Drafting the Best Player Available

Who will the Penguins pick up in the draft this year? I don't know it's a tough call to make when your sitting at the bottom of the first round. One thing we can rule out is that we won't be drafting to fill a need next year, because anyone drafted after we will say 5th pick will go straight to the minors to build some skill and prepare them for the NHL.

On TSN they have the Penguins either selecting Simon Despres or Jeremy Morin other sites have them drafting forward Louis Leblanc, I have also seen the likes of forward Zach Budish, defenseman Stefan Elliott, and forward Landon Ferraro. It pretty much up in the air right, but one thing for sure is that Ray Shero will be drafting whom he believes is the best player available when it comes time for the Penguins to pick.

Jeremy Morin:

International Tournaments:Morin registered 6 goals and 4 assists in 7 games for the gold medal winning USA squad at the WJC-U18 tournament.

ETA =3 years

Risk-Reward Analysis: Risk = 3.5/5‚ ‚  Reward = 4.5/5

NHL Potential:1^stor 2^ndline goal-scoring forward

Simon Despres:

International Tournaments: Despres had a poor showing at the recent WJC-U18 tournament displaying some poor decision-making skills on the ice, which is likely the reason why he drops down to late 1st round or early 2nd round.

ETA =3 years

Risk-Reward Analysis:Risk = 3.5/5‚ ‚  Reward = 4/5

NHL Potential:2^ndor 3^rdpairing defensive defenseman

Louis Leblanc:

International Tournaments:Leblanc played for Team Canada at the 2008 Under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament scoring three goals (3-2-5), helping Canada win gold.

ETA =3 years

Risk-Reward Analysis:Risk = 3/5‚ ‚  Reward = 3.5/5

NHL Potential:2^ndline offensive forward

Zach Budish:

International Tournaments:n/a

ETA =3 to 4 years

Risk-Reward Analysis:Risk = 4/5‚ ‚  Reward = 4/5

NHL Potential:Power forward

Landon Ferraro:

International Tournaments:Ferraro registered 4 points in 5 games for Team Canada at the recent WJC-U18 tournament.

ETA =2 to 3 years

Risk-Reward Analysis:Risk = 2.5/5‚ ‚  Reward = 4/5

NHL Potential:2^ndline goal-scoring forward

Player evaluations from The Hockey Spy .