2009 Minnesota Wild Draft Recap

by nathaneide on Jun 27, 2009 1:21 PM CDT in News

Rnd

Pick

Player

D.O.B.

Birth Place

Cty

League

Team

Pos

Nick Leddy

3/20/91

Eden Prairie, MN

5' 11"

179

HIGH-MN

EDEN PRAIRIE

Matthew Hackett

3/7/90

London, ON

6' 2"

170

OHL

PLYMOUTH

103

Kristopher Foucault

12/12/90

Calgary, AB

6' 1"

202

WHL

CALGARY

116

Alexander Fallstrom

9/15/90

Gothenberg, SE

6' 2"

192

HIGH-MN

SHAT.ST.MARY'S

161

Darcy Kuemper

5/5/90

Saskatoon, SK

6' 4"

195

WHL

RED DEER

163

Jere Sallinen

10/26/90

Espoo

6' 0"

183

FINLAND-JR.

BLUES JR.

RW; LW;

182

Erik Haula

3/23/91

Pori

5' 11"

170

HIGH-MN

SHAT.ST.MARY'S

193

Anthony Hamburg

8/30/91

Houston, TX

6' 1"

185

MIDGET

DALLAS STARS AAA

Three kids from Minnesota High Schools (granted two are from Scandinavia), but only one center. Obviously way too soon to tell, but for filling need, they didn't do so well. I still see a severe lack of size on the front line, aside from maybe Fallstrom. Speaking of Fallstrom, NHL.com did a fantastic article on him in December.

"Alex is a big, strong, strapping player," said Tom Ward, the Shattuck coach. "He's kind of a rough-and-tumble power forward in the Tomas Holmstrom mold (of the Detroit Red Wings). He has a chance to become a great player because he's very intelligent. He doesn't play exclusively on a line with (Haula), but when he does, it's exciting to watch." Fallstrom, who committed to Harvard in the fall, is exciting because he can both score and set up goals.

Here's hoping that the trade for Kyle Brodziak immediately improves the offense. Oh, and both Chuck Fletcher and Todd Richards better hope that Jordan Schroeder is a giant bust.

Overall grade: C+

Poll

How do you grade the Wild's draft?

A

11 votes

B

72 votes

C

71 votes

D

23 votes

F

12 votes

189 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

good draft overall. They drafted to restock the farm team, got a lot of quality guys. My money is on Hackett over Brust and Kudobin. We already have Bouchard, we didn’t need Shroeder. Everyone drop it. Leddy is a Sav

by gaborik on Jun 27, 2009 2:46 PM CDT reply actions

had to give it a "B"

C+ was not an option, but this draft might work it’s way back up to a B-B+ worthy in a year or two. all depends on how leddy works and why Schroeder fell. I do like the second pick, top Goalie prospect in the third round is good value.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Jun 27, 2009 3:19 PM CDT reply actions

Choice I

For Incomplete. Like you said, too early to tell.

by KiPA on Jun 27, 2009 3:46 PM CDT reply actions

I wonder if anything will start to leak

…. about why teams became less bullish about Schroeder. Something seems suspicious when a guy that was ranked to go a high as #8 in mock drafts slid all the way to #20.

Fletcher came into this draft with at least a little bit of background scouting info from Pittsburgh, so I don’t think it’s just a fluke with Tommy Thompson and our scouts.

by SpaethCo on Jun 27, 2009 4:52 PM CDT reply actions

I gave it a B

They picked up some solid prospects..while they passed up on Schroeder…I’m a big fan of the Brodziak trade.

by Tony_O on Jun 27, 2009 5:00 PM CDT reply actions

i don’t think we have to hope schroeder is a bust so much as we can hope they chose the better minnesotan. we also better hope a Demo-Schroeder-gabby line doesn’t take vancouver all the way to the cup.

this draft, as with any, is hard to tell. did they get that one player that makes me say “oh yeah he’s gonna be a star?” no, but it looks like solid picks all the way down.

by jerem77 on Jun 28, 2009 10:13 PM CDT reply actions

the more time passes

the more ok I am with this draft. I was definetly bummed we didn’t get Schroeder, but Leddy should be a pretty good prospect. I was a little bummed we couldn’t get a 2 rounder for oursuch a high pick, but we turned one of those 3 rounders into someone that will play immediatly at a position of need fo the team, that’s not a bad trade, and we didn’t over pay either. we picked up the best north amarican goalie (number 2) in the draft in the third round, thats pretty good value, and we are/will be thin at goalie once we trade Harding,

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Jun 29, 2009 7:29 AM CDT reply actions

I am also stoked that they drafted

2 people from my H.S. alma mater.

Will the Real Thor Please Stand Up ... ?

by the Real Thor on Jun 29, 2009 9:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I hate to say this but,I hope Schroeder leads Vancouver to a cup in the future just so Fletcher can think about passing on a player because of his size…BTW

****"The State of Hockey"****

by Xx Gophers Eat Badgers xX on Jun 30, 2009 5:25 AM CDT reply actions