Joined: Jan. 2020
Posts: 5,204
Likes: 2,861
After going back and looking at who we picked last year, I'm a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I know that it could have been worse, but the fact that we picked Kniazev and Hamaliuk in the second round as opposed to Fagemo or Robertson really peeves me. I definitely understand why Kniazev was chosen where he was (48th) - hes a decent pick. But he was still projected to go later than we took him. If I were Wilson with the 48th pick, I would have snatched Robertson right then and there considering he had the potential to go at #22. That would have meant sacrificing Hamaliuk probably. But considering Robertson is scoring at nearly 2 PPG in the hardest junior league, as opposed to Hamaliuk's PPG of less than 0.5 in the WHL, I think that would be okay.
I also think the Ibragimov pick was unnecessary. He's still not really proven that he's deserved the pick considering he was completely unranked, and guys who were projected third round picks like Dustin Wolf and Blake Murray were passed up. Ibragimov had 20 points in 42 games split between the Russian version of the AHL and CHL. Meanwhile Wolf just won the WHL's goalie of the year award (935 SV%, 1.88 GAA, 46 GP) and Murray has 72 points in 63 games in the OHL.
I definitely know that it's very early to determine whether the picks were warranted or not, but It is a bit annoying considering that we had very few picks and have to make the most of every single one if possible. Additionally, it's admittedly much easier to look back on a draft and say "we should have drafted X player or Y player" than it is to actually figure out who the best pick is at the time. I definitely acknowledge that. I honestly hope that I'm proven wrong as time goes on. I'd be more inclined to say that my hunches are more likely to come true than not, but you never know. Hopefully things turn around as time progresses.