Reaction to the NHL Draft Pick

Whelp, the 2008 NHL draft is now over and as expected the Jackets held onto the sixth pick and selected Russian Nikita Filatov.

The Jackets were active in moving the 19th and third round pick to Philly for center R.J. Umberger and a fourth round pick.

Lets dig a little deeper on both of these moves.

 

First up the sixth overall pick

 

All the speculation and mocks drafts leading up to the actual draft had the Jackets ending up with one of the 4-stud defensemen.

 

Few, if any, had Nikita Filatov available by the 6th and going to the CBJ.

 

Defensemen Luke Schenn appeared to be the player the Jackets selected.

 

Of course one can never predict exactly how a draft will go down and, what a team like the Islanders, did yesterday, was no exception to that rule.

Once Stamkos, Dougthy, Bogosian and Pietrangelo were off the board the Islanders inexplicably traded back not once, but twice passing on chances to take blue chip talent like Schenn, Filatov and Boedker to instead stockpile later round picks and take Josh Bailey at No. 9.

 

Unfortunately, that meant that Toronto leap fogged the Jackets and scooped up Luke Schenn.

 

So, with the their turn to pick the consensus highest rated player available was Russian Nikita Filatov, but would the Jackets be interested?

 

Some say if Filatov's name were "Joe Smith" he'd challenge Stamkos for No. 1 overall, but with the lack of a transfer agreement with Russia his stock lowered.

 

For the Jackets any idea of taking a Russian so highly conjures up thoughts of Nik Zherdev and all the problems that have come with him— more than that even is would he or was he free of contractual obligations to even come over to North America?

 

With all of those factors to consider would the Jackets risk it?

 

That question was answered with a resounding yes when the Jackets made Nikita Filatov their selection at 6 and 9th ever first round draft pick.

 

Was it the right move?

You bet it was.

 

Filatov was hands down the best player on the board.

 

He's not Zherdev.

 

He seems 110% committed to coming over to North America now to do whatever it takes to reach his goal of playing in the NHL.

 

He already speaks fluent English.

 

He plays a well-rounded game and this kid has got major league talent.

 

If the Jackets were standing pat at six they had to take him.

 

Especially when it was reported in the Dispatch that the Jackets "list" read “One, Stamkos; two, Bogosian; three, Filatov”— if that is true, which no reason to believe its not, then the Jackets just got their third rated player at No. 6 in this very deep draft.

 

Every pick comes with an amount of risk— obviously the guys in the first round and at the top of the draft are supposed to have the least amount.

 

Filatov is one of those players I don't foresee the lack of an agreement being an issue in this particular case.

 

The kid is of slight build now.

 

He's listed at 6 feet, 172 lbs., according to Central Scouting.

 

Sure he needs to put on some weight but that will come. Don't rule him out in terms of an outside shot at making this club though.

 

There was an even smaller kid by the name of Patrick Kane who at 5'9", 160 lbs., had no problem adjusting to the NHL game and making an impact at the rate of 70+ points.

 

Filatov can play in the NHL, AHL or Major Juniors next year so a lot of nice options for the Jackets in terms of what are best for his development.

Then of course we have RJ.

 

 

I've gone into depth as to why I think he'd be a good fit for us, so I won't beat that horse to death too much more.

 

What I do want to talk about is what we gave up to him who was the 19th and third for RJ and Philly's fourth?

 

Too much?

 

Lets not kid ourselves— we overpaid— but you know what?

 

 

We also got better in filling a hole in our lineup and any of us that questioned Howson's ability to close a deal well he just answered that question in a major way.

 

 

I'm thrilled to have RJ in the fold.

 

 

I see him slotting into one of those open center holes in the top six and becoming a key player on this team playing in all situations— even strength, PP and PK.

 

Howson needs to get Umberger under contract though since he's a RFA. He's also arbitration eligible.

 

I look for something to get done there rather quickly in a three to four year deal between three and four million.

 

Umberger, a nice piece.

 

Still lots of work to do and holes to fill in this lineup, but I'm very happy to see Howson come out of this draft with at least one NHL body who can contribute today and tomorrow.

 

The Jackets made eight more selection today in round two through seven.

 

 

The most high profile pick coming at No. 37 when they selected defensemen Cody Goloubef who plays in the WCHA for Wisconsin.

 

Goloubef is a 6 feet, 195 lbs., Ontario Canadian native. He shoots right and is more of an offensive guy.

 

He was ranked No. 34 on central scouting and this is what they had to say:

 

"When I first saw Cody I really liked his game. He is compact and he's strong with a wide stance. He's a good, powerful skater. He thinks the game well, has a really good shot and makes that first pass consistently. He is a solid two-way player that is going to play on your power play. He played for a defensive style team at Wisconsin. His conservative play meant that I don't think a lot of scouts have seen the offensive side of him enough, but he's a potential top-four defensemen in the National Hockey League, maybe top-three. He's playing against guys who are at least three years older than him— if he was playing in the USHL he might have the puck all the time and be dominating, but he handled it well— he's a solid kid.”

 

Four of their eight picks on day two were on defensemen.

 

 

They made a minor trade with Boston to move 10 spots down in the fourth round and picked up a fifth in the process.

 

No doubt Howson has recognized a huge weakness with Columbus in terms of defensive depth and has worked very hard to address it.

 

 

Since he's been here he's added defensive prospects Weber, Ruth, Holden, Sigalet and now this group of d-men led by Goloubef, Delisle, Olson and Regner.

 

All in all it was a good, but not great day, for Jacket fans.

 

 

We added a stud prospect in Filatov, made a smart acquisition in 26-year-old RJ Umberger and we added some nice depth to our system.