The NHL Draft

The first three players selected were a no brainer. Nail Yakupov going first to Edmonton, Ryan Murray to Columbus, and Alex Galchenyuk to Montreal. Everything else...I was scratching my head! How did Filip Forsberg and Mikhail Grigorenko fall to 11 and 12th? And what's up with the Maple Leafs taking Morgan Rielly? Don't get me wrong, he's supposed to have a good upside, but if you're a team lacking in the center position, and you already have too many minor league defenceman....why do you add ANOTHER defenceman?

Any thoughts?

The problem is at the 5th spot from what I understand all the best players still on the board were defencemen. That is to say taking a centre with the 5th pick would be too much of a reach.

I'm not crazy about the Schenn for JVR deal though.

I'm surprised Mikhail Grigorenko wasn't picked 5th by the Leafs. A nice hulking center, who at one point was rated as high as 3rd (NHL WEBSITE). When i saw he hadn't been drafted yet, i honestly thought the Leafs would happily take him.

On the Schenn front, i agree with you! Brian Burke wants physical players, and he's just traded away the player with the most hits the last two seasons. I understand he wants bigger up front, but JVR does not use his size very well. You don't give up on a 22 year old that quickly. Not after Schenn was mishandled by both Wilson and Carlyle the last two years.

When it comes to the draft, I think that most GMs are looking for the most talented player available out there. Most of the players taken (even if it´s in the first round), are not ready to play in the NHL in awhile. So the GMs are not looking for a player who can help the team in the short run, but rather in the long run.
But I do agree with you. The Maple Leafs are crying for a first line center, perhaps they are eyeing a couple of them now when free agency starts.