Brayden Schenn
Thanks a lot to Mr. Morrison for taking the time out of a busy schedule to answer a few questions.
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Player Profile
Celebrating a decade of squandered potential and faded dreams, the draft of 1999 turned out shallower than an infant’s paddling pool, yet despite being regarded as an acrimonious footnote in league history the draft of ’99 also served as an unlikely backdrop to one of the most meticulously engineered pre-draft coups ever.
This time of year pretty much everyone is doing a mock draft of some sort. So, with one week to go until the Entry Draft, I figure it's time I chip in with my two cents on what may or may not unfold with the top 10 picks come June 26.
Note that the draft projections listed here are made based on current draft positions, and are not reflective of any possible trades involving the top 10 picks.
For much of the year, scouts from NHL clubs and private scouting agencies scour the globe for the next generational talent, the next franchise player, and the next late round steal. On Draft weekend, a year's hard work is condensed into a single list of names, a few of whom teams hope will become the future building blocks for their franchise. In Part Three of the '09 Draft Preview, the readers of MLHS are in for a special treat, as I recently had the opportunity to pick the brain of E.J. Mcguire, the Director of the NHL's Central Scouting Services and perhaps the most well-recognized face of the scouting world, about the upcoming June Draft. [more…]
With just a little over two weeks until the draft, it's time to turn our attention towards some of the favourites to go off the board first. Last year, a small group of about six players (Stamkos, Doughty, Bogosian, Pietrangelo, Schenn and Filatov) managed to distinguish themselves from the rest of the class, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to pay a hefty price to move up. As we inch closer to the twenty-sixth, a trend is beginning to emerge that has the same five players at the top of every team's draft board. Let's meet the candidates. [more…]
Scouting service, McKeen's Hockey Prospects released their 2009 Final Rankings, in conjunction with their 2009 Draft Guide which includes exclusive content and scouting reports on the top 90 draft eligible players. Patrick King, of Sportsnet familiarity talked about the draft in a Q and A session.
Following suit with the likes of the Redline Report and ISS, John Tavares was not listed at number one. NHL Central Scouting doesn't release a consolidated rankings, ranks are broken down by North American and International, with Goaltenders ranked independant from Skaters.
Rewind a year to Ottawa, when interim GM Cliff Fletcher was preparing to make his last great splash. Trading up to secure hard hitting blueliner Luke Schenn, a player unto which the Leafs hoped to bank their revival, set in motion a summer of upheaval paving the way for Brian Burke to step in mid-season. For many the draft of 2008 marked an era of realization, that change was required and perhaps finally the Leafs were going to commit to a full scale rebuild based on the youth model in Pittsburgh.
I've been trading a few emails of late with some "non-sources" (I want to be very clear about that) employed by various media outlets in the Toronto area, to get their take on the rapidly-churning Maple Leafs' rumour mill.
Although these folks are obviously not directly tied to anyone you would call a "source" affiliated with a team, their insight is often valuable as they are privy to more of the backroom chatter with those who are connected to the so-called "sources".
For the second year in a row, Team Canada fell 2-1 to the Russians in yesterday's gold medal game at the 2009 World Hockey Championships in Switzerland. Ilya Bryzgalov made 37 saves and the Russian defense managed for the most part to keep a prolific Canadian offense in check. [more…]
Some questions as you prepare for the Leafs vs. Sabres tilt tonight.
A quick look at the NHL standings reveals that with 11 games remaining, the Toronto Maple Leafs have not yet been mathematically eliminated from either the playoffs, or last place overall.
A numerical analysis reveals something even more interesting. Mathematically-speaking, the Maple Leafs are leading the race for the 6th overall pick in the draft.
