Hockeywiztalks Hockey Blog

  The New York Rangers struggled to draft during the mid 2000s and into the 2010s, which might be a reason why they never were thought of as a legit contender at the time. If the Rangers had drafted correctly, they might have been able to build a championship caliber team. In this blog, I will be redrafting the New York Rangers for a decade in hopes of turning them into a contending team. 2003: 12-Brent Burns over Hugh Jessiman 50-Corey Crawford over Ivan Baranka 209-Dustin Byfuglien over Dylan Reese 243-Matt Moulson over Jan Marek In the 2003 redraft, the Rangers fare much better than they did originally; they get two star players in Brent Burns and Dustin Byfuglien, they also get a good goalie in Corey Crawford and decent complementary goal scorer in Matt Moulson. 2004: 19-Travis Zajac over Loui Korpikoski 36-Brandon Dubinsky over Darin Olver 48-Alex Goligoski over Dane Byers 73-Alexander Edler over Zdenek Bahensky The Rangers add two very good defenseman in Alex Goligoski and Al...

 The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted terribly from when they entered the NHL to 2013, they have many chances to draft franchise changing talent but they opted instead to draft players that would turn into the biggest bust in recent memory. In this blog, i redraft the Columbus Blue Jackets for a decade and try to turn them into a contending team. 2003: 4-Ryan Suter over Nikolay Zherdev 49-David Backes over Dan Fritsche 103-Joe Pavelski over Kevin Jarman 168-Dustin Byfuglien over Marc Methot The Columbus Blue Jackets draft 2 stud defenseman in Ryan Suter and Dustin Byfuglien as well as an elite scorer in Joe Pavelski and a very solid top 6 forward in David Backes. 2004: 8-Cory Schneider over Alexandre Picard 46-Brandon Dubinsky over Adam Pineault 59-Alex Goligoski over Kyle Wharton 133-Kris Versteeg over Petr Pohl Columbus drafts a very good starting goalie in Cory Schneider along with a solid two way defenseman in Alex Goligoski, a solid two way center in Brandon Dubinsky and a nice r...

 The Los Angeles Kings had some miserable drafts from in the 2000s and because of that they missed out on building a potential dynasty. If the LA Kings were redrafted for a decade, they could have potentially won more than 2 stanley cups. 2002: 18-Cam Ward over Denis Grebeshkov 50-Johnny Boychuk over Sergei Anshakov 66-Frans Nielsen over Petr Kanko 152-James Wisniewski over Gregory Hogeboom The LA Kings draft a franchise goalie in Cam Ward, two solid defenseman in Johnny Boychuk and James Wisniewski and a good two way center in Frans Nielsen. 2003: 13-Zach Parise over Dustin Brown 26-Corey Perry over Brian Boyle 27-Patrice Bergeron over Jeff Tambellini 44-Shea Weber over Konstantin Pushkaryov LA Kings strike gold this time around, drafting 4 future all stars which include a perennial selke Candidate in Patrice Bergeron, a Norris candidate in Shea Weber, a future MVP in Corey Perry and a clutch goal scorer in Zach Parise. 2004: 11-Travis Zajac over Lauri Tukonen 94-Johan Franzen ove...

The Edmonton Oilers had a drafted horribly during the 2000s and into the early 2010s, which was a major reason for their struggles. In this blog, i redraft the Edmonton Oilers from 2002 to 2012 and see just how much better the team would be if they drafted correctly. 2002: 15-Alex Steen over Jesse Niinimaki 31-Trevor Daley over Jeff Droun-Deslauriers 36-Jarret Stoll 54-Duncan Keith over Matt Greene The Edmonton Oilers land a Stud defenseman in Duncan Keith and a really good top 4 defenseman in Trevor Daley; Alex Steen will be a great Top 6 forward for the Oilers and Jarret Stoll could be a great 3rd line center. 2003: 22-Patrice Bergeron over Marc-Antoine Pouliot 51-Corey Crawford over Colin McDonald 184-Dustin Byfuglien over Dragan Umicevic 284-Jaroslav Halak over Josef Hrabal The Oilers get a top line center in Patrice Bergeron, who will turn into one of the premier two way centers in the league; they will also get Dustin Byfuglien, a player who has the poten...

The Toronto Maple Leafs weren't very good in the 2000s; a big reason for this is because the Maple Leafs didn't draft very well. In this blog, i will redraft the Toronto Maple Leafs for a decade in hopes of turning them into a contending team. 2000: 24-Justin Williams over Brad Boyes 51-Antoine Vermette over Kris Vernarsky 90-Lubomir Visnovsky over Jean Francois Racine 100-Deryk Engelland over Miguel Delise The Toronto Maple Leafs draft 3 really solid players in Justin Williams, Antoine Vermette and Lubomir Visnovsky as well as a depth defenseman in Deryk Engelland. 2001: 17-Tim Gleason over Carlo Colaiacovo 39-Mike Cammalleri over Karel Pilar 82-Patrick Sharp over Brandon Bell 134-Kevin Bieksa over Kyle Wellwood The Maple Leafs draft two very good scoring wingers in Mike Cammalleri and Patrick Sharp as well as two solid defenseman in Tim Gleason and Kevin Bieksa. 2002: 24-Cam Ward over Alex Steen 57-Johnny Boychuk over Matt Stajan 74-Frans Nielsen ...

The New Jersey Devils were successful in winning stanley cups in the early 2000s however their drafting woes throughout the 2000s have led them to their downfall. If the New Jersey Devils drafted well during those years, they could have remained on top for much longer. In this blog, i will redraft the New Jersey Devils from 2000-2010s. Rules for the redraft: Must select a player in every round Must draft 4 players in every draft 2000: 22-Niklas Kronwall over David Hale 62-Paul Martin 76-Dominic Moore over Michael Rupp 125-John Michael Liles over Phil Cole The Devils upgrade the Defense in the pipeline with the additions of Niklas Kronwall, Paul Martin and John Michael Liles; they might play a major role on defense moving forward. 2001: 28-Derek Roy over Adrian Foster 48-Jason Pominville over Pihlman 67-Craig Anderson over Robin Lebanc 72-Patrick Sharp over Brandon Nolan The Devils add some offensive firepower with the Additions of Derek Roy, Jason Pominvi...