsored by "Stronger Than The Storm" as it was a mess - a ferris wheel that never was completed, an unorganized mini golf 'course' and loads of sand where it didn't belong.

*Really nice to see the prospects celebrating their selection by hugging their families. Really sad to see the prospects who weren't picked hugging their families at the end of the night.

*One reason why the draft was so great was the accessibility of everyone. Saw one kid walking around handing out resumes, which I thought was a brilliant move.

*Alain Vigneault showed his fan-friendliness by stopping and taking pictures with everyone who wanted one. And even Glen Sather was in a good mood, he actually didn't ignore everyone and answered my quick question - Hey Glen, good draft or bad draft? He replied, "Great draft." Not sure he was awake for it and totally aware as to what was going on, but at least he had as good a time as us fans did.

*My draft guy Matt Lavanco should have a pick-by-pick review done in the next few days but personally I was a bit disappointed. No trades for picks, so just five selections - none of whom appear to be NHL-ready for at least two, three seasons. Minimum. My take, in order: NHL legacy Tambellini, Russian Brendl Buchnevich, injury case Duclair, project defenseman not-related-to-that Graves and some goalie Skapski.

*Buchnevich, by the way, is the first Russian selected by the Rangers since I took a look at all of the players from that country/the USSR back in 2010. It is not a good track record.

*Not one of the kids selected Sunday was alive when Messier raised the Cup, with Skapski being born the day after. Feel old? I do.

*Interesting that the Rangers trade for a big defenseman seemingly on the cusp of success (according to the Wilderness guys) on the same day they are rumoured to add Ulf Samuelsson to the coaching staff.

*Hopefully that is the first of many good moves this offseason as our metro rivals improved themselves with trades. The Devils acquired a franchise goaltender in Schneider to replace Fatso for a pittance, their No. 9 pick. And the Isles added some very-needed grit and ability in Clutterbuck for the Swiss problem child.

*Interesting that Brodeur showed up to draft his own son, and the Flyers had Chris Pronger handy when they selected the next Chris Pronger.

*Former Ranger Jeff Ulmer spent six games with Tappara this season and I asked him back then if Barkov was the real deal. He thought that the kid should be first overall, so seeing him go second was not a shock.

*Colorado continued to drive down the road to irrelevance, passing on the defenseman they desperately needed for a flashy center they didn't. But it certainly worked out for Nashville as they add yet another stud defender.

*Darnell Nurse to the Oilers is pretty much unfair. Once that franchise gets a goaltender, they're winning some Cups. Jump on the bandwagon now ...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Scotty,

I have a question for you. You have repeatedly said that Vigneault's hiring is a failure because he hasn't won the Stanley Cup. Yet, when the Rangers hired Mike Keenan in '93, Keenan had failed 3 times in the finals. By your rationale, Keenan was a bad hire in '93, right?