Which Rookie will have the best Season?

The article I'm posting is dated as of August of 2008.

It's funny to see where the prospects were rated at that time.

There are some names there that I don't even recognize, I'm not too sure if they were drafted anywhere near the top 10 as is stated with these predictions.

Funnily enough Jared Cowen was at Number 9 on this list...

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/17465-The-Hot-List-This-years-crop.html

Out of the prospects that were picked in the top 30 this year, who do you think will have the best season?

I'm not necessarily talking about points produced, but overall play.

Below is the actual Draft from June.
http://www.mynhldraft.com/NHL-Draft-Results/


Draft#:1
John Tavares
Ht/Wt:6/199 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:London (OHL)



Draft#:2
Victor Hedman
Ht/Wt:6.06/220 lbs
Position:LD
Drafted From:Modo (Swe JE)



Draft#:3
Matt Duchene
Ht/Wt:5.11/200 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Brampton (OHL)



Draft#:4
Evander Kane
Ht/Wt:6/170 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Vancouver (WHL)



Draft#:5
Brayden Schenn
Ht/Wt:6/196 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Brandon (WHL)



Draft#:6
Oliver EkmanLarsson
Ht/Wt:6.00.5/165 lbs
Position:LD
Drafted From:Leksand (Swe. II)



Draft#:7
Nazem Kadri
Ht/Wt:6.01/175 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:London (OHL)



Draft#:8
Scott Glennie
Ht/Wt:6.01/174 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Brandon (WHL)



Draft#:9
Jared Cowen
Ht/Wt:6.05/216 lbs
Position:LD
Drafted From:Spokane (WHL)



Draft#:10
Magnus PaajarviSvensson
Ht/Wt:6.01/187 lbs
Position:LW
Drafted From:Timra (Swe JE)






Draft#:11
Ryan Ellis
Ht/Wt:5.1/175 lbs
Position:RD
Drafted From:Windsor (OHL)



Draft#:12*
Calvin deHaan
Ht/Wt:6/170 lbs
Position:D
Drafted From:Oshawa (OHL)



Draft#:13
Zack Kassian
Ht/Wt:6.03/209 lbs
Position:RW
Drafted From:Peterborough (OHL)



Draft#:14
Dmitry Kulikov
Ht/Wt:6.01/195 lbs
Position:D
Drafted From:Drummondville (QMJHL)



Draft#:15
Peter Holland
Ht/Wt:6.01/178 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Guelph (OHL)



Draft#:16*
Nick Leddy
Ht/Wt:5.11/185 lbs
Position:D
Drafted From:Eden Prairie (Minn.-HS)



Draft#:17
David Rundblad
Ht/Wt:6.02/185 lbs
Position:RD
Drafted From:Skelleftea (Swe JE)



Draft#:18
Louis Leblanc
Ht/Wt:5.11/170 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Omaha (USHL)



Draft#:19
Chris Kreider
Ht/Wt:6.02/200 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Andover (MA - HS)



Draft#:20*
Jacob Josefson
Ht/Wt:5.11/174 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Djurgarden (Swe JE)






Draft#:21*
John Moore
Ht/Wt:6.02/180 lbs
Position:D
Drafted From:Chicago (USHL)



Draft#:22
Jordan Schroeder
Ht/Wt:5.08/168 lbs
Position:RW
Drafted From:Minnesota (NCAA)



Draft#:23*
Tim Erixon
Ht/Wt:6.02/190 lbs
Position:D
Drafted From:Skelleftea AIK (Swe.)



Draft#:24
Marcus Johansson
Ht/Wt:5.11.5/180 lbs
Position:LW
Drafted From:Farjestads (SJ18A)



Draft#:25
Jordan Caron
Ht/Wt:6.02/196 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Rimouski (QMJHL)



Draft#:*26
Kyle Palmieri
Ht/Wt:5.11/185 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:USA U-18 NTDP



Draft#:27
Philippe Paradis
Ht/Wt:6.02/197 lbs
Position:C
Drafted From:Shawinigan (QMJHL)



Draft#:28
Dylan Olsen
Ht/Wt:6.02/195 lbs
Position:LD
Drafted From:Camrose (AJHL)



Draft#:29*
Carter Ashton
Ht/Wt:6.02/190 lbs
Position:LW
Drafted From:Lethbridge (WHL)



Draft#:30
Simon Despres
Ht/Wt:6.04/215 lbs
Position:LD
Drafted From:Saint John (QMJHL)

I don't see how it can't be John Tavares. He's gonna be probably the only one off that list getting first line minutes with tons of powerplay time. Even on a deadbeat team like the Islanders, that's much more than you can expect from the others that got drafted which, by the way, most of won't play this season.

Wow, look at where Morin actually went. 45th overall from 5th a year ago. Shocking.

I realize that a lot of them probably won't be playing at all this year, but we can predict what we want here, that's the fun of it.

I'm not convinced about Tavares yet, I am never convinced of a player that is drafted first overall with all of the speculation of how amazing they will be, especially when they were amazing in a league like the OHL or QMJHL, it doesn't necessarily transfer to NHL success. Especially the smaller bodied guys.

I would have voted for Duchene here, but he's playing in the West against some big Donkey dudes, and I think it will take him a good year or two to actually get used to the NHL.

I didn't realize that Tavares was as big as he is, he's almost 200 pounds now, that'll do for a young man. He should be really good, the only problem is, he doesn't have much to play with on the Island.

It should be very interesting to see what goes down.

Hedman has played with men already, so I think he will have the easiest transition to the NHL. Look for a big year from him.

Tough one, and those are the top 3...

I think Pietrangelo will be the best rookie.

But Hedman of this list.

Okay, I've got an answer. I pick Hedman. Done.

Calder talk?

Tavares vs Hedman.

I'll go Hedman.

Here's a preview for next year's draft prospects.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=442629&navid=DL|NHL|Home

Fowler? I thought he was hot right now.

I am on Duchene's side for this one, Tavares is great, but I think Duchene will make the most impact this year with the Avs.

SensFan71 wrote:I am on Duchene's side for this one, Tavares is great, but I think Duchene will make the most impact this year with the Avs.

I think he's going to be awesome too, but I'm not sure about his size. It means a lot to be big in the NHL. Especially if you're playing in the West. Who is in the Avs division? That's something I really have to learn, I'm not sure about many of the divisions, except for our own.

Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver
Calgary
Minnesota

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver
Calgary
Minnesota

Thanks HH22000. There you have it, not too bad of a Division. Tough Goaltending though, but not the toughest of the tough *physically* in the West. He should do just fine.

Again though, do they have any reason to play Duchene right away? I think he's going to be the cat's meow, but the Avs aren't going anywhere. They might as well let him have another year in junior, then unite Hall and him next season.

SpezDispenser wrote:Again though, do they have any reason to play Duchene right away? I think he's going to be the cat's meow, but the Avs aren't going anywhere. They might as well let him have another year in junior, then unite Hall and him next season.

with Sakic out of the picture due to retirement, Smyth has gone to LA, and yes they have Statsny, but other than that, who do they hype the organization around? Budaj?