I had Simon Despres going 17th overall in this draft, so I'm absolutely thrilled that the Pens were able to get him with the 30th pick. He's a big, strong, physical, mobile, reliable defenseman who makes an outstanding first pass out of his own zone. Personally, he reminds me of Jonathan Ericsson. Despres had 32 points last year, all but two of them assists, for the St. John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior League.
Despres has played two years in the "Q" now, and odds are he will return to Quebec for another year in that league. He's not a terribly lengthy project considering how late he was selected. Two or three years from now, expect Despres to figure in prominently on the Pens' defensive corps.
His childhood idol was Mario Lemieux.
The following are defensemen that I see Despres as playing a similar game to:
Brooks Orpik
Mike Komisarek
Jonathan Ericsson
Anton Volchenkov
Other notables from the day:
-Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle going to Philadelphia for Luca Sbisa, Joffrey Lupul, and two first round picks. Considering that Sbisa was a first rounder last year, the Flyers are giving up Lupul and three consecutive firsts for an aging defenseman going into the last year of his contract. Pronger's a prototypical Flyer in that he is big, mean, and dirty as Hell, but this is a major mortgage on the future
-John Tavares, Victor Hedman, and Matt Duchene going 1-2-3, as expected.
-Jordan Schroeder falling all the way to the Canucks at 22nd overall. Most every mock draft had Schroeder in the top 15. He's a small guy, but I have a problem with the fact that he fell that far.
-Landon Ferraro, Stefan Elliott, Ryan O'Reilly, and Zach Budish falling all the way out of the first round. It's beyond me how nobody took Elliott and Budish, yet Marcus Johansson and Nick Leddy still found themselves with new teams.
The Penguins have another big day ahead of them tomorrow with rounds two through seven on the horizon. Ray Shero and his staff hold six picks over the course of the day, including the famous "Mr. Irrelevant" slot that will conclude the weekend's festivities. The Pens had lost picks in the Bill Guerin and Hal Gill trades, but the horribly mismanaged Tampa Bay Lightning were kind enough to give them back 3rd and 5th round picks for negotiating rights to Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts plus a failed defensive prospect in Michael Sersen.
61st overall (2nd round)
63rd overall (3rd round from Tampa Bay)
121st overall (4th round)
123rd overall (5th round from Tampa Bay)
181st overall (6th round)
211th overall (7th round)
Tomorrow is a huge day for restocking a somewhat dry Pittsburgh pipeline.
1 comment:
I've been checking out some videos and this looks like a great pick for the Pens. As for the Pronger deal..it's a VERY risky move on the Flyers part, but it could pay off.
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