NHL Draft Voting! VOTE NOW!

[Xiomera]

Who had the best draft?

The intent is to build a team that is best able to compete for Championships in the next four years.

The draft will be 22 rounds long. Each team will select 13 forwards, 7 defenseman, and 2 netminders.

Below are the 8 final rosters.

Please vote now!

__________________________________________________ ___________
Team Xiomera

Forward Lines

Brenden Morrow [C] (29) – Henrik Zetterberg [A] (27) – Patrick Kane (19)
Alexander Radulov (22) – Marc Savard (30) – Marian Gaborik (26)
Patrick Sharp (26) – Brad Richards [A] (28) – Johan Franzen (28)
Wojtek Wolski (22) – Jason Arnott (33) – Tomas Holmstrom (35)
Sean Avery (28)

Defensive Pairings

Mike Green (22) – Duncan Keith (24)
Andrej Meszaros (22) – Brad Stuart (28)
Matt Niskanen (21) – Brooks Orpik (27)
Paul Martin (27)

Goaltenders

Henrik Lundqvist (26)
Tomas Vokoun (32)

First Power Play Unit

Tomas Holmstrom – Henrik Zetterberg – Patrick Kane
Mike Green – Brad Richards

Second Power Play Unit

Brenden Morrow – Marc Savard – Marian Gaborik
Matt Niskanen – Andrej Meszaros

First Penalty Kill Unit

Henrik Zetterberg – Patrick Sharp
Duncan Keith – Brad Stuart

Second Penalty Kill Unit

Johan Franzen – Brenden Morrow
Brooks Orpik – Mike Green

Shootout Selections

Patrick Kane
Henrik Zetterberg
Marian GaborikAverage Age - 26.5 years old
__________________________________________________ ___________

Team Sniper

Forwards

Ryan Malone-Pavel Datsyuk-Alex Kovalev (Assistant Captain)
Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Corey Perry
Patrik Elias (Assistant Captain) -Jeff Carter- Drew Stafford
Sergei Kostitsyn-Sam Gagner-Andrei Kostitsyn
T.J Oshie

Defense

Nicklas Lidstrom (Captain) - Jack Johnson
Tomas Kaberle- Marek Zidlicky
Marc-Edouard Vlasic- Dan Boyle
Kris Letang

Goalies
Roberto Luongo
Niklas Backstrom

Power Play Unit #1
Corey Perry-Pavel Datsyuk-Alex Kovalev
Nicklas Lidstrom-Tomas Kaberle

Power Play Unit #2
Daniel Sedin-Henrik Sedin-Patrik Elias
Dan Boyle-Marek Zidlicky

Penalty Kill Unit #1
Ryan Malone-Pavel Datsyuk
Nicklas Lidstrom-Marc-Edouard Vlasic

Penalty Kill Unit #2
Jeff Carter-Andrei Kostitsyn
Dan Boyle-Tomas Kaberle

Shootout Selections
1. Alex Kovalev
2. Pavel Datsyuk
3. Corey Perry

Average age
26.4 years
__________________________________________________ ____________

Team Jensen

Forwards
Alexander Ovechkin (22) - Jason Spezza (25) - Nathan Horton (23)
Alexander Frolov (26) - Paul Stastny (22) - Peter Mueller (20)
Patrick O'Sullivan (23) - Tomas Plekanec (25) - Chris Higgins (25)
Antoine Vermette (25) - Chris Drury (A) (31) - Andrew Cogliano (21)
Kyle Turris (18)

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara (C) (31) - Jay Bouwmeester (24)
Braydon Coburn (23) - Mike Komisarek (26)
Tom Gilbert (25) - Nick Schultz (A) (25)
Mattias Ohlund (31)

Goalies
Evgeni Nabokov (32)
Pascal Leclaire (25)

Power-Play Unit 1
Alexander Ovechkin - Jason Spezza - Nathan Horton
Zdeno Chara - Peter Mueller

Power-Play Unit 2
Alexander Frolov - Paul Stastny - Tomas Plekanec
Tom Gilbert - Jay Bouwmeester

Penalty Kill Unit 1
Antoine Vermette - Chris Drury
Nick Schultz - Mike Komisarek

Penalty Kill Unit 2
Tomas Plekanec - Patrick O'Sullivan
Zdeno Chara - Jay Bouwmeester

Average Age = 24.9
__________________________________________________ ____________

Team DJP

Zach Parise(23) - (C) Sidney Crosby(20) - Brad Boyes(26)
Dustin Brown(23) - Eric Staal(23) - (A) Jason Pominville(25)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard(24) - Anze Kopitar(20) - Nikolai Zherdev(23)
Milan Lucic(20) - (A) Daymond Langkow(31) - Valtteri Filppula(24)
Brandon Dubinsky(22)

Defense

Brent Burns(23) - Andrei Markov(29)
Erik Johnson(20) - Ryan Suter(23)
Joni Pitkanen(24) - Johnny Odouya(25)
Dennis Wideman(25)

Goalies

Miikka Kipprusoff(31)
Kari Lehtonen(24)

Power Play

Anze Kopitar - Sidney Crosby - Jason Pominville
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Andrei Markov

Zach Parise - Eric Staal - Brad Boyes
Brent Burns - Erik Johnson

Penalty Kill

Eric Staal - Jason Pominville
Brent Burns - Erik Johnson

Sidney Crosby - Valterri Filppula
Johnny Odouya - Ryan Suter
__________________________________________________ ____________
Team JF4

Forwards
Simon Gagne - Evgeni Malkin - [C]Daniel Alfredsson
Rick Nash - Ryan Getzlaf - Martin Havlat
Alex Tanguay - Steve Stamkos - [A]Ryan Smyth
Vaclav Prospal - Jordan Staal - Dustin Penner

Patrice Bergeron

Defensemen
[A]Chris Pronger - Niklas Kronwall
Anton Volchenkov - John-Michael Liles
Marc Staal - Lubomir Visnovski

Drew Doughty

Goalies
Martin Brodeur
Carey Price

Powerplay #1
Rick Nash - Evgeni Malkin - Simon Gagne
Chris Pronger - Daniel Alfredsson

Powerplay #2
Ryan Smyth - Ryan Getzlaf - Martin Havlat
John-Michael Liles - Lubomir Visnovski

Penalty Kill #1
Jordan Staal - Ryan Smyth
Chris Pronger - Anton Volchenkov

Penalty Kill #2
Evgeni Malkin - Martin Havlat
John-Michael Liles - Niklas Kronwall

Shootout Lineup
Evgeni Malkin
Rick Nash
Daniel Alfredsson
Simon Gagne
Ryan Getzlaf
__________________________________________________ ____________
Team Familyguy

Dany Heatley - Vincent Lecavalier - Martin St. Louis
Thomas Vanek - Daniel Briere - Jonathan Cheechoo
Kristian Huselius - Patrick Marlaeu - Milan Hejduk
Paul Kariya - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta


Defenders
Sergei Gonchar - Wade Redden
Shea Webber - Francois Beauchemin
Chris Phillips - Sheldon Souray

Goalies
Ryan Miller
Rick DiPietro

Power Play 1
Dany Heatley - Vincent Lecavalier - Kristian Huselius
Sergei Gonchar - Shea Webber

Power Play 2
Martin St. Louis - Daniel Briere - Thomas Vanek
Francois Beauchemin - Chris Phillips

Penalty Kill 1
Brian Gionta - Sergei Gonchar

Penalty Kill 2
Chris Phillips - Milan Hejduk

Captain Vincent Lecavalier
Assistant Sergei Gonchar
Assistant Dany Heatley

Reserve Skaters
Markus Naslund Winger
Mike Fisher C

Shootout
Vincent Lecavalier
Dany Heatley
Daniel Briere
__________________________________________________ ____________
Team Bills2083

Forward Lines
Ilya Kovalchuk (25) - Joe Thornton (29) [C] - Ales Hemsky (24)
Shawn Horcoff (29) - Derek Roy (25) - Shane Doan [A] (31)
Joffrey Lupul (24) - Jonathan Toews (20) - Radim Vrbata (27)
Erik Cole (29) - Paul Gaustad (26) - Tim Connolly (27)
+Martin Erat (26)

Defensive Pairings
Brian Campbell (29) [A] - Ryan Whitney (25)
Brent Seabrook (23) - Tobias Enstrom (23)
Christian Ehrhoff (26) - Dustin Byfuglien (23)
+Joe Corvo (31)

Goalies
J.S. Giguere (31)
+ Peter Budaj (25)

First Powerplay Unit
Kovalchuk - Thornton - Hemsky - Campbell - Whitney

Second Powerplay Unit
Toews - Roy - Connolly - Seabrook - Enstrom

Penalty Kill One
Connolly - Thornton - Campbell - Whitney

Penalty Kill Two
Roy - Gaustad - Seabrook - Enstrom

Shootout Lineup

Ilya Kovalchuk
Joe Thornton
Tim ConnollyAverage Age = 26.27 years old
__________________________________________________ ____________


Team SuperMcGee

Mike Cammalleri - Mike Richards (A) - Jarome Iginla (C)
Milan Michalek - Nicklas Backstrom - Marian Hossa
Alexander Semin - Mike Ribeiro - Olli Jokinen
Chris Kunitz - Mikko Koivu - JP Dumont
...................Kyle Okposo

Dion Phaneuf - Brian Rafalski
Kimmo Timonen (A) - Robyn Regehr
Henrik Tallinder - Dan Hamhuis
............Alexander Edler

Marc-Andre Fleury
Marty Turco


Power Play

Marian Hossa - Nicklas Backstrom - Jarome Iginla
.............Dion Phaneuf - Mike Richards

Alexander Semin - Mike Ribeiro - Olli Jokinen
............Kimmo Timonen - Brian Rafalski


Penalty Kill

Mikko Koivu - Marian Hossa
Dion Phaneuf - Robyn Regehr

Mike Richards - Chris Kunitz
Kimmo Timonen - Dan Hamhuis

[Wootylicous]

This team jensen is scary. I vote for him.

[Sniper]

This team jensen is scary. I vote for him.

You betrayed the Kostitsyns and Kovalev. For shame.

[Bills2083]

Xio, are you going to have another draft after this one is over?
BTW, Bills2083's team is pretty darn tootin' good.

[619]

This team jensen is scary. I vote for him.

I second this thought. Can't really find any holes on this team. All-around very solid and well-built.

[Xiomera]

Xio, are you going to have another draft after this one is over?
BTW, Bills2083's team is pretty darn tootin' good.

I debated whether to do a draft like this one or do an All-Time NHL Players draft with Gretzky, Messier, etc.

That should be the next one we do, though I don't wanna run another one of these soon. I'd participate.

[Xiomera]

It is my personal opinion that the winner of this draft ought to come down to Jensen's team and mine.

I think we've got the best teams. DJP is likely third at first glance.

[slightlyaraiderfan]

I liked Jensens and JF4s teams the most, voted for J....ensen.

[SuperMcGee]

Mike Cammalleri - Mike Richards (A) - Jarome Iginla (C)
Milan Michalek - Nicklas Backstrom - Marian Hossa
Alexander Semin - Mike Ribeiro - Olli Jokinen
Chris Kunitz - Mikko Koivu - JP Dumont
...................Kyle Okposo

Dion Phaneuf - Brian Rafalski
Kimmo Timonen (A) - Robyn Regehr
Henrik Tallinder - Dan Hamhuis
............Alexander Edler

Marc-Andre Fleury
Marty Turco


Power Play

Marian Hossa - Nicklas Backstrom - Jarome Iginla
.............Dion Phaneuf - Mike Richards

Alexander Semin - Mike Ribeiro - Olli Jokinen
............Kimmo Timonen - Brian Rafalski


Penalty Kill

Mikko Koivu - Marian Hossa
Dion Phaneuf - Robyn Regehr

Mike Richards - Chris Kunitz
Kimmo Timonen - Dan Hamhuis

[JF4]

I liked Jensens and JF4s teams the most, voted for J....ensen.

Tooo hell with you

"If you're not first, you're last"

[SuperMcGee]

Why must people rush things on Saturday night? I always end up late to the voting party. Whatever, my team is awesome.

[fenikz]

Tooo hell with you

"If you're not first, you're last"


Oh hell, Son, I was high that day. That doesn't make any sense at all, you can be second, third, fourth... hell you can even be fifth.

[badgerbacker]

Really comes down to Xio and Jensen. I went with Xio because I feel like his team is more experienced and even in 4 years nearly all of his players will still have a lot of gas in the tank.

[Sniper]

Just so I can get an idea of how to improve, what did people like/dislike about my team? How can I improve it?

[HChu]

It came down to either Jensen or Xiomera, and I went with Xio's team.

[SuperMcGee]

Taking myself out of the equation (I really like the team I made, as objectively as possible), Xio and Jensen are indeed the best out there. Jensen's defense is great.

[djp]

Soo.... what exactly was wrong with my team...?

[Sniper]

Soo.... what exactly was wrong with my team...?

I asked the same thing.

Let's see for your team.

You have a ton of youth, which is awesome. The best player in the world. Your center depth is ridiculous as you have 3 legit #1 centers and a good #2. Wow I actually love your team. There's so much potential there. I don't see many weak links in it, a very balanced team, especially since this is a four year thing.

[SuperMcGee]

You're in the top half of teams I'd say. I'm not going to get into a whole thing here, but your team is one of the better ones. I think both Xio and Jensen have better goalies, Jensen has a better defense. You're closer than I thought, the more I look I see that no one team blows me away.

[Xiomera]

Soo.... what exactly was wrong with my team...?

I think goaltending is your weak link, DJP.

Kipper is getting old. And Lehtonen is not that great, IMO.

All along I thought you were making a mistake waiting that long on a goalie.

[Xiomera]

I think a poll of Jensen vs. Xio is in order.

[Sniper]

Can anyone tell me what they liked/didn't like about my team?

[Xiomera]

Sniper - I think you're team lacks offense from your top two lines. You don't really have a true Sniper (so your team name is ironic, haha). I would say Datsyuk is the only forward you have among the top 15 forwards in the NHL right now. On defense you have a collection of great offensive guys that could struggle defensively. In net, you are solid. Though I think you made a mistake taking Luongo over Lundqvist (I grabbed him one spot later). Lundy is younger and has accomplished more in his hockey career (no Cups for either, but Lundy has Olympic Gold).

[Xiomera]

Analysis of Team Jensen:

You've got a great goaltending tandem of a veteran and younster. Defensively you have a very physical group that might be lacking in a playmaker from the back end. You've got guys with nice shots, but none of them are real good puck-movers or power play guys (hence having Mueller on the point on PP). Offensively you have tremendous 1 and 2 scoring lines. You lack physicality up front though, IMO. It's possible that you are a little too young and inexperienced on offense.

Overall, my team excluded, you are the best. I am biased to make a determination between our teams, however.

[Xiomera]

Team DJP:

Goaltending is your weakness, as I have said. Kipper is great, don't get me wrong, but I feel like he won't be a top 8 goalie in 3-4 years, and Lehtonen isn't gonna be one ever. Your team is loaded at Center. Filppula shouldn't be a winger, but he is. Offensively, you are probably top 3 in this contest. On defense you have a lot of potential. Solid special teams units.

[badgerbacker]

I was going to say something along those lines. If this were real life your team would certainly have a shot in any series with Luongo in net and the balance throughout your forward lines. I also like that you have both sets of brothers together. Like Xio said though, you don't have any big time stars on offense which is what catches voters eyes. Also, your defense will really struggle whenever Lidstrom decides to retire (likely in the next four years).

[Xiomera]

Team JF4:

Goaltending is the biggest strength. Price was a steal in thie draft. I think your team is a little old. You have quite a few forwards pushing 30 or already well past it. You also spent the most picks of anyone on rookies which is curious to me. Your 1st Powe Play Unit is scary. Overall, a good team.

[Xiomera]

Team Familyguy:

Not a lot of youth at forward, but you'll score a lot. You have a lot of offensive minded, defensively deficient blueliners (Redden, Souray, Gonchar). That could be a problem. A nice tandem of goalies (who will be fighting it out to start for Team USA in 2010). A solid team.

[Xiomera]

Team Bills:

I think you took Giggy too early and Budaj isn't special, so goaltending is your weakness. You're defense is your strength. Should get a lot of offensive production from them. Your top scoring line is impressive. Thornton and Kovalchuk ought to produce an insane amount of goals together. Toews would benefit from better wingers, IMO.

[Xiomera]

Team McGee:

An awesome top defense pairing. And an even better tandem of goalies. Can't go wrong with either of Turco or Fluery. A nice mix of youth and experience on offense. Iginla, Hossa, and Jokinen give you a great oal scorer on each of your top 3 lines.

[Xiomera]

I will analyze my own team now:

I think I have the best goalie in the NHL in Lundqvist. And Vokoun is a great goalie on a bad team in real life. He's a good backup to have.

Defensively I love my top pairing of Keith and Green. Its a perfect mix of offense and defense and they are young and improving. I may lack in offensive minded blueliners, but they are sound defensively and very physical.

On offense, I think I have created 3 very dynamic lines, each composed of a grinder, a setup man, and a sniper. I have a lot of players right in their prime in their mid 20's, as well as a few cagey veterans (Homer and Arnott) who can still play. I might be the only team that drafted an enforcer-type of player in Sean Avery. I hate his guts personally, but I'd want him on my team rather than the opponants.

On special teams, I think I have the best group of defensive forwards in the contest. Zetterberg, Morrow, Franzen, and Sharp are all among the best penalty killing forwards in the league. On the power play, I have Tomas Holmstrom as my screening specialist. No one in the game is better at what he does. And Mike Green led all defenders in goals, so he is a good Power Play QB. I also think I have a tremendous trio of shootout scorers. Patrick Kane tied for the NHL lead with 7 shootout successes.

Also worth noting, I have 8 of the top 27 players from last season in +/- rating. Very few of my players were minuses last year.

[princefielder28]

I went with JF4

[Bills2083]

Team Bills:

I think you took Giggy too early and Budaj isn't special, so goaltending is your weakness. You're defense is your strength. Should get a lot of offensive production from them. Your top scoring line is impressive. Thornton and Kovalchuk ought to produce an insane amount of goals together. Toews would benefit from better wingers, IMO.


If only you let me change my pick ;)

[djp]

if I could change my vote, since I'm clearly not going to win for whatever reason, I'd go with Super's team, Xio's, then Jensen's

Best defense, best goalies, best right wings, very good centers. A little weak at left wing, but all of those players have good potential.

[djp]

If I'm feeling squirrely later I might do analysis of the teams again, but as far as my team goes,

I really didn't want to draft 3 centers right away. But when I could see that I could grab 3 of the top 7 centers in the game, I jumped all over it. I had to make up for it with the wings and I thought I did that without sacrificing defense. Parise is an incredible skater and Boyes has a great nose for the net. Two great linemates for Sid. My 2nd line was more of a defensive sort of line with still great offensive abilities in Staal, Pominville, and Brown. Brown is the best young checking forward in the NHL and Staal and Pommer are both beasts in their own end.

The third line was more of the flashy line with Kopitar, Zherdev, and PMB. PMB is a 50 assist guy at 24 years old. Zherdev is a goal scorer and Kopitar can do it all.

The fourth line again, like I always get, is the "checking" line. Filppula is an elite defensive forward, Langkow is very solid, and Lucic is just an animal at only 20 years old.

Defensively, I went for more offense this time in the top pairing with Markov, but Burns is good enough defensively for them to skate together. EJ is a stud. No need for explanation. Suter is emerging on the Nashville blue line and would be a great pair with EJ. The third pairing has the rocket shot in Pitkanen but also the young defensive presence in Odouya.

As far as goalies go, that's never what wins these things. It's offense. It happens every single time. Kipper is still an elite goalie for at least the next two years and Lehtonen has shown flashes of brilliance in net. I was robbed of Carey Price by somebody who will go unnamed, or else I think I'd have won this.

[Hines]

I voted for Jensen, offense is scary, and the defense is nasty.