Many veteran NHL scouts are calling this weekend's entry draft, the deepest since 1990. If they're right, hockey fans have quite a lot to look forward to.

To refresh your memory, the top five picks in the '90 draft were Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci and (fifth, but not least) Jaromir Jagr.

Wow!

And, it didn't stop with the big five. The rest of the first round (which then consisted of 21 picks) included present-day all-stars Derian Hatcher, Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur as well as current NHLers Darryl Sydor, Drake Berehowsky, Trevor Kidd, Turner Stevenson, Brad May, Karl Dykhuis and Bryan Smolinski.

Double wow!

In the second round, Jiri Slegr, Chris Simon, Felix Potvin, Doug Weight, Geoff Sanderson and Mikael Renberg were selected. Even later, Mike Dunham, Sergei Zubov, Robert Lang, Peter Bondra, Alexei Zhamnov, Richard Smehlik, Alexander Karpovtsev, Jason York, Craig Conroy and Sergei Nemchinov heard their names called by NHL teams.

This year, most of the talk has been about Ilya Kovalchuk and Jason Spezza (or Jason Spezza and Ilya Kovalchuk). But, this classy class also includes a pair of high-end goaltenders -- Dan Blackburn and Pascal Leclaire. Blackburn, who plays for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League, is ranked as high as second overall by at least one NHL general manager. If he lasts -- and there is no guarantee he will -- the Wild will tab Blackburn with the No. 6 pick.

Behind Blackburn and Leclaire, chubby Russian Andrei Medvedev and Czech Tomas Duba (who led his country to the World Junior Championship in January) could be the next stoppers to be plucked from the list.

On defense, Mike Komisarek (University of Michigan) is the top prospect heading into Saturday. And, why not? He's big, strong and he can shoot the puck. Also, his good looks and upbeat personality won't hurt at the box office.

It will be interesting to see which team takes a chance on 5'9 Finnish defenseman Tuukka Mantyla. Undrafted last year, Mantyla displayed hockey savvy and a big heart for silver-medal winning Team Finland at the World Junior Championships. He could be a third-round steal for a daring GM.

Up front, after Kovalchuk and Spezza, the most intriguing player might be Russian Stanislav Chistov. Generously listed at 5'9, Chistov is a high-energy, high-skill player (likened to Sergei Samsonov) who might've been ranked even higher if not for his size. It will be extremely interesting to see which GM pulls the trigger on Chistov. It might be Anaheim's Pierre Gauthier with the fifth pick.

Seemingly right on schedule, the Stanley Cup runner-up Devils are poised to take a good chunk out of this draft class. Currently, they have seven of the first 94 picks, including a pair of first rounders (Nos. 24 and 28).

The stumbling Canadians (with three out of the first 37 selections), the rebuilding Coyotes (4/45) and the surprising Kings (4/51) also are position to add some serious young talent to their rosters. Will any or all of these four clubs take advantage of their good fortune? Only time will tell. However, if the Class of '01 is as good as advertised, the odds will be in their favor.

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail ej.hradek@espnmag.com.