Draft Time!
Posted 7:17 AM ET | Comments 0
Not to many people are talking about this because it seems everyone feels that Columbus will draft Yakopov first overall. I really don't feel this is the case. Its not that I feel Yakopov isn't worthy of being drafted first overall its that he is Russian and this is Columbus.
Columbus has had a horrible record with Russians; Filitov, Zherdev come to mind when you think of Russians and Columbus. Both of these players were said to have significant upside when they were drafted but neither of these players have made it in the NHL.
On the other hand it would be franchise suicide for them not to take Yakopov with him being hyped to the levels he has been hyped.
So this is what I would do if I am Columbus's GM at the draft floor. Assuming I still have the 1st overall pick because I won the lottery. I call Garth Snow and say hey, you want the 1st overall pick? And then we make a deal. 1st overall for 4th overall and Grabner. Grabner gives the Jackets some scoring and they probably get to pick a solid Defenseman like Murrey or Dumba or Rienhart.
Another option is to give the 1st overall pick to Vancouver for Cory Schnieder.
In the end its entirely plausible that Columbus shows up and drafts Nathan Mckinnon 1st overall next year and thats the player you want to build around in Columbus.
So I would take this year to fill the holes on the back end and endure 3 more years of suck, in order to compete with Detroit, Chicago, Nashville, and eventually Winnipeg...
Columbus has had a horrible record with Russians; Filitov, Zherdev come to mind when you think of Russians and Columbus. Both of these players were said to have significant upside when they were drafted but neither of these players have made it in the NHL.
On the other hand it would be franchise suicide for them not to take Yakopov with him being hyped to the levels he has been hyped.
So this is what I would do if I am Columbus's GM at the draft floor. Assuming I still have the 1st overall pick because I won the lottery. I call Garth Snow and say hey, you want the 1st overall pick? And then we make a deal. 1st overall for 4th overall and Grabner. Grabner gives the Jackets some scoring and they probably get to pick a solid Defenseman like Murrey or Dumba or Rienhart.
Another option is to give the 1st overall pick to Vancouver for Cory Schnieder.
In the end its entirely plausible that Columbus shows up and drafts Nathan Mckinnon 1st overall next year and thats the player you want to build around in Columbus.
So I would take this year to fill the holes on the back end and endure 3 more years of suck, in order to compete with Detroit, Chicago, Nashville, and eventually Winnipeg...