Grading KLowe at the draft table: The early years.
Posted 12:58 AM ET | Comments 4
Greetings Oil fans, for a break in the summer time doldrums that is the life of a hockey fanatic, I thought I would run a series breaking down and grading the draft picks from the Lowe regime.
Lowe took over running the ship in Etown before the 2000 draft, however I will give Lowe and staff a mulligan until the 2001 draft as Barry Fraser and his crew were still at work for the 00 draft.
So without further ado: The Oiler draft class of 2001!
Round one: With his first pick under the newly minted head scout, Kevin Prendergast, Lowe hit the proverbial home run, drafting Ales Hemsky from the QMJHL with the 13th overall pick. Hemmer has been wowing Oiler fans with elite level dangles for 5 seasons now. At only 24, Hemsky has established himself as a roughly “point per game” player, giving the Oilers a key offensive player to build around. The next 1-2 years will be Hemsky’s opportunity to either move up to an elite level forward, or settle in as a solid 1st line winger.
Notables missed: No one significant, the top of the 01 draft produced some elite level talent (Kovalchuck/Spezza) however after Hemmer may just have been the best player in the first round.
Final grade: Though so far anyways, Hemmer is a step away from an elite player, when you factor in that he is the cream of the crop outside of the top 10. I would have to give Lowe and staff and A+ for their 1st ever 1st round pick.
Round two: For his 1st, second round pick, Lowe looked 100 KM’s down hi-way two grabbing Doug Lynch from the Red Deer Rebels. Though Lynch only played two games in the NHL, he will best be remembered as one of the pieces (though a minor piece) that Lowe used to acquire franchise defensemen, Chris Pronger.
With his 2nd, second round pick, Lowe grabbed LW Ed Caron from the University of New Hampshire, after playing one more year of University hockey, Ed had a cup of coffee playing in the ECHL during 04/05, but the hockey world hasn’t heard of him since.
Notables missed: The late 2nd round of the 2001 draft produced more star power then the first round did. Drafted 6 spots after Lynch and 2 spots before Caron was the newest flame, Mike Cammalleri. Three spots after Caron was PPG winger Jason Pomminville.
Final grade: Though Lynch helped turn into Pronger, he was still a bust of a draft pick, couple that with a second bust in Caron and round 2 ends up with a big F
Round three: Lowe went back for brains over brawn with his third round pick, selecting defensemen Kenny Smith from Havard University. Smith played 3 more years of university hockey before continuing on as a journeymen minor leaguer bouncing between the ECHL and the AHL. Most recently Smith played two games with the Oilers own Springfield Falcons, could we be looking at a comeback???
Notables missed: Aaron Johnson, Stephane Veilleux and Patrick Sharp Sharp are the only players in the third round drafted after Smith and even though Johnson and Veilleux were only serviceable NHL’ers, Sharp would have been a really solid addition.
Final grade: Though the other options were few and far between, Smith was still a bust, final grade for round 3: D
Round four: No selection in round four
Round five: Once again the Oil went to the draft table twice in one round, drafting Jussi Markkanen 133 overall and Jake Brenk 154 overall. Jussi obviously had an impact as a back-up/platoon goalie over 6 seasons in the NHL including a solid performance in the SCF, before heading back to Finland this past season. Unfortunatly Brent wasn’t able to have the same impact as Jussi, bouncing around the ECHL/UHL/CHL and Europe after he finished his college career at Minnesota state.
Notables missed: The top name from the 2001 fifth round was Vancouver defensemen Kevin Bieksa also drafted in the 5th was Kyle Wellwood, Mike Smith and Cody McCormick.
Final grade: though Brenk is obviously a bust, Jussi provided adequate goaltending over five seasons, as well as giving Oiler fans a glimmer of hope after Rollie the goalie went down in game one. Final grade: B
Round six: Moving down into the “hidden gem” area of the draft, Kevin Lowe grabbed Mikael Svensky, a defensemen from Sweden. Mikael never did make the trip to North America last playing in 06/07 in Sweden.
Notables missed: Jussi Jokenin and Brook Laich were both drafted after Svensky in the 6th round and have both gone on to play over 200 games in the NHL Pasi Nurminen was also a serviceable goalie for Atlanta for 125 games.
Final grade: Another bust and with quality NHL’ers selected behind Svensky, this pick has be considered a failure. However seeing as we are in the 6th round, we’ll give Lowe the benefit of the doubt with a D-
Round seven: Coming back to the WHL, the Oil grabbed LW Dan Baum from the Prince George Cougars. After finishing in the WHL Dan played a couple of years in the AHL and was then demoted to the ECHL
Notables missed: By far the best 7th rounder was Marek Svatos, taken 227th overall by the Colorado Avalanche, Marek has scored 75 goals in 193 NHL games. Other names include: Jonny Oduya and Brandon Bochenski. Chosen one spot before Baum was newly minted 5 million dollar man - Christobal Huet.
Final grade: Same story as round 6, a few guys were missed, but were getting pretty deep. D+
Round eight: In the 8th round the Oil grabbed Finnish defensemen kari Haakana. Kari played 13 games for the Oil in 02/03 putting up zero’s across the boards before heading back over seas.
Notables missed: Peter Cajanek was a solid if unspectacular center for the St Louis Blues for four seasons, playing 269 NHL games before heading to Russia, other then that the late 8th round was expectedly uneventful.
Final grade: Missed one ok NHL, but for an 8th round pick, 13 games played and some AHL depth isn’t too bad. Final grade: C
Round nine: To cap off Klowes first draft at the helm, the Oil made two ninth round selections: chosen 272nd overall was Ales Pisa, while Shay Stephenson, Doug Lynch’s Red Deer Rebels team mate went 278th overall. Neither player had much of an impact, with Stephenson playing 2 games for the Kings in 06/07 and Pisa playing 50 games for the Oilers and 3 for the NYR. Pisa was part of the trade that brought over Dvorak….and unfortunately Cory Cross.
Notables missed: The only name chosen after Cross/Pisa to play in the NHL was winger Toni Dahlman who played 22 games over 2 seasons with the Senators.
Final grade: For the ninth round, 55 NHL games isn’t to bad, final grade: B
Overall the 2001 draft produced some high end talent with Hemmer and a little depth with Jussi, as well as some trade bait, the fact that the Oil drafted what will probably be their best player in 01 picks the overall grade up a notch, however 2 NHL’ers over 9 rounds and 11 picks is nothing to brag about. Final grade: C+
Lowe took over running the ship in Etown before the 2000 draft, however I will give Lowe and staff a mulligan until the 2001 draft as Barry Fraser and his crew were still at work for the 00 draft.
So without further ado: The Oiler draft class of 2001!
Round one: With his first pick under the newly minted head scout, Kevin Prendergast, Lowe hit the proverbial home run, drafting Ales Hemsky from the QMJHL with the 13th overall pick. Hemmer has been wowing Oiler fans with elite level dangles for 5 seasons now. At only 24, Hemsky has established himself as a roughly “point per game” player, giving the Oilers a key offensive player to build around. The next 1-2 years will be Hemsky’s opportunity to either move up to an elite level forward, or settle in as a solid 1st line winger.
Notables missed: No one significant, the top of the 01 draft produced some elite level talent (Kovalchuck/Spezza) however after Hemmer may just have been the best player in the first round.
Final grade: Though so far anyways, Hemmer is a step away from an elite player, when you factor in that he is the cream of the crop outside of the top 10. I would have to give Lowe and staff and A+ for their 1st ever 1st round pick.
Round two: For his 1st, second round pick, Lowe looked 100 KM’s down hi-way two grabbing Doug Lynch from the Red Deer Rebels. Though Lynch only played two games in the NHL, he will best be remembered as one of the pieces (though a minor piece) that Lowe used to acquire franchise defensemen, Chris Pronger.
With his 2nd, second round pick, Lowe grabbed LW Ed Caron from the University of New Hampshire, after playing one more year of University hockey, Ed had a cup of coffee playing in the ECHL during 04/05, but the hockey world hasn’t heard of him since.
Notables missed: The late 2nd round of the 2001 draft produced more star power then the first round did. Drafted 6 spots after Lynch and 2 spots before Caron was the newest flame, Mike Cammalleri. Three spots after Caron was PPG winger Jason Pomminville.
Final grade: Though Lynch helped turn into Pronger, he was still a bust of a draft pick, couple that with a second bust in Caron and round 2 ends up with a big F
Round three: Lowe went back for brains over brawn with his third round pick, selecting defensemen Kenny Smith from Havard University. Smith played 3 more years of university hockey before continuing on as a journeymen minor leaguer bouncing between the ECHL and the AHL. Most recently Smith played two games with the Oilers own Springfield Falcons, could we be looking at a comeback???
Notables missed: Aaron Johnson, Stephane Veilleux and Patrick Sharp Sharp are the only players in the third round drafted after Smith and even though Johnson and Veilleux were only serviceable NHL’ers, Sharp would have been a really solid addition.
Final grade: Though the other options were few and far between, Smith was still a bust, final grade for round 3: D
Round four: No selection in round four
Round five: Once again the Oil went to the draft table twice in one round, drafting Jussi Markkanen 133 overall and Jake Brenk 154 overall. Jussi obviously had an impact as a back-up/platoon goalie over 6 seasons in the NHL including a solid performance in the SCF, before heading back to Finland this past season. Unfortunatly Brent wasn’t able to have the same impact as Jussi, bouncing around the ECHL/UHL/CHL and Europe after he finished his college career at Minnesota state.
Notables missed: The top name from the 2001 fifth round was Vancouver defensemen Kevin Bieksa also drafted in the 5th was Kyle Wellwood, Mike Smith and Cody McCormick.
Final grade: though Brenk is obviously a bust, Jussi provided adequate goaltending over five seasons, as well as giving Oiler fans a glimmer of hope after Rollie the goalie went down in game one. Final grade: B
Round six: Moving down into the “hidden gem” area of the draft, Kevin Lowe grabbed Mikael Svensky, a defensemen from Sweden. Mikael never did make the trip to North America last playing in 06/07 in Sweden.
Notables missed: Jussi Jokenin and Brook Laich were both drafted after Svensky in the 6th round and have both gone on to play over 200 games in the NHL Pasi Nurminen was also a serviceable goalie for Atlanta for 125 games.
Final grade: Another bust and with quality NHL’ers selected behind Svensky, this pick has be considered a failure. However seeing as we are in the 6th round, we’ll give Lowe the benefit of the doubt with a D-
Round seven: Coming back to the WHL, the Oil grabbed LW Dan Baum from the Prince George Cougars. After finishing in the WHL Dan played a couple of years in the AHL and was then demoted to the ECHL
Notables missed: By far the best 7th rounder was Marek Svatos, taken 227th overall by the Colorado Avalanche, Marek has scored 75 goals in 193 NHL games. Other names include: Jonny Oduya and Brandon Bochenski. Chosen one spot before Baum was newly minted 5 million dollar man - Christobal Huet.
Final grade: Same story as round 6, a few guys were missed, but were getting pretty deep. D+
Round eight: In the 8th round the Oil grabbed Finnish defensemen kari Haakana. Kari played 13 games for the Oil in 02/03 putting up zero’s across the boards before heading back over seas.
Notables missed: Peter Cajanek was a solid if unspectacular center for the St Louis Blues for four seasons, playing 269 NHL games before heading to Russia, other then that the late 8th round was expectedly uneventful.
Final grade: Missed one ok NHL, but for an 8th round pick, 13 games played and some AHL depth isn’t too bad. Final grade: C
Round nine: To cap off Klowes first draft at the helm, the Oil made two ninth round selections: chosen 272nd overall was Ales Pisa, while Shay Stephenson, Doug Lynch’s Red Deer Rebels team mate went 278th overall. Neither player had much of an impact, with Stephenson playing 2 games for the Kings in 06/07 and Pisa playing 50 games for the Oilers and 3 for the NYR. Pisa was part of the trade that brought over Dvorak….and unfortunately Cory Cross.
Notables missed: The only name chosen after Cross/Pisa to play in the NHL was winger Toni Dahlman who played 22 games over 2 seasons with the Senators.
Final grade: For the ninth round, 55 NHL games isn’t to bad, final grade: B
Overall the 2001 draft produced some high end talent with Hemmer and a little depth with Jussi, as well as some trade bait, the fact that the Oil drafted what will probably be their best player in 01 picks the overall grade up a notch, however 2 NHL’ers over 9 rounds and 11 picks is nothing to brag about. Final grade: C+
I appreciate you are trying to generate discussion during a quiet time but draft grades are pretty mutch a wash. For every player Lowe missed on, others also missed on these same players.Fans don't really have an appreciation for how difficult it is drafting 18 year olds. Other sports have three additional years of development. The difference between 18 and 21 in terms of physical and mental maturation is huge.I really like to use Barry Fraser as an example. He was once considered genius for his draft selections. Later he was considered a failure. His abilities didn't change it just hilights how difficult it is to judge how well a player will develop.
Thanks for the input. As you said, this blog was mroe for a discussion piece then anything. That said though, just because drafting is very difficult doesn't mean you can't grade the job that was done.Ron
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