2012 Cumulative Draft Rankings (March)

  Well, I wanted to get these up a while ago, but some technical difficulties in publishing posts forced temporary delay. I wanted to target the brief lull between the trade deadline and the dramatic push for the playoffs to release the Hart of Hockey's new "cumulative" draft rankings.
  At various times throughout the season, the International Scouting Services (ISS), Central Scouting (CS), as well as TSN's Bob McKenzie and Craig Button have been releasing where they believe the players eligible for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft stand. The experts' lists all differ in certain areas. So instead of creating our own rankings that would most likely look different from theirs, too, we decided to combine all of their rankings into one. We'll take the overall ranks for every player from McKenzie's, Button's, and the ISS's lists, and average those scores to form a cumulative rankings list (CS will be used as a tiebreaker, since its rankings are divided into skaters/goalies and North American/European.)

Let's see how this goes:

RANK	Player	Pos.	Team	McKenzie	Button	ISS	AvgScore	CS*
1	Nail Yakupov	RW^	Sarnia Sting	1	1	1	1	1
2	Filip Forsberg	C	Leksand	4	3	4	3.6	1
3	Mikhail Grigorenko	C	Quebec Remparts	2	7	2	3.6	2
4	Mathew Dumba	D	Red Deer Rebels	5	2	6	4.3	7
5	Ryan Murray	D	Everett Silvertips	3	10	3	5.3	3
6	Morgan Rielly	D	Moose Jaw Warriors	8	4	8	6.6	5
7	Jacob Trouba	D	USNTDP	6	11	5	7.3	9
8	Griffin Reinhart	D	Edmonton Oil Kings	9	6	10	8.3	8
9	Alex Galchenyuk	C	Sarnia Sting	7	5	16	9.3	30
10	Cody Ceci	D	Ottawa 67's	12	9	9	10	16
11	Sebastian Collberg	RW	Frölunda	16	16	11	14.3	2
12	Radek Faksa	C	Kitchener Rangers	10	16	17	14.3	4
13	Brendan Gaunce	C	Belleville Bulls	13	25	7	15	11
14	Zemgus Girgensons	C	Dubuque Fighting Saints	11	14	20	15	12
15	Matt Finn	D	Guelph Storm	29	8	13	16.6	15
16	Derrick Pouliot	D	Portland Winterhawks	17	15	19	17	10
17	Pontus Åberg	LW	Djurgårdens	19	19	15	17.6	4
18	Andrei Vasilevski	G	Ufa Tolpar	18	20	n/a	19	1
19	Malcolm Subban	G	Belleville Bulls	22	17	n/a	19.5	1
20	Tomas Hertl	C	Slavia Praha	23	22	23	22.6	3
21	Teuvo Teräväinen	RW	Jokerit	28	13	29	23.3	7
22	Olli Määttä	D	London Knights	14	46	12	24	6
23	Slater Koekkoek	D	Peterborough Petes	15	40	18	24.3	17
24	Brady Skjei	D	USNTDP	21	38	14	24.3	18
25	Ludvig Byström	D	MODO	>40	19	22	27.3	8
26	Michael Matheson	D	Dubuque Fighting Saints	37	27	25	29.6	29
27	Thomas Wilson	RW	Plymouth Whalers	20	34	36	30	33
28	Oscar Dansk	G	Brynäs	33	28	n/a	30.5	2
29	Hampus Lindholm	D	Rögle	>40	12	41	31.3	6
30	Jarrod Maidens	LW	Owen Sound Attack	35	32	30	32.3	21
31	Phillip DiGiuseppe	LW	University of Michigan	27	26	45	32.6	28
32	Martin Frk	RW	Halifax Mooseheads	24	31	44	33	25
33	Stefan Matteau	LW	USNTDP	25	51	24	33.3	13
34	Tanner Pearson	LW	Barrie Colts	26	43	33	34	22
35	Andreas Athanasiou	C	London Knights	39	33	31	34.3	24
36	Mike Winther	C	Prince Albert Raiders	>45	30	32	36	26
37	Dalton Thrower	D	Saskatoon Blades	>40	50	21	37.3	30
38	Colton Sissons	RW	Kelowna Rockets	30	57	24	37	14
39	Ville Pokka	D	Kärpät	31	47	38	38.6	5
40	Nicolas Kerdiles	LW	USNTDP	38	52	27	39	27
41	Damon Severson	D	Kelowna Rockets	32	36	49	39	46
42	Gemel Smith	LW	Owen Sound Attack	>45	24	>50	40.3	20
43	Patrick Sieloff	D	USNTDP	36	35	>50	40.6	34
44	Tomas Hyka	RW	Gatineau Olumpiques	>45	42	34	40.6	65
45	Daniil Zharkov	RW	Belleville Bulls	40	57	42	46.3	19

Note: McKenzie's rankings go no lower than 40, and then an extra five "Honorable Mention".
The ISS rankings go no lower than 50
* = CS rank used for tie-breaking when average score is tied between two or more prospects
^ = Yakupov is a left-handed shot who has played both the strong and off wing. He is currently listed as RW.

What we learned:

• Craig Button hates Olli Maata, although he did jump in his most recent rankings
• The race between Grigorenko and Forsberg for the elite center in the draft may be bit closer than we may have originally percieved
• Though personally, I'd definitely take Grigorenko over Forsberg

What we already knew:

• The draft is very blue line-heavy
• Nail Yakupov will be drafted #1 overall
• The draft is not particularly deep at wing

 As these scouting services update their rankings, The Hart of Hockey will be sure to update the cumulative rankings accordingly in a new post. The Hart of Hockey would also like to take this time to announce the site will be LIVE BLOGGING from the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh on draft day, and closely covering the draft during that week.
 Until next time, enjoy the OHL, QMJHL, and WHL playoffs!

2012 OHL Playoff Preview

 The Ontario Hockey League's regular season has come to a conclusion, and the quest for the J. Ross Robertson Cup along with an automatic bid into the CHL's Memorial Cup playoffs will commence this Thursday.  Some teams are stacked with veterans who want nothing more than to play for the Memorial Cup before they leave their Junior careers behind them.  Other squads are loaded with young, draft-eligible players who would like to use the playoffs as a way to boost their stock before the NHL Entry Draft in June.  Whatever the case, every team wants to be the club standing at center ice as OHL champs at the end of the playoff grind.  Here's a brief look at all of the match-ups in the 2012 OHL Playoffs:

Cash Grab

 As the old adage goes: Money talks, and Leafs fans knock.

 Toronto Maple Leafs' Mikhail Grabovski, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer, was the subject of many trade rumors this year.  The Leafs insisted they were interested in resigning the skilled centerman, but negotiations were tough.  The deadline came and passed, Burke couldn't get the draft picks he wanted in return, so Grabo ended up staying in Toronto for the time being.  Today, GM Brian Burke secured Grabovski would be donning a blue and white sweater for many seasons to come, as the two parties were finally able to come to terms on a contract extension worth $27.5 million over 5 years.  What should be a joyous occasion for Leafs Nation has become more of a heated discussion point in Toronto.  Is Mikhail Grabovski really worth a $5.5 million annual cap-hit for the next five years?

Evaluating the "Downie Deal"

 The trade deadline's annual chaos kicked off 6 days early this year, as Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning were busy molding what will most likely go down as the most wild deal of 2012.  The Bolts came to terms with the Colorado Avalanche on a deal that sent agitator Steve Downie to the Mile High City and solid puck moving defenseman Kyle Quincey to Tampa Bay.  Solid trade for both sides, I suppose, but while everyone was still trying to figure out how they felt about the move, Tampa's GM Yzerman was not done.

Yzerman is on his way to taking the steps necessary
to improve his team after this year's disappointment.

 Minutes after the Downie deal broke, TSN's Bob McKenzie quickly went to Twitter and made it known that he was already hearing that Quincey was on the move again.  Sure enough, the Lightning traded Kyle Quincey to the Detroit Red Wings in return for a 2012 1st round draft pick and some no-name prospect.  It's not every day that an NHL team turns right around and trades a new acquisition within the same hour they got him to begin with, but that's exactly what happened here, and it was GM masterclass on Yzerman's part.
 Look at it this way, when Tampa moved Downie to Colorado, then dealt what they got in return for a 1st round pick in a separate trade, the Lightning essentially traded Steve Downie for a 1st round draft pick.  Let that sink in for a moment... and read it with an underline: The Lightning traded Steve Downie for a 1st round draft pick.  If you told me Stevie Y could have moved Downie for a 1st rounder 3 hours ago, I would have called whatever chump on the other end of Yzerman's phone line a moron.  But here we are now, approving the bravado of the Bolts' bold back-to-back deals in order to bolster their draft picks.
 Now, just because Tampa was able to put together a brilliant series of moves, do not take the Avalanche and Red Wings for fools either.  Colorado clearly felt they needed the services of Downie to improve their on-ice product if they were willing to move Quincey for him.  Detroit lands a solid blue-liner and former Wing who the organization feels they can trust if they lose Brad Stuart to free agency over the summer or the legendary Nicklas Lidstrom retires.  Seeing that everyone on all sides of these trades look like winners, the question has to be asked, why don't these moves happen more often in the NHL?
 The three-way trade or the back-to-back transaction is very rare in hockey.  Two in one season happens probably as frequently as a Haley's comet!  Looking at the results of the Downie deal, GMs should take a page out of Yzerman's book and put the pieces in place for these puzzle trades and make their own "Steve Downie for a 1st rounder" deal.

Rick Nash: Need I Say More?

 A few days ago, Columbus Blue Jackets' GM Scott Howson dropped a bombshell on the hockey world by changing his public position on moving franchise winger Rick Nash from "never gonna happen" to "we'll consider listening of offers".  Whoa!  Let the internet rumors soar!  Everyone who had ever heard of #61 quickly went into a frenzy trying to figure out where he would be traded to.  New York!  Los Angeles!  Toronto!  Vancouver!  Boston!  Pittsburgh!  Hartford!!!
 Now, a few days later after the dust Howson stirred up has settled, a lot of the rash conclusions people had jumped to in order to acquire Nash have disappeared, but a new nuisance has arose.  Fans, bloggers, and columnists alike seem to be challenging Rick Nash's worth.  Let's get one thing straight, if you don't think you are willing for your team to pay the price to add a player like Rick Nash, that's one thing, but do not question this guy's ability to dominate the game.  He's a former 1st overall pick, the face of a franchise ever since, been a top 10 player in this league (probably up until the atrocious season his team has had this year,) a key to Canada winning Gold in 2010, and been a class act the whole way.  You don't exactly find these players roaming the streets.