Over the last decade, few pro sports leagues have been as predictable in the first round of drafts as the NHL. But the 2011 draft class was considered both weak and deep. <\/p>\n
As a result, player values fluctuated wildly from team to team and the first round unfolded differently than we expected. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a recap of the top 10 plus some of the hits and misses.<\/p>\n
1. Edmonton Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, Red Deer (WHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. The Chicago Blackhawks drafted Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. By the Edmonton Oilers\u2019 logic, the key to a championship is picking two top-three forwards in different draft years. They arguably got the most talented guy in the draft with Nugent-Hopkins and he\u2019ll make for an exciting tandem with Taylor Hall for years to come.<\/p>\n 2. Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Kitchener (OHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n Colorado was already strong up the middle with Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny but needed to right the wrong of trading top winger Chris Stewart away. Gabriel Landeskog\u2019s ceiling may not be infinite but he looks like he could be an above-average regular with natural leadership ability right away<\/p>\n 3. Florida Panthers<\/strong>: Jonathan Huberdeau, C-LW, Saint John (QMJHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n Kudos to Florida for understanding its team needs. In Jacob Markstrom and Erik Gudbranson, it already had future pillars at goaltender and defense. The Panthers needed to swing for the fences and pick a dynamic offensive player; Huberdeau was that guy.<\/p>\n 4. New Jersey Devils: Adam Larsson, D, Skelleftea (SEL)<\/strong><\/p>\n Looks like the endless Nick Lidstrom comparisons will now become endless Scott Niedermayer comparisons. The Devils were no doubt ecstatic to get Larsson at No. 4 when most scouts had him no lower than second.<\/p>\n 5. New York Islanders: Ryan Strome, C, Niagara (OHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n I guess the Isles will look to free agency for defensive help? Strome is a hot offensive prospect for sure but you\u2019d think the Isles would change it up after using so many first-rounders on forwards in recent years.<\/p>\n 6. Ottawa Senators: Mike Zibanejad, C, Djurgarden (SEL)<\/strong><\/p>\n Bit of a reach here? Zibanejad has solid upside and the Sens\u2019 logic was probably that they could afford some risks since they had several first-round picks.<\/p>\n 7. Winnipeg Jets: March Scheifele, C, Barrie (OHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re at pick No. 7 and Dougie Hamilton still hasn\u2019t gone? Sheesh. Did scouts not have Scheifele ranked 16th<\/sup> among North Americans? <\/em>I guess the word of his junior coach, Winnipeg Jets legend Dale Hawerchuk, is worth a lot. [ad-4437448]<\/p>\n 8. Philadelphia Flyers: Sean Couturier, C, Drummondville (QMJHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n With Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn and James Van Riemsdyk to build around and an aging defense, you\u2019d think the Flyers would pick Hamilton. But, instead, they grabbed high-ceilinged center Sean Couturier. Feels like this was a PR move to appease anyone worrying the Flyers\u2019 forward corps was toast after the Carter and Richards trades.<\/p>\n 9. Boston Bruins: Dougie Hamilton, D, Niagara (OHL)<\/strong><\/p>\n How much more can fall into one team\u2019s lap? The Boston Bruins were already celebrating a Cup win, not to mention, smiling after grabbing Tyler Seguin second overall last year, and a guy I personally ranked fifth was still available to them at ninth.<\/p>\n 10. Minnesota Wild: Jonas Brodin, Farjestad (SEL)<\/strong><\/p>\n Brodin projects to be a solid NHLer but I haven\u2019t heard any scouts talk him up as a potential No. 1 defenseman. Shouldn\u2019t Minnesota have used its top pick on a guy with higher upside?<\/p>\n I really liked Florida taking a chance on Huberdeau at third overall. Many scouts had him ranked below a few guys picked after him but Dale Tallon and the Panthers new exactly what they needed and went after it.<\/p>\n There was just so much more talent on the board than what Jonas Brodin could offer Minnesota at 10th<\/sup> overall.<\/p>\n While Larsson could one day be viewed as a steal even at fourth, I have to go with Boston\u2019s gleeful selection of Dougie Hamilton at No. 9. Is there any scout out there that didn\u2019t project him as an eventual top-two NHL defenseman?<\/p>\n Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Winnipeg. I don\u2019t care what Hawerchuk says. According to scouts, the guy you drafted at seventh overall may not have even been a first-round talent.<\/p>\n Shea Matthews weighs in with his 2011 NHL draft summary, results, sleepers and top picks. The 2011 NHL Draft is officially in the books. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins went No. 1, here are the grades…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":22495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[50039,50055,28288,50017,50014,50049,50056,50050,50053,50052,50057,895,3207,11729,11979,50038,50051,50054,1132,50016],"class_list":["post-39750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl","tag-adam-larsson","tag-dougie-hamilton","tag-draft-picks","tag-draft-results","tag-draft-summary","tag-gabriel-landeskog","tag-jonas-brodin","tag-jonathan-huberdeau","tag-march-scheifele","tag-mike-zibanejad","tag-nhl-draft-recap","tag-nhl-picks","tag-nhl-predictions","tag-round-1","tag-round-2","tag-ryan-nugent-hopkins","tag-ryan-strome","tag-sean-couturier","tag-sleepers","tag-top-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39750"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39766,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39750\/revisions\/39766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}BEST PICK<\/h3>\n
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