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Draft Preview 2012

The Hockey News - Draft Preview 2012

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AP</div>THE SENATORS SURPRISED&nbsp;many with a competitive season and it might surprise those same people how wellstocked Ottawa is for the future. The Sens ranked fifth in Future Watch, which bodes well with Daniel Alfredsson, Sergei Gonchar and Chris Phillips approaching retirement.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Secondary scoring behind stars Jason Spezza and (soon-to-be restricted free agent) Erik Karlsson is an issue. Ottawa also must add depth and sandpaper to a &lsquo;D&rsquo; corps that has just three regulars (Gonchar, Phillips and Jared Cowen) under contract next season.LONG-TERM NEEDS The acquisition of Kyle Turris from Phoenix may yet pay significant dividends, but regardless, Ottawa requires more top-end talent to take some of the up-front scoring pressure off Spezza and Milan Michalek. It also would be nice if somebody &ndash; including current NHLers Craig Anderson and Ben Bishop or prospect Robin Lehner &ndash; grabbed firm hold of the starting goalie job for the foreseeable future.CAP SITUATION&nbsp;The Senators have 14 players on the books in 2012-13 at more than $36 million. They have seven unrestricted free agents (including veteran blueliner Filip Kuba and rugged fourth-line center Zenon Konopka), but the bigger concern will be signing Karlsson to a cost-efficient, long-term contract. The 22-year-old Swede has become a superstar, meaning he&rsquo;ll get four or five times his current $1.3-million rookie cap hit.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-03104/9861477-1-eng-US/f0059-032.jpg" title="f0059-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIK KARLSSON (KARLSSON: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Swedish forwards Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg played in their homeland this season. They lack size, but their skill will land them NHL looks. 2013-14: After the Bishop trade, the Sens&rsquo; goal situation is rather crowded. It seemed certain Lehner would back Anderson up in 2012-13, but now it is possible the 20-year-old Swede spends a third season in the AHL and addresses the maturity concerns the organization has had about him before making a run at an NHL job in 2013-14.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-0484/9861470-1-eng-US/f0059-042.jpg" title="f0059-04" width="150" height="181"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksErik Karlsson, 15 in &rsquo;08Mark Stone, 178 in &rsquo;10Zack Smith, 79 in &rsquo;08Erik Condra, 211 in &rsquo;06Colin Greening, 204 in &rsquo;05Robin Lehner, 46 in &rsquo;09Not So ShrewdJim O&rsquo;Brien, 29 in &rsquo;07Brian Lee, 9 in &rsquo;05<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsStephane Da Costa, C, 22Kaspars Daugavins, LW, 24Nikita Filatov, LW, 22Nick Foligno, LW, 24Erik Karlsson, D, 22Jim O&rsquo;Brien, C, 23Peter Regin, C, 26UFAsAlex Auld, G, 31Matt Carkner, D, 31Matt Gilroy, D, 27Robert Klinkhammer, C, 25Zenon Konopka, C, 31Filip Kuba, D, 35Jesse Winchester, C, 28 &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

RAPID REBUILD IN OTTAWA

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ML</div>TO SAY COLUMBUS has work to do is a gross understatement. Rick Nash, the face of the franchise, is all but gone, as the Jackets are sure to trade a man who asked out of town. Columbus has to rebuild and will kick-start the process by taking an elite prospect with the second overall draft pick.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Columbus needs everything, but goaltending is a priority. The Jackets have the second-worst team save percentage. Steve Mason and Curtis Sanford just won&rsquo;t do. Mason has another year at $2.9 million on his deal, but the Jackets would be wise to find a new starter.LONG-TERM NEEDS Once goaltending is taken care of, the Blue Jackets need a strong injection of skill, especially if Nash is dealt. They&rsquo;ll get that with the second overall pick, but like Ryan Johansen, he probably won&rsquo;t make an immediate contribution. The Jack Johnson trade brightened the outlook on the blueline, but there are no outstanding &lsquo;D&rsquo; prospects in the system.CAP SITUATION Trading Antoine Vermette, Jeff Carter and Samuel Pahlsson freed up significant cap room and a Nash trade would leave more than $20 million in space. But don&rsquo;t expect the Jackets to go buck-wild on the free agent market after their recent big moves &ndash; from signing James Wisniewski at $5.5 million per season, to taking on Carter&rsquo;s 11-year-deal, to giving R.J. Umberger $4.6 million. This team could well be gun shy and happy to spend its money on signing its first round pick.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-03159/9861021-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">RYAN JOHANSEN (JOHANSEN: JAMIE SABAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Matt Calvert teased with 11 goals in 42 games in 2010-11, but spent most of this season in the AHL. He&rsquo;ll get a crack at full-time NHL duty next season. The Jackets love 5-foot-7 firecracker Cam Atkinson and want the confident sniper to make the permanent jump as soon as possible. 2013-14: Boone Jenner will return to junior next season, but the physical center has a real shot to make the team in 2013-14. The Jackets love his leadership. He could be their captain one day.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-04134/9861014-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="220" height="190"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksDerek Dorsett, 189 in &rsquo;06Adam McQuaid, 55 in &rsquo;05Steve Mason, 69 in &rsquo;06Jared Boll, 101 in &rsquo;05Not So ShrewdNikita Filatov, 6 in &rsquo;08Gilbert Brule, 6 in &rsquo;05Derick Brassard, 6 in &rsquo;06Cody Goloubef, 37 in &rsquo;08<h2>FREE AGENTS</h2>RFAsJared Boll, RW, 26Dane Byers, LW, 26Derek Dorsett, RW, 25Nikita Nikitin, D, 26Ryan Russell, LW, 25UFAsDarryl Boyce, C, 27Kristian Huselius, LW, 33Aaron Johnson, D, 29Brett Lebda, D, 30Derek MacKenzie, C, 31Radek Martinek, D, 35Curtis Sanford, G, 32 &#9632;

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STARTING FROM SCRATCH

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RB</div>THE LIGHTNING DEALT top prospect Carter Ashton to the Maple Leafs for Keith Aulie at the trade deadline, but their pipeline is still strong. Many of their prospects helped ice a farm team in Norfolk that won more games in a row than any AHL or NHL team before it.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Goaltending. Even if Dwayne Roloson didn&rsquo;t struggle like he did, it was likely his last NHL season and backup Mathieu Garon isn&rsquo;t the long-term starter. Dustin Tokarski got a couple looks again in 2011-12 and though he&rsquo;s struggled whenever he&rsquo;s been faced with the challenge, he&rsquo;s still the top netminder in the system. Unrestricted free agency will be used to fill this hole.LONG-TERM NEEDS Tampa needs help on &lsquo;D&rsquo; at some point. Eric Brewer and Mattias Ohlund are signed for three and four more years, but they&rsquo;re greying. The team began to address this long-term need with the acquisitions of Aulie, Brian Lee and Brendan Mikkelson, though none of them is a guaranteed solution.CAP SITUATION The Lightning have pending unrestricted free agents at each position and with owner Jeffrey Vinik&rsquo;s desire to put money into the team, this summer is a chance for an adjustment. Since the high-end forwards and D-men are locked into contracts, big changes aren&rsquo;t expected yet, though GM Steve Yzerman has a good track record so far of bringing in serviceable and relatively cheap players, such as Brewer and Brett Clark.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0457/9861705-1-eng-US/f0062-042.jpg" title="f0062-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">DUSTIN TOKARSKI (TOKARSKI: SCOTT AUDETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Tokarski isn&rsquo;t the answer in net right away, but since he&rsquo;s the best the system has, he&rsquo;ll see more time next year than he has in the past so Tampa can gauge what exactly it has in him. Offensive defender Mark Barberio improved from a No. 6 to a No. 1 rearguard in Norfolk and will get a taste of NHL life, if not a full-time gig. 2013-14: Vlad Namestnikov, Tampa&rsquo;s No. 2 prospect in Future Watch, scores in junior and will leap to the NHL when he&rsquo;s done. He&rsquo;ll at least get a cup of coffee in two years.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-0375/9861698-1-eng-US/f0062-032.jpg" title="f0062-03" width="193" height="181"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksBlair Jones, 102 in &rsquo;05Dustin Tokarski, 122 in &rsquo;08James Wright, 117 in &rsquo;08Carter Ashton, 29 in &rsquo;09V. Namestnikov, 27 in &rsquo;11Not So ShrewdRiku Helenius, 15 in &rsquo;06Vladimir Mihalik, 30 in &rsquo;05B. Beukeboom, 63 in &rsquo;10<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsKeith Aulie, D, 23Brian Lee, D, 25Brendan Mikkelson, D, 25J. T. Wyman, RW, 26UFAsSebastien Caron, G, 32Brett Clark, D, 35Mike Commodore, D, 32Bruno Gervais, D, 27Adam Hall, RW, 31Dwayne Roloson, G, 42Brandon Segal, RW, 28Ryan Shannon, C, 29Trevor Smith, LW, 27Tim Wallace, RW, 27 &#9632;

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PARTLY CLOUDY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0048-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01465/9860452-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg"></div><a href="http://THN.COM/DIGITAL">THN.COM/DIGITAL</a> GET IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS, CUTTING OPINIONS AND END-TO-END COVERAGE OF ALL 30 NHL TEAMS AND BEYOND! ACTIVATE YOUR DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION TODAY! &#9632;

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STAY CONNECTED ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

<div class="byline">PHOTOGRAPH BY Marissa Baecker</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012206/9858463-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Getty Images)</figcaption></div><h2>DUMBA NO. 5</h2>Red Deer Rebels defenseman Matt Dumba projects as a high first round selection in 2012. &#9632;

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OPENING FACEOFF

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021610/9858494-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="430" height="412"></div>Edmonton picks No. 1 in the 2012 draft June 22 in Pittsburgh. The Cup winner and finalist slide to No. 30 and 29, conference finalists to No. 28 and 27. Picks 15-26 will be re-ordered based on playoff results.1. EDMONTON2. COLUMBUS3. MONTREAL4. N.Y. ISLANDERS5. TORONTO6. ANAHEIM7. MINNESOTA8. CAROLINA9. WINNIPEG10. TAMPA BAY11. WSH (FROM COL)12. BUFFALO13. DALLAS14. CALGARY*15. OTTAWA*16. WASHINGTON*17. CLB (FROM L.A.)*18. SAN JOSE*19. CHICAGO*20. NEW JERSEY*21. TAMPA (FROM DET)*22. PHILADELPHIA*23. BUFFALO (FROM NSH)*24. PITTSBURGH*25. FLORIDA*26. PHOENIX*27. BOSTON*28. ST. LOUIS*29. N.Y. RANGERS*30. VANCOUVER &#9632;

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2012 DRAFT ORDER

<div class="byline">BY BRIAN COSTELLO</div>It&rsquo;s&nbsp;easily the most important day in the lives of NHL players. Draft day trumps everything because, quite frankly, it transcends the game of hockey.It&rsquo;s days like June 22-23 in Pittsburgh when future NHLers learn where the start of their professional lives will likely unfold. Sure, some pretty exciting days are ahead for many of them. First NHL game. First NHL goal. First NHL playoff game. Maybe even a Stanley Cup.Hockey aside, draft day is the defining moment in opening up a world of opportunity for players. The decision by one GM on draft day determines, ideally, where this person will spread his wings &ndash; where he establishes contacts, buys property, potentially meets his future spouse, raises a family, plans a post-hockey career.So you can&rsquo;t find a more important day in hockey than draft day. As much as an outsider might look upon them as pretty much the same from year to year over the soon-to-be past 50 drafts, they&rsquo;re all as unique as the personalities involved. In this issue, we profile the top 60 draft prospects and study the 30 suitors who court them. And we reflect back on colorful memories from drafts dating back to the first one in 1963.One thing does remain the same in drafts year after year: the comments at the podium and media scrums during the first round. Here are 10 guaranteed sound bytes you&rsquo;ll hear June 22.1. We&rsquo;d like to thank the Penguins organization and the fine fans of Pittsburgh for their hospitality this weekend.2. We&rsquo;d like to congratulate the (fill in team name) for winning the Stanley Cup.3. We&rsquo;d like to say hello to our fans back home at our draft party at (fill in arena name or local watering hole).4. The Colorado Avalanche would like to recognize Joe Sakic, who was just voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.5. We were surprised (fill in prospect name) was still available when we selected. We had him rated much higher.6. I&rsquo;m going to work hard this summer, come to camp and see what happens.7. This youngster has a great compete level.8. We have a trade to announce&hellip;9. He could be the next (fill in player name).10. At this stage, (fill in team name) was smart to take the best available player.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012254/9858532-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="680" height="162"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021909/9858525-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="421" height="772"></div> &#9632;

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MOST PIVOTAL DAY IN HOCKEY

<div class="byline">BY ANDREY OSADCHENKO </div><div class="byline">PHOTO BY DAVE SANDFORD</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012484/9858608-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WHAT&rsquo;S IN A NAME? Top 2012 draft prospect Nail Yakupov&rsquo;s first name means &ldquo;the one who achieves success.&rdquo;</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Russians worst in history, got stupid names like Valery,&rdquo; once sang The Arrogant Worms, a Canadian musical comedy trio. That assessment sums up the way culture works: what&rsquo;s considered normal in one place is a laughing matter in the other.Nail Yakupov may be the only exception to this rule. Among English speakers, you couldn&rsquo;t possibly come up with a better name for a hockey player, though there&rsquo;s no heroic lore behind his given name. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have a great story about my name,&rdquo; said Yakupov, the Sarnia Sting&rsquo;s star right winger, sure to go first overall in the 2012 NHL draft. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like I had a great grandfather who was a hero and I was named after him. My parents just liked the name and that&rsquo;s it.&rdquo;&lsquo;Nail&rsquo; (pronounced &lsquo;Nah-eel&rsquo;) is a common name for the region in Russia Yakupov comes from. It&rsquo;s of Arabic origin and fittingly means &ldquo;the one who achieves success.&rdquo; Yakupov comes from the small town of Nizhnekamsk, located in the heart of Tatarstan &ndash; one of the few Russian regions where Islam is the primary religion.The local team, Neftekhimik, plays in the Kontinental League, but has never achieved anything significant, standing&nbsp;in the shadow of another Tatarstan team, the perennial contender Ak Bars Kazan.How different is Nizhnekamsk from Sarnia? Not much, according to Yakupov. &ldquo;Sarnia is more of a stretched town and has a lot of houses,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder. &ldquo;Nizhnekamsk is bigger, about 250,000 people live there, but more compact and has apartment buildings.&ldquo;I like small towns. I&rsquo;m not really the going-out type. For instance, I don&rsquo;t go to nightclubs. Besides, where would I go? Nizhnekamsk has only one good club. Sarnia has none. So it&rsquo;s pretty much the same here for me.&rdquo;Maybe the 18-year-old isn&rsquo;t into clubbing, which his girlfriend in Russia would love to hear, but Yakupov enjoys club music. His big passion, though, is movies &ndash; thrillers in particular. &ldquo;Let me draw you a picture of my ideal movie,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Somebody&rsquo;s been murdered, but the killer is unknown. Everybody&rsquo;s looking for him, but nobody realizes the killer walks among them.&ldquo;The Shawshank Redemption is the greatest movie ever. Other movies I love are Law Abiding Citizen, Vantage Point and Phone Booth. Many people think I&rsquo;m a moron because I love Phone Booth, but I can&rsquo;t help it.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012372/9858601-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="1525" height="2368"><figcaption class="caption-body">(CHL IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Nail&rsquo;s father &ndash; Rail Yakupov &ndash; has been Nefthekhimik&rsquo;s junior team coach for more than a decade. In 2000, he landed a job as a director of a junior hockey school there, which could only mean one thing for Nail: He had to work twice as much as his peers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very demanding,&rdquo; Yakupov said, his tone turning momentarily serious. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where I would be without him. He likes to remind me: &lsquo;If you want to play, keep your mouth shut, listen and do as you&rsquo;re told.&rsquo;&rdquo;Yakupov was one of the few 16-year-olds who played in the MHL &ndash; Russia&rsquo;s major junior league &ndash; in 2009-10. Despite the fact he wasn&rsquo;t able to get a spot on the top two lines of his junior team, he was invited to play for Russia&rsquo;s under-18 team with players one year older than him. Getting called up to the KHL team was out of the question.He decided to try his luck in North America, where the Ontario League&rsquo;s Sting picked him second overall at the Canadian League import draft. In his debut season, he scored 49 goals and 101 points in 65 games, beating Sarnia&rsquo;s rookie scoring record set in 2006-07 by Steven Stamkos. He gelled immediately with fellow projected 2012 first-rounder Alex Galchenyuk. &ldquo;We built chemistry with each other and were able to score a lot of goals,&rdquo; Galchenyuk said. &ldquo;We &lsquo;feel&rsquo; each other. We were the only two Russians on the team, so we would always cheer each other up. We always wanted to score more.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021817/9858594-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="724" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body">SNIPING LIKE STAMKOS As a dominant junior with the Sarnia Sting, Yakupov broke Steven Stamkos&rsquo; rookie records. (HARRY GILS PHOTOGRAPHY)</figcaption></div>Galchenyuk is also an American citizen, but felt such a bond with Yakupov that he almost joined him on team Russia at the under-18s. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s my friend,&rdquo; Galchenyuk said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;d be cool to play along his side on a national team. It was the only reason I even considered playing for Russia.&rdquo;Yakupov has an athlete&rsquo;s mindset. Whatever he does, he takes it seriously, even a friendly game of soccer with his teammates. Too bad they&rsquo;re not into this sport. &ldquo;We tried to play soccer once &ndash; it was really difficult,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was so frustrating I almost lost my mind. I expected a competitive game, but they couldn&rsquo;t do a thing on the pitch. They could neither kick the ball nor pass it. Nothing. They were fooling around and laughing like a bunch of kids. It was terrible. I was really upset and thought, &lsquo;Screw you guys. If you don&rsquo;t want to play, fine. Go throw your stupid melon around the dressing room. I don&rsquo;t care.&rsquo; &ldquo;As a typical Russian guy, Yakupov knows nothing of baseball, football and golf. It&rsquo;s difficult to get a kick out of it if it was never part of your culture. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like golf,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I tried it once just out of curiosity. I liked the very beginning of the game. You know, when you take the biggest club they&rsquo;ve got and just give &rsquo;er. It was also fun to get on a cart and drive from one hole to the other. I didn&rsquo;t like waiting before taking a shot or any of the other stuff.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012348/9858587-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="1478" height="939"><figcaption class="caption-body">VOTE OF CONFIDENCE Yakupov&rsquo;s WJC coach, Valeri Bragin, believes he&rsquo;ll flourish at the pro level. (RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Whatever sport he&rsquo;s playing, every achievement is dear to him. But he doesn&rsquo;t believe that if you&rsquo;re not first, you&rsquo;re last. So when he found out his teammate at the recent world juniors, Nikita Gusev, never removed the silver medal from his equipment bag, he was shocked. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like it one bit,&rdquo; Yakupov said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the only one who thinks this way. Everyone who read his interview couldn&rsquo;t believe it. I put my silver medal on display right away. What do you mean you didn&rsquo;t take it out of the bag? This is your medal. You won it. I don&rsquo;t want to be judgmental, but this is just plain wrong.&rdquo;You have to wonder if that firm stance would impress his Team Russia coach, Valeri Bragin, who said Yakupov &ldquo;will be a great player,&rdquo; but wants him to become a guy teammates will rally around. &ldquo;I know him pretty well, but I still wonder if he can be a true leader on the ice,&rdquo; Bragin said. &ldquo;Now he has to become one. It&rsquo;s very important.&rdquo;Yakupov has been all over YouTube, TV and print media throughout the season. All that attention could have placed a lot of pressure on the youngster&rsquo;s shoulders, but Yakupov hasn&rsquo;t changed since he left the Motherland. &ldquo;In all honesty, I don&rsquo;t even notice it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Sure, I see my name popping up on various websites and all that. I don&rsquo;t get super excited about it, though. I don&rsquo;t think too much about what other people think about me. Sometimes people sayYakupov is this and Yakupov is that, they talk about the pressure I&rsquo;m supposed to be experiencing and sometimes they don&rsquo;t say anything. What&rsquo;s important is that I have a goal. I don&rsquo;t pay attention to other small details.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">WHATEVER GIVE TO HOCKEY, IT GIVES BACK TO YOU &ndash; NAIL YAKUPOV</blockquote>In 2011, Yakupov said his preferred NHL destinations were Detroit, Washington and San Jose. Is that still the case? &ldquo;At 17, you&rsquo;re still just a kid,&rdquo; he said with a smile. &ldquo;I said it only because I&rsquo;d been to the Red Wings dressing room and loved it. I saw the Caps dressing room on the Internet and loved it too along with the arena and the team colors. As for the Sharks, I love their jerseys and Joe Thornton.&rdquo;So it makes difference who will pick him at this point? &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a privilege to get drafted. Every team has some star players on it. I&rsquo;ve heard the Habs got really crazy fans and it can be tough on you. What do they mean &lsquo;crazy&rsquo;? Are they going to come to the dressing room if we lose and beat me to a pulp or set my car on fire?&ldquo;You decide what&rsquo;s going to happen to you. Whatever you give to hockey, hockey gives back to you.&rdquo;Yakupov is ready to give plenty to the NHL. He came here to succeed. Look no further than his first name for proof. &#9632;

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NAIL CAN’T FAIL

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50 YEARS OF THE DRAFT

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011549/9858775-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="207" height="245"></div>With the 19th overall pick in 1990, the Winnipeg Jets and GM Mike Smith raised eyebrows when they took Keith Tkachuk, who played just six games in high school in his draft year. &ldquo;He was hurt all season,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;When we drafted him, I could not recall seeing him play.&rdquo;Tkachuk went on to a 19-season career and his 538 goals rank second all-time among U.S.-born players behind Mike Modano. His story is relevant in light of the epidemic of injuries sustained by some of the top players in the 2012 draft class.How bad was it this season? &ldquo;I was at a game in Saskatoon and the Blades only had three defensemen,&rdquo; said Kevin Prendergast, who is the chief bloodhound with Hockey Canada.Consensus No. 1 pick Nail Yakupov of Sarnia lost games in 2011-12 to a concussion, back injury and lower body injury. Mikhail Grigorenko of the Quebec Remparts badly sprained his ankle at the world juniors and missed several weeks. Yakukpov&rsquo;s teammate Alex Galchenyuk missed 66 games with an ACL/MCL tear. Top defenseman Ryan Murray of Everett missed several weeks with a high ankle sprain. And Morgan Rielly of Moose Jaw tore his ACL.Then there&rsquo;s Malcolm Subban, brother of Montreal Canadiens blueliner P.K., and Central Scouting Service&rsquo;s top-rated goalie. He hurt his ankle and missed a month just three games into the season &ndash; and later missed all of January with a groin injury.The infirmary also included top-rated prospects Martin Frk, Tanner Pearson, Olli Maatta, Zemgus Girgensons, Griffin Reinhart and Codi Ceci, among countless others.When top-end guys drop like flies, how can scouts properly assess talent? Simply put, they have to do their homework.Take Yakupov, for example. Was this his first concussion? Or his second or third? &ldquo;With players who suffered a concussion, you try to reach back to their midget coach to see whether there is a concussion history,&rdquo; said Nashville Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton. &ldquo;You reach out to as many people as you can.&rdquo;Relying on previous intel can help, too. &ldquo;There are guys in the draft you will have to go on what they did last season,&rdquo; said Jim Nill, assistant GM of the Detroit Red Wings.Added Anaheim Ducks scout Martin Madden: &ldquo;Everyone will be doing a lot more due diligence. But of all the injuries, there are none that sound the death knell for a player.&rdquo;<h2>2012 NHL ENTRY DRAFT</h2>Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.Friday, June 22, 7 p.m. (EST), first roundSaturday, June 23, 10 a.m. (EST) rounds 2-7Pick-by-pick coverage at <a href="http://THN.com">THN.com</a> &#9632;

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DAMAGED GOODS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011331/9858806-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"></div>RIGHT&nbsp;WINGER Nail Yakupov is a virtual lock to go first in the 2012 draft and make an immediate splash in the NHL, just like scorers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall did after going No. 1 the past two years.But six of our Draft Preview&rsquo;s top 10 prospects are defensemen. Of the 19 blueliners drafted in the top 10 since the lockout, 12 didn&rsquo;t play in the NHL the following season. Any team hoping to build around a D-man taken in 2012 must temper any expectations of immediate dividends.Project contributor Alan Adams contacted more than a dozen NHL scouts as we compiled our Hot 100 list of prospects for the June 22-23 draft. Last year, we correctly projected 21 of the 30 first-rounders. We came within two spots of a player&rsquo;s draft slot 11 times. The prospect bios were written by Ken Campbell and Ryan Kennedy. &#9632;

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PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE FOR ‘D’

f0024-02

TOP 60 PROSPECTS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-10211/9860121-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(WARRINER: GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s how our first round ranking from 1992 compares with the actual. Only eight went on to be among the 24 best. &#9632;

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BACKTESTING OUR 1992 DRAFT RANKINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-10205/9860152-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(DAIGLE: BRIAN WINKLER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s how our first round ranking from &rsquo;93 compares with the actual. Thirteen went on to be among the 26 best. &#9632;

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BACKTESTING OUR 1993 DRAFT RANKINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-10147/9860183-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JOVANOVSKI: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s how our first round ranking from &rsquo;94 compares with the actual. Just seven went on to be among the 26 best. &#9632;

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BACKTESTING OUR 1994 DRAFT RANKINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-10124/9860214-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BERARD: GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s how our first round ranking from &rsquo;95 compares with the actual. Thirteen went on to be among the 26 best. &#9632;

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BACKTESTING OUR 1995 DRAFT RANKINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-10116/9860245-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHILLIPS: GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s how our first round ranking from 1996 compares with the actual. Just eight went on to be among the 26 best. &#9632;

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BACKTESTING OUR 1996 DRAFT RANKINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-10122/9860276-1-eng-US/f0043-102.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(THORNTON: GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</figcaption></div>Here&rsquo;s how our first round ranking from &rsquo;97 compares with the actual. Twelve went on to be among the 26 best. &#9632;

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BACKTESTING OUR 1997 DRAFT RANKINGS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01746/9860314-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Matt 61Murray (CHL IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>61 MATT MURRAY</h2>G, 6-4, 162, S.S. Marie (OHL) 13-19-1, 4.08, .876Big netminder will assume starter&rsquo;s role with Jack Campbell in pros.<h2>62 NIKITA GUSEV</h2>LW, 5-9, 163, CSKA Jr. (Rus.) 34-30-46-76-26Dynamic but diminutive scorer has been passed over twice before.<h2>63 LUKAS SUTTER</h2>C, 6-0, 207, Saskatoon (WHL) 70-28-31-59-165Rich&rsquo;s kid brings a lot of fight and plays against top lines.<h2>64 VALERI VASILYEV</h2>D, 6-1, 203, Spartak (Rus.) 18-1-1-2-24Physical specimen makes good decisions and rushes the puck.<h2>65 DAMON SEVERSON</h2>D, 6-2, 200, Kelowna (WHL) 56-7-30-37-80Scouts love his frame, mobility and surly attitude on the ice.<h2>66 BRETT KULAK</h2>D, 6-1, 174, Vancouver (WHL) 72-9-15-24-22Tough blueliner can shut down top scorers and play a safe game.<h2>67 LUDVIG NILSSON</h2>C, 6-1, 170, Timra Jr. (Swe.) 47-16-16-32-32Decent-sized pivot has scored some clutch goals.<h2>68 DEVIN SHORE</h2>C, 6-0, 186, Whitby (Jr. A) 41-29-29-58-26Effective, high-scoring forward is committed to University of Maine.<h2>69 MIKKO VAINONEN</h2>D, 6-3, 207, HIFK Jr. (Fin.) 38-7-11-18-44Reliable, poised D-man brings leadership and some offense.<h2>70 CODY CORBETT</h2>D, 6-0, 210, Edmonton (WHL) 54-6-20-26-24Ex-Minnesota high schooler makes good first pass, plays tough.<h2>71 MATIA MARCANTUONI</h2>C, 6-0, 174, Kitchener (OHL) 25-9-5-14-10Speedster and pre-season firstrounder hobbled by injuries.<h2>72 NIKOLAI PROKHORKIN</h2>LW, 6-3, 191, CSKA Jr. (Rus.) 15-9-17-26-47Talented winger dominated in junior, played well in KHL call-up.<h2>73 ROBBIE BAILLARGEON</h2>C, 6-0, 170, Indiana (USHL) 52-14-33-47-34Boston U. commit can pass, score and work the power play.<h2>74 CHANDLER STEPHENSON</h2>C, 5-11, 192, Regina (WHL) 55-22-20-42-24Quick-skating pivot not the biggest, but has improved his defense.<h2>75 GIANLUCA CURCURUTO</h2>D, 6-1, 195, S.S. Marie (OHL) 63-3-13-16-36Big puck-mover had a tough go on a bad Greyhounds team.<h2>76 DANE FOX</h2>C, 6-0, 185, Erie (OHL) 28-10-12-22-33Good totals on bad team, but needs to work on defense.<h2>77 STEVEN HODGES</h2>C, 5-11, 178, Victoria (WHL) 72-21-25-46-62Hard-working grinder excels in all three zones.<h2>78 ESA LINDELL</h2>D, 6-3, 194, Jokerit Jr. (Fin.) 48-21-30-51-16Big blueliner has a knack for putting the puck in the net.<h2>79 BRIAN COOPER</h2>D, 5-10, 184, Fargo (USHL) 54-6-17-23-92Smallish defenseman can rush the puck, throw big hits and run PP.<h2>80 CHARLES HUDON</h2>LW, 5-10, 170, Chicoutimi (QMJHL) 59-25-41-66-50Ultra-skilled winger must justify his size, but brings leadership.<h2>81 ZACH LESLIE</h2>D, 6-0, 172, Guelph (OHL) 65-2-15-17-54Poised, mobile defender sees time in all situations.<h2>82 DILLON FOURNIER</h2>D, 6-2, 180, R-Noranda (QMJHL) 52-9-29-38-59First overall pick in &lsquo;Q&rsquo; draft skates well, leans towards defense.<h2>83 RAPHAEL BUSSIERES</h2>LW, 6-1, 195, B-Comeau (QMJHL) 56-21-23-44-60Gritty winger plays on the edge, but sometimes crosses the line.<h2>84 MARCUS MCIVOR</h2>D, 6-1, 203, Brampton (OHL) 64-1-13-14-35Stay-at-home blueliner is competitive and skates well.<h2>85 MIKAEL VIKSTRAND</h2>D, 6-1, 183, Mora (Swe.) 47-2-1-3-14Confident D-man has quick feet and plays solid positional game.<h2>86 ZACH STEPAN</h2>C, 6-0, 165, Shattuck (USHS) 50-22-43-65-20Character player wins faceoffs, plays the body. Derek&rsquo;s cousin.<h2>87 CALLE ANDERSSON</h2>D, 6-2, 208, Farjestad Jr. (Swe.) 49-12-24-36-56Mobile D-man can play big minutes and makes a great first pass.<h2>88 JUSTIN HACHE</h2>D, 6-1, 188, Shawinigan (QMJHL) 60-2-16-18-46The frame is intriguing and the defensive D-man can move.<h2>89 NICK WALTERS</h2>D, 6-2, 187, Everett (WHL) 62-6-12-18-95Mobile D-man boasts great size and doesn&rsquo;t mind scrapping.<h2>90 CODA GORDON</h2>LW, 6-1, 175, Swift Current (WHL) 66-30-23-53-12Skilled winger can score, but tailed off as year progressed.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01658/9860307-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="1128" height="1553"><figcaption class="caption-body">91 TYREL SEAMAN (BRANDON WHEAT KINGS)</figcaption></div><h2>91 TYREL SEAMAN</h2>C, 6-2, 196, Brandon (WHL) 52-6-13-19-23Big, beastly center skates well and is not afraid to get his nose dirty.<h2>92 BEN JOHNSON</h2>C, 6-0, 186, Windsor (OHL) 68-18-20-38-44Fast center and Michigan high school star also brings character.<h2>93 MATTHEW DEBLOUW</h2>C, 6-0, 185, Muskegon (USHL) 56-10-22-30-50Future Michigan State pivot plays smart, two-way game.<h2>94 BRENDAN LEIPSIC</h2>C, 5-9, 165, Portland (WHL) 65-28-30-58-82Small but speedy, Leipsic made a habit of multi-point outbursts.<h2>95 JAMES MELINDY</h2>D, 6-3, 191, Moncton (QMJHL) 61-9-18-27-74Offensive D-man uses his size well and even takes shootouts.<h2>96 MICHAEL CLARKE</h2>C, 5-11, 184, Windsor (OHL) 68-15-21-36-81Detail-oriented two-way player earned respect in Jr. B last year.<h2>97 FRANKIE VATRANO</h2>LW, 5-10, 221, U.S. NTDP (USHL) 24-7-11-18-8Rumbling Boston College commit plays in a straight line.<h2>98 ARTUR GAVRUS</h2>LW, 5-10, 168, Owen Sound (OHL) 45-15-22-37-18Belarusian import battled concussion, but put up nice totals.<h2>99 DOMINIK VOLEK</h2>LW, 6-0, 173, Regina (WHL) 70-14-18-32-32David&rsquo;s nephew has high skill, but needs more consistency.<h2>100 TREVOR CARRICK</h2>D, 6-2, 172, Mississauga (OHL) 68-6-13-19-64Smooth skater can play physical and took off in second half. &#9632;

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61-100 PROSPECTS

A&nbsp;Pontus Aberg (22)Calle Andersson (87)Andreas Athanasiou (32)B&nbsp;Robbie Baillargeon (73)Dylan Blujus (57)Tim Bozon (43)Raphael Bussieres (83)Ludvig Bystrom (19)C&nbsp;Trevor Carrick (100)Cody Ceci (10)Michael Clarke (96)Sebastian Collberg (14)Brian Cooper (79)Cody Corbett (70)Gianluca Curcuruto (75)D&nbsp;Oscar Dansk (44)Matthew DeBlouw (93)Phillip Di Giuseppe (31)Matt Dumba (5)E&nbsp;Nick Ebert (60)F Radek Faksa (11)Matthew Finn (18)Filip Forsberg (2)Dillon Fournier (82)Dane Fox (76)Martin Frk (45)G&nbsp;Alexander Galchenyuk (7)Brendan Gaunce (17)Artur Gavrus (98)Zemgus Girgensons (16)Coda Gordon (90)Mikhail Grigorenko (3)Nikita Gusev (62)H&nbsp;Justin Hache (88)Brian Hart (56)Tomas Hertl (24)Steven Hodges (77)Tomas Hyka (39)Charles Hudon (80)J&nbsp;Mark Jankowski (37)Ben Johnson (92)K&nbsp;Nicolas Kerdiles (33)Slater Koekkoek (23)Scott Kosmachuk (47)Brett Kulak (66)L&nbsp;Scott Laughton (42)Brendan Leipsic (94)Zach Leslie (81)Esa Lindell (78)Hampus Lindholm (15)Emil Lundberg (52)M&nbsp;Olli Maatta (20)Jarrod Maidens (38)Matia Marcantuoni (71)Mike Matheson (27)Stefan Matteau (30)Jake McCabe (59)Marcus McIvor (84)James Melindy (95)Matt Murray (61)Ryan Murray (4)N&nbsp;Boo Nieves (55)Ludvig Nilsson (67)P&nbsp;Tanner Pearson (36)Adam Pelech (41)Ville Pokka (28)Derrick Pouliot (13)Nikolai Prokhorkin (72)R&nbsp;Morgan Rielly (6)Griffin Reinhart (8)S&nbsp;Henrik Samuelsson (50)Jordan Schmaltz (34)Tyrel Seaman (91)Damon Severson (65)Devin Shore (68)Colton Sissons (40)Patrick Sieloff (53)Brady Skjei (26)Anton Slepyshev (51)Gemel Smith (46)Zach Stepan (86)Chandler Stephenson (74)Malcolm Subban (48)Lukas Sutter (63)T&nbsp;Teuvo Teravainen (12)Dalton Thrower (29)Branden Troock (54)Jacob Trouba (9)V&nbsp;Brady Vail (58)Mikko Vainonen (69)Andrei Vasilevski (21)Valeri Vasilyev (64)Frankie Vatrano (97)Mikael Vikstrand (85)Dominik Volek (99)W&nbsp;Nicolas Walters (89)Thomas Wilson (25)Mike Winther (35)Y&nbsp;Nail Yakupov (1)Z&nbsp;Daniil Zharkov (49) &#9632;

THN’s top 100 prospects for the 2012 NHL draft listed alphabetically

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01661/9860383-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NO-BRAINER Carey Price is one of only a handful of goalies who were considered slam-dunk first round selections. (PRICE: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Everybody knows the draft is a crapshoot. But when it comes to predicting the development path of goaltenders, especially when they&rsquo;re selected in the first round, the selection process becomes even more of a minefield for GMs.Now, some people who will point to surefire netminding locks such as Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Marc-Andre Fleury or Montreal&rsquo;s Carey Price and argue it makes sense for teams use their first round picks on goalies. But when you look at the long term and the bigger picture of the draft process it becomes clear how risky it is to utilize your first-rounder (which, in the salary cap era, has arguably become the most valuable part of a team&rsquo;s building process) on a position that can take years to pay dividends, if it pays any.Of the 60 goalies taken in the first round in the 49-year history of the draft, 30 played at least 200 NHL games (this includes a few recent picks who haven&rsquo;t played 200 yet but are projected to, i.e. Cory Schneider). You&rsquo;re happy with the coin flip if you&rsquo;re a GM who wound up with Martin Brodeur (drafted 20th overall by New Jersey in 1990) and not one who selected someone named Evgeni Ryabchikov (21st overall by Boston in 1994). For every Roberto Luongo (the fourth overall pick of the Islanders in 1997) and Grant Fuhr (taken eighth overall by Edmonton in 1981) there&rsquo;s a Craig Hillier (chosen 23rd overall by Pittsburgh in 1996) or a Jimmy Waite (who Chicago took with the eighth overall pick in 1987).But not all of the first-round goalies in the group of 30 who had notable careers became franchise cornerstones. In fact, a significant portion never fully realized the potential ascribed to them. Yes, Fleury (first overall, 2003) and Price (fifth overall, 2005) are the centerpieces of their teams&rsquo; creases for years to come, but contrast their contributions with those made by fellow first-rounders Jocelyn Thibault (10th overall, 1993), Dan Cloutier (26th overall, 1994) and Brian Boucher (22nd overall, 1995).<blockquote class="pullQuote">GOALIES CAN TAKE EIGHT YEARS TO DEVELOP &ndash; JIM NILL</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02437/9860376-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="754" height="974"><figcaption class="caption-body">Henrik Lundqvist (LUNDQVIST: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>2011-12 Starters</h2>1st-rounders: 82nd-rounders: 63rd-rounders: 34th-rounders: 05th-rounders: 36th-rounders: 07th-rounders: 18th-rounders: 19th-rounders: 4Undrafteds: 4There&rsquo;s more evidence as to why you shouldn&rsquo;t take a goalie in the first round. Consider the 30 starting goalies (in terms of overall games played) in 2011-12: Yes, eight No. 1 netminders (including Edmonton&rsquo;s Devan Dubnyk, Carolina&rsquo;s Cam Ward and Colorado&rsquo;s Semyon Varlamov) were first-rounders, the most of any draft round. However, four of them (Stanley Cup-winner Tim Thomas, Jaroslav Halak, Evgeni Nabokov and Tomas Vokoun) were selected in the ninth round, while an additional four (Jonas Hiller, Niklas Backstrom, Jonas Gustavsson and Cup-winner Antti Niemi) weren&rsquo;t drafted at all.In other words, you&rsquo;re as likely to start in an NHL net if you&rsquo;ve got a preferred pedigree as you are if you were an after-thought in the minds of team builders.Look at the past 15 years of Stanley Cup-winning goaltenders and the pattern repeats. One-third were first round selections, but one-third were taken in the ninth or 10th round or went undrafted. (The final third went to goalies drafted in the third round, but that&rsquo;s a bit of a misleading number, as five Cups went to just two goalies: three to Detroit&rsquo;s Chris Osgood and two to Patrick Roy).All in all, it is understandable why team architects loathe using their most attractive gambling chip on the net position. As Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill said, once you get past the type of can&rsquo;t miss netminding prospect at the top of a draft, the thought process quickly turns in another direction. &ldquo;In every draft there are some guys who are just marquee nobrainers,&rdquo; Nill said. &ldquo;They usually go in the top 10 or 15. Then after that, it&rsquo;s like the rest of the draft: There&rsquo;s something about the player you like, but there&rsquo;s something about the player you don&rsquo;t like.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01595/9860369-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="1199" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body">PATIENCE Miikka Kiprusoff is a 1995 fifth-rounder who took eight years to flourish. (KIPRUSOFF: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Added Philadelphia Flyers director of hockey operations Chris Pryor: &ldquo;We all realize the importance of a goalie, so it kind of contradicts because you&rsquo;d think teams would be more apt to take runs at these goalies early in the draft, but they don&rsquo;t. The ratio of goalies turning out to not turning out is pretty substantial. If you have Goalie A and Goalie B and there&rsquo;s not much difference in talent level, but Goalie A is going in the first round and Goalie B is going in the third, you might choose to take a chance on Goalie B because there&rsquo;s less risk there.&rdquo;Most teams selecting at the top of the draft are there because they haven&rsquo;t had success in net, which is why the Isles drafting Luongo and the Canadiens picking Price made sense. But once you get to the middle of the first round, the teams that are picking probably have some semblance of adequate net protection and prefer to plug a hole on defense or at forward. &ldquo;It takes forwards and defensemen long enough to develop, but it normally takes goalies double that,&rdquo; Nill said. &ldquo;You might draft a goalie in the first round, but you might not see him for eight years.&rdquo;The road to an NHL starting job isn&rsquo;t quick and easy. Tuukka Rask was a first round pick (21st overall) of Toronto in 2005, but despite looking good in his early NHL days after being traded to Boston, the skilled Finn is on the bench most nights, thanks to the efforts of Thomas. Marty Turco and Jimmy Howard are two of many others who had to apprentice for a few seasons before getting their shots. And in that time, anything &ndash; injuries or another goalie establishing himself as the starter &ndash; can derail their chances of success.Once a team identifies a goalie as its long-term starter, it&rsquo;s unlikely to gamble on another backstopper with a valuable first-rounder. &ldquo;When a team is happy with what they&rsquo;ve got, maybe they think they&rsquo;ll take someone a little later who they can develop down the road, so they use a pick where the risk isn&rsquo;t as high,&rdquo; Pryor said. &ldquo;A lot of times, if you have a group of defensemen and forwards in the first round, chances are you think he has a chance to play soon. But with goalies, you just don&rsquo;t know. The risk and reward is much different.&rdquo;So don&rsquo;t fret if your favorite team needs a big-money, big-game corner-stone goalie and doesn&rsquo;t pick one in Round 1. If history is any indication, you&rsquo;re equally likely to land him another way. &ldquo;People forget (former Cup-winner) J-S Giguere was traded twice and Miikka Kiprusoff has been traded,&rdquo; Nill said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a history there that shows it takes time and it&rsquo;s not exact science. It&rsquo;s funny dynamics with goalies sometimes.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0046-01

DON’T GAMBLE IN GOAL

If a team drafts a goalie in the first round, will it get 200 NHL games out of him? Looking at the 30 franchises&rsquo; history shows it&rsquo;s anyone&rsquo;s guess.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02391/9860421-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="579" height="849"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marc-Andre Fleury (FLEURY: GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03311/9860414-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="1109" height="2301"></div> &#9632;

f0047-02

ROLLING DICE IN THE CREASE

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0049-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01450/9860483-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAMIE BENN (BENN: MARISSA BAECKER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Last year&rsquo;s Draft Preview team pages explored each club&rsquo;s homegrown talent and established a clear correlation between drafted players and success. The Detroits and Vancouvers of the world kept dominating largely because they grew their own studs. To build a lasting winner, you needed to draft and develop.This year, THN&rsquo;s editorial staff sorted through every NHL draft since 2005, the first after the lockout (see the accompanying chart and 30 team pages). We listed noteworthy shrewd and not-soshrewd picks for every team. We ranked players based not just on their success, but also their expected success given their draft slot. Steven Stamkos wasn&rsquo;t a &ldquo;shrewd&rdquo; pick at No. 1 overall in 2008. He was a no-brainer. Jesper Samuelsson at 211th overall wasn&rsquo;t a stain on Detroit&rsquo;s record, as seventh-rounders rarely take the NHL by storm.So what did we learn by sorting through every selection since &rsquo;05? It&rsquo;s not enough just to have oodles of draft picks. The best path to contention is also about doing it right. High picks do not automatically become star players.You have to draft well.For every Pittsburgh or Chicago that hoards top draft selections and parlays them into Stanley Cup-winning superstars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, there&rsquo;s a sad-sack franchise that whiffs time and again on high picks.First-overall 2002 choice Rick Nash has long been the guy struggling to carry the Columbus Blue Jackets with no help, but it&rsquo;s not like they haven&rsquo;t had a chance to build around him. They left Anze Kopitar on the board to grab Gilbert Brule sixth overall in 2005. They were sure they had Nash&rsquo;s long-term center with Derick Brassard at No. 6 in 2006 &ndash; and Claude Giroux went 16 picks later. Stud D-man Erik Karlsson dangled in front of them in 2008, but they continued their futile quest for a forward and bombed on Nikita Filatov with the sixth pick.Successful early selections obviously fuel a rebuild in a hurry &ndash; look how Karlsson&rsquo;s year-three breakout coincided with Ottawa&rsquo;s return to relevance &ndash; but top teams also don&rsquo;t waste late picks. Chicago had Toews and Kane, but also snagged a crucial piece of its Cup-winning puzzle with defender Niklas Hjalmarsson 108th overall in 2005. Crosby and Malkin were slam-dunks for Pittsburgh, but getting Kris Letang with the 62nd pick in &rsquo;05 was genius. Boston wouldn&rsquo;t have won the Cup had it not scooped Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand with picks No. 50 and 71 in 2006. And we don&rsquo;t need to tell you how many late round picks built Detroit&rsquo;s foundation.Struggling franchises don&rsquo;t always fail because of bad drafting. Sometimes, they simply don&rsquo;t know a good thing when they have it. The Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; bugaboo is goaltending, but they&rsquo;d be playoff-bound today had they not traded their first choice in &rsquo;05: Tuukka Rask. &#9632;

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NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS

1. J. BENN, 129 in &rsquo;07<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02347/9860717-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>2. K. YANDLE, 105 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03273/9860710-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>3. M. LUCIC, 50 in &rsquo;06<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04253/9860703-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>4. J. QUICK, 72 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-05200/9860696-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>5. K. LETANG, 62 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-06122/9860689-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>6. C. GIROUX, 22 in &rsquo;06<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0786/9860682-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>7. E. KARLSSON, 15 in &rsquo;08<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0854/9860675-1-eng-US/f0049-082.jpg" title="f0049-08" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>8. P. HORNQVIST, 230 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0946/9860668-1-eng-US/f0049-092.jpg" title="f0049-09" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>9. A. HENRIQUE, 82 in &rsquo;08<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1040/9860661-1-eng-US/f0049-102.jpg" title="f0049-10" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>10. P.K. SUBBAN, 43 in &rsquo;07<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1131/9860654-1-eng-US/f0049-112.jpg" title="f0049-11" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>11. P. STASTNY, 44 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1228/9860647-1-eng-US/f0049-122.jpg" title="f0049-12" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>12. D. STEPAN, 51 in &rsquo;08<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1324/9860640-1-eng-US/f0049-132.jpg" title="f0049-13" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>13. N. HJALMARSSON, 108 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1419/9860633-1-eng-US/f0049-142.jpg" title="f0049-14" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>14. J. EBERLE, 22 in &rsquo;08<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1513/9860626-1-eng-US/f0049-152.jpg" title="f0049-15" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>15. B. MARCHAND, 71 in &rsquo;06<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1613/9860619-1-eng-US/f0049-162.jpg" title="f0049-16" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>16. J. NEAL, 33 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1712/9860612-1-eng-US/f0049-172.jpg" title="f0049-17" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>17. R. O&rsquo;REILLY, 33 in &rsquo;09<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1812/9860605-1-eng-US/f0049-182.jpg" title="f0049-18" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>18. W. SIMMONDS, 61 in &rsquo;07<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1910/9860598-1-eng-US/f0049-192.jpg" title="f0049-19" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>19. O. PAVELEC, 41 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-2011/9860591-1-eng-US/f0049-202.jpg" title="f0049-20" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>20. D. HELM, 132 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-218/9860584-1-eng-US/f0049-212.jpg" title="f0049-21" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>21. C. CLUTTERBUCK, 72 in &rsquo;06<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-227/9860577-1-eng-US/f0049-222.jpg" title="f0049-22" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>22. S. DOWNIE, 29 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-235/9860570-1-eng-US/f0049-232.jpg" title="f0049-23" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>23. T. RASK, 21 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-244/9860563-1-eng-US/f0049-242.jpg" title="f0049-24" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>24. M-E VLASIC, 35 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-254/9860556-1-eng-US/f0049-252.jpg" title="f0049-25" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>25. M. RAYMOND, 51 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-264/9860549-1-eng-US/f0049-262.jpg" title="f0049-26" width="139" height="73"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>26. J. MCBAIN, 63 in &rsquo;06<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-274/9860542-1-eng-US/f0049-272.jpg" title="f0049-27" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>27. E. KUZNETSOV, 26 in &rsquo;10<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-284/9860535-1-eng-US/f0049-282.jpg" title="f0049-28" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>28. A. MACDONALD, 160 in &rsquo;06<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-294/9860528-1-eng-US/f0049-292.jpg" title="f0049-29" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>29. A KOPITAR, 11 in &rsquo;05<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-304/9860521-1-eng-US/f0049-302.jpg" title="f0049-30" width="139" height="72"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div>30. D. PERRON, 26 in &rsquo;07<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-314/9860514-1-eng-US/f0049-312.jpg" title="f0049-31" width="139" height="72"></div> &#9632;</div>

f0049-02

POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div>A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE had the Ducks sputtering early in the season, but the team still has that great young core. The question now is how young Anaheim wants to go. In tabbing Team USA goaltender John Gibson in the second round of the 2011 draft, GM Bob Murray continued his love affair with the national team development program &ndash; and with Cam Fowler already humming and Emerson Etem in the pipeline, it&rsquo;s been a pretty good strategy.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Once again, the status of Teemu Selanne, who will be 42 at the start of next season, weighs heavily on the franchise. If &lsquo;The Finnish Flash&rsquo; or Jason Blake doesn&rsquo;t return, there&rsquo;s a plumb scoring role to be had up front. Saku Koivu, the third member of that silver fox club, is also an unrestricted free agent.LONG-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;As much as fighting and grinding have been part of the Ducks&rsquo; success in the past, the team needs some modicum of offense from the bottom six forwards. Devante Smith-Pelly has shown promise, but he&rsquo;ll need help.CAP SITUATION&nbsp;Anaheim has already committed more than $41 million to next year&rsquo;s squad, but it&rsquo;s all smart money. Decisions will have to be made (or made for them) on several pricey veterans, not to mention fan-fave tough guy George Parros and much-improved blueliner Sheldon Brookbank.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02329/9860755-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">DEVANTE SMITH-PELLY (SMITH-PELLY: DEBORA ROBINSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13:&nbsp;Based on his evisceration of the Western League (51 goals in his first 50 games), there&rsquo;s no way Etem is held back any longer. He&rsquo;s got the speed and hands to do damage in the big leagues. Offensive defenseman Justin Schultz had a similar year at Wisconsin, where he once teamed with ex-Ducks prospect Jake Gardiner, and would bring even more young skill to the back end. 2013-14: Swedish winger Rickard Rakell has excelled for Plymouth in the Ontario League and with more seasoning will be able to step in as a two-way banger who can score.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01437/9860748-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="261" height="148"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksCam Fowler, 12 in &rsquo;10D. Smith-Pelly, 42 in &rsquo;10Justin Schultz, 43 in &rsquo;08Matt Beleskey, 112 in &rsquo;06Not So ShrewdLogan MacMillan, 19 in &rsquo;07Mark Mitera, 19 in &rsquo;06Peter Holland, 15 in &rsquo;09Nic Deschamps, 35 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsNick Bonino, C, 24Kyle Cumiskey, D, 25Iiro Tarkki, G, 27UFAsJason Blake, LW, 38Sheldon Brookbank, D, 31Dan Ellis, G, 32Niklas Hagman, LW, 32Saku Koivu, C, 37George Parros, RW, 32Rod Pelley, C, 27Teemu Selanne, RW, 41 &#9632;

f0050-02

FORWARD THINKING

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div>THE DEFENDING-CHAMPION Bruins are deep and balanced, removing the pressure for any one youngster (like budding superstar Tyler Seguin) to shoulder the load. In the past four drafts, they&rsquo;ve selected just three players (out of 25 picks) from outside North America.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Most of Boston&rsquo;s key forwards are signed long term, but it has to fill out the defense given three blueliners (Joe Corvo, Greg Zanon and Mike Mottau) are unrestricted free agents. However, with Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk under contract, it can bring in a puck-mover or stay-at-home defender without asking too much.LONG-TERM NEEDS Star goalie Tim Thomas is entering the twilight of his career and in the final year of his contract next season, leaving understudy Tuukka Rask to assume the starter&rsquo;s role. That leaves an opening for Rask&rsquo;s backup.CAP SITUATION Sixteen players are under contract next season for the Bruins, who&rsquo;ve committed $56.4 million in cap space. That doesn&rsquo;t leave much to round out the roster while also raising their investment in Rask, a restricted free agent due for a healthy raise on his $1.25-million cap hit. Expect him to earn $4-5 million a season and for GM Peter Chiarelli to have some tough decisions on which veteran complementary players to retain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-04139/9860793-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">TYLER SEGUIN (SEGUIN: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Right winger Jordan Caron &ndash; one of three Boston prospects among the top 55 in THN&rsquo;s Future Watch &ndash; played sporadically with the Bruins and showed enough to get more opportunities. D-man Dougie Hamilton, drafted with the other first round pick acquired from Toronto for Phil Kessel, is just 19 and since he can&rsquo;t play in the American League next year, he&rsquo;ll start the season on Boston&rsquo;s blueline. 2013-14: Jared Knight, selected 32nd overall in 2010 with the second-rounder acquired for Kessel, will begin his pro career in the AHL in 2012-13 and has a shot at sticking with the Bruins the following year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-03174/9860786-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="181" height="181"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksMilan Lucic, 50 in &rsquo;06Brad Marchand, 71 in &rsquo;06Dougie Hamilton, 9 in &rsquo;11V. Sobotka, 106 in &rsquo;05A. Khokhlachev, 40 in &rsquo;11Not So ShrewdZach Hamill, 8 in &rsquo;07Matt Lashoff, 22 in &rsquo;05Yury Alexandrov, 37 in &rsquo;06<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsMatt Bartkowski, D, 23Zach Hamill, C, 23Benoit Pouliot, LW, 25Tuukka Rask, G, 25UFAsGregory Campbell, C, 28Joe Corvo, D, 35Chris Kelly, C, 31Mike Mottau, D, 34Dan Paille, LW, 28Brian Rolston, LW, 39Marty Turco, G, 36Greg Zanon, D, 32 &#9632;

f0050-04

BRUINS WON’T HIBERNATE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AP</div>THE SABRES&rsquo; SYSTEM has arguably been the NHL&rsquo;s most productive of late, as the past three American League rookies of the year were theirs (Luke Adam, Tyler Ennis and Nathan Gerbe). What&rsquo;s scarier is deep-pocketed owner Terry Pegula has nearly doubled the amateur scouting staff from nine (under Pegula&rsquo;s predecessor Thomas Golisano) to 17.SHORT-TERM NEEDS The Sabres struggle to score and lack the cap space to bulk up, especially at forward. So, barring a trade to shake up the core, they&rsquo;ll look to improve in that department as they so often have &ndash; from within.LONG-TERM NEEDS Key cogs Thomas Vanek, Drew Stafford, Jason Pominville, Tyler Myers and Ryan Miller all are signed for at least three more seasons, leaving Buffalo with a need for more auxiliary, battle-tested vets to keep the team on a more even keel. In today&rsquo;s NHL, that&rsquo;s something which by necessity may play out on a year-to-year basis.CAP SITUATION In 2012-13, the Sabres have already committed $58.5 million, a whopping amount regardless of whether the salary cap ceiling rises, falls or stabilizes. The good news is they&rsquo;ve got 19 players under contract with that money, including their top six defensemen. The bad news is they have to find money for their two restricted free agents (Ennis and Patrick Kaleta) and make choices on their three soon-to-be unrestricted free agent veterans (Brad Boyes, Jochen Hecht and Alex Sulzer). Somebody will have to move on and considering what a disappointment this year has been for the organization, more than a few players could be shipped out.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01346/9860831-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">TYLER ENNIS (ENNIS: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: The Sabres have two of the top 70 prospects in Future Watch, including 20-year-old left winger Marcus Foligno, who spent most of 2011-12 in the AHL, but who also availed himself well in a handful of NHL games. 2013-14: Mark Pysyk, a 20-year-old Western League defenseman, is a great skater who will learn the pro game in Rochester in 2012-13 and make the jump to the NHL the following year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02249/9860824-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="180" height="180"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksNathan Gerbe, 142 in &rsquo;05Tyler Myers, 12 in &rsquo;08M-A Gragnani, 87 in &rsquo;05Tyler Ennis, 26 in &rsquo;08Jhonas Enroth, 46 in &rsquo;06Not So ShrewdMarek Zagrapan,13 in &rsquo;05Dennis Persson, 24 in &rsquo;06T.J. Brennan, 31 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsT.J. Brennan, D, 23Tyler Ennis, LW, 22Patrick Kaleta, RW, 26Paul Szczechura, C, 26UFAsBrad Boyes, RW, 30Jochen Hecht, C, 35Ales Kotalik, RW, 33Drew MacIntyre, G, 29Shaone Morrisonn, D, 29Colin Stuart, LW, 29Alexander Sulzer, D, 28 &#9632;

f0051-01

HELP WANTED FROM WITHIN

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRIAN COSTELLO</div>FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION, the Calgary Flames have been the lazy kid in the back of the classroom at the draft: late, cutting corners, bombing a big test. Of 20 first round picks between the Flames&rsquo; 1989 Cup win and 2010, only three (Cory Stillman, Derek Morris and Dion Phaneuf) matured to expectations, though the jury is still out on a few of them. That&rsquo;s either poor drafting, poor developing or both.SHORT-TERM NEEDS The passive Calgary defense finished 29th in hits and two of its most rugged members &ndash; 33-year-olds Cory Sarich and Scott Hannan &ndash; are both slow afoot and pending unrestricted free agents. The Flames were also among the bottom-feeders in goals from the blueline, so the corps could gladly use a productive banger or two.LONG-TERM NEEDS Calgary has the league&rsquo;s secondoldest roster, with its best players well into their 30s. GM Jay Feaster has done a nice job re-signing the likes of Curtis Glencross and Alex Tanguay and bringing in fresh faces such as Blair Jones and Derek Smith, but it won&rsquo;t be long before a prime-time goalie and an all-star triggerman will be needed to replace Miikka Kiprusoff and Jarome Iginla.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-03179/9860869-1-eng-US/f0051-032.jpg" title="f0051-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">SVEN BAERTSCHI (BAERTSCHI: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION The Flames have $50 million spoken for already next season and will need at least another $4 million to retain Olli Jokinen, who is coming off his best all-around season at 33. Calgary would love to secure another productive center &ndash; to allow Mike Cammalleri to return to the wing &ndash; and a veteran defenseman who can invoke fear in the opposition.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Left winger Sven Baertschi tore up the Western League at two points per game and had an impressive late-season NHL debut. He&rsquo;ll surely make the roster as a top-six forward. Leland Irving acquitted himself better than Henrik Karlsson in backup duty. 2013-14: Max Reinhart has the credentials to be a No. 2 or 3 center in the NHL, but will need an AHL season to bulk up.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-04143/9860862-1-eng-US/f0051-042.jpg" title="f0051-04" width="198" height="169"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksT.J. Brodie, 114 in &rsquo;08Keith Aulie, 116 in &rsquo;07Sven Baertschi, 13 in &rsquo;11Tim Erixon, 23 in &rsquo;09Max Reinhart, 64 in &rsquo;10Not So ShrewdMatt Pelech, 26 in &rsquo;05Greg Nemisz, 25 in &rsquo;08Mitch Wahl, 48 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsMikael Backlund, C, 23Paul Byron, C, 23Blake Comeau, LW, 26Leland Irving, G, 24Blair Jones, C, 25UFAsG. Desbiens, RW, 27Scott Hannan, D, 33Raitis Ivanans, LW, 33Olli Jokinen, C, 33Tom Kostopoulos, RW, 33P-L Letourneau, RW, 27David Moss, RW, 30Cory Sarich, D, 33Lee Stempniak, RW, 29 &#9632;

f0051-03

THE HEAT IS ON IN CALGARY

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RORY BOYLEN</div>FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, the Canes&rsquo; strength was in their pipeline of forward prospects, but as Zach Boychuk, Zac Dalpe, Drayson Bowman and the like have struggled to gain a footing in the NHL, the defensemen have stepped in seamlessly. Jamie McBain and Justin Faulk have already produced and have potential for much more. Since they&rsquo;ve drafted 10 defensemen with 20 picks over the past three drafts, expect Carolina to go forward-heavy this year.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Even with Carolina&rsquo;s young defenders ahead of schedule, its &lsquo;D&rsquo; needs to improve in the near future. Cam Ward&rsquo;s workload was put into overdrive and with Tuomo Ruutu re-signed and Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner carrying the offense, GM Jim Rutherford has to fix a blueline that was among the most porous.LONG-TERM NEEDS The desire for a knockout No. 1 defender aside, the Canes also need more offensive support at some point to help Skinner and Staal. If Dalpe, Bowman or Boychuk doesn&rsquo;t contribute, someone else will have to, because Jussi Jokinen&rsquo;s inconsistent efforts don&rsquo;t cut it.CAP SITUATION&nbsp;The Canes will continue to operate under their own budget, but still have plenty of room with which to work. There&rsquo;s an opportunity to address the defense through the open market, with Jaroslav Spacek and Bryan Allen up for unrestricted free agency<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02219/9860907-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="868" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body">JUSTIN FAULK</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Ryan Murphy has scored at better than a point-per-game pace in the Ontario League for two years, so he&rsquo;s ready to step up. With the Canes looking to change up their defense, he&rsquo;ll be given an opportunity. Zac Dalpe needs extended NHL time to improve and it&rsquo;s about time he got it. 2013-14: Victor Rask&rsquo;s first season in North America was a success, as the center amassed goals in the Western League. If he continues progressing, he&rsquo;ll be one to watch the year after. Riley Nash hasn&rsquo;t scored tons of points in the American League, but his two-way play and faceoff prowess are coveted at the NHL level.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01344/9860900-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="251" height="151"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksJamie McBain, 63 in &rsquo;06Justin Faulk, 37 in &rsquo;10Jeff Skinner, 7 in &rsquo;10Brandon Sutter, 11 in &rsquo;07Zac Dalpe, 45 in &rsquo;08Not So ShrewdZach Boychuk, 14 in &rsquo;08Philippe Paradis, 27 in &rsquo;09Nate Hagemo, 58 in &rsquo;05<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsDrayson Bowman, LW, 23Zach Boychuk, LW, 22Jamie McBain, D, 24Jerome Samson, RW, 24Bobby Sanguinetti, D, 24Jiri Tlusty, C, 24UFAsBryan Allen, D, 31Jaroslav Spacek, D, 38 &#9632;

f0052-02

STORM FRONT IS WEAK

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div>THE BLACKHAWKS&rsquo; GREATEST STRENGTH &ndash; their topend talent &ndash; is also the greatest hindrance to their development. The star power of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp up front and Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on defense gives Chicago the game&rsquo;s best six-player core, but it leaves little financial room to fill out the roster via free agency. Finding depth, particularly at center and in goal, needs to be done via the draft.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Though the Brendan Morrison trade didn&rsquo;t yield a great result, it told us the Hawks were desperate for a No. 2 center and didn&rsquo;t feel Marcus Kruger was ready. They&rsquo;ve worked hard to draft pivots in recent seasons, but will need to sign another stop-gap this offseason if the kids aren&rsquo;t ready for prime time.LONG-TERM NEEDS Keith, Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson are locked up long term, but will the Hawks have enough money to retain promising D-man Nick Leddy, who has one year left on his deal? Drafting and developing another puck-mover with top-four upside is a good idea. The Hawks need more size on their wings and, if they don&rsquo;t resign Ray Emery, a young goalie to push Corey Crawford.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-04119/9860945-1-eng-US/f0052-042.jpg" title="f0052-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">NICK LEDDY (FAULK+LEDDY: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION Only five teams have more cap space committed in 2012-13 than the Hawks, whose long-term arrangements account for more than $55 million. Given the uncertainty about cap fluctuations in the next CBA, conservative spending this summer would be prudent for GM Stan Bowman.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Left winger Brandon Saad has the best chance to be an impact player offensively and his frame (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) is a plus. He cracked this year&rsquo;s roster as an 18-year-old before being returned to junior. Brandon Pirri will be given every chance to grab an NHL job at center. 2013-14: The Hawks would love to see one of Mark McNeill or Phillip Danault make it after their junior eligibility expires next season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-03152/9860938-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="199" height="173"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksN. Hjalmarsson, 108 in &rsquo;05Marcus Kruger, 149 in &rsquo;09Andrew Shaw, 139 in &rsquo;11Brandon Saad, 43 in &rsquo;11Not So ShrewdJack Skille, 7 in &rsquo;05Kyle Beach, 11 in &rsquo;08Igor Makarov, 33 in &rsquo;06Bill Sweatt, 38 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsBrandon Bollig, LW, 25Ben Smith, RW, 23UFAsAndrew Brunette, LW, 38Cristobal Huet, G, 36Sami Lepisto, D, 27Jamal Mayers, RW, 37Brendan Morrison, C, 36Sean O&rsquo;Donnell, D, 40Johnny Oduya, D, 30 &#9632;

f0052-04

SHALLOW CHICAGO

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BC</div>EXPECTATIONS FOR THE Avalanche were low everywhere except Denver. When GM Greg Sherman traded his 2012 first round pick to Washington for goalie Semyon Varlamov last summer, critics mused whether that pick might turn out to be first overall. But after a slow start, Varlamov and the Avalanche climbed the standings.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Colorado needs size and scoring on the wings and it got some of both in the acquisitions of Steve Downie and Jamie McGinn at the trade deadline. With a great cast of young centers already in tow, an accomplished sniper or two on the wing would make the Avs a deep outfit to shut down.LONG-TERM NEEDS With Erik Johnson, Jan Hejda and Ryan Wilson a big part of the present and future and the youthful likes of Stefan Elliott, Tyson Barrie and Duncan Siemens coming through the system, the future is solid on the blueline. So Colorado&rsquo;s long-term need is the same as its short-term need &ndash; big, tough, productive wingers, especially with Milan Hejduk slowing down.CAP SITUATION The Avs are near the bottom in terms of team payroll and have a ton of cap space &ndash; at least $40 million. In fact, it&rsquo;ll take a busy summer for Sherman to even get to the salary floor. The Avs have been parsimonious since their Stanley Cup glory years and there&rsquo;s an internal budget to work within. Don&rsquo;t expect major unrestricted free agent signings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01322/9860983-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">SEMYON VARLAMOV (VARLAMOV: TRAVIS GOLBY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Barrie isn&rsquo;t big, but he has deft puck skills and had excellent numbers in his first pro season in the AHL. He didn&rsquo;t look out of place during a brief NHL stint. There&rsquo;s an opening for Brad Malone or Mark Olver at fourth-line pivot if Jay McClement moves on as a UFA. 2013-14: Siemens has the size to make an impact on Colorado&rsquo;s blueline, but concussion issues may delay the 2011 first-rounder&rsquo;s progression. The same question mark surrounds 2010 first-rounder Joey Hishon, a small but skilled center.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02223/9860976-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="206" height="169"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksPaul Stastny, 44 in &rsquo;05Ryan O&rsquo;Reilly, 33 in &rsquo;09Kyle Cumiskey, 222 in &rsquo;05Stefan Elliott, 49 in &rsquo;09Chris Stewart, 18 in &rsquo;06Not So ShrewdRyan Stoa, 34 in &rsquo;05Tom Fritsche, 47 in &rsquo;05Trevor Cann, 49 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsSteve Downie, RW, 25Matt Duchene, C, 21Erik Johnson, D, 24Jamie McGinn, LW, 23Peter Mueller, RW, 24Mark Olver, C, 24Ryan O&rsquo;Reilly, C, 21Kevin Porter, LW, 26Ryan Wilson, D, 25UFAsMilan Hejduk, RW, 36Matt Hunwick, D, 27David Jones, RW, 27Jay McClement, C, 29Cody McLeod, LW, 28Shane O&rsquo;Brien, D, 28 &#9632;

f0053-01

AVS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div>JOE NIEUWENDYK&rsquo;S drafting strategy as GM seems pretty straightforward: Go big or go home. Though he had just six picks in 2011, half the selections were giants &ndash; with 6-foot-7, 241-pound defenseman Jamie Oleksiak the biggest of the behemoths. On a team that doesn&rsquo;t boast a lot of beef right now, it makes the &lsquo;pesky Stars&rsquo; look a little more formidable to face in the future.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Depth on defense would really help the Stars&rsquo; cause, as injuries exposed that issue midseason. Philip Larsen has been given a great chance to seize a top-six job, but hasn&rsquo;t put up the numbers yet.LONG-TERM NEEDS Outside of Loui Eriksson and Jamie Benn, scoring has come from veterans. Dallas needs more youngsters with high-end ceilings in order to replenish the cupboard when the Mike Ribeiros and Michael Ryders of the world are gone.CAP SITUATION The Stars already have $40 million committed to 13 players next season, though most of the bases are covered. Restricted free agents Benn and backup goalie Richard Bachman are the most pressing cases and new ownership will open the purse strings more.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02200/9861059-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAMIE BENN (BENN: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Matt Fraser parlayed a surprise trip to the 2011 Memorial Cup into a free agent contract and now the big goal-scorer is knocking on the door thanks to instant production with the AHL&rsquo;s Texas Stars. Right winger Alex Chiasson brings size and play-making, assuming he leaves Boston University a year early (quite likely). It&rsquo;s anyone&rsquo;s guess as to when 2009 first-rounder Scott Glennie will be an NHL-ready forward, if it ever happens. 2013-14: After one year in the Ontario League, Oleksiak may be ready to make the jump, but if not, he&rsquo;s a shoo-in for two years down the line. It&rsquo;s not like the kid needs to fill out anymore and if he gets any taller, he&rsquo;ll be Zdeno Chara. Prized young netminder Jack Campbell will be in the mix by then, too, giving the Stars plenty of options in net.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01333/9861052-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="248" height="157"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksJamie Benn, 129 in &rsquo;07James Neal, 33 in &rsquo;05Philip Larsen, 149 in &rsquo;08Tomas Vincour, 129 in &rsquo;09Matt Niskanen, 28 in &rsquo;05Not So ShrewdScott Glennie, 8 in &rsquo;09Ivan Vishnevskiy, 27 in &rsquo;06Nico Sacchetti, 50 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsJamie Benn, LW, 22Richard Bachman, G, 24Mark Fistric, D, 26Ryan Garbutt, C, 26Philip Larsen, D, 22Tom Wandell, C, 25UFAsAdam Burish, C, 29Jake Dowell, C, 27Radek Dvorak, RW, 35Toby Petersen, C, 33Sheldon Souray, D, 35 &#9632;

f0054-02

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ML</div>THE RED WINGS ARE the league&rsquo;s most successful franchise of the past two decades and GM Ken Holland&rsquo;s mastery of the draft&rsquo;s late rounds is a big reason why. Of their top five scorers, none was taken earlier than 58th overall (Jiri Hudler in 2002).SHORT-TERM NEEDS If future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom retires and rock-steady Brad Stuart bolts as an unrestricted free agent, the Wings will enter scramble mode trying to find top-four defensemen. Mega-prospect Brendan Smith will soon fill that void, but he&rsquo;s still green, so Holland may have to pursue a prized free agent like Ryan Suter.LONG-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Unless you count Todd Bertuzzi with his recent contract extension, Detroit doesn&rsquo;t have a ton of size and strength at forward. A big body with a scorer&rsquo;s touch would be a smart addition. Offensive pillars Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen are all on the wrong side of 30, so the Wings will need to develop some youngsters with high ceilings as scorers and playmakers.CAP SITUATION The Wings have just $44 million committed to 18 players next year and Holland&rsquo;s checkbook will work overtime, even if it&rsquo;s simply to re-sign the likes of Lid-strom and Stuart. If Detroit retains both blueliners, there won&rsquo;t be much cash left to pursue an impact forward.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-04105/9861097-1-eng-US/f0054-042.jpg" title="f0054-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENDAN SMITH (SMITH: JOHN RUSSELL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: By all accounts, the AHL duty Smith served for much of 2011-12 was his last. At 23, he&rsquo;s NHL-ready and will be an important everyday D-man in Hockeytown. The diminutive but offensively creative Gustav Nyquist was a point-per-game player with AHL Grand Rapids and looks like another one of Holland&rsquo;s classic low-risk, high-reward finds (121st overall in 2008). 2013-14: Pivot Calle Jarnkrok already found himself among the Swedish League&rsquo;s top scorers as a 20-year-old and will cross the pond in a season or two. Keep an eye on goaltending prospect Petr Mrazek in a couple years, especially with Jimmy Howard only signed through 2012-13.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-03132/9861090-1-eng-US/f0054-032.jpg" title="f0054-03" width="233" height="173"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksDarren Helm, 132 in &rsquo;05Gustav Nyquist, 121 in &rsquo;08Calle Jarnkrok, 51 in &rsquo;10J. Abdelkader, 42 in &rsquo;05Tomas Tatar, 60 in &rsquo;09Not So ShrewdT. McCollum, 30 in &rsquo;08Riley Sheahan, 21 in &rsquo;10Landon Ferraro, 32 in &rsquo;09<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsJustin Abdelkader, LW, 25Darren Helm, C, 25Kyle Quincey, D, 26UFAsTy Conklin, G, 36Tomas Holmstrom, LW, 39Jiri Hudler, RW, 28Doug Janik, D, 32Nicklas Lidstrom, D, 42Brad Stuart, D, 32 &#9632;

f0054-04

LIFE AFTER LIDSTROM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BC</div>ONE NEED ONLY to look at the past two battles of Alberta to see the worm has finally turned. The Calgary Flames dominated the Oilers for the better part of a decade. But in the final two contests between the provincial rivals, the older Flames were no match for the speedy and talented Oilers. Momentum is now in Edmonton&rsquo;s favor.SHORT-TERM NEEDS The defense gets a bad rap, but it&rsquo;s probably just as much a case of inexperienced forwards messing up on the backcheck and inconsistent goaltending. The Oilers have a good start on the blueline, but would love another experienced hand and are aiming to select an up-and-coming stud in the June draft.LONG-TERM NEEDS The jury is still out on whether Devan Dubnyk is Edmonton&rsquo;s goalie of the future or just a stopgap until someone better comes along. Nikolai Khabibulin will be 40 when his contract expires in 2013, so at that point management will decide whether to seek a premier starter or a backup to Dubnyk. That decision will be determined by Dubnyk&rsquo;s play in 50-plus games next season.CAP SITUATION Cap space isn&rsquo;t much of an issue now, but five of Edmonton&rsquo;s best players are coming off contracts in 2013 (Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Whitney) and 2014 (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ales Hemsky). Management has to be careful about adding a high-priced free agent in the interim, because that will set expectations for the kiddie corps and would also necessitate dealing off a young name or two.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01291/9861135-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="870" height="648"><figcaption class="caption-body">RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS (NUGENT-HOPKINS: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Teemu Hartikainen has the size and skill to complement Edmonton&rsquo;s skill on the top two lines. Colton Teubert plays an unassuming defensive game, which is what a sometimes-erratic defense corps needs. Then there&rsquo;s Edmonton&rsquo;s first overall pick in June. Will he make it as an 18-year-old? 2013-14: The Oilers have two teenagers vying for blueline openings, but they surely won&rsquo;t be ready until 2013 &ndash; Oscar Klefbom (No. 22 overall in Future Watch) and David Musil.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02191/9861128-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="171" height="171"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksJordan Eberle, 22 in &rsquo;08Oscar Klefbom, 19 in &rsquo;11Theo Peckham, 75 in &rsquo;06Linus Omark, 97 in &rsquo;07Jeff Petry, 45 in &rsquo;06T. Hartikainen, 163 in &rsquo;08Not So ShrewdAlex Plante, 15 in &rsquo;07Riley Nash, 21 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsCam Barker, D, 26Taylor Chorney, D, 25Devan Dubnyk, G, 26Sam Gagner, C, 22Linus Omark, LW, 25Theo Peckham, D, 24Jeff Petry, D, 24Alex Plante, D, 23Chris Vande Velde, C, 25UFAsJosh Green, C, 34Darcy Hordichuk, LW, 31Lennart Petrell, C, 28Ryan Smyth, LW, 36 &#9632;

f0055-01

BULL MARKET FOR OIL STOCK

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RB</div>GM DALE TALLON&nbsp;has presided over two drafts with the Panthers and while they&rsquo;re considered successes, his record as Chicago&rsquo;s GM was spotty. Aside from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, Tallon&rsquo;s bounties were thin. However, in Florida, Tallon started with a sturdy prospect base and built out with 23 picks, including four first-rounders. The Panthers have their goalie of the future and have spread out their recent picks to achieve positional balance, so they can take the best skater available in the first round this June.SHORT-TERM NEEDS After signing five free agents to four-year deals last summer, the Panthers don&rsquo;t need a lot right now. By not bringing Jonathan Huberdeau straight to the NHL as they may have in the past and letting Jacob Markstrom continue to develop in the AHL, the Panthers are being more cautious with their prospects.LONG-TERM NEEDS With such a deep group of youngsters, Florida doesn&rsquo;t need one specific ingredient for the long term. In the past couple years, they&rsquo;ve drafted who they hope will be their franchise forward, defenseman and goal-tender. If they have one need for the distant future, it&rsquo;s that many of their draft picks pan out as NHLers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-03138/9861173-1-eng-US/f0055-032.jpg" title="f0055-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">JACOB MARKSTROM (MARKSTROM: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION Though the Panthers will have six unrestricted and four restricted free agents, their core is comprised of players with large, long-term contracts, like Tomas Fleischmann, Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanovski. Florida will have room with which to work, though it remains a budget team.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: The Panthers are eager to see what they have in Markstrom. With backup goalie Scott Clemmensen&rsquo;s contract up, Markstrom will get more opportunities to compete with Jose Theodore for the No. 1 job. Huberdeau is also a prime candidate for next season&rsquo;s lineup despite an injury-shortened season. 2013-14: The big bodies of forwards Nick Bjugstad and Quinton Howden and D-man Alex Petrovic will add intimidation to Florida&rsquo;s lineup two years from now.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-04103/9861166-1-eng-US/f0055-042.jpg" title="f0055-04" width="195" height="188"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksJ. Markstrom, 31 in &rsquo;08Dmitri Kulikov, 14 in &rsquo;09Nick Bjugstad, 19 in &rsquo;10Not So ShrewdK. McArdle, 20 in &rsquo;05Tyler Plante, 32 in &rsquo;05Keaton Ellerby, 10 in &rsquo;07Michael Repik, 40 in &rsquo;07John McFarland, 33 in &rsquo;10<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsKeaton Ellerby, D, 23Dmitri Kulikov, D, 21Kris Versteeg, RW, 26Wojtek Wolski, C, 26UFAsKrys Barch, RW, 32Scott Clemmensen, G, 34Jason Garrison, D, 27John Madden, C, 39M. Samuelsson, RW, 35Marco Sturm, LW, 33 &#9632;

f0055-03

CATS PREPARE TO POUNCE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div>GM DEAN LOMBARDI got himself a real potpourri of players in the 2011 draft and that&rsquo;s been his strategy for a few years now. He&rsquo;s nabbed size on defense (Derek Forbort, Kevin Gravel), forwards with something to prove (Tyler Toffoli, Jordan Weal) and he even traded up in the late rounds to get project Maxim Kitsyn. Options are certainly available.SHORT-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Scoring was a beast of a problem for the Kings, which is surprising given the talent at hand. Comebacks from injuries and the turfing of Dustin Penner will change the look, but more offensive threats are desperately required. The only question is where the new talent will be slotted in.LONG-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;With Rob Scuderi and Willie Mitchell, Los Angeles has a pair of ace shutdown defenders, but both are north of 30 and will need to be replaced eventually. Other than Matt Greene, none of the young Kings have seized that role yet, though Davis Drewiske is a possibility.CAP SITUATION The Kings are pretty much set already for next season, with 20 players taking up $54 million worth of cap space. The gigantic Philly-signed contracts of reunited Mike Richards and Jeff Carter naturally take up a big chunk of that, but there&rsquo;s no one the Kings could lose to free agency who they&rsquo;ll miss horribly. Jarret Stoll would be the closest exception thanks to his shootout prowess and faceoff proficiency.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-02172/9861211-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEFF CARTER (CARTER: JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: With the top-six gummed up, there aren&rsquo;t many spots up for grabs, but 2011 thirdrounder Andy Andreoff would be an intriguing add to the fourth line. Think of him as a slightly more skilled Kyle Clifford. In fact, those two would wreak havoc together. 2013-14: Toffoli will need a year in the AHL to continue rounding out his game, but after that the goal fountain will be open. When Kitsyn can be pried out of Russia, he would be another option for scoring on the wing, but contract status is always a bit of an unknown when it comes to the Kontinental League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01262/9861204-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="156" height="188"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksJonathan Quick, 72 in &rsquo;05W. Simmonds, 61 in &rsquo;07Anze Kopitar, 11 in &rsquo;05A. Loktionov, 123 in &rsquo;08Alec Martinez, 95 in &rsquo;07Not So ShrewdThomas Hickey, 4 in &rsquo;07Joe Ryan, 48 in &rsquo;06Colten Teubert, 13 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsDwight King, C, 22UFAsColin Fraser, C, 27Trent Hunter, RW, 31Ethan Moreau, LW, 36Scott Parse, RW, 27Dustin Penner, LW, 29Jarret Stoll, C, 30 &#9632;

f0056-02

GRIDLOCK IN LA-LA LAND

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BC</div>IT WAS DEC. 10, just two weeks before Christmas and the Minnesota Wild were enjoying their second week atop the overall standings with a 20-7-3 record. The closest team was Philadelphia, four points back. But Minnesota&rsquo;s glorious breakthrough season came tumbling down like a house of cards when the offense dried up. Within a few months, the only thing the Wild had locked up was a lottery pick.SHORT-TERM NEEDS It has been a decade since there was an offense this anemic. Not since Columbus averaged 2.0 goals per game in 2001-02 has an attack been as futile as Minnesota&rsquo;s. The Wild need more consistent primary scoring. Then they need secondary scoring.LONG-TERM NEEDS Minnesota has an emerging crop of puck-movers on the blueline and their best defensive prospect is Jonas Brodin (ranked No. 12 overall in Future Watch), but he isn&rsquo;t big or physical. So as much as the Wild need help scoring goals, they also need a punishing bruiser on defense who can anchor a young, skilled group.CAP SITUATION&nbsp;The Wild have the cap space to make a tangible addition to the first and second lines and to toughen up their defense. But it&rsquo;s not a bumper crop of free agents this summer and it&rsquo;s safe to say Minnesota isn&rsquo;t the destination of choice for many of them. Fortunately, the Wild have an outstanding core of prospects in the system &ndash; six of them among the top 75 in Future Watch.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0480/9861249-1-eng-US/f0056-042.jpg" title="f0056-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">NIKLAS BACKSTROM (BACKSTROM: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: It&rsquo;s been a long two-year wait for Mikael Granlund, the super-skilled Swede selected ninth overall in 2010. The No. 2 prospect in Future Watch is being counted on to be a go-to player right away. Matt Hackett is ready to step into the breach as Niklas Backstrom&rsquo;s backup and Charlie Coyle is a big-bodied center who should make the Wild straight out of college. 2013-14: Minnesota&rsquo;s conversion into a kiddie corps will gain real traction when two or three well-regarded forwards crack the lineup: Johan Larsson, Brett Bulmer, Zack Phillips and Jason Zucker.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-03108/9861242-1-eng-US/f0056-032.jpg" title="f0056-03" width="257" height="165"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksCal Clutterbuck, 72 in &rsquo;06Justin Falk, 110 in &rsquo;07Marco Scandella, 55 in &rsquo;08Matt Hackett, 77 in &rsquo;09Not So ShrewdBenoit Pouliot, 4 in &rsquo;05James Sheppard, 9 in &rsquo;06Tyler Cuma, 23 in &rsquo;08Colton Gillies, 16 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsCody Almond, C, 22Justin Falk, D, 23Nick Johnson, RW, 26Matt Kassian, LW, 26G. Latendresse, LW, 25Carson McMillan, RW, 23Nick Palmieri, RW, 22UFAsErik Christensen, C, 28Kurtis Foster, D, 30Josh Harding, G, 28Mike Lundin, D, 27Jed Ortmeyer, RW, 33Warren Peters, C, 29Clayton Stoner, D, 27Stephane Veilleux, LW, 30 &#9632;

f0056-04

TWIN CITY KIDS GONE WILD

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AP</div>THE CANADIENS HAVEN&rsquo;T set the world on fire developing prospects &ndash; THN&rsquo;s 2012 Future Watch ranked their system third worst &ndash; and given their ugly on-ice performance this season, GM Pierre Gauthier will surely be replaced.SHORT-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Montreal doesn&rsquo;t have the offense or the size possessed by successful teams like the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers and will welcome any player who helps in those regards. Depth on &lsquo;D,&rsquo; especially with the tenuous health of Andrei Markov, is also a priority.LONG-TERM NEEDS Though goalie Carey Price and defenseman P.K. Subban are still realizing their full potential as NHL stars, the Canadiens don&rsquo;t have the dynamic, franchise cornerstone forward &ndash; particularly, a big, skilled center &ndash; who is a key part of many Stanley Cup contenders.CAP SITUATION Montreal has 13 players signed for 2012-13 and will use nearly $45 million in salary cap space on them. Its available space could increase if a new collective bargaining agreement includes an amnesty buyout that could be used on Scott Gomez&rsquo;s $7.3-million cap hit, but regardless, the Habs won&rsquo;t be in position to enter bidding wars on players. And considering they have 10 restricted free agents (including Price, who will command a significant increase on his $2.75-million cap hit) and four unrestricted free agents to make choices on, their decisions won&rsquo;t be easy.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01246/9861287-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAREY PRICE (PRICE: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Center Louis Leblanc played 27 AHL games before sticking with the Canadiens for good and the 21-year-old will become more of an impact player. 2013-14: Big-bodied D-men Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi &ndash; joining Leblanc as the three Canadiens prospects on Future Watch&rsquo;s top 50 list &ndash; need a season to adapt to the pro game, but will add much-needed size to Montreal&rsquo;s blueline in the near future. At 5-foot-9, right winger Brendan Gallagher doesn&rsquo;t have bulk, but his speed and skill will be his ticket to full-time NHL employment.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02178/9861280-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="236" height="161"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksP.K. Subban, 43 in &rsquo;07Max Pacioretty, 22 in &rsquo;07Matt D&rsquo;Agostini, 190 in &rsquo;05S. Kostitsyn, 200 in &rsquo;05G. Latendresse, 45 in &rsquo;05B. Gallagher, 147 in &rsquo;10Not So ShrewdDavid Fischer, 20 in &rsquo;06Ben Maxwell, 49 in &rsquo;06<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsMike Blunden, RW, 25Raphael Diaz, D, 26Lars Eller, C, 23Alexei Emelin, D, 26Blake Geoffrion, LW, 24Petteri Nokelainen, C, 26Aaron Palushaj, RW, 22Carey Price, G, 24Frederic St-Denis, D, 26P.K. Subban, D, 23Ryan White, RW, 24UFAsChris Campoli, D, 27Mathieu Darche, LW, 35Travis Moen, LW, 30Brad Staubitz, RW, 27 &#9632;

f0057-01

PRICE AND P.K. NEED HELP

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ML</div>A SUMMER OF UNCERTAINTY looms in Music City. The Predators were the league&rsquo;s boldest team at the trade deadline, but the pieces they acquired &ndash; Hal Gill, Andrei Kostitsyn and Paul Gaustad &ndash; are unrestricted free agents. Star defenseman Shea Weber (RFA) and Ryan Suter (UFA) also hit the market and will be as coveted as any players available. Toss in the Alexander Radulov situation and it&rsquo;s clear GM David Poile has a massive to-do list.SHORT-TERM NEEDS If Nashville loses one of Weber and Suter, it could use the leftover money to add some offensive punch up front via free agency or trade. The Preds will get the scoring boost they need from within if Radulov suits up for them or if a youngster like Colin Wilson or Craig Smith elevates his game to new heights.LONG-TERM NEEDS Unless you count Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s brief stint, the Preds have never had a true No. 1 center. Whether it&rsquo;s through the draft or via trade, Nashville needs to hunt for that elusive main man up the middle. Considering the attention that will be paid to Suter and Weber, it&rsquo;s unlikely the Preds will be involved in any bidding for high-end free agent forwards like Zach Parise.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-03133/9861325-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">RYAN ELLIS (ELLIS: NORM HALL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION Fans may be excited to learn their team has just $32 million committed to the cap next year, but that number is deceiving: Nashville has just 12 players signed. Even with the purse strings loosened thanks to new part-owner Brett Wilson, the team will have a tough time retaining a long free agent list, including Weber, Suter, Jordin Tootoo and the deadline rentals.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Gifted offensive defenseman Ryan Ellis, ranked No. 11 overall in Future Watch, bounced between Nashville and AHL Milwaukee in his rookie year, but will play a major role filling any void left by Weber and/or Suter. 2013-14: Hulking winger Austin Watson will surely spend his first pro season filling out his 6-foot-4 frame, but the American national junior team standout will be ready after that.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-04110/9861318-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="273" height="159"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksP. Hornqvist, 230 in &rsquo;05A. Lindback, 207 in &rsquo;08Craig Smith, 98 in &rsquo;09Cody Franson, 79 in &rsquo;05Cal O&rsquo;Reilly, 150 in &rsquo;05Mattias Ekholm, 102 in &rsquo;09Not So ShrewdChet Pickard, 18 in &rsquo;08Ryan Parent, 18 in &rsquo;05<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsJonathon Blum, D, 23Jack Hillen, D, 26Sergei Kostitsyn, LW, 25Anders Lindback, G, 24Alexander Radulov, RW, 25Shea Weber, D, 26Colin Wilson, C, 22UFAsFrancis Bouillon, D, 36Paul Gaustad, C, 30Hal Gill, D, 37Andrei Kostitsyn, LW, 27Brian McGrattan, RW, 30Ryan Suter, D, 27Jordin Tootoo, RW, 29Brandon Yip, RW, 27 &#9632;

f0057-03

MUSICAL CHAIRS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RONNIE SHUKER</div>THE DETROIT RED WINGS notwithstanding, New Jersey has been the most successful NHL franchise (on-ice, that is) over the past two decades. Consistency has been the Devils&rsquo; M.O. under GM Lou Lamoriello, backed by goalie Martin Brodeur, with protection from a solid &lsquo;D&rsquo; corps and fronted with a scoring-by-committee group of forwards. With Brodeur on his way out and the defense lacking star power, at least until Adam Larsson develops more, the blueprint is now in transition.SHORT-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Brodeur&rsquo;s second-half surge will help him cajole a one- or two-year contract out of Lamoriello, but the Devils still must search for a suitable successor. If Zach Parise leaves in the summer, his replacement won&rsquo;t come from within &ndash; the team&rsquo;s top six prospects are either blueliners or stoppers.LONG-TERM NEEDS The bottom six forwards aren&rsquo;t what they used to be when the &lsquo;Demons&rsquo; boasted outstanding checkers like John Madden and Jay Pandolfo. These days the group is a revolving door of retreads, rookies and goons. New Jersey needs to solidify its third and fourth lines to give the top two more support.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02179/9861363-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">ADAM LARSSON (LARSSON: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION The Devils have a little more than $42 million tied up for 2012-13, but most of their horses are signed through next season. Retaining Parise will suck upwards of $8 million, but Brodeur&rsquo;s salary will shrink if he stays, leaving the Red Devils plenty of green to spend.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: The top three prospects (Jon Merrill, Alexander Urbom and Eric Gelinas) are all defensemen and with Adam Larsson already eating up big minutes, the Devils are well on their way to re-studding their blueline. 2013-14: The most glaring gap is in goal. Scott Wedgewood is the long-term heir-apparent, but he&rsquo;s nowhere near a sure thing. Undrafted project Keith Kinkaid is older and will be ready to step between the NHL pipes sooner.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01266/9861356-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="173" height="174"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksAdam Henrique, 82 in &rsquo;08Mark Fayne, 155 in &rsquo;05Matt Halischuk, 117 in &rsquo;07Patrice Cormier, 54 in &rsquo;08Not So Shrewdforfeited, 69 in &rsquo;11Matt Corrente, 30 in &rsquo;06Jeff Frazee, 38 in &rsquo;05Brandon Burlon, 52 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsMatt Corrente, D, 23Mark Fayne, D, 25Matthew Taormina, D, 25UFAsMartin Brodeur, G, 40Steve Bernier, RW, 27Ryan Carter, C, 28Johan Hedberg, G, 39Cam Janssen, RW, 28Brad Mills, C, 29Zach Parise, LW, 27A. Ponikarovsky, LW, 32Bryce Salvador, D, 36Tim Sestito, C, 27Petr Sykora, RW, 35 &#9632;

f0058-02

NEW ERA IN NEW JERSEY

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RS</div>NO ONE REALLY KNOWS what the organizational philosophy is on Long Island with Charles Wang cutting the checks. But GM Garth Snow has organized the chaos and stocked up on talent. In John Tavares, the Islanders have their superstar in stead, backed by young pivots Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson and flanked by a cadre of skilled wingers. But the Isles are the Oilers of the East in that most of their prime prospects are forwards.SHORT-TERM NEEDS By re-signing Evgeni Nabokov, the Isles have the stability in net (at least for one year) they&rsquo;ve lacked since Rick DiPietro turned to glass. But until they fix their woeful blueline they&rsquo;ll languish near the bottom in goals against and remain in the Atlantic cellar, as they have the past five seasons.LONG-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;There&rsquo;s plenty of slickness up front, but the team needs more sandpaper, so some power forwards will have to emerge or be groomed. Kyle Okposo still has that potential and Nino Niederreiter has some grit, but neither is close to a proven commodity.CAP SITUATION&nbsp;There is a little more than $36 million committed for 2012-13 and all but the DiPietro albatross and Alexei Yashin&rsquo;s buyout is well spent. Most of the top talent is secure for many seasons at reasonable cap hits, leaving plenty of space to shore up the &lsquo;D.&rsquo; However, with the arena situation still in flux, management will continue operating on a tight budget.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0480/9861401-1-eng-US/f0058-042.jpg" title="f0058-04" width="868" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN TAVARES (VARES: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Niederreiter will stick next season, as will Strome. Calvin de Haan is ready after a year in the AHL, but defensemen take longer to develop. 2013-14: One of Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson will push for the backup goalie job, but both could use another year of AHL seasoning since they&rsquo;re both just 22. D-man Scott Mayfield is a year or two away, while the eccentric Kirill Kabanov will surely play a year of minor pro coming out the Quebec League if he doesn&rsquo;t bolt for Kontinental League money.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-03104/9861394-1-eng-US/f0058-032.jpg" title="f0058-03" width="174" height="168"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksA. MacDonald, 160 in &rsquo;06Travis Hamonic, 53 in &rsquo;08Matt Martin, 148 in &rsquo;08J. Spurgeon, 156 in &rsquo;08Kevin Poulin, 126 in &rsquo;08Not So ShrewdRyan O&rsquo;Marra, 15 in &rsquo;05Corey Trivino, 36 in &rsquo;08Nino Niederreiter, 5 in &rsquo;10<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsMatt Martin, LW, 23Rhett Rakhshani, RW, 24Ty Wishart, D, 24UFAsJeremy Colliton, C, 27Mark Eaton, D, 35Trevor Gilles, LW, 33Milan Jurcina, D, 29Al Montoya, G, 27Jay Pandolfo, LW, 37P-A Parenteau, RW, 29Dylan Reese, D, 27Steve Staios, D, 38 &#9632;

f0058-04

DEFENSE MECHANISM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RS</div>IT&rsquo;S BEEN A FEW YEARS since GM Glen Sather stopped trading away picks and prospects, abandoned his build-through-free-agency philosophy and allowed his young core to develop. He continues to stock up on talent and, unlike before, refuses to part with his best prospects for seasoned veterans, as the death of the Rick Nash deal at the trade deadline showed. He now only adds big-name free agents as parts to fit into the whole instead of as blocks to build around.SHORT-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;The Blueshirts are set in goal with Henrik Lundqvist and the blueline is solid with Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Michael Del Zotto all 28 or younger. What the Rangers need is scoring depth, particularly on the wings. Marian Gaborik is their only true sniper and most of the other wingers are muckers.LONG-TERM NEEDS Lundqvist is only 30 and will remain an elite goaltender for years to come. But New York would do well to put a plan in place to avoid the problem New Jersey faces, with Martin Brodeur on his way out and no stud prospect to replace him. Scott Stajcer is the Rangers&rsquo; top &rsquo;tending prospect (the team&rsquo;s No. 8 in Future Watch).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-01215/9861439-1-eng-US/f0059-012.jpg" title="f0059-01" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO (DEL ZOTTO: LANCE THOMSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION There&rsquo;s $48 million banked for next season and only Del Zotto is a priority to retain, though the Rangers would like to keep UFAs Brandon Prust and Martin Biron. Most of the cap space will be left open for Nash if they decide to pursue him again after the season ends or to sign another sniper in the summer.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: If Tim Erixon isn&rsquo;t shipped to Columbus as part of a Nash deal, he&rsquo;ll break camp on the final &lsquo;D&rsquo; pairing. Menacing Dylan McIlrath will push him for that spot. 2013-14: The Rangers refused to part with left winger Chris Kreider in the Nash sweepstakes and for good reason &ndash; he&rsquo;s got elite power forward potential. Expect the Boston College junior, ranked 23rd overall in Future Watch, to get a year of AHL seasoning before making it in Manhattan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0059-02140/9861432-1-eng-US/f0059-022.jpg" title="f0059-02" width="175" height="169"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksDerek Stepan, 51 in &rsquo;08Marc Staal, 12 in &rsquo;05Carl Hagelin, 168 in &rsquo;07Artem Anisimov, 54 in &rsquo;06M. Del Zotto, 20 in &rsquo;08Not So ShrewdBob Sanguinetti, 21 in &rsquo;06Dylan McIlrath, 10 in &rsquo;10Antoine Lafleur, 48 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsStu Bickel, D, 25Michael Del Zotto, D, 22Chad Johnson, G, 26Anton Stralman, D, 25UFAsMartin Biron, G, 34Andre Deveaux, RW, 28Steve Eminger, D, 28Ruslan Fedotenko, LW, 33John Mitchell, C, 27Kris Newbury, C, 30Brandon Prust, RW, 28Jeff Woywitka, D, 28 &#9632;

f0059-01

PATIENCE PAYING OFF

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RS</div>THE FLYERS&rsquo; PHILOSOPHY had long been to load up with expensive firepower on the front lines, stock the blueline with big bodies and hope for an unlikely savior in goal. GM Paul Holmgren finally jettisoned that blueprint by signing Ilya Bryzgalov and shipping out Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. In the process, he shifted to a reliance on youth to fill out the scoring. Last season, the Flyers had zero goals from its freshman. In 2011-12, their rookies scored more than 50. And Philadelphia isn&rsquo;t shy about letting its young players, like Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn, learn their craft on the third and fourth lines instead of in the minors.SHORT-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Management must tend to the blueline with Chris Pronger&rsquo;s career in jeopardy and Kimmo Timonen pushing 40. The desperate additions of pending free agents Pavel Kubina and Nicklas Grossmann showed the lack of depth at the position and a lack of confidence in youngsters Erik Gustafsson and Oliver Lauridsen.LONG-TERM NEEDS Bryzgalov is signed for eight more years, but the Flyers must somehow learn to draft and groom top-notch goaltenders. Sergei Bobrovsky has promise, but it&rsquo;s doubtful management sees him as anything more than a solid backup after signing &lsquo;Bryz.&rsquo; Philly hasn&rsquo;t drafted and developed an elite goalie since Ron Hextall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-02132/9861515-1-eng-US/f0060-022.jpg" title="f0060-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">SEAN COUTURIER (COUTURIER: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION Almost $59 million is tied up for next season, leaving the Flyers little room for moves. They&rsquo;ll focus on re-signing Matt Carle and bringing back Jaromir Jagr, assuming he&rsquo;s game for another season. If they&rsquo;re to shore up the blueline, it&rsquo;ll have to happen via trade.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Should Gustafsson not make the club, he&rsquo;ll be considered a bust. Eric Wellwood and Ben Holmstrom will step in if management deals a young forward for a D-man. 2013-14: This is the target season for Lauridsen&rsquo;s arrival. Couturier made the club as an 18-year-old, so it&rsquo;s possible for the Ken Linsemanlike Nick Cousins to crack the bottom-six as a 19-year-old next season, but 2013-14 is more likely.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-01215/9861508-1-eng-US/f0060-012.jpg" title="f0060-01" width="228" height="160"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksClaude Giroux, 22 in &rsquo;06Steve Downie, 29 in &rsquo;05Zac Rinaldo, 178 in &rsquo;08Eric Wellwood, 172 in &rsquo;09Sean Couturier, 8 in &rsquo;11Not So ShrewdKevin Marshall, 41 in &rsquo;07Mike Ratchuk, 42 in &rsquo;06Denis Bodrov, 55 in &rsquo;06<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsM-A Bourdon, D, 22Ben Holmstrom, C, 25Tom Sestito, LW, 24Jacob Voracek, RW, 22Harry Zolnierczyk, LW, 24UFAsBlair Betts, C, 32Matt Carle, D, 27Jaromir Jagr, RW, 40Pavel Kubina, D, 35Ian Laperriere, RW, 38Michael Leighton, G, 31 &#9632;

f0060-02

PHILLY HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div>WHEN THE YOTES are healthy, they&rsquo;re a grizzled, veteranladen team. Though several youngsters have been given bigger roles (most notably defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson), it&rsquo;s still players such as Ray Whitney, Radim Vrbata and Keith Yandle that run the show. Recent first-rounders Peter Mueller and Kyle Turris have already been traded, while Viktor Tikhonov is back in Russia. Defense and grit have been hallmarks of the past few drafts.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Nobody on Phoenix scores very much &ndash; the team does it by committee &ndash; and it lacks a highend talent who can do so now or in the future. Since the Dogs are succeeding, they don&rsquo;t need to push the matter, but an elite sniper via the draft wouldn&rsquo;t be a bad idea.LONG-TERM NEEDS More scoring. Seriously though, the Coyotes have a wealth of defensive prospects who bring various goodies to the table, with David Rundblad already getting his bearings in North America and more to follow. Bangers and grinders are there and goaltending is sewn up both now (Mike Smith) and later (Mark Visentin).CAP SITUATION Finances are always a hot-button issue for the Yotes, so it&rsquo;s no surprise they enter 2011-12 with (cough) flexibility. They have $33.9 million committed to 16 players, but many key vets are unaccounted for. Captain Shane Doan needs a new pact to stay with the only group he&rsquo;s ever known, while Whitney, Daymond Langkow and Adrian Aucoin are also up for sale. It&rsquo;s all well and good if GM Don Maloney plans on starting a youth movement, but that would be a serious about-face.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0467/9861553-1-eng-US/f0060-042.jpg" title="f0060-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON (EKMAN-LARSSON: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: The back-end pipeline is a strength and several players will get a crack next year. Steady Brandon Gormley will have a Memorial Cup tourney under his belt coming out of junior, while hard-hitting Max Goncharov has served an ample training period in the AHL. 2013-14: Power forward Chris Brown is expected to leave Michigan a year early, but a stint in the &lsquo;A&rsquo; would do him well first.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0060-0394/9861546-1-eng-US/f0060-032.jpg" title="f0060-03" width="188" height="188"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksKeith Yandle, 105 in &rsquo;05Benn Ferriero, 196 in &rsquo;06Max Goncharov, 123 in &rsquo;07B. Gormley, 13 in &rsquo;10Not So ShrewdNick Ross, 30 in &rsquo;07Chris Summers, 29 in &rsquo;06Viktor Tikhonov, 28 in &rsquo;08Jared Staal, 49 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsGilbert Brule, C, 25Kyle Chipchura, C, 26Chris Summers, D, 24UFAsAdrian Aucoin, D, 38Shane Doan, RW, 35Daymond Langkow, C, 35M-A Pouliot, C, 27Taylor Pyatt, LW, 30Michal Rozsival, D, 33Kurt Sauer, D, 31Ray Whitney, LW, 40 &#9632;

f0060-04

DOGS LACK BITE UP FRONT

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RS</div>GM RAY SHERO likes the 3-2-1 approach: three strong centers (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal), two top D-men (Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik) and one stellar goal-tender (Marc-Andre Fleury). He relies on his scouting staff to round out the roster with shrewd free agent signings and the lesser lights of the draft. Signing James Neal was the first time Shero allocated long-term money to a winger.SHORT-TERM NEEDS The wings have been a patchwork product for the Penguins since the lockout and they haven&rsquo;t had a big body flanking their star centers since Ryan Malone. Pittsburgh depends on Detroit-like team toughness instead of sheer brawn, but it still needs more sandpaper to support the speed and finesse of its stars.LONG-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Fleury is only 27, so there&rsquo;s no pressing need in net. On &lsquo;D,&rsquo; Simon Despres, Joe Morrow and Scott Harrington are on the way. But the Pens haven&rsquo;t drafted a high-ceiling forward since Staal in 2006. Beau Bennett has skill and Eric Tangradi has size (6-foot-4, 211 pounds). Combining the two would result in the coveted power forward, but they&rsquo;ll have to just hope Bennett fills out his 6-foot-1, 173-pound frame or Tangradi finds his hands.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-01198/9861591-1-eng-US/f0061-012.jpg" title="f0061-01" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAMES NEAL (NEAL: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION Close to $60 million is accounted for next season, but Shero&rsquo;s summer to-do list is short. Everyone of significance is inked, so he&rsquo;ll only have to sign restricted free agents Tangradi and goalie Brad Thiessen. Shero will also look at retaining unrestricted free agent Steve Sullivan, but only if it&rsquo;s on the cheap.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Despres saw time with the big club when Letang was out and impressed enough to stick next season. Tangradi didn&rsquo;t do so as much, but his big body should land him on the fourth line. 2013-14: Morrow pushed hard to make the club out of camp, but Pittsburgh did the right thing returning him to junior. He could see action next year, but with the Pens&rsquo; top-four &lsquo;D&rsquo; already set, a year of seasoning with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL is the best bet.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-02135/9861584-1-eng-US/f0061-022.jpg" title="f0061-02" width="190" height="178"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksKris Letang, 62 in &rsquo;05Dustin Jeffrey, 171 in &rsquo;07Joe Vitale, 195 in &rsquo;05Joe Morrow, 23 in &rsquo;11Simon Despres, 30 in &rsquo;09Not So ShrewdAngelo Esposito, 20 in &rsquo;07Carl Sneep, 32 in &rsquo;06Keven Veilleux, 51 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsMatt Niskanen, D, 25Cal O&rsquo;Reilly, C, 25Brian Strait, D, 24Brad Thiessen, G, 26UFAsArron Asham, RW, 34Brent Johnson, G, 35Steve MacIntyre, LW, 31Richard Park, RW, 36Steve Sullivan, LW, 37Jason Williams, RW, 31 &#9632;

f0061-01

PENGUINS SPREAD WINGS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ML</div>WITH TASKMASTER Ken Hitchcock shepherding all their young talent, the Blues realized their potential in 2011-12. They&rsquo;re already a dominant team, but their success is largely tied to outstanding defense and goaltending. The next step is bolstering an underachieving offense.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Though they&rsquo;re built to compete in the long term, the Blues are also good enough to win now. In case top prospects Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz aren&rsquo;t ready for major roles, St. Louis will seek scoring help in free agency. There&rsquo;s a good chance the Blues will lose some seasoned defenseman with Barret Jackman, Carlo Colaiacovo and Kent Huskins hitting free agency. It won&rsquo;t be disastrous if that happens, as they&rsquo;ve built an excellent young blueline around Alex Pietrangelo, but it never hurts to have an experienced mentor. Look for St. Louis to also add a wily vet or two up front if Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner go elsewhere or retire.LONG-TERM NEEDS The Blues are set in goal with Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott and have drafted plenty of safe, reliable top-six forwards in recent years, but those guys &ndash; the David Perrons and T.J. Oshies &ndash; don&rsquo;t have superstar ceilings. Tarasenko does, but he&rsquo;s no sure thing. Now is the time for St. Louis to target high-risk, high-reward forwards at the draft. The Blues also wouldn&rsquo;t mind another &lsquo;D&rsquo; prospect to eventually complement Pietrangelo.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0396/9861629-1-eng-US/f0061-032.jpg" title="f0061-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEX PIETRANGELO (PIETRANGELO: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION&nbsp;St. Louis has plenty of cap space, but will need it for restricted free agents Perron and Oshie (plus Chris Stewart). There will be money left for a free agent, but the Blues rarely pursue big fish.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: If Tarasenko comes to North America, he can make the team and challenge for the Calder Trophy, but it&rsquo;s no guarantee he leaves the Kontinental League. Center Jaden Schwartz&rsquo;s late-season call-up bodes well for him being an everyday player next year. 2013-14: Ty Rattie, a mega-scorer in junior, will be a Blue after one more year of filling out.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0061-0479/9861622-1-eng-US/f0061-042.jpg" title="f0061-04" width="209" height="169"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksT.J. Oshie, 24 in &rsquo;05David Perron, 26 in &rsquo;07V. Tarasenko, 16 in &rsquo;10Ryan Reaves, 156 in &rsquo;05Not So ShrewdTomas Kana, 31 in &rsquo;06Scott Jackson, 37 in &rsquo;05Erik Johnson, 1 in &rsquo;06S. Hjalmarsson, 39 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsT.J. Oshie, C, 25David Perron, LW, 24Chris Stewart, RW, 24UFAsJason Arnott, C, 37J. Cheechoo, RW, 31Carlo Colaiacovo, D, 29Kent Huskins, D, 33Barret Jackman, D, 31J. Langenbrunner, RW, 36Scott Nichol, C, 37Chris Porter, LW, 28Brett Sterling, LW, 28Danny Syvret, D, 27 &#9632;

f0061-03

DONE SINGIN’ THE BLUES

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div>THE LAST FIRST ROUND draft pick the Sharks cashed in on was Logan Couture in 2007. Finishing second in 2011 Calder Trophy voting helped the two-way pivot prove that selection to be great, but since then GM Doug Wilson has either traded away early picks or, in the case of Charlie Coyle (2010), made the pick, then dealt the player later. The &ldquo;win now&rdquo; philosophy is beginning to catch up with the franchise and the cupboards are looking pretty bare.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Scoring has become a problem for the formerly high-flying Sharks. What&rsquo;s particularly tough to stomach is the fact Jamie McGinn scored in bunches as soon as he was traded to Colorado. The third and fourth lines have been a graveyard for offense, while only juggling up top kept the big guns from falling silent.LONG-TERM NEEDS High-end skill up front will become a glaring need once the Joe Thornton-Patrick Marleau era winds down. That lack of first-rounders and the Coyle trade left the Sharks system with no elite talents and including Michael Sgarbossa and Mike Connolly in the McGinn package (Daniel Winnik and T.J. Galiardi came back in the deal) meant two more underrated prospects went out the door.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-02122/9861667-1-eng-US/f0062-022.jpg" title="f0062-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">LOGAN COUTURE (COUTURE: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION With $55 million committed to 14 players next season, the Sharks have tough choices to make in the off-season. All the team&rsquo;s stars (including Thornton, Marleau, Couture and Dan Boyle) are locked down, but that&rsquo;s a double-edged sword: Oft-injured Martin Havlat will be owed $5 million per for three more years, while Brent Burns is about to enter his new deal ($5.7-million cap hit until 2016-17).IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Big expectations come with defenseman Nick Petrecki, who brings size and physicality, but not much offense. 2013-14: The one thing San Jose knows is goaltending and backup Thomas Greiss will be challenged by Alex Stalock, Tyson Sexsmith and Harri Sateri in the near future. Sexsmith has the edge and brings a winning junior pedigree.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0062-01214/9861660-1-eng-US/f0062-012.jpg" title="f0062-01" width="211" height="176"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksM-E Vlasic, 35 in &rsquo;05Logan Couture, 9 in &rsquo;07Justin Braun, 201 in &rsquo;07Jason Demers, 186 in &rsquo;08Charlie Coyle, 28 in &rsquo;10Nick Bonino, 173 in &rsquo;07Tommy Wingels, 177 in &rsquo;08Not So ShrewdTy Wishart, 16 in &rsquo;06<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsJustin Braun, D, 25Andrew Desjardins, C, 25Benn Ferriero, RW, 25T.J. Galiardi, LW, 24Tommy Wingels, C, 24UFAsTorrey Mitchell, C, 27Dominic Moore, C, 31Jim Vandermeer, D, 32Colin White, D, 34Brad Winchester, LW, 31Daniel Winnik, LW, 27 &#9632;

f0062-02

SHARKS’ TANK ALMOST EMPTY

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AP</div>THE MAPLE LEAFS looked well on their way to ending their six-season playoff drought before a February tailspin knocked them back into draft lottery territory. Veteran GM Brian Burke and his large management group have improved Toronto&rsquo;s cache of prospects, but as evidenced by their 20th-place finish in Future Watch, the Leafs aren&rsquo;t exactly teeming with young, high-end talent.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Scoring wasn&rsquo;t a problem for the Leafs. A porous defense and inconsistent goaltending were. Burke will address those problems partly through trades and free agency, but Toronto brass also realizes the organization has a short- and long-term need to keep building its group of prospects &ndash; and the February collapse showed the Leafs need depth on the blueline and in net the most.LONG-TERM NEEDS Toronto has only two players ranked in Future Watch&rsquo;s top 50 NHL prospects &ndash; AHL center Joe Colborne (18th) and big-bodied right winger Carter Ashton (37th, acquired at the 2012 trade deadline for defenseman Keith Aulie) &ndash; and still doesn&rsquo;t have a franchise-cornerstonetype young forward in the mix. Many believe that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s keeping the Leafs from taking the next step, but with the opportunity for a top-five pick in 2012, they may finally choose that route.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-01161/9861743-1-eng-US/f0063-012.jpg" title="f0063-01" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAKE GARDINER (GARDINER: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CAP SITUATION&nbsp;Toronto has more than $59 million committed to 19 players next season, leaving little cap space to pursue top free agents. Goalie Jonas Gustavsson is one of three unrestricted free agents, while forwards Nikolai Kulemin and Matt Frattin and defenseman Cody Franson head up the list of restricted free agents.IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Colborne and Ashton played NHL games this season and will get long looks in camp. Toronto also believes 24-year-old D-man Korbinian Holzer is ready. 2013-14: Jake Gardiner&rsquo;s emergence has taken pressure off 21-year-old offense-minded blueliner Jesse Blacker, who will stay in the AHL in 2012-13 and try for an NHL job the following season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-02105/9861736-1-eng-US/f0063-022.jpg" title="f0063-02" width="164" height="176"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksTuukka Rask, 21 in &rsquo;05Viktor Stalberg, 161 in &rsquo;06C. Gunnarsson, 194 in &rsquo;07Anton Stralman, 216 in &rsquo;05Nikolai Kulemin, 44 in &rsquo;06James Reimer, 99 in &rsquo;06Not So ShrewdKenny Ryan, 50 in &rsquo;09Luke Schenn, 5 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsCody Franson, D, 24Matt Frattin, RW, 24Korbinian Holzer, D, 24Nikolai Kulemin, RW, 25Jay Rosehill, LW, 26Ben Scrivens, G, 25UFAsJoey Crabb, RW, 29Philippe Dupuis, C, 27Jeff Finger, D, 32Jonas Gustavsson, G, 27Ryan Hamilton, LW, 27 &#9632;

f0063-01

THE WAIT CONTINUES

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BC</div>IT&rsquo;S TOUGH TO REMEMBER the era when the Vancouver Canucks were always one of the front tables at the draft. In their first 22 seasons, the Canucks drafted in the top 10 an amazing 18 times, including nine times in the top four. But in the 20 drafts since, Vancouver has had just six top-10 picks and half of those were at No. 10. That&rsquo;s just fine for GM Mike Gillis. Late picks mean on-ice success.SHORT-TERM NEEDS Sami Salo and Aaron Rome are both unrestricted free agents and if Gillis isn&rsquo;t able to retain them, he&rsquo;ll need to find replacements or lean more on Chris Tanev and Keith Ballard. A greater need for Gillis will be finding a way for Ballard and his three remaining years at $4.2 million to go away.LONG-TERM NEEDS&nbsp;Because of their dearth of early picks in the past decade, the Canucks have a sparse development system. Right winger Nicklas Jensen, selected 29th overall last year, is their only top - 75 prospect in Future Watch and the Canucks group as a whole ranks just 27th.CAP SITUATION It&rsquo;s not going to be a busy off-season for Gillis. The Canucks have just $9.2 million coming off the books and some of that will be earmarked for Salo and/or Rome. Of the remainder, Cory Schneider and Marc-Andre Gragnani will want significant raises and Mason Raymond will surely be qualified. The wildcard is whether or not Schneider is traded. If so, the salary cap will dictate if the club goes after prospects and draft picks rather than proven players with big tickets.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0369/9861781-1-eng-US/f0063-032.jpg" title="f0063-03" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">CORY SCHNEIDER (SCHNEIDER: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: Tanev will step into a top-six role on the blueline. His apprenticeship has been slow, but dictated mainly by numbers. With Schneider potentially on the move, Eddie Lack will assume the backup role and play in the neighborhood of 15-20 games. 2013-14: Jordan Schroeder hasn&rsquo;t been a big point producer in two AHL seasons, but he is a skilled, undersized center who will fill the role vacated when Cody Hodgson was traded to Buffalo.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0063-0449/9861774-1-eng-US/f0063-042.jpg" title="f0063-04" width="186" height="179"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksMason Raymond, 51 in &rsquo;05Michael Grabner, 14 in &rsquo;06Frank Corrado, 150 in &rsquo;11Adam Polasek, 145 in &rsquo;10Not So ShrewdPatrick White, 25 in &rsquo;07Taylor Ellington, 33 in &rsquo;07J. Schroeder, 22 in &rsquo;09Yann Sauve, 41 in &rsquo;08<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsM-Andre Gragnani, D, 25Eddie Lack, G, 24Victor Oreskovich, RW, 25Ryan Parent, D, 25Mason Raymond, LW, 26Cory Schneider, G, 26Dale Weise, RW, 23UFAsByron Bitz, RW, 27Andrew Ebbett, C, 29Mark Mancari, RW, 26Samuel Pahlsson, C, 34Steve Reinprecht, C, 36Aaron Rome, D, 28Sami Salo, D, 37Aaron Volpatti, LW, 27 &#9632;

f0063-03

PROSPECTS ON BACK-BURNER

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RB</div>GEORGE MCPHEE&rsquo;S well-rounded drafting has given the talented Capitals a surprisingly stable pipeline. With the goalie market cornered, the GM can turn his efforts toward bolstering his blueline or adding more prolific scorers to the many forwards he has in the system. Washington&rsquo;s tactics have created an AHL team constantly challenging for the Calder Cup in the Hershey Bears.SHORT-TERM NEEDS The Caps have scoring figured out, though if Alexander Semin leaves town, they hope top prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov bolts from the Kontinental League to make his NHL debut. The defense will also need to be addressed as Tom Poti is all but retired and Roman Hamrlik is more of a liability. Dennis Wideman&rsquo;s unrestricted free agent status also leaves the team with a question mark.LONG-TERM NEEDS Tomas Vokoun was a Band-Aid in net. The Capitals still need a sure thing between the pipes for the long haul. Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby are promising, but have had their share of hiccups, so it&rsquo;s still unclear which, if either, will ascend to the No. 1 job.CAP SITUATION Washington is capped out and will have some difficult off-season decisions to make. Semin&rsquo;s future is up in the air after he signed back-to-back one-year deals, while veterans Mike Knuble and Jeff Halpern could easily walk. There&rsquo;s no way Tomas Vokoun signs for just $1.5 million again. One thing is for sure: not all the Caps&rsquo; UFAs will return.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-02106/9861819-1-eng-US/f0064-022.jpg" title="f0064-02" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXANDER SEMIN (SEMIN: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: If Kuznetsov gets out of the KHL, Washington will give him every opportunity to make the team rather than sending him to the AHL and risk him second-guessing his decision. Cody Eakin joined the team for spurts and will be a full-timer, while Dmitri Orlov played his way onto the squad for good. 2013-14: Stanislav Galiev didn&rsquo;t see any point production improvement in an injury-shortened season, but he was a goal-scorer in junior and will be given a shot after a season in the minors.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-01173/9861812-1-eng-US/f0064-012.jpg" title="f0064-01" width="238" height="149"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksE. Kuznetsov, 26 in &rsquo;10M. Perreault, 177 in &rsquo;06John Carlson, 27 in &rsquo;08Michal Neuvirth, 34 in &rsquo;06Not So ShrewdSasha Pokulok, 14 in &rsquo;05A. Gustafsson, 21 in &rsquo;08Joe Finley, 27 in &rsquo;05Josh Godfrey, 34 in &rsquo;07<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsJay Beagle, C, 26John Carlson, D, 22Mike Green, D, 26Mathieu Perreault, C, 24UFAsKeith Aucoin, C, 33Jeff Halpern, C, 36Mike Knuble, LW, 39Alex Semin, RW, 28Tomas Vokoun, G, 35Dennis Wideman, D, 29 &#9632;

f0064-02

UNCERTAINTY LOOMS IN D.C.

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RB</div>IT&rsquo;S DIFFICULT TO GAUGE the Jets&rsquo; draft tendencies since the franchise and its management have only been around a year, but six of the seven players the team took in its inaugural draft were Canadian, six stood at least 6-foot-2 and all were playing in North America. The last four first-rounders from the Atlanta era have blossomed.SHORT-TERM NEEDS With such a young team, experience is the biggest ingredient needed in Winnipeg. Only two Jets have Stanley Cup rings and four players are older than 30, none of whom is signed beyond 2012-13. The Jets do have a good foundation at forward, defense and even in goal, where Ondrej Pavelec proved he was a No. 1.LONG-TERM NEEDS Thriving teams usually have big centers and Winnipeg needs one. Nik Antropov plays that role, though he was demoted to the fourth line late in the season. Youngsters Mark Scheifele and Ivan Telegin will one day fill that void. Patrice Cormier also has a big body, but is more of a checker than a top-liner.CAP SITUATION&nbsp;The Jets have a lot of cap space, but RFAs Pavelec and Evander Kane need hefty raises. With numerous depth forwards up for renewal, the Jets will choose to create space for free agent acquisitions and prospects or stick with what they have. Judging by how popular the &ldquo;GST&rdquo; line was among fans, they&rsquo;ll keep Tanner Glass and Jim Slater to play with Chris Thorburn.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-0443/9861857-1-eng-US/f0064-042.jpg" title="f0064-04" width="870" height="651"><figcaption class="caption-body">EVANDER KANE (KANE: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN THE SYSTEM&nbsp;2012-13: It&rsquo;s time Cormier made a splash. The Devils&rsquo; 2008 second-rounder brings size and snarl. He didn&rsquo;t score much in the AHL, but he&rsquo;s a valued character player. Paul Postma had a strong offensive year in the AHL, though the Jets&rsquo; blueline is crowded and there&rsquo;s a chance he&rsquo;s held back. 2013-14: Carl Klingberg had a solid North American debut and flashed offense that wasn&rsquo;t evident in Sweden. Jason Gregoire lost part of his season to a knee injury, but he&rsquo;s an intriguing prospect and a Winnipeg native, which can&rsquo;t be overlooked when projecting his future.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0064-0359/9861850-1-eng-US/f0064-032.jpg" title="f0064-03" width="182" height="183"></div><h2>POST-LOCKOUT DRAFT REVIEW</h2>Shrewd PicksOndrej Pavelec, 41 in &rsquo;05Paul Postma, 205 in &rsquo;07Arturs Kulda, 200 in &rsquo;06Not So ShrewdAlex Bourret, 16 in &rsquo;05Daultan Leveille, 29 in &rsquo;08Riley Holzapfel, 43 in &rsquo;06Chad Denny, 49 in &rsquo;05Andrew Kozek, 53 in &rsquo;05<h3>FREE AGENTS</h3>RFAsEric Fehr, RW, 26Evander Kane, RW, 20S. Machacek, RW, 23Ben Maxwell, C, 24Ondrej Pavelec, G, 24UFAsMark Flood, D, 27Tanner Glass, LW, 28Randy Jones, D, 30Chris Mason, G, 36Jim Slater, C, 29Tim Stapleton, C, 29Kyle Wellwood, C, 29 &#9632;

f0064-04

ALMOST READY FOR TAKEOFF

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-01169/9861888-1-eng-US/f0066-012.jpg" title="f0066-01" width="970" height="962"><figcaption class="caption-body">SETH JONES(JONES: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES;)</figcaption></div>Seth Jones is always prepared. His October birthday means he&rsquo;ll wait an extra year before becoming eligible for the draft. Playing up with national team development program&rsquo;s under-18 team gave him a legitimate shot at making Team USA&rsquo;s national junior team this season. His birthright as the son of ex-NBA player Popeye Jones is that lessons in being an elite athlete are burned in: &ldquo;Nothing comes easy,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;Nothing is going to be handed to you on a platter. It&rsquo;s what people don&rsquo;t see, what you do in practice, that matters.&rdquo;Jones just makes it look easy. Already 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he brings so many looks to the blueline that his coach struggles to single out a strength. &ldquo;I can just say &lsquo;everything,&rsquo;&rdquo; said Danton Cole. &ldquo;He passes well, he shoots well, he has a knack for knowing when to make a play and when to jump into the rush. On the defensive end, he sees the game. He&rsquo;s not overly physical, but he plays the body.&rdquo;Though he was born in Texas, Jones spent his formative years in Colorado, where he became a big Avs fan. His model NHLer, however, comes from the Red Wings. &ldquo;Nick Lidstrom,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that&rsquo;s lofty, but the way he plays the game, he keeps it simple.&rdquo;Recently, Jones&rsquo; life has been rather complex. As the best American prospect yet to commit to a college, the big defender was being courted by the Western League&rsquo;s Everett Silvertips, which hold his major junior rights, and a number of NCAA schools, most notably North Dakota. Jones sees the benefit of both routes. &ldquo;With Everett, there&rsquo;s more games played,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a similar schedule to the NHL. College would be more developmental. You live in a dorm and you have to grow up a little.&rdquo;Wherever he ends up, it won&rsquo;t be for long. Only a shoulder separation kept Jones off Team USA&rsquo;s national junior squad as a 17-year-old and big expectations have not fazed him. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a lot on him, but he&rsquo;s a uniquely prepared young man,&rdquo; Cole said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t let anything become a distraction.&rdquo;<h2>1. Seth Jones, D, 6-3, 200</h2>U.S. NTDP (USHL), 46-5-18-23-18A well-rounded defenseman one scout compared to Larry Robinson.<h2>2. Nathan MacKinnon, C, 5-11,179</h2>Halifax (QMJHL), 58-31-47-78-45All-around offensive terror is already the center of the Herd&rsquo;s attack.<h2>3. Sean Monahan, C, 6-2, 193</h2>Ottawa (OHL), 62-33-45-78-38Quickly becoming a linchpin for a very good Ottawa attack.<h2>4. Aleksander Barkov, C, 6-2, 205</h2>Tappara (Fin.), 32-7-9-16-4Big kid from Russian stock had great success against men in Finland&rsquo;s top league.<h2>5. Hunter Shinkaruk, C, 5-10, 165</h2>Medicine Hat (WHL), 66-49-42-91-38Another scoring machine, the Tiger does it with vision and hockey IQ.<h2>6. Robert Hagg, D, 6-2, 192</h2>Modo (Swe.), 44-4-13-17-46Tough blueliner was very good in the junior level post-season.<h2>7. Valeri Nichushkin, C, 6-3, 196</h2>Chelyabinsk (Rus.), 38-4-6-10-6Nice finish to his junior campaign; size and smarts his assets.<h2>8. Elias Lindholm, C, 6-0, 183</h2>Brynas (Swe.), 36-14-35-49-45Very successful junior year; great compete level and talent.<h2>9. Adam Erne, RW, 6-0, 206</h2>Quebec (QMJHL), 64-28-27-55-32Great compact frame complements his power forward game.<h2>10. Anthony Duclair, LW, 5-11, 159</h2>Quebec (QMJHL), 63-31-35-66-50Slender playmaker kept it going in the post-season. &#9632;

f0066-01

THE BIG DECISION

HOW VALUABLE do the Green Bay Gamblers think Nick Schmaltz will be? The team orchestrated a huge 4-for-1 deal to get his older brother Jordan, partially in hopes it would sway the younger kin to think hard about the program.The 16-year-old has already played 11 games in the United States League with Green Bay, which convinced him to join full time next season over Team USA&rsquo;s national team development program. A dynamic offensive player with high skill and creativity, Schmaltz makes the players around him better. He&rsquo;s already committed to North Dakota, where older brother Jordan is also headed. &#9632;

FAVORITE FOR 2014

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0066-02105/9861943-1-eng-US/f0066-022.jpg" title="f0066-02" width="544" height="510"><figcaption class="caption-body">CONNOR MCDAVID (MCDAVID: KEN CAMPBELL)</figcaption></div>IT&rsquo;S BEEN a doom-and-gloom year for the Ontario League&rsquo;s Erie Otters. Not only were they the worst team on the circuit, but there was chatter the franchise was moving. And at one point, a center played goalie.But the world got a lot brighter when Connor McDavid was granted &ldquo;exceptional status&rdquo; to play in the OHL, meaning he will join the circuit a year early, just like John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad. McDavid is an all-situations player who earned MVP honors at the OHL Cup this season with a tourney-high 11 goals and 19 points in just seven games. And yes, the Otters took him first overall in April&rsquo;s OHL draft. &#9632;

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