beckham Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 1. Kyle Chipchura I couldn't really see the point of this pick. Chipchura is from just outside Edmonton, but the Oilers avoided him with the #14 pick, drafting Devan Dubnyk after they were unsuccessful in moving up to get Drew Stafford. Lowe said that they didn't really need a goalie, and they wanted Stafford who is a very similar player to Chipchura. So the Oilers, who would see him all the time, didn't like him. Hopefully his perfromance last season was injury related. You can't use a first round pcik on a forward who scores 15 goals in junior. 2. Alexei Yemelin So hard to project Russian defenceman. Had a lot of penalty minutes for the Russian League. Was on the U18 team. 3. J.T. Wyman From Edina, Minnesota and is reminiscent of a former habs from the same town, Tom Chorske. Explosive, good shot, decent size. Chorske became a defensive specialist, but had a long NHL career. A lot longer than the hometown hero Montreal drafted ahead of him that year, Jose Charbonneau, who was a total bust. I can see a similar situation here, with Wyman turning into a decent NHL player and Chipchura disappearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zowpeb Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Hmmm...I think you are looking at things wrong. Chipchura by all accounts is expected to have a long NHL career but just doesn't have a lot of upside. Especially in his offensive game. But he plays big, has leadership qualities and is strong defensively. He'll almost certainly find a role as a checker for a number of years...making him a safe pick. Edmonton likely passed on him because the kid they picked has more upside potential. I am okay with drafting a player that most believe will almost certainly make the NHL as a 3rd line C at least. I don't see anything wrong with taking the "safe" pick when you are picking as low in the 1st round as the Habs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beckham Posted June 30, 2004 Author Share Posted June 30, 2004 Actually, I feel a little better, I read where Calgary would have taken Chipchura at #19 if he was still there. Not that Calgary's record with 1st round picks is much to write home about. All the Canadian teams except Ottawa seem to suck at the draft table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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