Faceoff Factor

Live Draft Blog and Rumor Updater

Michael Farkas | NHL Entry Draft

Jun 20, 04:59 PM | Hype this story!

Hello friends, it’s that time again. This is one of my favorite days of the year and hopefully you’re just as excited for it. First of all, thank you for stopping by Faceoff Factor to partake in our ever-expanding draft coverage. Secondly, the article that you are reading right now will be constantly updated from here on out with the latest draft news, picks and trade rumors that are floating about. So stay tuned here for the latest!

First, let’s get caught up on what has already happened today.

- The Philadelphia Flyers re-signed center Jeff Carter to a three-year, $15 million deal. Carter netted 29 goals and 53 points in 82 games this year for Philadelphia. This move likely spells the end to R.J. Umberger in Philadelphia because I just don’t know how many speculative contracts you can offer at this point if you’re Philadelphia. Perhaps he even gets moved later tonight.

Update: The contract is being denied by the Flyers and is not official at this time.

- Kings goaltender Dan Cloutier and ornery Senators goaltender Ray Emery have been waived today with the intent of being bought out.

- The Philadelphia Flyers have dealt the negotiating rights of Vaclav Prospal back to Tampa Bay for the 196th pick (from Nashville) in 2008 and a conditional 4th round pick in 2009 (contingent on Prospal re-signing I presume).

So Philadelphia will select at 196 on Saturday instead of Tampa Bay.

- The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired the rights to Darcy Hordichuk for a 5th round pick in 2009. If Hordichuk does not sign with the Hurricanes this summer, however, the Hurricanes will receive a 2010 5th round pick. The Hurricanes also extended the contract of defenseman Tim Gleason. Gleason received four years, $11 million.

- The Nashville Predators dealt goaltender Chris Mason to the St. Louis Blues for what is believed to be the 111th pick (from the Rangers) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The Predators also re-signed goaltender Dan Ellis to a two-year, $3.5 million deal. Once again, the Predators deal a goalie they don’t need anymore that costs them too much money for draft picks. Pretty good asset management going on in Nashville right now.

The Predators will pick at 111 on Saturday instead of St. Louis.

- The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired Jamal Mayers from St. Louis for the 70th pick (from Florida). Yeah, I have no idea why either. They stole a third rounder from Florida when they dealt them Chad Kilger and then they turn it around and add another bottom-sixer to the team?

St. Louis will select at 70 instead of Toronto.

- The Anaheim Ducks have signed forward Josh Green. Green spent last season with Salzburg EC in Austria’s top league where he notched 42 points in 43 games while registering a team-high 100 penalty minutes.

6:24 pm Rumor: Apparently, the Montreal Canadiens have been given the right to speak to center Mats Sundin. It is unclear what it cost Montreal (if anything) but there are rumors swirling that it could be the 25th pick.

Conversely, The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly offered Mats Sundin 1 year deal, $7 million with a NMC.

In other words, no one has any idea what’s going on with Sundin right now.

The Edmonton Oilers are reportedly mulling over a number of deals, including a deal that sends Jarret Stoll to Los Angeles for Michael Cammalleri (no way, Cammalleri is worth so much more than Stoll right now, I can’t see that happening). Also, a Raffi Torres for Alex Steen swap is being considered according to reports.

6:34 pm Rumor: The Columbus Blue Jackets are apparently interested in Flyer R.J. Umberger. With the Flyers having (seemingly) locked up Jeff Carter, an Umberger deal, as I noted above, seems likely.

6:40 pm Rumor: It’s not as prevalent to the draft day talk. But according to a source I spoke with close to the Thrashers organization, Mark Recchi is not expected to retire. It was also said that GM Don Waddell will match any offer sheet (if any) Kari Lehtonen is tendered.

6:42 pm Rumor: The Edmonton Oilers, who select at 22, are known for taking chances on draft day and they may go with Evgeny Grachev at the 22 spot.

6:43 pm Rumor: The Phoenix Coyotes may be willing to move one of their “extra” picks for Oilers center Jarret Stoll.

6:59 pm Rumor:Alex Tanguay has been traded to the Montreal Canadiens for the 25th pick in tonight’s draft.

7:00 pm Versus has finally switched to the draft from World’s Strongest Man competition. James Duthie reports a three-way trade: Calgary has acquired Michael Cammalleri Los Angeles has acquired the 12th overall pick (from Edmonton via Anaheim) and Anaheim gets the 17th and 28th picks.

The Kings now pick at #2 and #12. Calgary picks at #25 not #17. Anaheim picks at #17 and #28 and not at #12. If all deals go as planned.

7:06 pm Bob McKenzie has essentially confirmed the Alex Tanguay to the Canadiens for the 25th pick. [corrected below at about 7:41 pm]

7:16 pm Gary Bettman “loves your passion” Ottawa, they were booing him loud and clear. I think he’s started to thrive on it.

7:20 pm Olli Jokinen has been traded to Phoenix for Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and the 49th pick.

I cannot believe this. That was all you could get for Jokinen? I mean, Ballard is a great, young defenseman and Boynton is a solid third pairing and a second round pick. However, I think you could do better than that, or I would think that.

I will apply for Florida’s GM job after the draft is over.

The Tampa Bay Lightning select Steven Stamkos from the Sarnia Sting with the #1 pick

- So, I’m 1 for 1 in the mock draft, I’ll give Jesse half credit, but I have reason to believe he copied off of me on the Stamkos pick.

7:24 pm Stamkos wants to make the jump to the NHL, but has a good head on his shoulders.

7:28 pm Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky is apparently being shopped around by the Kings.

The Los Angeles Kings select Drew Doughty from Guelph Storm with the #2 pick

7:31 pm Drew Doughty is named after former Dallas Cowboy Drew Pearson. The TSN guys also talking about his recent weight loss quite a bit, but without “before and after” pictures unforutnately. They also all agree he will be in the NHL next year.

Doughty thinks he can make impact on the league next year.

7:38 pm The Thrashers were offered “many, many, many draft picks” for the #3 selection.

The Atlanta Thrashers select Zach Bogosian from Peterborough with the #3 pick

Pierre McGuire’s man crush on Bogosian becomes increasingly evident. “He’s a whole lot of nasty” according to Pierre.

I’m also 3 for 3 in the FF Mock Draft, I should quit while I’m ahead I think.

7:43 pm Bogosian says he hates losing, so there’s an instant conflict with him being drafted by Atlanta.

- and a trade to announce, but Bettman can’t figure it out right away: The 25th pick and a 2nd 2009 for Alex Tanguay and the 138th pick in the draft. That is a correction on a previously reported deal.

- Garth Snow is fielding offers for the 5th overall selection. Let’s see how bad the Islanders can do with this.

The St. Louis Blues select Alex Pietrangelo from the Niagra IceDogs with the #4 pick

John Davidson always classy, makes the selection with some well wishes.

Pietrangelo makes me 4 for 4 in the FF mock draft, it’ll be all the more embarrassing when I end up losing to Jesse when all is set and done. We might have to go double or nothing with the second and third round.

Pietrangelo tells us that he bought a bracelet and bumper sticker from SeenStamkos.com. JD won’t share any of the offers he encountered for the 4th pick.

7:54 pm The Maple Leafs have acquired the 5th overall pick from the New York Islanders for the 7th overall pick, a conditional clause that sees, at the Islanders option, the 60th pick and Toronto’s 3rd rounder in 2009 or the 68th pick and Toronto’s 2nd rounder next year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs select Luke Schenn from the Kelowna Rockets with the #5 pick

Because of this trade, my perfect draft is gone. And Pierre McGuire just had kittens because Toronto has started their rebuild.

8:06 pm Gary Bettman reminds us of the obvious, the 6th overall pick belongs to Toronto…thanks Gary.

Luke Schenn looks legitimately thrilled with this opportunity.

Yet another meaningful trade:
Columbus trades 19th and 67th to Philadelphia for R.J. Umberger and 118th

The Columbus Blue Jackets select Nikita Filatov from CSKA Moscow with the #6 pick

Filatov is good at soccer and James Duthie creates awkwardness with yet another draftee.

8:19 pm The Isles trade 7th pick to Nashville for the 9th pick and the 40th pick.

The Nashville Predators select Colin Wilson from Boston College University with the #7 pick

And I can crumble up my mock draft because of all these trades. Good strong kid down the middle for Nashville, that will provide a counterbalance for smaller guys like Radulov and Erat.

Colin Wilson says he’s ready for the NHL already.

Another ovation, well deserved, for Wayne Gretzky. Blake Wheeler is probably not in attendance.

The Phoenix Coyotes select Mikkel Boedker from the Kitchener Rangers with the 8th pick

Pierre McGuire, “niiiiiiccceeee.”

Boedker is a great talent, but I would have thought the big d-man Tyler Myers would go here, because you know, they traded Boynton and Ballard in the last hour.

Gretzky hints he might be back up at the podium tonight.

The Islanders will finally pick instead of trading down two spots again.

The New York Islanders select Josh Bailey from the Windsor Spitfires at 9th overall

The Vancouver Canucks select Cody Hodgson from the Brampton Battalion with the #10 pick

A good center down the middle for Vancouver, and Kyle Beach is slipping and Tyler Myers is slipping lower than expected.

Mike Gillis says the Sedin twins are not available. He also says he will give Hodgson every opportunity to make the team.

The Chicago Blackhawks select Kyle Beach from the Everett Silvertips at 11th overall

Beach is a wildcard, and TSN’s panelists have an up and down opinion on him. He’s not my favorite player in the world, he’s could be hockey’s new bad boy and controversy magnet like Sean Avery.

8:53 pm Los Angeles trades the 12th overall to Buffalo for 13th overall and a 3rd round pick in 2009

The Buffalo Sabres select Tyler Myers from the Kelowna Rockets with pick #12

8:59 pmThe Canucks will move Kevin Bieksa if the deal is good for the team. TSN speculates that Carolina has interest in him.

The Los Angeles Kings select Colten Teubert from the Regina Pats with the 13th pick

Teubert hates Beach according to TSN, that should be interesting.

The Carolina Hurricanes select Zac Boychuk from the Lethbridge Hurricanes with the 14th pick

Hey, I actually got another pick correct down here at 14! Boychuk adds a nice compliment to Eric Staal, a smaller center and the bigger center. Could safe pick by Carolina Hurricanes.

9:12Nashville trades #15 to Ottawa for #18 and a 3rd round pick in 2009.

Chris Kelly extended at 4 years and just under $2.2 million per year.

Daniel Alfredsson makes the pick:

The Ottawa Senators select Erik Karlsson from Frolunda Jrs. with the #15 pick

Pierre McGuire is yelling at the top of his lungs for no reason when he’s between the benches and when he’s at a relatively quiet draft.

“Gotta add some muscles of course” says Erik Karlsson.

Bryan Murray gets called out on live television and doesn’t sound all that happy about it. But if my team was in such disarray right now, I wouldn’t be too happy either. Further, he traded up to get someone that was likely going to be available at 18 anyway.

The Boston Bruins select Joe Colborne from Camrose

Boston takes a big risk, they draft another Joe Thornton type player. Big, talented player but has no heart or work ethic. He’s going to Denver University and will likely need to use almost all of college eligibility to become an impact player at the NHL level. He’s a project, but Boston likely scooped up Blake Wheeler and now they feel they can swing for the fences at 16 with Colborne.

9:32 pm Brian Burke always confident, scoffs at the Ottawa fans who boo him.

The Anaheim Ducks select Jake Gardiner from Minnetonka with the 17th pick

The Ducks go a bit off the board with Gardiner here out of high school. He’s going to go to the University of Wisconsin. Gardiner is a converted forward and one of the draft’s best skaters.

Del Zotto continues to fall, he was considered a top ten pick earlier this season.

Brian Burke laughs off a James Duthie question about Burke trading his other first rounder.

The Nashville Predators select Chet Pickard from Tri City with the 18th pick

The Predators take the first goalie of the draft, and Pierre McGuire is loud again for no reason. Good move by Nashville, two first round picks, they get the big time center and probably the best goalie in the draft. They did a good job in this first round.

The Philadelphia Flyers select Luca Sbisa from the Lethbridge Hurricanes with the #19 pick

Pierre compares Sbisa to Mark Streit. The Flyers left a few good defenseman on the board like Robak and Del Zotto. It’s a good pick, and he was on my board at 19, but I think Philadelphia maybe should have gone a different direction. A good pick though for sure, he’s a well rounded player.

The New York Rangers select Michael Del Zotto from the Oshawa Generals with the #20 pick

Another “former” top 10 ranked player slides all the way down to the Rangers, last year it was Alexei Cherepanov. Rangers get a very talented, the most offensively talented defenseman in the draft

9:52 pm The New Jersey Devils trade the 21st pick to Washington for the 23rd and 54th pick.

The Rangers have met with Jaromir Jagr’s agent Pat Brisson, the Rangers are looking for a one year deal, while the Jagr camp wants a two-year deal according to Darren Dreger.

The Washington Capitals select Anton Gustafsson from Frolunda with the 21st pick

The son of Bengt Gustafsson, former Capital, goes to Washington at 21 and the Caps add another Swede to play with Nicklas Backstrom. I didn’t think a goalie seemed likely, even though Frederic Cassivi went to Europe, they still had Varlamov, Neuwirth, MacChesney and crew, no reason to trade up to get a goalie in this draft at all, even less so if you’re Washington.

The Edmonton Oilers select Jordan Eberle from the Regina Pats with the 22nd pick

Big time goal scorer for Edmonton and with not as much risk, I thought they might have rolled the dice on a Mattias Tedenby or Mikhail Stefanovich here. Good for them on not making even more mistakes. Eberle is a little guy, but he should be alright. Edmonton is becoming Buffalo Sabres west.

10:05 pm Jordan Eberle is excited to play for his favorite team, the Oilers. Eberle is a little too happy to play for Edmonton, wait until he gets there. Kevin Lowe can’t manage a team or finish a complete thought apparently, too bad for him.

New Jersey trades the 23rd pick to Minnesota for the 24th pick and a 3rd round pick in 2009. The Devils trade down again, but get the same value as Los Angeles did for trading from 12 to 13.

The Minnesota Wild select Tyler Cuma from the Ottawa 67’s with the 23rd selection

Another swingman for Minnesota, former forward, now defenseman. He’s a good all-around player for the Wild, a real Minnesota pick. He was where I thought the Wild would go after they leap-frogged New Jersey.

The New Jersey Devils select Mattias Tedenby from HV71 with the 24th overall pick

I thought Nemisz would be the Devils pick here, but Tedenby is still here now and he’s my best player available. He’s a little guy, but he’s a competitor, he never gives up and he’s a great skater. This is a big time steal for New Jersey because he has some real top level talent.

The Calgary Flames select Greg Nemisz from the Windsor Spitfires at 25th overall

The Flames probably wanted Tedenby here, but they get a good potential power forward here. It’ll be a while, but he should make it for Calgary down the line.

10:29 pmBrian Burke may move his 28th overall pick if his player is taken in the next two picks. He’s talking to Wild GM Doug Risebrough.

The Buffalo Sabres select Tyler Ennis from the Medicine Hat Tigers

I got this one on my mock draft, he’s the typical Buffalo pick, small, quick, and scores a ton. Buffalo loves these little forwards, conversely, they selected the foot taller, Tyler Myers earlier in the day.

10:35 pm The Flyers trade 27th overall to Washington for Steve Eminger and the 84th pick.

Eminger was awful this year for most of it, he came around late and was a pretty good in the playoffs against Philadelphia. Eminger had a down year, but still holds top four potential. It’s a bit of a gamble, but they can afford to make a move like this because they need defense and they got a good deal for Umberger.

The Washington Capitals select John Carlson from the Indiana Ice

The Capitals get a really good player here with Carlson. He comes from the USHL, and he has a long way to go, but he could prove to be a big time defensive threat in a few years.

10:40 pm The Ducks trade 28th overall to Phoenix for 35th and 39th overall. They got 35th from Wheeler not signing, they also moved 49th in the Olli Jokinen deal. So, four second round picks has become just one. But, they did get Olli Jokinen at a bargain, so I don’t think they’ll mind.

The Phoenix Coyotes select Viktor Tikhonov from Cherepovets

The Coyotes trade up and go way off the board for a very talented Russian that has been passed over in a couple drafts already. The Coyotes must have known something we don’t here to jump up and get him. The Coyotes have a jersey made up for him, so this was a plan all along it looks like. Tikhonov has a realistic shot at the Coyotes lineup in October, he is an overager.

The Atlanta Thrashers select Daulton Leveille from St. Catherines

The Thrashers go off the board with a big time project. Leveille, I had him going mid-seond roundish. He’s got great speed, but this is a long-term project here and a big gamble for Atlanta. He’s going to go to Michigan State and hopefully it will do him good, but this is a long term project.

The Detroit Red Wings select Thomas Mccollum from the Guelph Storm

Red Wings put a goalie in the system now it seems like Jimmy Howard is going to “graduate” to the big leagues. McCollum could really turn out to be the best goalie in the draft.

Well, that was certainly fun wasn’t it? A lot of interesting trades in there for sure.

Here’s the recap:

Transactions:
Calgary acquires: Michael Cammalleri
Los Angeles acquires: 12th overall ([to Buffalo] Tyler Myers)
Anaheim acquires: 17th overall (Jake Gardiner) and 28th overall ([to Phoenix] Viktor Tikhonov)

Phoenix acquires: Olli Jokinen
Florida acquires: Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton, 49th overall ([to Phoenix] Jared Staal)

Montreal acquires: Alex Tanguay and 138th overall (Maxim Trunev)
Calgary acquires: 25th overall (Greg Nemisz) and a 2nd round pick in 2009

Toronto acquires: 5th overall (Luke Schenn)
N.Y. Islanders acquire: 7th overall ([to Nashville Colin Wilson) and at the Islanders option, one of the following:
a. the 60th selection and a 3rd round pick in 2009 OR
b. the 68th selection and a 2nd round pick in 2009 [activated]

Columbus acquires: R.J. Umberger and 118th overall (Drew Olson)
Philadelphia acquires: 19th overall (Luca Sbisa) and 67th overall (Marc-Andre Bourdon)

Nashville acquires: 7th overall (Colin Wilson)
N.Y. Islanders acquire: 9th overall (Josh Bailey) and 40th overall (Aaron Ness)

Buffalo acquires: 12th overall (Tyler Myers)
Los Angeles acquires: 13th overall (Colten Teubert) and a 3rd round pick in 2009

Ottawa acquires: 15th overall (Erik Karlsson)
Nashville acquires: 18th overall (Chet Pickard) and a 3rd round pick in 2009

Washington acquires: 21st overall (Anton Gustafsson)
New Jersey acquires: 23rd overall ([to Minnesota] Tyler Cuma) and 54th overall (Patrice Cormier)

Minnesota acquires: 23rd overall (Tyler Cuma)
New Jersey acquires: 24th overall (Mattias Tedenby) and a 3rd round pick in 2009

Philadelphia acquires: Steve Eminger and 84th overall (Jacob DeSerres)
Washington acquires: 27th overall (John Carlson)

Phoenix acquires: 28th overall (Viktor Tikhonov)
Anaheim acquires: 35th overall (Nicolas Deschamps) and 39th overall (Eric O’Dell)

Day Two Transactions

Condition activated: Islanders select at 68th overall ([to Chicago] Shawn Lalonde) and will receive Toronto’s 2nd round pick in 2009.

Nashville acquires: 38th overall (Roman Josi)
Phoenix acquires: 46th overall ([to Florida] Colby Robak) and 76th overall (Mathieu Brodeur)

Florida acquires: 46th overall (Colby Robak)
Phoenix acquires: 49th overall (Jared Staal) and a 4th round pick in 2009

San Jose acquires: 62nd overall (Justin Daniels)
Tampa Bay acquires: 117th overall (James Wright), 147th overall (Kyle De Coste) and a 3rd round pick in 2009

Los Angeles acquires: Brad Richardson
Colorado acquires: 61st overall (Peter Delmas)

Chicago acquires: 68th overall (Shawn Lalonde)
N.Y. Islanders acquire: 72nd overall (Jyri Niemi) and 102nd overall (David Ullstrom)

Los Angeles acquires: 74th overall (Andrew Campbell)
Buffalo acquires: 81st overall (Cory Fienhage) and 101st overall (Justin Jokinen)

Phoenix acquires: Alex Bourret
N.Y. Rangers acquire: 90th overall (Tomas Kundratek)

San Jose acquires: 92nd overall (Samuel Groulx)
Los Angeles acquires: 4th round pick in 2009 and a 5th round pick in 2010

Boston acquires: 97th overall (Jamie Arniel)
Columbus acquires: 107th overall (Steven Delisle) and 137th overall (Brent Regner)

San Jose acquires: 106th overall (Harri Sateri)
Nashville acquires: 207th overall (Anders Lindback) and Toronto’s 4th round pick in 2009

N.Y. Rangers acquire: 111th overall (Dale Weise)
Nashville acquires: 201st overall (Jani Lajunen) and a 4th round pick in 2009

Chicago acquires: 179th overall (Braden Birch)
Los Angeles acquires: 6th round pick in 2009

St. Louis acquires: 185th overall (Paul Karpowich)
Los Angeles acquires: 7th round pick in 2009

Anaheim acquires: 208th overall (Nick Pryor)
Philadelphia acquires: 7th round pick in 2009

Draft selections: First round
1. Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay)
2. Drew Dougthy (Los Angeles)
3. Zach Bogosian (Atlanta)
4. Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis)
5. Luke Schenn (Toronto from N.Y. Islanders)
6. Nikita Filatov (Columbus)
7. Colin Wilson (Nashville from Toronto via N.Y. Islanders)
8. Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix)
9. Josh Bailey (N.Y. Islanders from Florida via Nashville)
10. Cody Hodgson (Vancouver)
11. Kyle Beach (Chicago)
12. Tyler Myers (Buffalo from Edmonton via Los Angeles through Anaheim)
13. Colten Teubert (Los Angeles from Buffalo)
14. Zac Boychuk (Carolina)
15. Erik Karlsson (Ottawa from Nashville)
16. Joe Colborne (Boston)
17. Jake Gardiner (Anaheim from Calgary)
18. Chet Pickard (Nashville from Ottawa)
19. Luca Sbisa (Philadelphia from Colorado via Columbus)
20. Michael Del Zotto (N.Y. Rangers)
21. Anton Gustafsson (Washington from New Jersey)
22. Jordan Eberle (Edmonton from Anaheim)
23. Tyler Cuma (Minnesota from Washington via New Jersey)
24. Mattias Tedenby (New Jersey from Minnesota)
25. Greg Nemisz (Calgary from Montreal)
26. Tyler Ennis (Buffalo from San Jose)
27. John Carlson (Washington from Philadelphia)
28. Viktor Tikhonov (Phoenix from Dallas via Anaheim through Los Angeles)
29. Daulton Leveille (Atlanta from Pittsburgh)
30. Thomas McCollum (Detroit)

Second Round
31. Jacob Markstrom (Florida from Tampa Bay)
32. Vjateslav Voinov (Los Angeles)
33. Philip McRae (St. Louis from Atlanta)
34. Jake Allen (St. Louis)
35. Nicolas Deschamps (Anaheim from Phoenix)
36. Corey Trivino (N.Y. Islanders)
37. Cody Goloubef (Columbus)
38. Roman Josi (Nashville from Toronto via Phoenix)
39. Eric O’Dell (Anaheim from Phoenix)
40. Aaron Ness (N.Y. Islanders from Florida via Nashville)
41. Yann Sauve (Vancouver)
42. Patrick Weircioch (Ottawa from Chicago)
43. Justin Schultz (Anaheim from Edmonton)
44. Luke Adam (Buffalo)
45. Zac Dalpe (Carolina)
46. Colby Robak (Florida from Nashville via Phoenix)
47. Maxime Sauve (Boston)
48. Mitch Wahl (Calgary)
49. Jared Staal (Phoenix from Ottawa via Florida through Phoenix)
50. Cameron Gaunce (Colorado)
51. Derek Stepan (N.Y. Rangers)
52. Brandon Burlon (New Jersey)
53. Travis Hamonic (N.Y. Islanders from Anaheim via Edmonton)
54. Patrice Cormier (New Jersey from Washington)
55. Marco Scandella (Minnesota)
56. Danny Kristo (Montreal)
57. Eric Mestery (Washington from San Jose)
58. Dmitri Kugryshev (Washington from Philadelphia)
59. Tyler Beskorowany (Dallas)
60. Jimmy Hayes (Toronto from Pittsburgh)
61. Peter Delmas (Colorado from Detroit via Los Angeles)

31-36 Quick analysis: I had Florida netting a goalie here in the second round, they make a good pick before the big 3 or 4 goaliles go off the board. The Kings grab a good young defenseman from Russia at 32, he was the youngest player but one of the better ones for Russia at the World Juniors. Philip McRae has plummeted in the rankings and he’s a wildcard, potential power forward but he’s a project. The Ducks grab Deschamps, a big time ‘Q’ scorer at 35 about 10 spots lower than I had him. Good pick up for them here. Trivino went a little high, he’s a really big question mark, I’m not sure if he pans out to be quite honest.

37-42 Quick analysis: You have to like Goloubef here from that increasingly amazing U. of Wisconsin defense, good two-way defenseman with untapped offensive potential. The Islanders get a first-round talent defenseman here at 40, good two-way kid here. Vancouver grabs a big shutdown guy that I had going in the 20’s here at 41, good value. Questionable hockey sense, but he’s a big powerful kid.

43-48 Quick analysis: Luke Adam is a big kid who has risen up the ranks on the ISS draft board recently. A rare sizeable center for Buffalo, he’s got a ways to go but he’s got plenty of potential. Carolina grabs the kid that came from nowhere at 45, a lot of people had him going in the first round (I can’t say that I did however) the ‘Canes swing for the fences here. I had Robak going way up there, I can’t believe he fell to 46 and to Florida of all places who just acquired Ballard and Boynton. Steal for Florida right here. Mitch Wahl is a Calgary pick, solid two-way center, and a safe pick who I had going in the 27-33 area.

49-54 Quick analysis: There he goes, Jared Staal the most famous 43rd ranked NA skater in history. I predicted him going 50th to Colorado, but Phoenix is taking all the “big” mid-level draft picks it seems early [Tikhonov at 28 was another]. New Jersey nets a collegiate shutdown guy, good pick at 52. New Jersey gets another pretty good at 54 with Cormier, not sure what his highest ceiling is, but he’s a big kid that can handle the puck and drives to the net, doesn’t mind the rough stuff one bit.

55-61 Quick analysis: Montreal finds the speedy sniper at 56. Hayes was thought to be a top-15 pick in this draft before we got very close to it, but in the rankings he has not been terribly high. Power forward type in the Keith Tkachuk mold [Tkachuk is his second cousin I believe] interesting project for Toronto at 60. Colorado grabs a very underrated netminder who played behind Jonathan Bernier this year at 61.

Third Round
62. Justin Daniels (San Jose from Tampa Bay)
63. Robert Czarnik (Los Angeles)
64. Danick Paquette (Atlanta)
65. Jori Lehtera (St. Louis)
66. David Toews (N.Y. Islanders)
67. Marc-Andre Bourdon (Philadelphia from Columbus)
68. Shawn Lalonde (Chicago from Toronto via N.Y. Islanders)
69. Michael Stone (Phoenix)
70. James Livingston (St. Louis from Florida via Toronto)
71. Josh Brittain (Anaheim from Vancouver)
72. Jyri Niemi (N.Y. Islanders from Chicago)
73. Kirill Petrov (N.Y. Islanders from Edmonton via Anaheim through Edmonton and N.Y. Islanders)
74. Andrew Campbell (Los Angeles from Buffalo)
75. Evgeny Grachev (N.Y. Rangers from Carolina)
76. Mathieu Brodeur (Phoenix from Nashville)
77. Michael Hutchinson (Boston)
78. Lance Bouma (Calgary)
79. Zack Smith (Ottawa)
80. Adam Comrie (Florida from Colorado)
81. Cory Fienhage (Buffalo from N.Y. Rangers via Los Angeles)
82. Adam Henrique (New Jersey)
83. Marco Cousineau (Anaheim)
84. Jacob DeSerres (Philadelphia from Washington)
85. Brandon McMillan (Anaheim from Minnesota)
86. Steve Quailer (Montreal)
87. Ian Schultz (St. Louis)
88. Geordie Wudrick (Los Angeles from Philadelphia)
89. Scott Winkler (Dallas)
90. Tomas Kundratek (N.Y. Rangers from Pittsburgh via Phoenix)
91. Max Nicastro (Detroit)

62-71 Quick analysis: Paquette is a hard working agitator that can score, think Sean Avery type mold, good pick at 64 for Atlanta. The Isles grab Jonathan’s little brother here at 66 and he’s great kid offensively, I had him going in the top of the second round. I wanted to Penguins to grab QMJHL Defenseman of the Year in the 4th round, but he didn’t make it, Philly grabs him at 67. Lalonde is a strong skating defenseman for a little guy, he’s got work to do, but he was ranked 32nd amongst NA skaters, Chicago might have a hidden gem here in a few years. Stone is another potential steal at 69. He’s a good all-around defenseman that has a very good shot of making the NHL I think. Livingston is a good all-around player for St. Louis at 70, solid pick there.

72-81 Quick analysis: I had Niemi going to the Islanders in the 2nd round, he’s a very talented offensive defenseman with a cannon. Well there’s goes Petrov at 73, great potential, could have snuck into the 1st round, I knew one of the New York teams were going to try their luck with him. Potential great pick at 73. So the other New York grabs the “other” Russian. First round talent here for the Rangers at 75, he was ranked #2 amongst Euro skaters at the mid-term rankings but his skating has dropped him a bit. Comrie was flying up the rankings and has developed from a punishing defensive d-man to a two-way punishing d-man, I’m always a little gunshy with Saginaw products, but this could be a big time steal for Florida who drafts another defenseman at 80. Really good pick by Buffalo at 81, aggressive two-way defenseman, he’s going to go to a successful program at UND, great pick.

82-91 Quick analysis: New Jersey grabs a typical Devil player at 82, bottom six forward, physical, good defensive game and a good faceoff man. Philadelphia adds the improving goalie from Seattle at 84 instead of taking a “big one” in the 1st round. If Nicastro fills out and rounds out a little more, he could be a really good player at the next level. He’s a project for Detroit at 91, but he could be one their patented mid-to-late round gems.

Faceoff Factor Mock Draft results
Pick #1: Team/Pick correct for Jesse and myself
Pick #2: Team/Pick correct for Jesse and myself
Pick #3: Team/Pick correct for myself
Pick #4: Team/Pick correct for myself
Pick #14: Team/Pick correct for myself
Pick #19: Pick correct for myself
Pick #21: Team correct for Jesse
Pick #26: Team/Pick correct for myself

So, provided I calculated everything correctly…

Jesse accurately picked 2 players for the right team in the right spot plus 1 player that was picked by the “right” team at a different spot.

I accurately picked 6 players for the right team in the right spot, plus 1 player that was picked at the “right” spot with a different team.

[correction made, I gave myself credit for Jesse’s Gustafsson pick…I guess we’re both fired now.]

This became increasingly harder since a first round pick was moved in some form 19 times during the draft, it really changed the draft order. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Jesse will be fired from Faceoff Factor for losing and while he will certainly be missed, rules are rules.