2009 NHL Draft: What are your thoughts on the Dallas Stars' draft?

by Brandon Worley on Jun 27, 2009 6:05 PM CDT

I'm working on some posts (A few interviews, a feature article on Scott Glennie) for tomorrow and Monday, but in the meantime I wanted to hear what your thoughts were on how the Stars drafted this weekend.

My initial thoughts:

Overall I think it was a good draft for the Stars and for Joe Nieuwendyk. It's obvious they held speed and skill at a premium in this draft and they wanted to bolster the depth in the system at right wing. I'm surprised they didn't go after a defenseman, especially since there were some decent ones available in the second round but Alex Chiasson was a good value pick at #3. The Stars really liked him and payed him a lot of attention during scouting and they were intent on getting a player they wanted. I'd rather have that than have them settle on a guy they're unsure of. They know exactly what they're getting with Chiasson and they have to be excited about his potential.

I know that the selection of Scott Glennie at #8 is going to be one of much frustration and anger for some Stars fans until he proves them otherwise. With Jared Cowen and Magnus Paajarvi on the board it's tough to see Dallas pass them up and get a player not as popular. Yet the more I talked to scouts today and the more I heard from people around the Bell Centre, the more I was convinced this was a good pick for the Stars.

I was hearing that there were concerns about Cowen by teams in the top ten, and that these concerns were not related to his injury. And I kept hearing that MPS has some attitude issues and worth ethic issues that led to him falling past where most thought he would go. The Stars came into the draft with Nazem Kadri and Glennie ranked higher than Cowen and MPS, and they picked the player they thought was the best.

The most encouraging stuff I heard about Scott Glennie (and I'll have more on this on Monday) is just how great a player he is, independently from linemate Brayden Schenn. There were some who thought that perhaps Schenn helped Glennie appear to be better than he actually is; according to the scouts who watched him day in and day out Glennie is a special player in his own right. He's extremely fast, has great skill and projects to be a damn good player in a few years at the NHL level.

And for those of you that scoffed when I picked Oliver Ekman-Larsson at #8 in the mock draft: Phoenix drafted him at #6, and everyone I talked to this weekend is convinced the kid will be a superstar.

What did you guys think?

Tweet Comment 4 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Draft recap

Well I was not following the blog prior to the draft, but I felt like many of you did that we needed to do something to add to our defense. I still beleive in the defense first system. I believe that Hatcher Zubov Sydow et al made our 99 cup run a success.

I am not going to call this a bad draft. I have watched sports long enough to know that I do not do a good job of evaluating talent in any sport. So I will just watch and hope that these players make a big impact for the Stars.

I do hope that the defense is bolstered thru free agency. Defense wins championships. That being said the top UFA blue liners seem to be at the end of their careers. I want to see a Zdeno CHara type d-man in the green and gold soon.

Nathaniel J

by NathanJ on Jun 27, 2009 10:38 PM CDT reply actions

Solid Draft

I think it was a good draft despite what many people might think, and although i see our need for D, i didnt think from the start that they were gping to draft it for 3 reasons:
1 Ivan Vish. from the limited play we saw from this kid its hard to tell what he has, but it looked good. a wicked hard shot a puck moving D guy that can manuevre through traffic.
2. The UFA market, we can always pay a little bit of money or a lot to bring in a solid D guy.
3. Phillip larsen’s suprising development. he has been much better than expected and i think that the organization considers him to be up in a year or so.
with all of these things plus the lack of an exciting goal getting, finesse right handed kid, we picked up Glennie. a big, fast finesse guy who’s favorite player is the great 8. he’s canadian and plays in the WHL, in razor’s opinion the best place to draft. I think all in all we scored big time here, although i wouldve liked to have a Dman in the second.

by sundancekid on Jun 27, 2009 11:23 PM CDT reply actions

Defense through UFA

So there is always going to be the opportunity to sign some good D-men, but I doubt with our cap restrictions we will be able to sign a true #1 guy. This is what concerns me. we really are in great need for a d-man or two to really center our entire defensive corps around. Right now we have a lot of solid guys, but nothing to build a Championship caliber group around. I was hoping Niskanen-Fistric could be that pairing, but that is probably me wishing for more than they’re capable of.

What's the rumpus?

by Hypo-Luxa on Jun 28, 2009 7:07 AM CDT up reply actions

Glennie

I’m fine with the pick. I’d love to have been able to get the Ekman kid, but he was already gone.

As others mentioned above, I was hoping for some D-Men to have been taken. But I am a very firm believer in taking the best player available rather than drafting for need. If the choices for D-men were thin when Dallas’ pick came up then so be it.

Chiasson is an interesting pick as well. Reading up on him and he seems to be a very solid pick.

as with any draft, time will tell. But I feel confident that Glennie, at least, will definitely pan out. The level of competition in the WHL is so good and to be successful there, you have to have SOMEthing in your bag

Oh and the Kings. They are starting to get really scary. Between them and the ’Yotes the balance of power in the Pacific might just be shifting.

What's the rumpus?

by Hypo-Luxa on Jun 28, 2009 7:03 AM CDT reply actions