Winners and Losers Of The First Round of The NHL Draft

The first round of the National Hockey League Entry Draft is now complete.

Lets take a deeper look into what players dropped and what players rose through the ranks and were taken higher then first thought.

The first player that fell a lot further then anyone ever thought is Cam Fowler of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. The United States born defenseman was rated the number three overall player in many mock drafts prior to the draft and the number two rated defenseman by central scouting, but he fell all the way to number 12 to the Anaheim Ducks.

The next player that fell down from were he was ranked is Defenseman Brandon Gromley. Gromley of Moncton of the QMJHL was rated the sixth best player avalible and the the third best defensive prospect in the draft fell down the the Phoenix Coyotes at 13th overall.

The player that took the biggest drop according the Central Scouting is Mark Pysyk. Pysyk, rated seventh overall and the fourth best defenseman, fell all the way down to the Buffalo Sabres at pick number 23.

Foward Vladimir Tarasenko was ranked as the number two overall international player. Tarasenko, a foward from Novosibirsk of the KHL, was thought of to be drafted in the top 10. However, he fell down to the St. Louis Blues who traded with the Senators to move up to grab Tarasenko.

Probably the last player to fall in the first round is Emerson Etem. Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL was rated eighth overall by Central Scouting, fell from eight all the way down to the Anaheim Ducks at pick 29. Etem is a native of Long Beach, CA.

Like the players who were drafted lower then they were expect to, their are many players who were picked much higher then they were thought to go prior to the draft.

Some teams even went off the board with their picks, which is not unheard of in today's NHL.

One of the players they took a huge leap foward is center Jeff Skinner. Skinner of the OHL's Kitchener Rangers was Ranked 34 overall by Central Scouting climbed up through the first round all the way to number seven were he was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes.

With the 14th pick in the Draft the St. Louis Blues drafted Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz a center for the Tri-City Storm was ranked 28 overall by Central Scouting.

The next player drafted higher then expected was Jarred Tinordi. Tinordi Rated 38th by Central Scouting was drafted 22nd overall by the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens traded up from the 27th with the Phoenix Coyotes.

With that same 27th pick the Coyotes drafted the number four rated goaltender Mark Visentin of the OHL's Niagara IceDogs. The Coyotes pick Visentin over both Calvin Pickar, and Kent Simpson.

Of course with any draft are acompanied by first round snubs, at least according to Central Scouting. Most if not all the following players will be picked in the second round.

Center John McFarland, Sudbury Wolves (OHL), rated 15 by CS.

Right Wing Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa 67's (OHL), rated 16 by CS.

Center Tyler Pitlick, Minnesota State (WCHA), rated 18 by CS.

Right Wing Stanislav Galiev, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL), rated 20 by CS.

Defenseman Jonathon Merrill, U-18 NT (USHL), rated 21 by CS.

Right Wing Petr Straka, Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL), rated 23 by CS.

Center Ryan Martindale, Ottawa 67's (OHL), rated 27 by CS.

Obviously these ranking are up for debate and they do not take into account of some of the international players who are always a risk to take early in a draft because you never know if the player will stay in his home country or come to the NHL.

The rest of the NHL entry draft shapes as a good one with many good players still avalible. Also there is a great possibility that there were be more draft pick and player movement on Saturday.

Stay Tuned tomorrow as I look at the teams that won and lost at the draft.