2010 NHL Draft

After 21 years as a member of the Rangers European Scouting team, Director of player personnel for Europe, Christopher Rockstrom has been let go by the organization. The man who scouted star goalie Henrik Lundqvist is gone. Could this be signaling a trend in the organization against picking European players?

In this year's draft in Los Angeles, the Rangers selected one European player. With their sixth round pick, the Rangers selected Jesper Fasth, of Sweden.

After watching a fun weekend of hockey during the Chicago Blackhawks ’ prospect camp, it’s easier to look at the talent the Hawks have in the pipeline and compare them against others in the organization.

Over the weekend, a number of things became clear.

Kyle Beach needs to grow up to play in the NHL.

He might need some time against better competition in Rockford before jumping to the Hawks.  Dominating juniors is different than playing against elite talent, much less professionals.

Every NHL draft year, numerous questions arise regarding the young talent and how they are ranked. Some wonder why Player A is expected to go so high when he only had 10 points while playing in Sweden, or why Player B is expected to go late considering he scored 40 goals in major junior.

Even more unpredictable, however, is the order goaltenders are drafted. The rankings at this position vary greatly among NHL teams because of trends, team needs, and what kind of talent is available.

The Carolina Hurricanes are a roller coaster ride of a team. One year they surprise the hockey world and make it deep into the playoffs, and have even won a Stanley Cup. Then the next year they can't even make the playoffs or find themselves going home early.

Certainly the Canes would like to stabilize this trend, and settle into a team that competes year round, ever year.

The Hurricanes have unloaded some players this past season, and would look to fill the gaps through the draft.

The Buffalo Sabres had a very good season finishing atop their division. However, their successes came largely off the back of Vezina winning goalie Ryan Miller. The offence was weak, and the defence was just okay.

They looked for a deep playoff run, but were upset in the first round.

The Buffalo Sabres still have plenty of room to improve and the draft is the perfect way to do this.

Without further ado, the new Sabres are as follows:

The Boston Bruins got an absolute gift this season when they traded disgruntled winger Phil Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs for this year’s first and second round picks. These picks turned out to be the second and thirty second overall picks in the 2010 NHL Draft.

With such a deep draft the Bruins had a chance to rebuild the franchise without even going in a slump.

Mark Pysyk (Defenseman—First Round, 23rd overall)
Jerome Gauthier-Leduc (Defenseman—Third Round, 68th)
Kevin Sundher (Center—Third Round, 75th)
Matt MacKenzie (Defenseman—Third Round, 83rd)
Steven Shipley (Center—Fourth Round, 98th)
Gregg Sutch (Right Wing—Fifth Round, 143rd)
Cedrick Henley (Left Wing—Sixth Round, 173rd)
Christian Isackson (Right Wing—Seventh Round, 203rd)
Riley Boychuk (Left Wing—Seventh Round, 208th)

Well, the 2010 NHL Entry Draft may not have gone how fans had expected, but the Sabres have brought in some serio

Steals? Risks? Gambles? We won't know for some time whether the moves the New York Islanders made at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft will help or hurt the team, but we do know one thing for sure:

They lead the league in guys named "Kirill."

Two years after taking Kirill Petrov in the third round of the 2008 draft, the Isles went to Russia again in the third round and selected Kirill Kabanov in what could be the steal of the draft, considering Kabanov had been ranked as high as the top three in the draft class within the past year, and 15th at the midterm.

            With the Bruins landing the second overall pick this year, all of the focus has been on that one pick. Chiarelli and company have been no slouches however and the two second round picks have a no quit attitude.

Earlier this weekend, I wrote about the way the Islanders had fared after day one of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles. Today, I present to you their final grade after rounds two through seven.