2009 NHL Draft: Toronto Maple Leafs Picks Ranked A+
by PPP on Jun 28, 2009 9:10 PM EDT
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PrintThe Toronto Maple Leafs' 2009 NHL draft picks have been evaluated by Mark Seidel for the National Post and the resulting is grade is more than a little surprising.
Update: Seidel is the Chief Scout for the North American Scouting Service which is a competitor to the NHL's Central Scouting Service. I confused the two initially.
Toronto Maple Leafs Grade: A+
The Picks:
7th Nazem Kadri, F, London (OHL)
50th Kenny Ryan, F, USA Under-18 (USDP)
58th Jesse Blacker, D, Windsor (OHL)
68th Jamie Devane, F, Plymouth (OHL)
128th Eric Knodel, D, Philadelphia Jr. (US AAA)
158th Jerry D’Amigo, F, USA Under-18 (USDP)
188th Barron Smith, D, Peterborough (OHL)Breakdown: The Leafs went with offensive skill for their first pick, but then chose what GM Brian Burke called "pick and axe men" who could make Toronto tougher if and when they develop into NHL players. Ryan is a grinder who admires Sean Avery, Devane is one of the toughest fighters in junior and two others are 6-foot-4 or taller.
Seidel Says: "One thing that John Ferguson, Cliff Fletcher and now Brian Burke deserve credit for is compiling one of the best scouting staffs in the NHL and their work showed this weekend … there haven't been a lot of days like this in Leafs history where they can feel that they are near the top of the class on Draft day, but this is one."
- Posted Sports
Considering the reaction of so many Leafs fans it's nice to see a different perspective. I have a lot more material to get up from the draft in Montreal including audio, video, and some funny tidbits from my first venture into actual journalism. Considering the expectations prior to the draft (some were far from realistic in retrospect) knowing that a professional has a good initial reaction helps soothe the disappointment of not seeing the Leafs make the big splash that Burke had promised to work towards.
It's definitely difficult for fans to have an accurate view of the prospects selected as we can only rely on what is written by professionals and self-proclaimed experts as well as local beat writers, YouTube, and second-hand reports. In most cases, we'll never have seen the players or probably even heard their names mentioned. In reality, this ranking just means that the Leafs have, in the opinion of one scout, gathered excellent raw materials. As we saw with Dauost and The Falconer's analyses of drafting in the NHL the key component once you're out of the first round is the franchise's player development system. While the drafting is getting a lot of kudos it's still to be seen whether the player development team will be reaping the same plaudits within three to five years.
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I was excited for Kadri,
But then again I’ve been to a few Knights games to watch him and Tavares play this year.
So it did kinda irk me to see some of the responses to him being drafted, but then again I was hoping to get a second 1st round pick so that was kinda disappointing, but being realistic no one else really moved around so it was tough.
'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.
I'm Just surprised
that Bettman hasn’t found a way to take more of our draft picks away.
"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
Albert Einstein
by Say *plan the parade one more time*... on Jun 28, 2009 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Im still pissed about that
'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.
I voted C. Everything after Kadri seems like garbage.
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I would counterpoint that usually in the 2nd round forward on average everyone is Garbage. Really it is development that really can make or break a draft class
'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.
Rajala was passed over by a lot of teams, and with the way Edmonton was drafting (almost the complete opposite of the Leafs), I’m not surprised they took him. Still though, good on the Oilers for picking him that late. Offensive talent is undeniable and if he grows a few inches, maybe the other parts of his game come around, too.
Supporter of the Sergei Berezin "Give and Go" - You give me puck, then you go to hell
He measured 5’10" at the combine
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At this point, his body type isn’t one that works well with gaining a lot of weight. Of course, my knowledge is based upon the Finnish posters at the HFboards.
Supporter of the Sergei Berezin "Give and Go" - You give me puck, then you go to hell
To be blunt, I don’t give half a fuck if he’s two feet tall and has one leg, the kid produces at every level he plays at. He had 19 points in six games at the world U18 this year.
Pension Plan Puppets*
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PANIC PANIC PANIC
Whatever, I wanted Schenn2.0 badly, but I’m not gonna blow my head off because I don’t know anybody else.
I guess we’ll see in a couple of years how everything turned out.
I like it all, every single one of them is already awesome to me
Smith JUST because his name is Barron, that is awesome
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Jun 28, 2009 9:53 PM EDT reply actions
While there were many times the Leafs looked like they passed over supposedly superior talent, I’m not sure if that’s the case per se. I think something has to be said of the Leafs coming into the draft with a real clear focus in mind and rarely deviating from it. Aside from Kadri and D’Amigo (and even he plays bigger than his size according to the scouting reports), the Leafs went for tough, gritty players. And all of them are really raw, so their current play should be different three or four years from now. It seems like Burke identified the draft as the area to replenish the Leafs bottom 6 forwards and defensive defensemen, areas the Leafs desperately needed to fill. The logic I would suspect is why spend money on defensively responsible grinders who fill a leadership role in free agency when you can easily fill these roles with our own guys? Not only will they be cheaper, but they’ll be younger and more attractive in trades, if need be.
With that said, the upside of a few of these players seem to be low. They may ultimately be fantastic 3rd-4th liners, but most of them right now don’t appear to be 1st-2nd liners. But again, the direction this team took doesn’t appear of that variety. I do wish the Leafs drafted a goalie, but I can’t fault them for taking three defensive defensemen, which was a definite need. I’m not sure this was an A+ draft (no goalie or “risky” Europeans), but a B-/B seems fair for having a clear goal in mind, targeting that goal, and sticking to that goal, ie. not trading away draft picks.
Supporter of the Sergei Berezin "Give and Go" - You give me puck, then you go to hell
The logic I would suspect is why spend money on defensively responsible grinders who fill a leadership role in free agency when you can easily fill these roles with our own guys? Not only will they be cheaper, but they’ll be younger and more attractive in trades, if need be.
And that’s a huge point to make. The more you can develop your own grinders etc. the more you have to spend on UFA skill and your own skill. Kadri is a skill player, Ryan is a skilled player, Jerry D’Amigo got drafted 100 spots lower than expected so it’s not like Burke didn’t draft any skill. Plus, this was supposedly the worst draft for goalies ever so I am not shocked that he didn’t draft any.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Worst year or not, a goalie in the late rounds is a worthy gamble. Besides, even if a goalie was deemed a first round pick, I doubt the Leafs would draft one in the first round anyway. I would have definitely taken a chance at a goalie in the mid-rounds to see how he develops under the tutelage of Allaire. The Leafs are very thin in goaltending, even if the team manages to secure Gustavsson.
Supporter of the Sergei Berezin "Give and Go" - You give me puck, then you go to hell
That article is so WHACKED.....
..and so is Seidel.
He complains about the Habs "reaching for Louis LeBlanc at #18, and goes on to say that “scouts ranked him much lower”. But Central Scouting (who the idiot used to work for) ranked LeBlanc AHEAD OF Kadri in their final rankings. So did ISS. Those are the TWO MOST RESPECTED SCOUTING AGENCIES around.
The Leafs use a #7 overall pick to take Kadri and the Habs get LeBlanc (who is more highly rated) at #18, but the Leafs clearly did better. Right.
Leblancs highlight real showed him whacking at a covered puck and falling over
Kadri was destroying people with sick moves left right and center, im gonna say the Leafs won out
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Jun 28, 2009 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions
…further to the Habs draft, they managed to land Joonas Nattinen in the third round, even though most rankings had him rated as a late first/early second round pick. I would be WILLING TO BET that Nattinen (who played on the first line for the Finns at the WJC) was ranked higher than Ryan or Blacker (taken ahead of him) on pretty much every legitimate rating chart that combined North American and European prospects.
There is a very good reason that the “scouting service” that Seidel “operates” is “unaffiliated”. NO RESPECTABLE HOCKEY GROUP WANTS TO BE ‘AFFILIATED’ WITH HIM. He is a like a cheap Canadian ripoff of Kyle Woodlief, who is a cheap U.S. hockey ripoff of Mel Kiper who is just plain a CHEAP RIPOFF.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Central Scouting Service Final Rankings
There are two sides to everything.
From that list there are a tonne of players that went a lot lower than they were ranked. Is that because the scouting service was wrong or because the NHL GMs were? We’ll find out originally but I am not sure that just looking at those draft rankings are enough to suggest that a pick was a steal or not. It’s just one more piece of information which is why I posted this.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
…first of all, that list is North American skaters only. Does not include any Europeans or North American goaltenders.
What Seidel said in the National Post article (if you can read the whole thing), is that Montreal’s draft was rated a C- because they “reached” for LeBlanc. He is directly quoted as saying “The trouble started at 18 where they reached for the hometown boy even though ‘all the scouts’ ranked him lower”. But getting a player who was ranked #15 by Central Scouting among North American skaters at #18 overall is not reaching at all. ISS which is the next most respected scouting agency, rated LeBlanc at #12 among all prospects, and had Kadri down around #24 or something. But Seidel makes no mention of the Leafs reaching for their first round pick in comparison to the scout’s rankings.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, even if it didn’t include goalies or Europeans those players still went lower within their category than expected. That doesn’t change with the addition of the rest.
As for the ‘reaching’ comment. It might have something to do with the fact that when LeBlanc was selected guys like Depres (CSS # 8, Selected 30th), Shroeder (CSS # 5, Selected 22nd), and Carter Ashton (CSS # 12, Selected 29th) were still available. If CSS is the be-all end all then the Habs blew that pick as well.
Again, it’s just another data point to consider.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
ISS had Kadri at 8.
A Nation of Masochists a blog dedicated to Toronto sports fans, who are continually punished but keep coming back for more.
The Devane pick seems like a total waste to me. Why spend a third round pick on a pugilist that wasn’t even listed on any of the scouting reports? You’d have to think he would have still been kicking around at 128, 158 or 188.
Bitter Leaf Fan: a life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...
to fuck with us
Because Taking The Leafs Seriously Is Not An Option
by JaredFromLondon on Jun 28, 2009 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Cribbed from a commentator at MLHS-
vk88 June 28, 2009 11:01 pm
Hey guys, Devane has won an all-Ontario in Bantam, a championship in midget hockey (point a game player), got 17 points with no power play and fought everyone in the league. He is pedigree champion and a winner. A lot of you will eat your words when he is the toughest sob in the OHL next year and has 60 points to go along with it.
Haven’t checked the validity of that statement, but I think Burkie was looking for the next Zach Kassian, and settled for Devane. If he can improve his stats, might be eventually worth the pick.
"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09
by kidkawartha on Jun 28, 2009 11:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I do love that he was a winner in Bantom and Midget. As we all know, the scouts had questioned his skating in mite and his attitude problems in minor pewee.
Can’t wait for Gabe Desjardins to produce his Ontario midget hockey equvialencies. Until then I’m prepared to eat my words. Go off the boards in for a completely unrated player in rounds six and seven, not round 3.
Bitter Leaf Fan: a life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...
Definitely a strange pick. There’s no doubt about that when he wasn’t even at the draft combine for the top 100 picks.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
I gave it a B
This draft had its highs and lows, but there were better players available than Kadri, and Devane still makes me scratch my head. Ryan, Blacker and D’Amigo are great picks (In fact, D’Amigo is IMO the Leafs’ biggest steal), and the Kadri pick is a pretty good one (I’m liking Kadri the more I read about him. He seems very underrated). Though, I think Burke could’ve done better.
If any of them deserved an A, it’s the Edmonton Oilers. They got some really good picks (MPS, Rajala, Roy) that I believe will contribute in a pretty big way. Props to them!
Well, Jared, I’m assuming that NHL Central Scouting and ISS don’t base their evaluations on a highlight clip.
I just totally discount Seidel’s opinion for the reasons he gave for downgrading the Habs draft. He was directly quoted as saying that Montreal “drafted the hometown boy at #18 DESPITE THE FACT THAT ALL SCOUTS RATED HIM LOWER”. That was simply NOT TRUE. ISS had him at #12 overall among all prospects in their final ranking. Central Scouting had him around the same spot among North American prospects. Both services, as I mentioned rated LeBlanc ahead of Kadri.
Iirc…ISS had Kadri near the end of the first round in their final rankings.
Missed the reply button
Those final rankings came out in April before the OHL playoffs when Kadri outscored John Tavares.
Bob McKenzie had Kadri 8th and Nazem 17th. You can check his track record and rankings here.
ISS had LeBlanc 12 but Kadri 8th in their final rankings.
Hockey’s Future had Kadri 13 and LeBlanc 13.
So basically everyone else had Kadri ranked higher.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
PPP-
Just for clarification, they tied in playoff points, Tavares had one more goal.
And, this-
Kadri 8th and Nazem 17th
Going to take us all a while to get used to his name. :) I’m starting to just call him “Dark Zen”.
"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09
by kidkawartha on Jun 28, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions
hahaha
Whoops.
Kadri 8th and Leblanc 17th.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
…maybe it was McKeen’s who had Kadri way down on their list.
But that doesn’t alter my point. Seidel’s basis for downgrading the Hab’s draft was that they took LeBlanc “much higher than the scout’s rated him”. Even by your updated rankings that is false.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions
But it does alter your point about Leblanc outranking Kadri in the majority of scouting services.
Supporter of the Sergei Berezin "Give and Go" - You give me puck, then you go to hell
..Kadri was taken 11 picks earlier in the first round. That is huge. If you traded down from #7 overall to #18 overall, you could probably get a second and third round pick in the current draft along with a #1 in the next draft.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions
According to one draft ranking.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
And Ottawa wanted him at 9 so again your point makes no sense.
A Nation of Masochists a blog dedicated to Toronto sports fans, who are continually punished but keep coming back for more.
Keep in mind that as I mentioned the CSS rankings came out in April. That left two months of hockey to be played as well as the Draft Combine. That’s a lot of time for scouts to change their mind. He also has contacts that could have told him about those changes in the lead up to the draft.
I don’t know that it’s enough to discredit him just because he’s running a unaffiliated ranking service. After all, the ISS is unaffiliated as well right?
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
B...
because who the fuck knows how these guys are going to turn out? really, if more than 1 of these guys ends up playing full time in the NHL that’s a minor victory.
great job this weekend PPP. and it sounds like the rest of the crew represented as well. wish i could have been there.
Thanks
I am working on a lot more stuff from the weekend over the next two days including trying to get somet stuff ready for Free Agency.
It’ll be interesting to follow these guys especially the ones that go the NCAA route.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Anyway, Landon Ferraro is better than Kadri or LeBlanc.
Can’t believe he fell into the second round. Of course the Red Wings grab him.
He apparently was stunned too. He was there Friday and expecting to go in the first. Tampa actually had Carter Ashton ranked 12th on their draft board and he went 29th so it’s not such a stretch to think that teams’ internal draft boards (where they consider need as well) might have had Kadri ahead of LeBlanc.
Anyway, we’ll find out how much of a stretch it was in 3 years.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
…Ferraro was the third best prospect after Tavares and Hedman. He is nearly a year younger than Matt Duchene, and his numbers were better in the WHL (on a low scoring team) than Duchene’s were in the OHL (on a much higher scoring team) at the same age.
Landon came out of the Vancouver minor hockey system at the same time as Evander Kane. He was much higher rated (drafted 2nd overall behind Jared Cowen in the WHL draft compared to Kane at #18) but as a result ended up with bottom feeder Red Deer, while Kane went to the powerhouse Vancouver Giants. But Landon is still a faster, smarter, and more well rounded player.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Funny
Now your favourite serious scouting service isn’t the be-all, end-all as they ranked Ferraro the 18th best North American (not including goalies or Europeans).
That’s is actually very interesting information though especially about the WHL draft position.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
..I don’t question Kadri being rated ahead of LeBlanc, or being a better overall prospect, just the fact that Seidel slammed the Habs for “reaching” for LeBlanc. There is nothing to indicate that they did.
OTOH, I think all the Leaf picks were taken earlier than their ranking on serious scouting sites.
robert-
for what it’s worth, most of us regulars here don’t exactly think it was a spectacular draft. We tend (check out our recommended posts) to believe that there is a crapshoot element to the draft. I’m very happy with Kadri, and the others, it’s just wait and see. I think PPP was just trying to point out that “someone” has a different view on this draft than the CW.
"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09
by kidkawartha on Jun 28, 2009 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Can you define, or even link to, “serious” scouting sites?
Bitter Leaf Fan: a life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...
..I would say NHL Central Scouting first and foremost, with ISS and McKeens as the only other candidates.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions
From everything I’ve read and heard, CSS and ISS are often looked down upon by the scouting community.
What’s your take on Bob Mckenzie’s survey? He usually runs at about 90% accuracy. He had Kadri at 8, LeBlanc at 17 and Ferraro at 26.
Bitter Leaf Fan: a life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...
Well, as I pointed out there were three rankings that had Kadri rated above LeBlanc and in terms of reaching according to the CSS rankings three guys rnaked higher than LeBlanc were drafted after him so that’s an example of reaching. That he didn’t suggest the same with Kadri just means that he disagrees with one ranking system and disagrees with the one that had Kadri ranked lower.
And not all of the Leafs’ picks were taken earlier than their ranking on serious scouting sites.
I do find it interesting that apparently the only scouting system that you trust is the one that backs up your point.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
…in the article Seidel distinctly said the LeBlanc was ranked “much later” than 18 by “all the scouts”.
That is the big bone I’m picking.
by robert ethan on Jun 28, 2009 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions
And as I said, Tampa Bay had Carter Ashton as the 12th overall pick (goalies and Europeans) and he went 29th. It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility that the team’s scouts did not agree with the ranking services’ agreements. Seidel is better placed to have spoken with them, as he mentions, and I don’t see how it’s possible to say that there is no way that he could be right.
Keep in mind that teams also take organizational needs into account when they draft.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Keep in mind that teams also take organizational needs into account when they draft.
I think what turned it for Burkie and company was the OHL playoffs, the combine and just simply talking to Nazem. I keep hearing chatter to the thought that he passed his psychs with flying colours, and his composure is very high.
"We've had an ongoing problem with Grabovski this year." Bob Gainey, 4/04/09
by kidkawartha on Jun 28, 2009 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions
…I’m not a big fan of the scouting services generally, but Central Scouting certainly has more resources and scouts than the rest combined.
As for Landon Ferraro, I detect his Dad’s hand in his post season “slippage” in the draft rankings. There is no advantage in being a top NHL draft pick monetarily, for the most part. Maybe the top couple of picks sign a contract right away, but the majority of first rounders have to wait a year or two and are paid on the basis of their performance AFTER the draft (unlike the NFL). On the other hand, a top ten draft position usually means you’re going to a bad team (and often a bad organization), with tremendous pressure to help right away. No one needs that pressure.
I’m pretty sure that Ray Ferraro would have said, once the season was over for Landon, " DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO TO IMPRESS THE EVALUATORS, BUT DON’T GO OVERBOARD". Deliberately or otherwise, Landon went from being a consensus mid first round pick a couple of months back, to a consensus late first round/early second round pick at the draft. He will still sign the same contract in a year or two as he would if he was taken top 10, but do so with virtually no pressure on his shoulders and be allowed to develop at his own pace within the most stable franchise in the league.
…well, admittedly the part about his Dad telling him to lowball himself leading up to the draft is purely speculative, but all the rest is true.
NHL draft picks sign contracts according to their post draft performance (along with camp showing etc.) overwhelmingly. As compared to the NFL, where the prospects are a few years older and paid according to their draft position. So what is the big advantage of being a top 10 NHL pick other than the brief moment of glory on the day? Not much. On the other hand there is significantly more pressure and expectation that comes with a high draft spot. A lot more opportunity to disappoint rather than “overachieve”. The same prospect coming into the NHL three years down the road and scoring 20 goals would be considered disappointing if he was a top 10 pick, and a steal if he was a second rounder. Know what I’m saying?
by robert ethan on Jun 29, 2009 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Orrrrr Maybe
If he is scoring at a pace just slightly above that of a 2nd round draft pick and is being considered a steal that really he was only a 2nd round draft pick and with a bit of training and development from the team was able to become a little something more.
'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.
You have described the situation he finds himself in but I don’t think that it’s because of his father telling him to hold back at the combine or at any evaluations. That’s just where the league slotted him. Whether they are right or not is another story and we’ll know if a few years but he’s there because that’s where teams think that he belongs.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
…undeniably Landon did drop in the rankings I’ve seen from the end of his junior season to the day of the draft. Again that may be purely coincidental, but it certainly worked out well for him on the surface.
But I stand by my estimation that he is the best prospect outside of Tavares and Hedman. He has no weaknesses, other than borderline size. But he is 6-0 tall and should top out close to 200 pounds considering the fact that he won’t be 18 for another couple of months. So that is not a real handicap for the position he plays. The rest is top notch. Speed, skill (very underrated due to the team and system he played in junior), toughness, character.
by robert ethan on Jun 29, 2009 2:01 AM EDT up reply actions
…McKenzie’s “survey” is just that. He calls around and tries to get a feel of different team’s draft lists. Whether he succeeds or not is a whole other question. The teams are spending millions of dollars on scouting, and somehow I don’t think they will just give the full results to TSN to publish for all the world to see for nothing. Kind of defeats the purpose of having your own scouting staff.
Personally I think Bob just uses the same public information sources we do and puts together a list based on that. Probably he does talk to NHL scouts and executives a lot, but I doubt he gets any classified information from them.
He gets some things from some people otherwise you wouldnt have him giving out his insider scoops.
And ok fine even if he gets the information from public available sites just like any of us, Doesn’t it speak to his knowledge of the game and people running the teams that he can predict a draft with an approx 90% accuracy rating?
'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.
McKenzie got the first 6 picks in the right order and 9 of the top 10 players selected. He’s not identifying what teams tell him what things just where he has the players ranked. He takes into account 6 scouting services in addition to all of his contacts. He had Kadri 8 and LeBlanc 17th. They went 7th and 18th respectively. Looks like he knows what he is talking about in this case.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
I have the world of respect for McKenzie. As a sportscaster. Which is what he is and makes no pretentions otherwise. But those are not “his” picks, only a consensus he comes to after taking into account all the information he has at hand.
Matter of fact, he is on record as saying he thinks that the most underrated mid first round pick is Louis LeBlanc. Even though the consensus list he came up with had LeBlanc going one pick higher than he actually did.
There’s a reason that the National Bracket that ESPN does for March Madness usually beats over 90% of the other brackets submitted. McKenzie is one guy and his opinion is that LeBlanc is underrated but the crowd’s is that he was almost perfectly rated. We’ll see who’s right in 3-5 years.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Please click reply. Trying to follow this thread if you don’t is akin to being a headless chicken.
A Nation of Masochists a blog dedicated to Toronto sports fans, who are continually punished but keep coming back for more.
I hope so! I like the comparisons to Zach Parise.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
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