The 2010 NHL draft is June 25th in Los Angeles (just 88 days away as of this writing) and with the Ducks season all but over I thought it would be good to start discussing which players we hope the Ducks get.

The Ducks have two first round picks right now, their own and the Flyers which they got in the Pronger trade last summer. We still don't know what picks those will end up being but it looks like both picks will be between the 8th and 16th overall picks going into the lottery. (The Ducks pick will be entered into the draft lottery and, if the Ducks win, they would move up four spots. If a team behind them in the draft order wins the Ducks would move down one spot. If the Flyers were to fall out of the playoffs their pick would be entered into the draft as well.)

NHL.com has already posted some mock drafts (LINK) which should give you an idea of which players will be available in the middle of the 1st round. Here's who they think the Ducks will draft:

Two people said the Ducks would take both:
Nino Niederreiter (RW)
Emerson Etem (RW) [He's from Long Beach!]

One person said the Ducks would take:
Austin Watson (RW)
Riley Sheahan ©
Jack Campbell (G)
Mark Pysyk (D)

Of those guys the only one I know is Jack Campbell because he was the goalie for Team USA in the U-18 World Junior Championships and he beat Team Canada in the Gold Medal game. While I loved seeing him help USA win the Gold I don't know if he's going to be a great goalie in 10 years or not.

I know a lot of you follow junior levels of hockey pretty closely and some of you are in Europe so I'm interested to hear what you all think about who the Ducks should draft and the players that the experts at NHL.com have predicted they will take.

I remember Niederreiter from the WJC, he was awesome. I wouldn't mind him one bit.

I would like the Ducks to get Marcel Müller [LINK].



He's not your average prospect - in his final year of draft eligibility for Europeans at 21 years of age he's a lot further in his development. He has impressed scouts at the Olympics for an otherwise not-so positive German team (#25).

In the DEL he ended up tied for 13th in scoring with 24 goals + 32 assists = 56 points while being +11 and amassing 122 penalty minutes, some of them in a rare fight in the league. He actually started the year on defense due to some personal problems, but played on the wing most of the year (left shot).

In my mind, he's a textbook Ducks style player - on both sides of the medal. He's 6'3, 218 lbs, with great hands, is a good passer, good on the cycle, willing to take the body and drop the gloves. Then again, he's also been very Getzlaf-ish for big stretches of the season, being too cute, looking for the perfect pass too often, and sometimes not seeming to care enough. Yes, they actually are different people.

It's really difficult to project when he will go in this draft since there isn't too many comparable cases. He's a player that, in my opinion, can step in right away, probably without being a huge contributor. There is the story about Brian Burke, coming to Cologne as the Ducks GM, when both teams started their partnership a couple of years back, and Müller, who was a lot more raw at the time and the fewest would have expected him to develop this quickly, really raised his eyebrow then. He's a Ducks / Burke style of player, so these teams are my best bets. I personally think that he'll go in the 3rd round at the latest. An early third / late 2nd round pick could be worth it, in my opinion.

I could kind of see Müller being the third twin, which is a pretty great picture at times and terribly frustrating at others...


That said, Müller has one year left on his contract with the Haie in Germany. I do not think he's the type of character that would bolt to the NHL just like that; so either, one could have him play that last year with Cologne or the financially troubled club could be compensated; which I don't have a hard time seeing from a team like Toronto, but may be an issue with the Ducks, spending ~ $200k for an unproven European rookie, unless he completely tore it apart in camps.

Thanks for the report, GM. He sounds intriguing and he might be worth a third round pick if he's still available. Would he be willing to come to the States to play in the AHL?

Hey everyone!
I'm a long term reader of these boards, but I rarely post. I actually spend most of my time following junior hockey over the Nhl anyways. I'm a fan of the London Knights (OHL)-Perry's junior team. I just love watching the guys make it big after spending their teenage years developing here. In regards to the players that you've mentioned ( I haven't seen the college guys/ Whl), I would take them in this order;

1.)Watson- big, gritty, defensibly responsible foward who can score. I think he has the most potential, but he's not very flashy.
2.) Etem- I haven't actually seen him play but I've heard that he's a scoring machine- which the ducks need.
3.)Neiderrieter- He's probably above etem in talent, so I'd probably switch them but Europeans make me a little nervous (there's obviously exceptions, but this is just if I were drafting)
4.)Pysyk- I put him here simply because I think its a really bad idea to take a goalie in the first round (you never know how they are going to turn out at this point in time -take one later) I also have a bad feeling about Sheahan- NCAA players often take a while to transition to the nhl because of the large style differences
5.)Campbell- best goalie int he draft, but goalies can change very quickly
6.)Sheahan- I remember him being up for the Ohl draft, he was ranked highly but bolted for the NCAA, maybe it was for the best? but I'm not a huge fan of the route.

Others of note
if anaheims picking early enough I would take Gudbranson-D (but he's in a bad junior organization-maybe a trade?), or a little later Toffoli-F or Skinner-F. I personally, love Skinner. he's a great goalscorer but he's not a great skater.

I'd avoid MacFarland- he's very overrated (I plays in the other conference though so I don't see him a lot (twice per year).

From the knights this year;
1.) Jared Knight F- perry(net crashing/dirty goals) Mike Richards hybrid. He's a very fast, gritty defensibly responsible player, scored 38 goals this year (ranked 2nd-3rd round)
2.)Michael Houser G- he's inconsistent but when he's on, he's awesome. big ,very athletic (5th round?)
3.) Reid McNeill D- 6'3 defenceman, came out of nowhere. He was cut from his midget team last year and made the OHL this year. good defensibly but no offensive potential (7th round?)

I hope that helps.

Excellent information, Clarky1, thanks for that!

How well has Neiderrieter adjusted to the North American game?

FYI - here are the Ducks picks in 2010:

1st Round: (2)
Theirs & Flyers

2nd Round:
Theirs

3rd Round:
None (traded to Tampa Bay for Artyukhin)

4th Round:
Theirs

5th Round:
Theirs

6th Round:
Coyotes (Got that in the Nokelainen trade & sent their own to Edmonton as part of the Visnovsky trade)

7th Round:
None (traded it to Columbus in Joakim Lindstrom deal)

That's obviously something I don't know. On Thursday it's our end-of-season party, maybe I'll get a chance to chat with him for a while again over one of our 1200 liters of free beer and then I'll certainly ask. I'm not exactly sure that a year of AHL hockey would be what he needs. His game is perfectly suited for the smaller ice, anyway, and the level and style of play in the AHL in my oppinion would not be significantly better for his further development than playing another year of DEL hockey. However, I do stand by my rather bold statement that he could step into the league and be at least a good player for a team with three scoring lines pretty much right away if he wanted to.

Sorry, I can't really give you a concrete answer on Niederrieter because he plays out west (I've only seen him play at the world juniors) but from what I've heard he's adapted perfectly, he has a very north american style of game. I hope that helps.

My dream Anaheim draft

1st (Anaheim 10-15?)- Austin watson F-powerfoward/ great penalty killer
1st (Philadelphia 10-15th)- Gudbranson D-2 way defenceman
2nd- Jared knight F
4th- Smith-Pelly F- powerfoward
5th-Christian thomas F-soft but really fast/skilled
6th- Adam Brown G- i think he's the son of ducks assistant coach?

I realize with neidermayer retiring shortly that we need defenceman however I think that defenceman are easier to find and these fowards all have great attitudes/talent and grit.
I actually prefer the players availiable from 25-50 more than those ranked earlier (8-15) so I would keep anaheim's pick and trade the philly pick for a late first rounder (26-30) and an early second (31-40) and grab skinner and knight, but these scouts are trained to evaluate so they're probably right haha.

I really believe that knight is the sleeper of the draft- he got off to a slow start because he didn't know he was diabetic, but after the diagnosis he's gotten into exellent shape and has scored at will. he can probably be a captain someday. I tend to rant about him a lot, you can probably tell I'm a huge fan of his.

Do you think anaheim will take a defenceman, goalie or foward?

Isn't Gudbranson projected to go much earlier, in the 3 to 5 area...?


I don't think we're going to draft a goalie unless one guy falls really low and then at some point just is the best player available. We have a nice goaltending project in Bobkov, and Pielmeier is still there as well. What should be kept in mind that it has been a buyer's market for goaltenders for quite some time now, which, combined with goalies seemingly being tougher to project in most cases, is going to have some effects...

yeah, recently Gubranson has been rising (he was in the 9-14 range), but most people seem to have Fowler and Gormley ahead of him for defenseman so I just thought he could drop. if he wasn't there, I would grab Merril/Tinordi -its a bit of a reach but I think it would be worth it.

I hope they draft the best player available regardless of position. Who knows what the future holds so go ahead and get the best player you can.

Has anyone heard what is going to happen with the tickets and all that with the Draft? Cause I am not missing this draft!

That's a great question. I haven't heard anything but hopefully we'll get some details soon. Is anyone else planning on attending?

i am, we have two first round picks.. i wouldnt miss it!

has anyone here ever been to a draft before?

i am planning on attending

I would like to go also. you might want to check the stapler's website if there is any info.

Ticket info for the draft:

Link.

Please, please Ducks draft "El Nino" Niederreiter.

The 3 most talented swiss hockey players in one NHL team would be awsome!!!

It looks like the Ducks will draft in the region 10-12, that is exactly his standing in the scouting lists....

it depends where anaheim picks

i don't think niederrieter falls to us, i can see us taking jack campbell

i say we go 1 f 1 d
i'll go with austin watson and either pysyk or forbort will be our picks........right now anyways

I definitely plan on attending the draft.

And since I'm actually going to go lol, I gotta brush up on my draft pick knowledge. At least for the first round, dont know if I'll stick around for all too long. Maybe through the second.

But in anycase, the info coming in is good. Major props to our European readers and those that are tapped in to the junior hockey world.

If I'm around, I'm going to find someway to be there.

It would be great if we could get at least 1,000 Ducks fans into that arena to cheer on our team and the newest Ducks.

I sent an email to Adam Brady a week or so ago, and asked if he knew of any rumblings within the Ducks offices to PLAN any group attendance. Thought maybe they'd be pushing for something just like that....

The response:
"Not that I've heard of. Maybe something will come up down the road."


I'm tentatively planning to go as well...and I almost have my wife talked into it.

I plan on going to the draft. I assume we will eventualy find out how to get the tickets.

As far as who we should take I would love toget nino niederieter, but I am assuming he will be gone before it gets too the ducks pick. I am interested in derek forbort big USdefenseman, brett Connolly, riley sheahan, mark pysyk, or ryan johansen. but we don't know where the ducks picks will land yet, and the prospects rankings will still rise and fall before the draft so I will wait untill it's closer to choose who i want the ducks to take.

I would definitely love to see the Ducks go with Niederreiter, if he still is available at about #10. NHL.com got his position wrong, he is a Left Wing - which is something we haven't had on this team since the departure of Kunitz (though I miss him not a single bit). His frame seems to already be close to NHL-ready and his hands obviously are elite. Wouldn't mind me some Niederreiter in our team. As for the second Draft Pick in the first round...anything is possible in my books. Why not trying to trade it along with Blake for a higher Pick? I heard Glen Sather is pretty big on old and overpaid players...

Big OHL guy. I think Gudbranson from the 'nacs if he's still there; Watson, Sheahan or the Fin Backlund.

What is everyone's obsession with Niederetter? He wasn't THAT impressive.

ok so I will admit I am COMPLETELY lost when you guys talk about prospects and stuff so where do you get most of your info, or what channels do you watch to catch up on these guys?

A lot of info is being shed either by searching YouTube for videos of each player, watching the WJC (usually taking place in December) and -very important!- www.hockeysfuture.com or other sites related to the same theme.

I thought he was the best Swiss player in the WJHC. The kid played with spunk, and stood out in terms of his ability even against the powerhouse teams in the tournament.

Read at your own discretion (DRAFT SPOILER)

So my buddy (who has been my friend since we were young) goes to University of Waterloo and is buddies with Patrick Sandlak (son of Jim Sandlak). They go to a lot of Storm games because of Carter Sandlak. My friend usually goes to their house for dinner.

So he asked scout Jim Sandlak who will the Ducks draft this year? And he had a little bit of insider information.

Two options:

1st) Nino Niederreiter
2nd) Jeff Skinner


Now Sandlak was the one who ulitimately drafted Peter Holland from the Storm last year. So I have faith in my buddy.

Read at your own discretion (DRAFT SPOILER)

I have seen Jeff Skinner play a few times this year and he would be an excellent pick. A bit of sleeper pick going into Junior, but really stepped it up this year for the Kitchener Rangers. A really slick player who always seems to be in the middle of the play. Sound like he is a character guy as well.

Anyone realize that if the Flyers choke their way out of the Playoffs we might as well have a pick at #8-#12 with their First Round Pick? Looking at the league-wide standings, the Flyers have one less point than the Ducks and one more game played. They're currently #20 in the league while having played one more game than the Rangers, who are two points behind. Philadelphia currently is tied with Boston and Dallas for points. Theoretically, both the Ducks and the Flyers could very well be passed by all teams until #23, Atlanta Thrashers.

To be honest, I'd like having two high Picks better than sneaking into the Playoffs and exiting after four games. Having #8 and #9 overall definitely wouldn't hurt the Franchise and we'd finally be able to draft real prospects instead of projects. We could very well end up with Niederreiter and Tarasenko, then. Two players who most likely need only one year in the AHL until they are truly NHL-ready. And it definitely wouldn't hurt to stock up on natural Left Wings as well.

I think the ducks should take Riley Sheahan
Ive watched this kid play hockey since he was 5 years old and he is the total package
he has a lot of skill offensively, he is strong defensively and a good penalty killer, plus
he is a big kid who likes to hit and got o the dirty areas needed to score goals

plus I like the connection to Kyle Palmieri being the same age and playing together at Notre Dame...
maybe they could bring some chemistry with them to the ducks

Anaheim could always try to flip their two picks for one slightly higher. It likely wouldn't be a big step up, but if it comes down to Anaheim grabbing Nino vs someone else that they aren't nearly as high on... well, it could be a good idea.

I would never trade, say, 10 and 15 to move up to 7 or 8.

That's ridiculous.

The Ducks should end up with two of the first 15 picks this season and that's a chance to get two studs - like they did when they got both Getzlaf & Perry or last year when they got Holland and Palmieri. Two picks is better than one because you have a better chance of getting a good player and you could end up with two very good players to add to what is quickly becoming a stocked farm system.

agreed

I wouldn't exactly say 'never'. I definitely would not move #10+#15 to get #7 alone, I would at the least expect two get #7 and #37 + #67 for that. Two firsts that are already pretty good for an even better 1st, a 2nd and 3rd sounds about fair for me.

BUT, look at it this way: If there is a Draft as deep as, say, the 2003 Draft or the 2008 Draft, I'd probably trade up that few spots in a heartbeat. Look at who went #7 overall in 2003 and in 2008: Ryan Suter and Colin Wilson. I know I would like to have players of that caliber in the pipeline.

Holland and Palmieri aren't NHL players yet, so maybe we should hold off on calling them two studs. Not every 1st round pick is destined for greatness, regardless of how they do in the Major Juniors.

For me, it comes down to placement. I'd take Cam Fowler over two top 15 picks in this draft any day. Do I think we're likely to be able to flip the picks to go that high? Not really, but I'd love to see Murray try. Even looking beyond that extreme example, there are others. Like GR#7 pointed out, sometimes moving up a few spots is the difference between an absolute stud and just a good player. It all comes down to which players Anaheim is looking at, and whether there is someone they are really high on and would love to get.

Even though that may be, I believe it all depends on the scouting department. For example, Caps (whom I hate btw) picked 2 first rounders in 04. OV and Green. But between Malkin (#2) and Green (#29) there wasn't a whole lot. Sure you have some nice gems between 15-29 but there really wasn't anyone that outstanding between Malkin and #14. Some names: Ladd, Wheeler, Montoya, Smid, Olesz, Stafford etc.



Man, I was hoping the Ducks drafted him.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have Ryan Suter in our blueline but I am more than happy with Getzlaf and Perry in the 2003 draft. Anyways, you can practically pick anyone outside of Hugh Jessiman and a few others and you'd still get a stud of a player.

That talk of the "can't miss" 2003 draft made me wonder this: What does 2010 look like as far as depth?

I'm sure the concensus is that there's a drop-off after the top 3. But where does the next drop off occur? How does it stack up to other more "normal" draft years?

From my limited reading, my impression is that there seems to be a lot of "nothing overly special" players in the top 30, and the important factor may be less draft position, but more on how good the scouting staff is.

After the top 3? Maybe somewhere around 7 or 8, possibly as high as 10, and then 16 or 17, perhaps. Each scout will likely tell you something different, and I'm no scout. I think there could be some good finds in the top 10, maybe the top 15, but I think this draft is more along the lines of deep in terms of good players as opposed to great ones. I mean, 2003 set the bar for the decade. You could practically put on a blindfold and spin a wheel of the top 30 names and you'd strike oil. This year? I think you have to be very careful about who you pick.

Five or ten years down the lines things are going to look a lot clearer, but I think it's pretty hazy right now where this draft will end up being. Some people will say it's pretty deep, and others will say it's top heavy. I don't think it can really be both, not when you compare it to other deep drafts. I guess we'll see.

^

I kinda agree with Sojourn here. I rather tend to say this one is a bit top-heavy, because the first three unanimously are looking to become All-Stars within a few years - but after that there's a bit of a dropoff. This Draft definitely isn't nearly as dense and stacked with talent as the 2008 and 2009 Drafts in my opinion, but I definitely see quite a few diamonds-in-the-rough that probably only a few scouts are very high on. To be honest, I think a lot of the NHL teams' scouts still are overlooking lots of very talented European skaters each year because they don't watch them play that often. Granted, it seems as if the NHL has been becoming more and more interested in quality European prospects in recent years, but they're still often a bit cheesy when it comes to scouting in Europe.

Two good players works for me. The Ducks don't need to get a new franchise player but they do need more quality depth in their organization and for the future. I hope they either keep both picks or trade down for additional picks and continue to stock their cupboard.

That's why I envy Detroit their scouting staff. They spend a lot of money just on scouting, and it pays off. They also don't hesitate to look across the ocean to Europe. If there is a gem to be found deep in the draft the Wings will probably find it.

absolutely not, firsts are to valuable. you only move those to get in the top 4 or 5 and assure yourself one of the three big time d

i like the strategy of trading down and accumulating picks its worked well the last two drafts. maybe trade down from 10 to 12-16 and gain a 2nd rounder in the process

Detroit's scouting system is over-rated, in my opinion. Since 1999 they only stud they've drafted in any round is Johan Franzen. Detroit's strength, in my opinion, is in the development of their picks. They let guys play in Europe, juniors, college and then the AHL until they are "over-ripe" and Ken Holland says. That's why Jimmy Howard is as good as he is as a rookie and why so many of their prospects come into the NHL ready to play. I'd like to see the Ducks mimic that and now that they have an AHL affiliate they can do just that.

I agree

Thats why detroit players are all so old because they arent thrust into it and say 22-23 and they sit in the minors kicking but untill 26 and then they can come up here and blow everybody away