As I'm sure many of you know the NHL is in the midst of a lockout. Meaning the NHL and their teams have locked out the players to try to coax the players into agreeing to a new controlled bargaining agreement. This new controlled bargaining agreement if the NHL had their way, would cut players salary by a sizable chunk therefore freeing up more money so the league and the owners could make a larger profit. This lockout affects a lot of people in a lot of ways and I won't pretend I know everything that's going on in this lockout, because I honestly don't. But I'm going to try to give my honest opinions and express what this lockout means to me and how it affects me.
First off I want to say that I hate this lockout and I'm quite pissed at Gary Bettman and all the owners that pushed for this lockout. Because first off it's forcing some clubs like the Florida Panthers to layoff some of their employees, but secondly it's just ruining this season for me every year I look to hockey to pull me through school and it gives me something to look forward to. But now what can I look forward to? The almost weekly updates of the CBA meetings and constant media output telling which side of the argument is in the wrong? No thanks. Bottom line this season is always going to tarnished for me when ever I look back on this season I'm just going to think one thing "Man that lockout ruined an entire year of hockey." And it's my senior year in high school after this who knows how many Jacket's games I'll be able to get to? I was ecstatic about the All-Star game coming to Columbus I thought what a way to end my senior year right? Wrong! This season is going to be tarnished all because Gary Bettman and some of the owners want more money and to get out of the terrible contracts THEY SIGNED AND PROPOSED IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Now the city of Columbus might not even get the All-Star Game until 2015 if this season is eliminated due to the lockout. Because 2014 is a Winter Olympics year so there won't be an All-Star Game which means that the earliest possible time we'd get the All-Star Game if the lockout lasts the whole season is 2015. Which just ticks me off because the city of Columbus made a lot of preparations and renovations for this All-Star Game and now they are going to take it away from it just so the owners don't have to be on the hook for the lucrative contracts they signed. This just shows me that the NHL couldn't care any less about small market teams like the Blue Jackets, it shows me that as long as the big markets like Toronto, Detroit, New York etc. are doing well then they don't care what happens to the small market teams. This lockout is hurting small teams even more because they really aren't making any money at all and this lockout hurts the Blue Jackets because it leaves them at the bottom of the barrel league-wise and they aren't being given a chance to change that.
Not only does this lockout hurt fans, but it also hurts the cities that have small market teams, and it will really hurt the city of Columbus if the lockout lasts the whole season. The lockout's affects will be felt almost globally with all the players going over seas to play. Bottom line this lockout is putting people out of work, making players bide time playing in other leagues, damages the NHL's view in the public's eye, tarnishes the season in the eye of hockey fans, and it needs to stop I don't care what it takes at this point the owners and the players need to cowboy up and get this CBA done.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
My thoughts on "Join The Battle"
So this week the Blue Jackets announced they would drop the "Gotta See it Live!" catch phrase that they had dragged through last season with a fresh new catch phrase "Join The Battle". So my initial reaction was thank god they are getting rid of Gotta See it Live, that was just as bad as Hardcore Hockey! I agree with a lot of people that Gotta See it Live just made us the fans seem like spectators that had nothing to do with game and we had no real affect on the team like we were just there to fill seats and watch. It also lead to the easy joke "Well you don't have to see it live to know they suck!" and in my opinion they overused Gotta See it Live to the point where if they continued to use it into this season I think I'd stop watching the Jackets on tv just to avoid the commercial!
I like Join The Battle a lot it plays to the Civil War aspect of the team which I've always liked. It also makes it seem like the fans are a part of the team and that we have a major impact on the teams performance whether that's financially or standings wise. Join The Battle is short and sweet and hopefully it won't involve Jeff Rimer screaming the phrase in every Jackets commercial.
In closing I like Join The Battle it's short and sweet, plays to the Civil War aspect of the team, thankfully replaces Gotta See it Live, makes a good # on twitter #JTB, and gives the fans the impression that they have something to bring to the team and they can help the Jackets succeed.
I like Join The Battle a lot it plays to the Civil War aspect of the team which I've always liked. It also makes it seem like the fans are a part of the team and that we have a major impact on the teams performance whether that's financially or standings wise. Join The Battle is short and sweet and hopefully it won't involve Jeff Rimer screaming the phrase in every Jackets commercial.
In closing I like Join The Battle it's short and sweet, plays to the Civil War aspect of the team, thankfully replaces Gotta See it Live, makes a good # on twitter #JTB, and gives the fans the impression that they have something to bring to the team and they can help the Jackets succeed.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Sorry! And my opinion on the draft.
Ok so once again sorry about the tardiness of this post but since school is winding down my teachers are piling on the work, but it's the morning after prom and everyone else is asleep so I figured I'd write a blog post about the upcoming NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh. So by now any informed Jackets fan will know that the Edmonton Oilers won the Draft Lottery thus giving them the 1st overall pick instead of the Jackets, take it from a guy who was looking forward all year of us getting the #1 overall pick in the draft, this moment sucked. What made it worse was that a community of fans had come together to organize a Jackets tweetup event so CBJ fans from twitter could come together and watch the lottery live together at a Buffalo Wild Wings. I guess in the end it helped to know there were other Jackets fans feeling the same things you did astonishment, anger, just downright depressed.
But moving on I trying to look our situation optimistically think that us not getting the #1 pick may be a blessing in disguise. Why? Well it's because the team with the #1 pick'll have so much pressure on them to take Nail Yakupov btw to see what I think/thought of Nail look at my first blogpost. But back on topic. Nail Yakupov is a great and skilled player don't get me wrong, but is he the player the Jackets need? No and if you skim the internet enough you'll find some articles that say that Yakupov'd rather be a supporting player rather than a superstar that we'd need him to be. Now that works out for the Edmonton Oilers who have Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent Hopkins to be the superstars so it gives Yakupov flexibility in if he wants to be that superstar player or not. Also if you look there are plenty of other great players right behind Nail like Filip Forsberg, Ryan Murray, and Alex Galchenyuk. But if you take a closer look at the Oilers lineup you'll see that they lack a good defensive core so if they take a defensemen like Ryan Murray 1st overall then we take Nail if they take Nail we have a plethora of great players to choose from. So I think it's kind of good that we didn't get the 1st overall pick because then we don't have that added pressure on us to take Nail and then it's a win win if they take Nail we take another great player if they don't take Nail we take Nail. So it's actually kinda nice not having the #1 pick.
Now moving on to who I think we should pick. Well in this situation I'm just assuming that the Oilers will take Yakupov 1st overall, and if they do my pick for the 2nd pick would either be Filip Forsberg or Ryan Murray. Why? Mainly because there is a consensus that they are the safest picks in the draft because Murray almost guaranteed to be an effective player in the NHL, and Forsberg has a good two-way game with a lot of offensive upside. And flat out there isn't anything that stands out as being wrong with them. They aren't Russian so people don't have to worry about that, Nail may have concussion problems, Galchenyuk may have ACL/knee problems, Grigorenko may have work ethic issues and he's Russian (not a good mix can you say next Nikita Filatov although Grigorenko is playing in the QMJHL not a Russian league), when it comes down to it Forsberg and Murray have the least risk involved in drafting them in my opinion. Granted it's been said that Forsberg needs a little more time to develop and Murray doesn't have the same offensive upside as fellow blue-line prospects Morgan Reilly, and Mathew Dumba. But when our pick comes around if we still have the 2nd pick I hope we draft Murray or Forsberg although if Nail is available I say we take him. Also IF the Kings lose this round of the playoffs and that's a big if I say we take Malcolm Subban a goaltender with that pick if he's available. I think that as long as we don't rush Subban he'll be fine and he's being compared to Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fluery already so what's not to like?
But moving on I trying to look our situation optimistically think that us not getting the #1 pick may be a blessing in disguise. Why? Well it's because the team with the #1 pick'll have so much pressure on them to take Nail Yakupov btw to see what I think/thought of Nail look at my first blogpost. But back on topic. Nail Yakupov is a great and skilled player don't get me wrong, but is he the player the Jackets need? No and if you skim the internet enough you'll find some articles that say that Yakupov'd rather be a supporting player rather than a superstar that we'd need him to be. Now that works out for the Edmonton Oilers who have Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent Hopkins to be the superstars so it gives Yakupov flexibility in if he wants to be that superstar player or not. Also if you look there are plenty of other great players right behind Nail like Filip Forsberg, Ryan Murray, and Alex Galchenyuk. But if you take a closer look at the Oilers lineup you'll see that they lack a good defensive core so if they take a defensemen like Ryan Murray 1st overall then we take Nail if they take Nail we have a plethora of great players to choose from. So I think it's kind of good that we didn't get the 1st overall pick because then we don't have that added pressure on us to take Nail and then it's a win win if they take Nail we take another great player if they don't take Nail we take Nail. So it's actually kinda nice not having the #1 pick.
Now moving on to who I think we should pick. Well in this situation I'm just assuming that the Oilers will take Yakupov 1st overall, and if they do my pick for the 2nd pick would either be Filip Forsberg or Ryan Murray. Why? Mainly because there is a consensus that they are the safest picks in the draft because Murray almost guaranteed to be an effective player in the NHL, and Forsberg has a good two-way game with a lot of offensive upside. And flat out there isn't anything that stands out as being wrong with them. They aren't Russian so people don't have to worry about that, Nail may have concussion problems, Galchenyuk may have ACL/knee problems, Grigorenko may have work ethic issues and he's Russian (not a good mix can you say next Nikita Filatov although Grigorenko is playing in the QMJHL not a Russian league), when it comes down to it Forsberg and Murray have the least risk involved in drafting them in my opinion. Granted it's been said that Forsberg needs a little more time to develop and Murray doesn't have the same offensive upside as fellow blue-line prospects Morgan Reilly, and Mathew Dumba. But when our pick comes around if we still have the 2nd pick I hope we draft Murray or Forsberg although if Nail is available I say we take him. Also IF the Kings lose this round of the playoffs and that's a big if I say we take Malcolm Subban a goaltender with that pick if he's available. I think that as long as we don't rush Subban he'll be fine and he's being compared to Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fluery already so what's not to like?
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Three Win Streak
So sorry that I didn't write recaps on the past three games I just didn't feel like writing them because it was my spring break so here's the post about all three.
3/28/12 Red Wings @ Blue Jackets
So from the start the game got off to a rocky start with Steve Mason being injured during the morning skates so we signed Shawn Hunwick a standout goalie out of the University of Michigan to a professional tryout contract to backup Allen York. Luckily Ty Conklin was starting in goal for Detroit.
Early on Conklin let in a weak goal off the stick of Vinny Prospal and Derek Dorsett scored on a break away to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead early on. The Jackets clearly were hustling out there trying to help York out they killed off a really key 5-on-3 but for all their hustle they still let in a PP goal off the skate of Jack Johnson that was scored to Henrik Zetterberg. But Allen York stood tall and held his own in the crease and recovered for a solid 2nd. 15 minutes into the 2nd Nikita sprung Brassard on a breakaway and Brass made no mistake in putting the puck past Conklin to make it 3-1. Only a minute later Atkinson and Umberger found themselves with a 2 on 1 going into the Detroit zone and Umby easily put it past Conklin to make it 4-1. The Jackets kept their defensive game going until halfway through the 3rd when Niklas Kronwall. But the Jackets held up against the wings late 3rd period push for the 4-2 win which was Allen York's first win in net.
My Three Stars:
Allen York: Stood tall in net for his first win
R.J. Umberger: Had a goal and an assist to keep on his hot streak
Nikita Nikitin: Had two key assists and was solid on defense
3/30/12 Florida Panthers @ Blue Jackets
Another game versus a good playoff team with Allen York in net for the Jackets. With Hunwick still on the bench to backup York if need be.
The Jackets got off to another quick game with Umby converting a 2-on-1 with Brassard. The rest of the period was a tight defensive game with the Jackets locking it down. 12 minutes into the 2nd period Nikita scored from the point on the PP. The rest of the 2nd was dominated by the Jackets and they carried that momentum into the 3rd period with Nikita scoring again from the point 4 minutes in. But 4 minutes later a rebound off of York's pads found the stick of Tomas Kopecky and he made no mistake potting the goal to make it 3-1. Then with one minute left in the game and the Panthers net open Umby scored the empty-netter to make it 4-1 and that ended the scoring to give the Jackets a two game winning streak.
My Three Stars:
Allen York: Again played well in net to get his second win
Nikita Nikitin: Had two key goals and played great defensively
Jack Johnson: Didn't have a point but played over half the game with over 30 minutes logged on the ice
3/31/12 CBJ @ STL
This was bound to be a tough game for the Jackets with York still in net due to Mase and Sandman being injured they faced off against one of the top teams in the league right now and they stood tall.
The game started off quickly with Boll scoring after charging into the crease 7 minutes in for his second goal of the season to make the score 1-0. But the Blues fought back to score a quick goal only a few seconds later off the stick of David Backes to make it 1-1. The rest of the period was a back and forth defensive battle until Umberger intercepted a STL pass at the point and brought it in for a break-away and put it past Halak to make it 2-1. The 2nd started with back in forth action for about half of it but Umby finally broke through again scoring on the PP to make it 3-1. The Blues then made a late period to try to tie it up with David Perron scoring off the post to make it close at 3-2. But it was the Jackets who carried momentum into the 3rd period with Derek Dorsett scoring on the PP halfway through to make it 4-2. And with the period rounding down and desperate to score the Blues pulled Halak for the extra skater, but it backfired and Vinny Prospal shot a laser across the ice for the empty netter. And that's all she wrote for the Jackets past three wins.
My Three Stars:
Allen York: Continued to play confidently in net for his third win
R.J. Umberger: Continued to stay hot with 2 goals
Rick Nash and or Cam Atkinson: Both had 2 key assists tonight.
And My Three Stars for this win streak:
Allen York: Came in with no good NHL experience but played great without him we'd definitely be 0-3 in these 3 games.
R.J. Umberger: Stayed hot after his hat-trick night with 5 goals and 1 assist during these 3 games
Jack Johnson: Granted he only had 1 point in these three games but he also had 86 shift over those 3 games and played a total of 88 minutes and set franchise records for ice time.
Again sorry for the tardiness it was just spring break and I was being lazy.
3/28/12 Red Wings @ Blue Jackets
So from the start the game got off to a rocky start with Steve Mason being injured during the morning skates so we signed Shawn Hunwick a standout goalie out of the University of Michigan to a professional tryout contract to backup Allen York. Luckily Ty Conklin was starting in goal for Detroit.
Early on Conklin let in a weak goal off the stick of Vinny Prospal and Derek Dorsett scored on a break away to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead early on. The Jackets clearly were hustling out there trying to help York out they killed off a really key 5-on-3 but for all their hustle they still let in a PP goal off the skate of Jack Johnson that was scored to Henrik Zetterberg. But Allen York stood tall and held his own in the crease and recovered for a solid 2nd. 15 minutes into the 2nd Nikita sprung Brassard on a breakaway and Brass made no mistake in putting the puck past Conklin to make it 3-1. Only a minute later Atkinson and Umberger found themselves with a 2 on 1 going into the Detroit zone and Umby easily put it past Conklin to make it 4-1. The Jackets kept their defensive game going until halfway through the 3rd when Niklas Kronwall. But the Jackets held up against the wings late 3rd period push for the 4-2 win which was Allen York's first win in net.
My Three Stars:
Allen York: Stood tall in net for his first win
R.J. Umberger: Had a goal and an assist to keep on his hot streak
Nikita Nikitin: Had two key assists and was solid on defense
3/30/12 Florida Panthers @ Blue Jackets
Another game versus a good playoff team with Allen York in net for the Jackets. With Hunwick still on the bench to backup York if need be.
The Jackets got off to another quick game with Umby converting a 2-on-1 with Brassard. The rest of the period was a tight defensive game with the Jackets locking it down. 12 minutes into the 2nd period Nikita scored from the point on the PP. The rest of the 2nd was dominated by the Jackets and they carried that momentum into the 3rd period with Nikita scoring again from the point 4 minutes in. But 4 minutes later a rebound off of York's pads found the stick of Tomas Kopecky and he made no mistake potting the goal to make it 3-1. Then with one minute left in the game and the Panthers net open Umby scored the empty-netter to make it 4-1 and that ended the scoring to give the Jackets a two game winning streak.
My Three Stars:
Allen York: Again played well in net to get his second win
Nikita Nikitin: Had two key goals and played great defensively
Jack Johnson: Didn't have a point but played over half the game with over 30 minutes logged on the ice
3/31/12 CBJ @ STL
This was bound to be a tough game for the Jackets with York still in net due to Mase and Sandman being injured they faced off against one of the top teams in the league right now and they stood tall.
The game started off quickly with Boll scoring after charging into the crease 7 minutes in for his second goal of the season to make the score 1-0. But the Blues fought back to score a quick goal only a few seconds later off the stick of David Backes to make it 1-1. The rest of the period was a back and forth defensive battle until Umberger intercepted a STL pass at the point and brought it in for a break-away and put it past Halak to make it 2-1. The 2nd started with back in forth action for about half of it but Umby finally broke through again scoring on the PP to make it 3-1. The Blues then made a late period to try to tie it up with David Perron scoring off the post to make it close at 3-2. But it was the Jackets who carried momentum into the 3rd period with Derek Dorsett scoring on the PP halfway through to make it 4-2. And with the period rounding down and desperate to score the Blues pulled Halak for the extra skater, but it backfired and Vinny Prospal shot a laser across the ice for the empty netter. And that's all she wrote for the Jackets past three wins.
My Three Stars:
Allen York: Continued to play confidently in net for his third win
R.J. Umberger: Continued to stay hot with 2 goals
Rick Nash and or Cam Atkinson: Both had 2 key assists tonight.
And My Three Stars for this win streak:
Allen York: Came in with no good NHL experience but played great without him we'd definitely be 0-3 in these 3 games.
R.J. Umberger: Stayed hot after his hat-trick night with 5 goals and 1 assist during these 3 games
Jack Johnson: Granted he only had 1 point in these three games but he also had 86 shift over those 3 games and played a total of 88 minutes and set franchise records for ice time.
Again sorry for the tardiness it was just spring break and I was being lazy.
Monday, March 26, 2012
3-25-12 Oilers @ CBJ
So the Oilers came into the game with the second worst record in the NHL ahead of only the Jackets and if the Jackets lost then they'd be guaranteed to have the worst record in the NHL for the season.
The 1st period was a tight defensive game with both teams getting decent chances but the Jackets were the only ones to finish one of their chances with Mark Letestu scoring off a scrum in front of Edmonton's net.
5 minutes into the 2nd period the Oilers scored on the powerplay off a deflection in front of Mason. But a few minutes later Rick Nash was awarded a penalty shot and capitalized scoring his second penalty shot out of 9 attempts in his career. But unfortunately for the Jackets Nash's goal seemed to have given them a wake up call and they stormed back to score 4 unanswered goals. 3 of them were very soft goals that Mason should have stopped but it is worth to note that all of the goals happened on really bad turnovers by the Jackets. Brassard had a goal a few minutes later but it didn't make a difference and the Jackets lost 6-3.
Nash 1G 1A
Brassard 1G
Umberger 1A
The 1st period was a tight defensive game with both teams getting decent chances but the Jackets were the only ones to finish one of their chances with Mark Letestu scoring off a scrum in front of Edmonton's net.
5 minutes into the 2nd period the Oilers scored on the powerplay off a deflection in front of Mason. But a few minutes later Rick Nash was awarded a penalty shot and capitalized scoring his second penalty shot out of 9 attempts in his career. But unfortunately for the Jackets Nash's goal seemed to have given them a wake up call and they stormed back to score 4 unanswered goals. 3 of them were very soft goals that Mason should have stopped but it is worth to note that all of the goals happened on really bad turnovers by the Jackets. Brassard had a goal a few minutes later but it didn't make a difference and the Jackets lost 6-3.
Nash 1G 1A
Brassard 1G
Umberger 1A
Friday, March 23, 2012
3-23-12 CBJ vs. 'Canes
Tonight the Jackets played against the Carolina Hurricanes inside Nationwide Arena. With our team struggling with injuries it was going to have to be a tight defensive game to keep Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal off the scoreboard.
The Jackets kept the 'Cane off the board until midway through the second period, Steve Mason made 39 saves on 40 shots, R.J. Umberger scored a hattrick with his 12th, 13, and 14th goals, Derick Brassard assisted on all of Umby's goals, and Jack Johnson had his 100th career assist.
Final: 5-1 CBJ with the win
Mark Letestu: 1G
Vinny Prospal: 1G 1A
R.J. Umberger: 3G
Derick Brassard: 3A
Jack Johnson: 2A and 100th Career assist
The Jackets kept the 'Cane off the board until midway through the second period, Steve Mason made 39 saves on 40 shots, R.J. Umberger scored a hattrick with his 12th, 13, and 14th goals, Derick Brassard assisted on all of Umby's goals, and Jack Johnson had his 100th career assist.
Final: 5-1 CBJ with the win
Mark Letestu: 1G
Vinny Prospal: 1G 1A
R.J. Umberger: 3G
Derick Brassard: 3A
Jack Johnson: 2A and 100th Career assist
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Nail Yakupov and first post
Nail and past failures:
So for my first post I thought I would provide my opinion on the upcoming draft and the projected #1 overall pick Nail Yakupov. So as any Jackets fan should know they are last in the league and that gives them the best chance at getting the 1st overall pick in the draft, and the projected first overall pick is Nail Yakupov a winger who plays for the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. He is a great offensive player who also plays a good two-way game, the one drawback that he has at least in the Jackets point of view is that he is Russian. The Jackets as some of you may or may not know have had horrible luck with drafting Russian in the past. Those Russians being Nikita Filatov and Nikolai Zherdev. Nikita who was drafted 6th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft played a few seasons in the Jackets organization but seemed unwilling to put in the work needed to play well and went to play in Russia when he didn't get the playing time he thought he deserved so when it didn't look like it would work out we traded him to the Senators for a 3rd round draft pick. Nikolai who was drafted 4th overall in the 2003 draft looked like he was going to be the perfect fit alongside Rick Nash, but some attitude problems mixed with him not playing consistently lead to us trading him to the NY Rangers. But there is one major difference between Nikita, Nikolai and Nail. Nail already plays in the CHL and he has been tearing it up which shows that he is already used to the "American" style of play where as Nikita and Nikolai were playing in Russian leagues when we drafted them and it took them a while to get adjusted to the "American" style of play. I would also argue that Nikita and Nikolai would rather play over in the KHL instead of playing here in the NHL, and I would say that Nail playing in the CHL should validate that he wants to play here in the NHL. So in my opinion if we win the draft lottery and get the 1st overall pick we should draft Nail Yakupov even if he is Russian.
Other options:
There was some talks about us drafting a center as opposed to drafting a winger such as Nail Yakupov. The top rated centers at this point are Filip Forsberg, and Mikhail Grigorenko. Forsberg is a center playing in the Swedish league Allsvenskan who is a good two-way player with some offensive skills. Grigorenko is a balanced forward playing in the QMJHL who also has great offensive offensive skills. Although personally I would prefer drafting Yakupov if we had the 1st overall pick I would be okay with drafting Grigorenko and Forsberg since they would add more depth to our centers and they could always play as wingers. Because wingers usually can't play as a center, but centers can usually play well as wingers. They may be decent prospects and be good additions to our teams but I would prefer that we pick the best prospect on the board which in my opinion would be Nail if we had the 1st pick.
Most ideal situations:
In my eyes the most ideal situation is that we get the 1st overall pick and the LA Kings make the playoffs this year and we choose to use their pick this year and we pick Nail Yakupov 1st overall and Malcolm Subban the top ranked goalie with the Kings pick.
So for my first post I thought I would provide my opinion on the upcoming draft and the projected #1 overall pick Nail Yakupov. So as any Jackets fan should know they are last in the league and that gives them the best chance at getting the 1st overall pick in the draft, and the projected first overall pick is Nail Yakupov a winger who plays for the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. He is a great offensive player who also plays a good two-way game, the one drawback that he has at least in the Jackets point of view is that he is Russian. The Jackets as some of you may or may not know have had horrible luck with drafting Russian in the past. Those Russians being Nikita Filatov and Nikolai Zherdev. Nikita who was drafted 6th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft played a few seasons in the Jackets organization but seemed unwilling to put in the work needed to play well and went to play in Russia when he didn't get the playing time he thought he deserved so when it didn't look like it would work out we traded him to the Senators for a 3rd round draft pick. Nikolai who was drafted 4th overall in the 2003 draft looked like he was going to be the perfect fit alongside Rick Nash, but some attitude problems mixed with him not playing consistently lead to us trading him to the NY Rangers. But there is one major difference between Nikita, Nikolai and Nail. Nail already plays in the CHL and he has been tearing it up which shows that he is already used to the "American" style of play where as Nikita and Nikolai were playing in Russian leagues when we drafted them and it took them a while to get adjusted to the "American" style of play. I would also argue that Nikita and Nikolai would rather play over in the KHL instead of playing here in the NHL, and I would say that Nail playing in the CHL should validate that he wants to play here in the NHL. So in my opinion if we win the draft lottery and get the 1st overall pick we should draft Nail Yakupov even if he is Russian.
Other options:
There was some talks about us drafting a center as opposed to drafting a winger such as Nail Yakupov. The top rated centers at this point are Filip Forsberg, and Mikhail Grigorenko. Forsberg is a center playing in the Swedish league Allsvenskan who is a good two-way player with some offensive skills. Grigorenko is a balanced forward playing in the QMJHL who also has great offensive offensive skills. Although personally I would prefer drafting Yakupov if we had the 1st overall pick I would be okay with drafting Grigorenko and Forsberg since they would add more depth to our centers and they could always play as wingers. Because wingers usually can't play as a center, but centers can usually play well as wingers. They may be decent prospects and be good additions to our teams but I would prefer that we pick the best prospect on the board which in my opinion would be Nail if we had the 1st pick.
Most ideal situations:
In my eyes the most ideal situation is that we get the 1st overall pick and the LA Kings make the playoffs this year and we choose to use their pick this year and we pick Nail Yakupov 1st overall and Malcolm Subban the top ranked goalie with the Kings pick.
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