The major disconnect I see here is that you seem to see current NHL roster need as being the same thing as positional organizational prospect depth need.

If the Avs had gone out and gotten a bunch of DMen in the draft to fill a current NHL roster need, that would be foolish. That’s not what they did. The Avs were short on defensemen and goalies within the system, and felt the need to fill those roles in the draft.

I am a proponent of the BPA strategy, but who is to say that the Avs didn’t go after Shattenkirk because he was the BPA on their list?

Given the lack of depth on the blueline and in net in the Avs’ system, and given that they now have an AHL team to fill this year and beyond, I have no problem with them going after the best defenseman available and the best goalie available, if that is indeed what they did.

The thing I find much more troubling is spending picks on Euros past the 3rd round. It’s not that I have a problem with the guys they picked - quite the contrary. It’s that they would diverge from what was the absolute ideal draft strategy under the current CBA and waste late round picks on Euros instead of spending them on USHL/Jr. A/NCAA players like ideal draft strategy would dictate.

I was worried that FG would miss that memo, and my fears were well-founded. I am very disappointed. Hopeful that those players will work out, but disappointed that FG was given an absolutely flawless blueprint and he chose to use a severely flawed blueprint instead. This does not bode well for FGs future.

I’m not quite sure if the draft was a litmus test of what Giguere wants for defensemen. However, you may be right that Avalanche management are trying to read the tea leaves and find defensemen to fill that “new NHL” mold. But really, I think the Avs took fliers on both Liles and Cumensky when they picked them at those low draft positions. I believe that the smaller, better skating defensemen have a shorter learning curve and that’s why both of those players are so visible so quickly.

There’s still hope that Boychuk loses his Brisebois-type habits and I cannot rave enough about how much Finger has improved. So there’s still hope for the more a-typical defensemen to stake their ground in the organization.

Count me among the Hmerlik and Hannan freaks if that’s what it takes to finally get those quality stay-at-home minutes.

My personal draft day fantasy was Giguere trading Skrastins, and a couple of second round picks for someone solid. Or packaging Arnason or non-core players plus picks for a top rated defensive prospect that’s ready to compete for the team in training camp. Oh well, after watching the Giguere era in Dallas, this years trading deadline and the draft I don’t think we will have those Lacroix-type moments any more. I think Giguere is way more conservative and is like my mom in Vegas, he only bets with house money. Sure, he will grab a free agent like Guerin like he did in Dallas (frankly a low risk move when there was no salary cap). Since Lacroix is still President and some of the old timers are still around in personnel like Brad Smith and Michel Goulet there is still hope I suppose.

you went a lot deeper than I was going for. I was simply trying to put out to the Hannan-freaks out there that Giguere and the staff still seem to value the Liles-type D-men much more than the bigger, stay at home types. And, I believe, that mentality will not be limited to the draft. In other words, I don’t expect to see some big hulking bruiser added to the roster this offseason.

great insight, as usual.

I have huge reservations about how the Avalanche drafted this year. Shattenkirk may end up being a fine player and in fact he may in the scout’s eyes been the best player available. I would have been fine about that. Instead, the GM and head scout came out and said they were targeting defense. So really, it seemed like it didn’t matter who was available, they weren’t going after the pure best player available.

These kids drafted today generally won’t be heard from for at least three years and since most of them are US college players, more likely four plus years. The Avalanche defense and roster will look completely different by then. So while I agree with you about the Avs needed bigger stay at home styled defensemen, I disagree that this or any other draft is about filling the NHL need at the time of the draft. In this sense I completely disagree with the Avalanche. They are targeting defensemen for a need at the NHL level that may not be there in three or four years.

Pierre always looked at everything on the team beyond his “core” as assets to win the cup. This included non-core members of the NHL roster, the entire farm system and future draft picks. He would use any of those assets to make the team better for a cup run. So far, I don’t think Francois (I’m on a fist name basis here. It makes me feel empowered!) looks at the team the same way. I think Pierre would look at the makeup of his assets and say “so what” if he’s overloaded with wingers/centers etc… He would just package a deal to get the pieces he needed for the NHL club when he needed them. Just look at the defense, we never had assets to call on for defensemen. Pierre took assets like Deadmarsh and used them to make his NHL team better.

The whole idea of drafting by positional need is foolish in my opinion. Draft the best player available at the time and let the cards fall where they will. Calgary drafts and developes defensemen extreamly well. They in turn use those assets to get guys like Tanguay. Colorado historically has done just the opposite. It’s why they’ve thrived in the NHL despite only “raising” Adam Foote from their own system in to a top four roll in what, 16 years? (just guessing, don’t remember Foote’s draft year with Quebec).

But, then again, it doesn’t matter much about Bettman being booed since nobody but hockey fans were watching the NHL Draft, and there are very few of us who are surprised when he gets a rude welcome.