Draft Day 2010
Well, the day has arrived. The Rangers hold the #10 pick in the first round, and I personally will be happy if the Rangers select any of Brett Connolly, Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Johansen, Derek Forbort, Emerson Etem, Jeff Skinner, Alex Burmistrov, or Vladimir Tarasenko. With a bunch of first round picks available (Islanders – 5th, Panthers – 3rd or 15th, Atlanta – 7th, among others), the Rangers may trade up to get their man, which is believed to be either Niedrreiter or Tarasenko. If both are gone, then expect the Rangers to stand pat and select the best available player. The Rangers also have picks in the 2nd round (40th overall), 4th round (100th overall), 5th round (130th overall), and 7th round (190th overall). The Rangers traded their 3rd round pick (70th overall) to the Los Angeles Kings for Brian Boyle, and their 6th round (160th overall) pick to the Islanders for Jyri Niemi.
Use this as your post to discuss the draft. I have a wedding tonight, and will be unable to update the post. Jurgenno is in Ireland, and I haven’t had the chance to speak to Jeremy yet about updating this post. Hopefully, it will be updated with anything major. If not, then use the comments to post big updates and discuss.
7:51 EST: Jeremy here, holding down the draft fort. 4 picks in. Hall first, Seguin second, Florida takes Gudbrandon, and Columbus takes Johansen. Canucks made the first trade, acquiring D Keith Ballard from the Panthers for Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner, and this year’s 25th overall pick.
7:57 EST: Isles take Nino Neidereitter. Besides having an awesome name, that’s a hell of a pick.
8:15 EST: Tampa takes Connolly, Canes take Skinner. Rangers are two away.
8:20 EST: Atlanta takes Alex Burmistrov
8:25 EST: Minnesota takes Mikael Granlund. The Rangers are on the clock!
8:33 EST: Rangers take defenseman Dylan McIlrath, from Moose Jaw of the WHL. Here’s what TSN had to say about him:
Moose Jaw Warrior defenceman Dylan McIlrath is a big, physical, mean and tough defensive defenceman who is the unanimous choice of scouts surveyed by TSN as the “toughest player” in the entire draft. He had 19 fighting majors this season and didn’t lose too many, by all accounts. Say no more
Surprised they passed on Cam Fowler, but McIlrath is the crease clearing, 6-4 defenseman they don’t have. Not a bad pick.
11:38 EST: Flyers trade rights to Dan Hamhuis to Pittsburgh for a 3rd round pick. The rich get richer.
By Jeremy, June 25, 2010 @ 2:49 pm
Jeremy can update, although it may be a bit slow.
By Brian, June 25, 2010 @ 4:21 pm
Johansen or Tarasenko Please.
By Tom, June 25, 2010 @ 8:51 pm
All day long, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that I wanted a mean, tough defenseman from Moose Jaw. This is a step in the right direction. And the fact that Pierre McGuire didn’t like the pick makes it all the more better.
By Adam, June 25, 2010 @ 9:29 pm
I hate this pick. Can draft tough guys later in the draft. Nino was my dream but you don’t pass on a guy like fowler….
By Tom, June 26, 2010 @ 8:47 am
@Adam: I don’t understand how you can not like this pick. We have offensive-defensemen (MDZ, Bobby S.) and 2-way defensmen (plus some good D prospects), but no crease-clearers.
Adam Reply:
June 26th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
then trade down if this is the guy you like….you can get grit anywhere in the draft and don’t need to take someone like him at 10. he was barely projected to go in the top 20 let alone the 10th pick. i bet a ton of teams would have traded up if when fowler gormley were still available and we could have traded down and taken him.
All this guy is big and a good fighter. not a great skater, not very good with the puck and not even the best defensive defenseman on the board at the time. not what i would call a top ten pick…
Tom Reply:
June 27th, 2010 at 8:57 am
You couldn’t be more wrong. He may have gone to Dallas at 11 if the Rangers hadn’t made the pick and would have gone at 15 if still available.