SECOND FIDDLE TYLER SEGUIN

THERE CAN ONLY be one No. 1 draft pick. But that doesn’t mean the player who goes second is a slouch. Look at the 2008 draft: No way was Tampa Bay going to pass on center Steven Stamkos, but the L.A. Kings are sure happy they got the ‘consolation prize’ in defenseman Drew Doughty – you know, Canadian Olympian Drew Doughty. So while there is already talk in Edmonton about the “fall for (Taylor) Hall” movement, don’t sleep on Plymouth’s Tyler Seguin. The second-year center for the Ontario League’s Whalers has matched Hall point-for-point throughout the season, deviating only when Seguin missed a couple games due to injury early in the campaign, but making up ground when Hall was away at the world juniors. In fact, Seguin even wrested the No. 1 crown away…

TEAM GRADES WITH MEANING

THE CHART ON THE RIGHT indicates how teams have been performing at the draft table the past four seasons. The plus-minus figure you see in the right column is the amount of spots above or below the norm for that particular team in comparison to its NHL peers. For example, the Colorado Avalanche has gone to the draft table 18th overall, on average, the past four seasons. Yet its report card grade (bottom chart) is third overall for a difference of plus-15. That’s a credit to a scouting department that has unearthed some pretty good selections (NHLers Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and T.J. Galiardi, plus top prospects Kevin Shattenkirk, Ryan Sota, Colby Cohen and Cameron Gaunce.) The idea behind this handicapping system is to provide context to team grades. Teams such as Detroit,…

OPENING FACEOFF

TOP 50

THE FUTURE WATCH TOP 50 ranking is a blend of ratings provided by a panel of 23 NHL scouts. Prospects are listed in order. Last year’s rank is in parentheses. Unranked players in 2009 are denoted as (nr), while players listed as (new) are prospects drafted in 2009.…