2009 NHL Draft

[Bear55]

Should be an interesting night, might give us a clue to which direction the wild want to go, load up or rebuild the team. As usual there are some locals that will/could land in the first round so that is always nice to see.

For those that don't know the wild are without 2nd and 3rd round picks so they might try and trade down to acquire another pick or two.

[hoppe56307]

I hope they trade down and get some early second round picks and draft some home grown players.

[walleyes12]

I hope the pick some MN boys, keep it local

[Bear55]

I'm not sure keeping it local is the best option if you want to actually win, but I certainly wouldn't mind them taking a MN boy if they feel he is the best available.

[Quackaddict9]

Leddy over Schroeds, what ya think?

Wild traded their #13 picks to Buffalo for whatever # Leddy was and two of their later picks in 3rd and 4th round, can't remember?

[solbes]

Cut and pasted from Puioneer Press HSOforum, shortened a little bit. Always tough to predict how an 18 year old might fit into the NHL, but heres a local kid.

"Minnesota Wild draft Eden Prairie's Nick Leddy with their top pick

Wild add local flavor, drafting Eden Prairie's Leddy after passing twice on U's Schroeder

By John Shipley , Pioneer Press June 27, 2009

MONTREAL — Wild fans were pressuring their team to add a local boy. Done.

Now the pressure's on Nick Leddy, an 18-year-old defenseman from Eden Prairie, especially after the Wild passed on Gophers star Jordan Schroeder — twice — to take Leddy.

Wild fans got their Minnesotan, but now he has to produce.

"I know it's going to be a lot of pressure on me," Leddy said after the Wild made him their first-round pick Friday and the first American taken in the NHL entry draft. "But, you know, you've got to rise and play your game."

Schroeder was the WCHA rookie of the year last season, the fifth-ranked North American skater and highest-ranked collegian in the draft. The Wild liked him, too, but they had their sights set on Leddy, named Minnesota's Mr. Hockey this past spring after leading the Eagles to their first Class AA state championship.

When he and Schroeder were available with the Wild's No. 12 pick, Chuck Fletcher, knowing he could get Leddy a few picks later, made his first personnel move as Minnesota's general manager — sending the pick to the New York Islanders for the 16th choice, plus third- and seventh-round picks.

"I think perhaps the most difficult thing in hockey to find is a defenseman who can legitimately generate offense," said Wild assistant GM for player personnel Tom Thompson, who scouted 12 of Leddy's games and watched him practice a few times.

"What you have to watch at the lower level of hockey are the

guys that just try to beat people one on one and outskate people," he said. "They look good there, but it's hard to translate that into a higher level. (Leddy) has hockey sense, he can move the puck, he was a winner, he competed hard."

Schroeder was still availableat 16th, but by that time it was all about Leddy.

"Nick is a prototypical new-rules defenseman," Fletcher said. "He can skate, he can handle the puck, he's going to have the ability to play on the power play, he's a competitive kid, and we were able to grab him and add two draft picks."

The Wild will have eight picks when the draft resumes this morning with rounds two through seven at Bell Centre — one in the third, three in the fourth, one in the fifth and sixth and two in the seventh...."

"The last two years we've had nine picks combined, and now we have nine this year," Fletcher said. "I felt it was very important to us to add more picks so we could restock the cupboards and restock our talent pool. This will give us a chance to draft a lot of kids tomorrow."

Fletcher said many teams had contacted him about the 12th pick, including one that would send a player, "but the majority of talks were all centered around draft picks."

Leddy will attend the U this fall, where he will be teammates with Schroeder, who fell to Vancouver with the 22nd overall pick. Schroeder said he didn't feel slighted."

[Bear55]

Leddy over Schroeds, what ya think?

Wild traded their #13 picks to Buffalo for whatever # Leddy was and two of their later picks in 3rd and 4th round, can't remember?

Interesting move that's for sure. I hope Leddy turns out to be the player the wild think he will but but I have a feeling passing on Schroeder is going to bite us in the behind down the road. He certainly got passed over by more than the Wild so other teams had the same concern. However, Schroeder is one of the most talented players of the entire draft and right now is light years ahead of Leddy in terms of skill.

[Bear55]

I'm no expert but after taking some time to look through the rest of the Wild draft picks I think they did a pretty decent job. We really needed some goalie prospects because after Harding I don't think there are any contenders in the system. I also like a lot of our late round forward picks, Foucault missed a lot of the season but looks like he did well during the playoffs. Fallstrom and Haula are a couple of very talented players who racked up a lot of point at Shattucks. Its nice to see the wild draft some skill players who have the potential to turn into something.

[SneakAttack]

After Seeing Zach Budish play in his Soph and Junior years for Edina, I still think he was a solid mid-first rounder even after his knee injury and i think he was the steal of the draft at the 41st pick for Nashville

Go choice for the wild with Leddy and his trmendous upside

[archerystud]

I agree with Zach Budish assessment.

Leddy vs Schroeder is kind of a toss up IMO. Leddy is a little bigger but Schroeder is more proven at a higher level.