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.

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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.

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Click here for Part Three.

Click here for Part Four.

Click here for Part Six.

The Value of the Draft Pt. 4

Okay you know the drill, this is Part 4.

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Click here for Part Five.

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My groundbreaking interview with the Pope

2007 Leading Scorers


Other than a reduction by one non-first rounder and the inclusion of a new undrafted player, the 2007 leading goal scorer list is statistically similar to 2008.

Once again, Table 7 is dominated by first round draft selections. 80% of the players were drafted in the first round and Jonathan Cheechoo was taken 29th overall which during some draft years would have made him a first rounder as well. 9 of the 16 first rounders were top 5 picks with five of the remaining six first rounders being selected in the first half. The average pick for goal scorers in 2007 was 11.72 which is a much higher draft selection than in 2009. The reason for this is the replacement of low drafted forwards from the sixth and seventh rounds by undrafted players, who must be removed from the calculation due to their unquantifiable status.

Dany Heatley is also just the second 50 goal scorer to not be selected first overall. To be fair though, he was taken using the second pick behind a goaltender so he as the first forward selected in his draft year.

Similar to goal scorers, 80% of the top point scorers in 2007, shown in Table 8, were selected in the first round. This is the first of the analyzed years that contains a 100 point scoring forward that was not a first round pick and two other 100 point scoring forwards that were not top 4 draft picks. St. Louis is the undrafted player and so far the only non-first rounder to crack the 100 point barrier. Marian Hossa and Joe Sakic were drafted in the first round, though not in the top 4. They were selected 12 and 15 respectively.

Even though there are only four non-first rounders in this top 20 as opposed to 2008, the fact that the sixth round is the second most represented round is bizarre. Despite the two sixth round payers, the average pick is 25.89 which remains in the first round. This is likely due to the fact that all but one of the first rounders were selected in the top 15. In addition, the top 20 leading point scorers from 2007 shown in Table 8 included four first overall picks, and three second overall. Over half of the players listed were selected by using the top five picks in their draft years.



Get ready for Part Five coming at you tomorrow!

Click here for Part One.

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Click here for Part Three.

Click here for Part Five.

Click here for Part Six.

You've Been.....ONE-UPPED!

By Dan Moser 

Well, ever since reading this post by my buddy over at Lighter Side of Fire I have been possessed by the soul of someone you needs to one up everyone he knows. Then out of nowhere, I awoke this morning and was delivered this gem from the bowels of hfboards.

So....errrmmm......Enjoy?

The only thing better than a local rapper, is one that raps about how much he loves donairs

http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_5214350 

Kinda makes me want to listen to one of those terrible Bugsy Brown songs from the '06 playoffs. Gross. Sorry.

Edit: I had to make an ajustment. This is a f***ing joke.