The Value of the Draft Pt. 5

Part 5 boys and girls we are getting serious here. This is the year 2006, the first year after the NHL Lockout. The year the Edmonton Oilers made the Stanley Cup Final. The year the Edmonton Oilers lost a defenceman and were never able to fully recover.

Lets do it!

Click here for Part One.

Click here for Part Two.

Click here for Part Three.

Click here for Part Four.

Click here for Part Six.

Like he said.

2006 Leading Scorers

2006 was the first year after the NHL lockout and cancelled season of 2004/05. This season signified a change in the way NHL hockey was to be played, and an increase in elite level scoring followed when five players were able to score 50 or more goals compared to the 2003/04 season which featured zero 50 goal scorers. All were first round draft picks except for the leader with 56 goals, Jonathan Cheechoo who was taken early in the second round.

The percentage of first rounders found in Table 9 drops again to 75% and this Table includes players from the obscure fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. Their prominence lowers the average draft pick to 32.35 despite there being four first overall picks and three second overall picks present.

10 of the 15 first round picks were selected in the top 5 with only one of the remaining five being selected outside the top 15.

Jonathan Cheechoo's inclusion on this list is somewhat mysterious when taken at face value. He is the only post lockout player to lead the league in goal scoring without being selected first in this draft year. Though this seems bizarre and there was little to no evidence prediction this occurrence, examining the following table explains how this was possible.

The name at the top of Table 10 explains how Cheechoo was able to lead the league in goals despite not being a first overal pick. Joe Thornton, who led the league in points, played on a line with Cheehoo and was drafted first overall. Clearly based on the 96 assists he accumulated it is safe to say that Thornton is a player who prefers to pass the puck.

Seven players that appear on this table were not drafted in the first round. This is the highest amount of the five years examined. 65% is still high for first round presence but is low in comparison to the 80% and 85% seen earlier. It is not surprising that the average draft pick fell to its lowest at 41.85 entrenching the pick in the second round.







Coming up tomorrow we have the big finale. Conclusions, recommendations, etc. No more graphs people, tomorrow its all about the words, yeeeeeeehaw!

Click here for Part One.

Click here for Part Two.

Click here for Part Three.

Click here for Part Four.

Click here for Part Six.