Live Illegal Curve Mock Draft

A number of the Illegal Curve contributors partake in the same pool year after year and this season I am going to live blog the draft to serve as a mock draft for our readers.

Rules: We draft based simply on points.  Goals are worth 1 and assists are worth 1.  We draft 12 players and the worst two at season’s end don’t count.  You cannot pick up players during the year or trade.  Finally, the order snakes so the first pick in the first round drafts last in the second.

Note: The draft will be updated on the site after every round.

Teams:

1. Neil/Richard (Illegal Curve)

2. Shaun

3. Ohad

4. Cole/Dan

5. Aaron B.

6. Dave/Sam

7. Blake

8. Payton/Sam

9. Roma and Aaron M.

10. Ezra (Illegal Curve)/Hart

11. Drew (Illegal Curve)/Seth

12. Ryan/Aaron I.

13. Gill/Eric

First Round:

1. Neil/Richard (IC): Sidney Crosby

2. Shaun: Alexander Ovechkin

3. Ohad: Vincent Lecavalier

4. Cole/Dan: Pavel Datsyuk

5. Aaron B.: Evgeni Malkin

6. Dave/Sam: Jarome Iginla

7. Blake: Henrik Zetterberg

8. Payton/Sam: Joe Thornton

9. Roma/Aaron M.: Marian Hossa

10. Ezra (IC)/Hart: Jason Spezza

11. Drew (IC)/Seth: Dany Heatley

12: Ryan/Ingram: Ilya Kovalchuk

13. Gill/Eric: Ryan Getzlaf

End of First Round

Review: I am surprised Joe Thornton fell all the way to eight; the guy is basically a shoe-in for 95+ points.  Otherwise, not too many surprises in the first round.

Second Round:

15. Gill/Eric: Eric Staal

16. Ryan/Ingram: Daniel Alfredsson

17. Drew (IC)/Seth: Martin St. Louis

18. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Mike Ribeiro

19. Roma/Aaron M.: Anze Kopitar

20. Payton/Sam: Marian Gaborik

21. Blake: Rick Nash

22. Dave/Sam: Marc Savard

23. Aaron B: Olli Jokinen

24. Cole/Dan: Mike Richards

25: Ohad: Scott Gomez

26: Shaun: Jonathan Toews

27: Neil/Richard (IC): Paul Stastny

End of 2nd Round

Review: I like the Toews pick by Shaun.  He wasn’t going to get him on the way back and he has big upside.  To me, the biggest reach in that round was Rick Nash.  He’s a great goal-scorer, but in a points pool, he doesn’t merit a second round selection.

Third Round:

28. Neil/Richard (IC): Derek Roy

29. Shaun: Patrick Kane

30. Ohad: Daniel Briere

31. Cole/Dan: Mike Cammalleri

32. Aaron B: Nicklas Backstrom

33. Dave/Sam: Henrik Sedin

34. Blake: Alexei Kovalev

35. Payton/Sam: Jason Pominville

36. Roma/Aaron M: Thomas Vanek

37. Ezra (IC)/Hart: Vinny Prospal

38. Drew (IC)/Seth: Joe Sakic

39. Ryan/Aaron I: Teemu Selanne

40. Gill/Eric: Daniel Sedin

End of 3rd Round

Review: Good pick by Aaron by selecting Backstrom.  With a full year of seasoning and a linemate named Ovechkin, he could be 90+ points.  I couldn’t be the one to take the Kovalev risk.  Taking him is like fooling around with the hot dirty girl.  It could be worth it, or you could get an std (55 pts).   As for the two older players at the end of the round, both Sakic and Selanne could be worth it but they are both getting close to 40 and it is a risk.

Fourth Round:

41. Gill/Eric: Zach Parise 

42. Ryan/Aaron I: Brad Richards

43. Drew(IC)/Seth: Alex Tanguay

44. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Brenden Morrow

45. Roma/Aaron M: Corey Perry

46. Payton/Sam: Shane Doan

47. Blake: Simon Gagne

48. Dave/Sam: Patrice Bergeron

49. Aaron B: Ales Hemsky

50. Cole/Dan: Brad Boyes

51. Ohad: Alexander Semin

52. Shaun: Nicklas Lidstrom

53. Neil/Richard (IC): Alexander Frolov

End of 4th Round

Review: I really like the Brenden Morrow pick by Ezra.  He is big, reliable and plays alongside a great passer in Ribeiro.  Also, I really like Aaron B.’s Hemsky pick; I thought he fell a little too far.

Fifth Round

54. Neil/Richard(IC): J.P. Dumont

55. Shaun: Daymond Langkow

56: Ohad: Patrick Marleau

57. Cole/Dan: Johan Franzen

58. Aaron B: Patrik Elias

59. Dave/Sam: Tomas Plekanec

60. Blake: Dion Phaneuf

61. Payton/Sam: Chris Drury

62. Roma/Aaron M: Jeff Carter

63. Ezra (IC)/Hart: Steve Stamkos

64: Drew (IC)/Seth: Rod Brind’Amour

65. Ryan/Aaron I: Dustin Brown

66. Gill/Eric: Petr Sykora

End of the 5th round

Review: Ohad is banking on Marleau returning to old form, while Cole is hoping Franzen can continue his end of season and playoff success into this season.  Both picks are a bit risky, but it is the 5th round.  Aaron B. says he was between Elias and Plekanec for his pick and he chose Elias.  I’m not gonna lie, I think he made the wrong decision between the two.  Payton is banking on points for character; although he may have gotten a steal as Drury has looked good riding shotgun with Gomez.  I really like the Dustin Brown pick by Ryan/Aaron.  He is going to be a horse for the Kings.

Sixth Round:

67. Gill/Eric: Andy McDonald

68. Ryan/Ingram: Nikolai Zherdev

69. Drew (IC)/Seth: Nathan Horton

70. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Brian Campbell

71. Roma/Aaron M: Milan Michalek

72. Payton/Sam: Andrew Brunette

73. Blake: Paul Kariya

74. Dave/Sam: Pierre-Marc Bouchard

75. Aaron B: Ray Whitney

76. Cole/Dan: Markus Naslund

77. Ohad: Shawn Horcoff

78.  Shaun: Peter Mueller

79. Neil/Richard (IC): Mikko Koivu

End of 6th round.

Review: Zherdev is huge risk/reward but I can understand the pick.  I really like the Andy McDonald pick as he has developed great chemistry with Brad Boyes.  I also really like the Ray Whitney pick.  If he plays 70 games or more, he is a real bargain here.  Shaun’s Peter Mueller pick is great as well.

Seventh Round:

80. Neil/Richard (IC): Jason Arnott

81. Shaun: Brian Rolston

82. Ohad: Pavol Demitra

83. Cole/Dan: Martin Erat

84. Aaron B: Mike Green

85. Dave/Sam: RJ Umberger

86. Blake: Saku Koivu

87. Payton/Sam: Martin Havlat

88. Roma: Sam Gagner

89. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Jiri Hudler

90. Drew (IC)/Seth: Michael Nylander

91. Ryan/Aaron I: A. Kostitsyn

92. Gill/Eric: Brian Rafalski

End of Round 7

Review: Pavol Demitra flies under the radar but I think Ohad gets a steal in Round 7.  Havlat is the ultimate risk/reward and with the two lowest points being dropped from the total, that risk was worth it here in Round 7.  Havlat could get 85+ if he plays 70 games.  Surprised Rafalski was taken before a couple of other prominent defensemen who I won’t name because I may take them…

93. Gill/Eric: Ryan “Ho” Malone

94. Ryan/Aaron I: Patrick O’Sullivan

95. Drew(IC)/Seth: Dan Boyle

96. Ezra (IC)/Hart: Ryan Smyth

97. Roma/Aaron: Jonathan Cheechoo

98. Payton/Sam: Antoine Vermette

99. Blake: Kristian Huselius

100. Dave/Sam: Kyle Turris

101. Cole/Dan: Patrick Sharp

102. Ohad: Jason Williams

103. Shaun: Milan Hejduk

104: Neil/Richard (IC): Miroslav Satan

End of 8th Round

Review: O’Sullivan hasn’t signed so not sure why he went here.  Boyle qbing the SJ power play means he could be 60+.  Smyth slid far and playing alongside Stastny could mean a boat load of goals for the former 40 goal scorer.  Too early for Turris here.  There are too many very productive veteran players to pass over for the talented rookie.

Ninth Round:

105. Neil/Richard (IC): Erik Cole

106. Shaun: Wojtek Wolski

107. Ohad: Brian Gionta

108. Cole/Dan: Marco Sturm

109. Aaron B: Todd Bertuzzi

110. Blake: Mike Modano

111. Payton/Sam: Sergei Fedorov

112. Roma/Aaron M: Jordan Staal

113. Ezra (IC)/Hart: Joffrey Lupul

114. Drew(IC)/Seth: Michael Ryder

115. Ryan/Aaron I: Scott Niedermayer

116: Gill/Eric: Andrei Markov

End of 9th Round

Review: Shaun takes Wolski, so he keeps his team really young.  It is a young team but it is good and Wolski was a nice pick here as he should see his numbers increase in 08/09.  The Bertuzzi pick is risky but with Keenan coaching, Bertuzzi will get loads of minutes and a chance to re-establish himself.   Fedorov would be a good pick…if this was 1995.  Great Jordan Staal pick by Roma.  He has major, major upside and should play wing beside Malkin/Crosby.

Tenth Round

117. Gill/Eric: Eric Perrin

118. Ryan/Aaron I: Erik Cristensen

119. Drew(IC)/Seth: Chris Kunitz

120. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Phil Kessel

121. Roma/Aaron M: Chris Pronger

122. Payton/Sam: Chris Higgins

123. Blake: Radim Vrbata

124. Dave/Sam: Brandon Dubinsky

125. Aaron B: Andrew Cogliano

126. Cole/Dan: Jochen Hecht

127. Shaun: Tomas Holmstrom

128. Neil/Richard (IC): Maxim Afinogenov

End of 10th Round

Review: Love the Brandon Dubinsky pick here.  He is going to earn consistent top six minutes and is capable of putting up 60 points.  Perrin was a major reach.  Perrin over David Perron? Don’t get it.

Eleventh Round

129. Neil/Richard (IC): David Perron

130. Shaun: Mike Fisher

131. Ohad: Nik Antropov

132. Cole/Dan: Valtteri Filppula

133: Aaron B: Lubomir Visnovsky

134. Dave/Sam: Alex Steen

135. Blake: Dustin Penner

136. Payton/Sam: Mark Streit

137. Roma: Travis Zajac

138. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Robert Lang

139. Drew(IC)/Seth: Tim Connolly

140. Ryan/Aaron I: Drew Stafford

141. Gill/Eric: Mike Comrie

End of 11th Round

Twelfth Round

142. Gill/Eric: Tomas Kaberle

143. Ryan/Aaron I: Kyle Okposo

143. Drew(IC)/Seth: Kimmo Timonen

144. Ezra(IC)/Hart: Mike Knuble

145. Roma: Brendan Morrison

146: Payton/Sam: Jamie Langenbrunner

147. Blake: Mikael Samuelsson

148. Dave/Sam: Joni Pitkanen

149. Aaron B: David Legwand

150. Cole/Dan: Mats Sundin

151. Ohad: Joe Pavelski

152: Shaun: Keith Tkachuk

153. Neil/Richard (IC): David Booth (Writer’s note: We flipped a coin for that pick. I wanted Booth, Neil wanted Corvo.)

End of 12th Round and Draft

See you for the morning papers.