Having slept on the Rundblad situation, I still don't particularly like it. I would love to be proven wrong but at some point you have to draft forwards, especially with Karlsson - Cowen - Wiercioch coming up. I won't deny that adding Rundblad makes that defensive depth even more impressive, but having an Etem or a Tarasenko in the forward ranks would have been much more useful in the long run.
I'm pleased with the picks we made today. I was fairly high on Jakub Culek and may or may not have screamed at my TV in joy when he was drafted. Culek, a 6'4" centre with the Rimouski Oceanic, slides into our prospect pool as arguably our top forward, ahead of guys like O'Brien and Bass. For the first time since drafting Spezza, it appears we finally have a player who can play in the top-6 and put up points. He's a bit of a project in terms of skating ability, but he has several skills you can't teach, including size, hands and hockey instinct.
Markus Sorenson, our fourth-rounder, is a virtual mystery. As the guys at Silver Seven Sens pointed out in their open thread, he's on Facebook. That's about all we know. He's on the smallish side and plays in Sweden. Oh, and he's a right winger.
Our sixth-round pick, Mark Stone, is a big RW from the Brandon Wheat Kings. He scored 28 points in 39 games this year, but his playoff stats are a bit worrying. Seems to be a safe pick, which is probably a good choice after taking a gamble on Sorenson.
Our last pick, Bryce Aneloski, is a defenceman on a USHL team. He scored about a point per game this year, has a fun name to say (though not as fun as Brock Beukeboom or Calle Jarnkrok) but will most likely be a stretch to ever even play for Binghamton.
And, of course, our defacto first round pick who will forever be known as David "not Etem" Rundblad. By all accounts he's a solid puck moving defenseman. According to Hockey's Future, he "tends to not play it simple enough at times", which will most likely infuriate those who want Spezza gone. Despite being a "potential liability in his own end", Rundblad was selected 17th overall last year, in what is considered to have been a deeper draft than this year's.
To summarize quickly, the Senators got one top-six forward (Culek), one bottom-six forward (Stone), two defensemen (Rundblad and Aneloski) and one wild card (Sorenson). We got one Czech, two Swedes, a Canadian and an American, none of whom are NHL-ready.
But damn, I wish we could have that first rounder back.
really? he'll forever be known as "not etem"? he might not be a forward like we were expecting, but you realize hes better than etem, right?
ReplyDeleteSarcasm, bud. I'm well aware that Rundblad is better at his position than Etem is at his own. I'm also aware that he won't get a nickname based on a player who never was with our organization.
ReplyDeletePlus, the dudes at Silver Seven Sens are suggesting Mecha Karlsson, which is just infinitely better.
How does a 3rd rounder automatically become our best forward prospect? I really think you undervalue the likes of Regin, Butler, Wick, Petersson, Hoffman, and Silfverberg.
ReplyDeleteI have to say...I'd be surprised to see Culek make the Sens anytime soon.
I don't consider Regin as a 'prospect' at the moment. He's been with the big team for a full season and shows no signs of falling anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteButler is a bit of a mystery to me, and for my money he's not in the top tier of our forwards. No one knows too much about Wick, but I'll give you Petersson, Silfverberg and Hoffman.