ST. PAUL -- Marian Gaborik set an unlikely standard for the
Minnesota Wild's future first-round picks.
|  | | Marian Gaborik was the only top-five pick from 2000 to play regularly in the NHL last season. |
As much as the Wild would love to have another 18-year-old
rookie force his way onto the roster and lead them in scoring, as
Gaborik did in their inaugural season, they understand their next
first-round pick is more likely to need four or five seasons of
development.
The Wild will be looking for a player who can help them in the
long run with the sixth pick of the NHL entry draft Saturday.
The Wild, whose 168 goals were the fewest in the NHL since Tampa
Bay scored 151 in 1997-98, would prefer a goal-scorer with their
first pick. They aren't ruling out the two goaltenders who rank
among the top 10 prospects, either.
"We have not got enough depth anywhere that we can say, 'Forget
a defenseman,' or any other position," said Tom Thompson, the
Wild's chief scout. "I've got no problem picking a goalie with the
No. 1 position at all. If we have a chance to take an impact
goalie, let's take him."
The Wild agree with the consensus that Russian left wing Ilya
Kovalchuk is the top player available and probably will be taken by
Atlanta with the No. 1 pick.
After that, they believe there are eight or nine players of
equal ability.
"There are just some we like more than others," Thompson said.
Jason Spezza, a center from Etobicoke, Ontario, is the most
intriguing of the players among the next tier. He once was
considered a lock to be the No. 1 pick overall, but his stock has
fallen. Some believe the center will score 80 to 100 points a
season. Others question his willingness to play hard every game.
Other potential goal-scorers who might fall to the Wild include
right wing Stanislav Chitov of Russia, center Alexander Svitov of
Russia or center Stephen Weiss of Markham, Ontario. Chitov, at
5-foot-9, 169 pounds, is limited only by his size. Svitov plays a
more physical style and led the World Junior Championship in
penalty minutes. Weiss outplayed Spezza in the Ontario Hockey
League playoffs.
If they are gone when Minnesota chooses sixth, the Wild will
have to decide whether they are indeed willing to gamble on a
goalie such as Dan Blackburn or Pascal Leclaire or would rather
play it safe and take a right wing such as Fredrik Sjostrom or a
center such as Mikko Koivu.
Goalies traditionally are difficult to project, but more teams
have become more willing to use top-10 picks on them. The New York
Islanders traded up last season to make Rick DiPietro the first
goalie ever taken No. 1 overall.
Blackburn, who is from Canmore, Alberta, became the youngest
winner of the Western Hockey League's player-of-the-year award last
season, at age 16. Leclaire, who is from Repentigny, Quebec, was
ranked ahead of Blackburn going into the season.
Sjostrom, who is from Sweden, is considered an outstanding
skater. Koivu, who is from Finland, is the brother of Montreal's
Saku Koivu.
None of them, however, is expected to repeat Gaborik's rookie
season.
"We never expected him to play for us last year," Wild general
manager Doug Risebrough said of Gaborik, the third pick overall in
last season's draft. "We expected him to rise through the ranks.
That never happened. We'd be happy to have it happen again, but I
don't think it can."
The Wild will have five of the top 100 picks. Four of their nine
draft picks played for them last season.
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