2004 NHL Draft: The Winners

Four teams at the draft in Raleigh, North Carolina truly stole the show. Find out who they are are as we provide the inside scoop.

The Washington Capitals

They would have to try really hard to screw this one up, as Alexander Ovechkin alone made it a monumental draft for Washington. The Caps are undoubtedly a little miffed at the two million-dollar demands from Ovechkin’s team, but with the looming lockout situation, don’t expect them to be too worked up and anxious to dole out the money .. we couldn’t help but roll our eyes with the Jeff Schultz pick - he’s skilled, tall, but awkward and will need a lot of work. With three picks in the first round, Washington probably felt confident enough to risk one on a raw package who could pay good dividends .. the Mike Green pick is brilliant - it was almost hard to believe that a player with as much potential at both ends of the ice fell that low, but lack of imposing size was not in his favour. Green has the wheels to join the rush and the grit to make opposing forwards pay on the backcheck - we would not be shocked if he ultimately turns out to be a top-10 player out of this draft .. the Chris Bourque pick was another reach, but he’s a gritty, nasty player with soft hands who does not get intimidated by taller opposing players. Confidence does not appear to be an issue with Bourque who is cocky, brash and apparently more fond of chewing bubble gum during interviews than Britney Spears. He’s due to taste some pro-quality humble pie .. Mikhail Yunkov is a solid late second pick who is rangy, consistent and mature. He will be one of Russia’s leading offensive sources at next year’s U-20 WJC .. We are high on the Sami Lepisto pick, although he still has much to prove at the professional level. He plays with an underrated edge and competitiveness for his stature .. perhaps more exciting options were there in the third round than Clayton Barthel, but he’s tough as nails and solid at moving the puck, even if he will likely wind up as a stay-at-home type .. Oscar Hedman’s stock fell, although he did all he could this year, with MoDo and at the international levels, but many scouts sense that he does not have mind-blowing upside. We feel that he does most things well and despite slightly above-average skating, he moves the puck crisply and creatively .. the Salonen and Guggisberg picks are interesting, but could turn out to be nothing at all. Both are skilled players with considerable weaknesses: Pasi Salonen is a big-time enigma while Peter Guggisberg is rough, but very smooth and pretty to watch, but is seldom very effective.

The Ottawa Senators

The Senators drafted brilliantly considering that the draft was, as reported many times, rather unimpressive .. Andrej Meszaros is a good pick past the top 20 and went roughly where he should have, considering certain weaknesses he has. He is talented, but needs work at his own end of the ice .. Kirill Lyamin is very much (Anton) Volchenkov-lite. He is a player who excels in a stay-at-home role due to good hitting and positional skills. Lyamin’s offensive game is undeveloped, but he’s shown underrated potential at jumping in at the point, when the opportunity presents itself .. the Sens have been routinely criticized at past drafts for selecting soft, skilled players (deserved or not), but they’ve covered all categories this time around. The gritty Shawn Weller is a strong forechecker who is physical competitive and a leader .. Peter Regin was the top Dane, among Madsen and Hansen at the Under-18 and impressed not just with his skills, but surprising ability to handle tough-nosed defensemen effectively; did not once look intimidated .. we were impressed with Jeff Glass’ composure and positional play all year - he was a stalwart for Kootenay between the pipes .. Alexander Nikulin is mostly a finesse playmaker who stands out due to his great puck skills, but must work on the physical aspects of his game. Our Russian scout describes him as a "soft" player .. future Michigan State freshman Jim McKenzie is strong two-way contributor with grit, while Roman Wick has excellent offensive upside and looks like a possible steal.

The Vancouver Canucks

The Alexander Edler pick is a mystery - he is a little-seen player for the most part who impressed the Canucks’ staff with some raw skills. Regardless of whether he turns out to be a good player, the Canucks very quitely had an effective draft .. we already mentioned that picking up a goalie was a priority for the Canucks and they snapped up Cory Schneider who we had going higher in our mock draft, so that was a fine pick up. Vancouver has the confidence in Alex Auld, as they are aware that Schneider will need some time, but we are still shocked at how underrated this kid is after a nearly flawless season .. Vancouver made the best of their next five picks; Andrew Sarauer is big, rangy with good hands, but is sometimes too gentle which can be fixed .. Mike Brown is a very good heavy-duty player who is unspectacular, but hard working and looks like a potentially solid pro .. Julien Ellis-Plante has been a favorite of ours this season and, despite an on-and-off season, has limitless upside and played at the top prospects game .. David Schulz has faced his hard knocks this season, but is a big guy with range who has consistently improved his one-on-one play. He needs to react quicker on the ice .. Jannik Hansen is an excellent ninth rounder who complimented Ottawa’s Regin quite well at the U-18's. This guy is a good skater and an impressive puck mover, but his physical traits don’t compare to Regin’s.

The Philadelphia Flyers

For a team that did not pick until late in round three, they really cleaned up on draft day .. Rob Bellamy is tough-nosed and physical and dominated the EJHL last year .. R.J. Anderson might be the best high school player in the draft, save for Blake Wheeler .. we feel that David Laliberte really burned out last year, but we’ve seen guys recover from bad campaigns and he did look great the season before. Although it is clear that his offensive upside is not what once thought, he might turn out to be a pretty solid player at both ends of the ice .. Chris Zarb was a second-half riser on McKeen’s - he’s a positionally-strong, lean blueliner whose head we like a lot .. we said before that we have not been impressed with Gino Pisellini, but perhaps if he can focus his energy on the right things, he could turn out to be a decent pest. Ironically, Fredrik Cabana was a much better energy pick-up, but he went in round six .. average-sized, but aggressive and hard-driving Slovak Ladislav Scurko is a terrific mid-round pick-up - he impressed us with his involvement in traffic .. Martin Houle was one of the best goalies in junior all year, whose stock may have dipped for a few reasons: this was his second year of eligibility, he was relegated to back-up duty with the return of Marc-Andre Fleury late in the year, and he, at times, struggled with his five-hole last season. Regardless, were were surprised he fell that low .. our Western scout had very nice things to say about Travis Gawryletz; the well-built defender is quick, with a good reach and good decision-making abilities, but would benefit by adding more grit to his game .. Bobby Clarke made it no secret that, if available, he would take John Carter with the Flyers’ final pick. The Brewster forward has good skills, but his young career so far has been stormy due to a string of personal problems. Carter possesses soft hands and good speed.