A VHA First!!

Here's Trevor with his thoughts on winners, losers and risky picks of the VHA 10 Entry Draft.  AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!

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After weeks of anticipation and jockeying for position the Philadelphia Flyers entered into the 2010 draft with picks 10, 14, 29 and 36 overall.  By the end of the night the Flyers would see great success in making their selections and also in turning their 4 selections into 8 total selections by trading down as the draft progressed.  By the end of day 2 the Flyers would pick picks 10, 14, 38, 47, 57, 58, 87 and 111. 

Below is a list of the picks and the GM's comments regarding the players. 

10th Overall - Cam Fowler:  "We were thrilled to get Fowler at 10.  Earlier we believes Cam would be going in the top 3, because of his outstanding mobility and puck moving ability, but for some reason he slipped and it was simply our good fortune to be at the bottom of the slide.  Cam is an outstanding defenseman...a can't miss in our opinion and with his size and mobility we could easily be talking about a big time point producer at the NHL level within a couple years.  There will be some teams kicking themselves that they passed him by"

14th Overall - Vladimir Tarasenko:  "Again, we were feeling exceptionally lucky to see Tarasenko at pick 14 considering our scouts felt he was one of the very top offensive players in the entire draft.  In addition, we saw him impress at the combine and in the KHL vs grown men.  Vlad is going to be one hell of an NHLer if he chooses to play in the NHL and we believe based on everything he's said and done, that he does want to be here.  Vlad could be a top line player with explosive skills and the type of guy that plays the game the right way....finishes his checks and occassionally hits people to finish a play.  I see some Datsyuk in his game, but it's too early to say he'll be on that level."

38th Overall - Jordan Weal:  "Jordan can flat out score and that's why we took him at 38.  Playing in the WHL Jordan was impressive and he was perhaps more impressive in the WJC where he led Canada in scoring.  Yes, he's a smallish player, but so is Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and many of the great players now thriving at the NHL level.  Based purely on point production and puck control we felt Weal was one of the better players in this draft.  Proving it in a physical league like the WHL really solidifies the fact that Jordan isn't shy about getting his nose dirty and we welcome that attitude in him."

47th Overall - Patrik Nemeth:  "Patrik is a very big, mobile and solid defenseman with a mean streak.  Some people compare him to Pavel Kubina, but I think he probably moves a little better than Kubina and maybe doesn't have as much offensive ability.  There's no shame in that, because he could be an outstanding defensive defenseman with a take no prisoners attitude and be just as valuable with his mobility.  Patrik will continue to develop in the Swedish Elite League, where he was already playing vs top players, many with NHL experience.

57th Overall - Sergei Bobrovsky:  "Some people say we went off the board here by taking a guy who had not been previously drafted in prior years, but what you don't see by just looking at the name is that Sergei has been putting up great numbers in the KHL for the past 2 seasons.  He will need time to adjust to the North American game, but he was facing NHL caliber shots in the KHL and ending seasons with .927 save percentage or .919 last year for a bad team.  He's got great size and is very composed so if he can come over here and get used to the size of the rinks and the flow of play he should find his way into our starting lineup at some point".

58th Overall - Joacim Eriksson:   "Joacim is another in a long line of Swedish stud goaltenders.  Previously sitting just behind Jacob Markstrom on the bench of his WJC team and Swedish team, Eriksson is now poised to take over the reigns and run with it.  Again, he's another guy that if you look at his numbers it's scary how dominant he's been.  Joacim is going to need at least another year in the SEL at the top level and if he proves he's up to that task he may also get some starts in the WJC and soon at the NHL level within a year or so.  He's a very technically sound goalie and he's getting better and better with each viewing.  It was an easy choice to take him at 58."

87th Overall - Ivan Telegin:  "This is a player we felt was sort of a project, but also a sleeper in a way.  Ivan has great hands and scoring instinct, but he is a power forward who is in his 1st full season in North America.  That said, he put up impressive numbers as a rookie in the CHL for Saginaw.  As a 6'3 17 year old he will add bulk to his frame and if he can learn to effectively use his body in traffic he could be a Mike Knuble sort of power forward in the NHL.  He's got some development time to put in, but there's no reason to expect he can't fufill his dream of playing in the NHL at this point."

111th Overall - Patrick Cehlin:  "Another one of the talented Swedish Elite League youngsters currently making a name for themselves in Sweden, Cehlin was a 17/18 year old who made an Elite League roster.  This is a player we felt was almost penalized, because he got a year of development playing at the most elite level in Sweden instead of putting up 20 or 30 goals in the Jr or 2nd Tier league there.  Cehlin played 50 games for his club and scored 5g and 6a.  Anyone who understands Swedish Elite League hockey will understand it's uncommon for a 17 or 18 year old to make a team and even more uncommon for him to be productive.  Cehlin did both so we're optimistic that he will be a player given a little bit of time.  Cehlin has good speed, is defensively responsible and has shown he can finish in the dirty areas around the net.  He's a bit undersized so we anticipate him doing some strengthening over the course of the next few seasons before making the jump".

The Summary:  "Honestly we had a very productive and encouraging draft.  Most years you're lucky to come away with 1-2 guys you feel can develop into top end players and this year we really truly feel we've got at least 3-4 of these guys who could be stars and 3-4 that could be legitimate NHL players at some point.  Time will tell, but we really like what we were able to pick up.  I mean, I look at Fowler and Tarasenko and just look where ISS had those guys ranked.....Fowler 4 and Tarasenko 5.  We grabbed those 2 guys at 10 and 14 so whatever you do beyond that is all gravy.  The future is bright and we're hopeful we see a few of these guys dominating in the NHL before too long, but there is a development curve ahead of these guys.  As talented as they are they're going to have to work within our system and commit to putting in the time and effort to be an NHL player.  It's not easy and that's why it's the best league in the world". 

 

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