Each week we’ll take a look around the hockey blogosphere and find some articles to get ready for this year’s NHL Draft in Los Angeles. If there’s a post about NHL teams, what they need in the draft, prospect profiles, or previews/predictions, we’ll do our best to share it. After all—for 29 teams, there’s always next year.
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“Seguin, a center for the Plymouth Whalers, received 224 points in voting by writers and broadcasters who cover the OHL. Hall, a left winger for the London Knight and finished tied with Seguin for the scoring lead, was second with 197 points.”
–The Grinder Blog: Icy Bits: Seguin Adds Bangle to Draft Resume (Sporting News)
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“Connolly’s status is the key to how the top 10 will shake out after the selections of Hall and Seguin. If teams are confident his injury concerns are behind him, Connolly could go No. 3 to the Florida Panthers, setting the stage for a huge run on the draft’s top defensemen.”
–Alvin Chang: Despite hip, Connolly could make draft run (ESPN)
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“…here is a roundup of some of bigger names from Sweden and Finland that you can expect to see come off the board in L.A. at some point. They’re listed in the approximate order that I think you could see them selected”
–Bruins 2010 Draft Watch: Scandinavian 2010 Draft Prospect Review
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“This is the sixth in a series of Canes Country votes of how the first 10 picks of the 2010 NHL Draft will unfold. We all have our own ideas of how things will play out and who will be available when the Canes select #7. I thought a fun way to decide things would be to take a consensus of the people here at Canes Country. What I will do is offer a few reasonable draft choices for each team. After a day or so, I will award who the “people” have selected and go down the list from #1 to #10.”
–Canes Country: 2010 NHL Draft Pick 6
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“Might be the best forward prospect to come out of the WHL since Patrick Marleau, and has a very similar game. Showed fantastic top-end speed back in September before the hip troubles resurfaced. Looked a bit slow at the end of the season, but I chalk that up to conditioning, having sat out so much of the year.”
–NHL Draft Notes: Brett Connolly RW Prince George (Michael Remmerde)
via Lowetide: 2010 Draft Major Source Speaks
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“(Jon) Merrill was never under the radar. Everyone knows how good of a player Jon Merrill is,” Kleinendorst said. “But he really stepped his game up. He probably helped himself more than anybody over there as far as what he did, how he played. He went out and controlled every moment, whether it was with the puck or without it. He saved his best hockey for Belarus, no question. It was almost like he was just waiting for that tournament to start. So what you got to see was what his true potential really was. He contributed as much as anybody.”
–Hockeys Future: Team USA 2010 World U18 Championships Review
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“He’s further along and more polished than (Boston’s Blake) Wheeler,” NHL Central Scouting’s Jack Barzee, who specializes in U.S.-based prospects, told NHL.com. “He’s also a better skater than David Backes was at the same age (17). The only difference is Backes was thicker, but the ingredients are there. He wants the puck and wants to make plays. He’s a blue-collar type kid who works his tail off.”
–NHL.com: Bjugstad growing on and off the ice
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“First round draft picks, if you look at the percentages, and I forget what it is off the top of my head, but the percentage of first round picks who play in the NHL is very high, then it drops to 16 percent in the second round I believe and 11 percent in the third round and goes down to nine for everyone else.”
–Blueland Blog: Rick Dudley Q&A
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
