Yesterday was a busy day and night for anyone in attendance at, as well as for the hundreds and hundreds of execs, reporters and arena staff actually working during the NHL Draft in Newark. It was a big whirlwind of activity over seven hours for the prospects whose futures depended on whether and where they were drafted, and the thirty GM’s who took the first steps toward solidifying their 2013 roster. Whether it was the Isles dealing for Cal Clutterbuck, the Leafs for Dave Bolland or our own shocking trade (more on that later), there was certainly intrigue yesterday afternoon and evening – even if the expected mass of trade activity during the first several picks never came to pass.
First things first, since Derek already recapped the major action of yesterday I’m mostly going to chronicle my own experience at my first – and quite possibly only draft. I got to Newark at one, figuring there would be stuff to keep me busy till three between the outdoor FanFest and the attractions around the concourse (including a display of all the major trophies, as well as a chance to get a picture with the Stanley Cup, which had its own very long line of course). I was hoping to get my picture with the Cup in before the draft, but for some reason the line was cut off very early (around 1:30), even though the Cup was initially on display till three. So that would have to come later during the 5-8 PM picture line. Instead, I bought my obligatory t-shirt – a gray one with all the team logos as well as the draft logo on it – got my commemorative ticket and a free ISS central scouting magazine, and wound up in my seat by 2:20, just taking everything in. And much to my surprise I was able to use my Devils food card, which still had $25 leftover on it from the season, so I wound up with free food and drink for the day too.
Outside, there was a line of season ticket holders waiting to get in forty-five minutes early (12:30, compared to the 1:15 door opening to the general public) that stretched around the arena. Getting in that early had no real charms for me since I didn’t care where in the 100’s or the 200’s I sat, and I figured being at the back of that line I’d wind up getting in the same time as I would through a regular gate anyway. Little did I realize the earlybirds got a limited number of lower-bowl seats for the opening rounds too. Oh well, I had other things I wanted to do but it would have been nice to know about. I didn’t even realize there would be lower-bowl seats available until I found out secondhand through the friend of a friend. Oh well, I was already sitting with my friend, her significant other and her brother upstairs by then anyway. There wasn’t all that much to do at the outdoor ‘carnival’, especially since technical difficulties prevented them from even putting the mini-ferris wheel together. The highlight of the shore display was the sandcastle with the draft logo on it, which hopefully I’ll be able to post with this article at some point.
So after my outside gawking, picture-taking and indoor laps around the concourse exploring everything, I prepared for the draft not really knowing what to expect. Our crowd booing various teams at roll call (including the Kings and Wild, along with our division rivals) was amusing, the even more vociferous booing of Gary Bettman was predictable – especially after seeing the booing David Stern got in Brooklyn earlier in the week during the NBA’s draft. From what little I read it seemed likely the top tier of forwards would be gone before our pick at #9, much to the consternation of draftniks everywhere, who’ve apparently forgotten history that it is possible to get a scorer outside of the top eight in the draft. In the back of my mind, I figured a trade down was a possibility if that did happen though, especially with our grand total of four picks going into yesterday. As so often happens though, one of those forward prospects – Valeri Nickushin – did fall to our pick at nine. Given our utter lack of scoring talent both in the NHL and in the pipeline, getting a potential star was tempting, even with the 17-year old’s moodiness and unwillingness to go to the AHL.
Having a current Russian star in Ilya Kovalchuk and given our generally good history with Russian players, that was definitely the pick I was hoping for at nine. When Count Bettman (as Derek calls him) said those six magic words ‘We have a trade to announce’, initially I was annoyed, though somewhat bemused and intrigued at Bettman’s follow-up ‘I think you’ll want to hear this’. When the trade of our #9 pick for Cory Schnieder was announced I was both happy and laughing my rear end off, mostly at how Lou Lamoriello did it again – by it, meaning somehow managing to keep a deal in absolute secrecy, even in a 24/7 news cycle world where little is secret. There wasn’t any Twitter leak, or even a remote hint beforehand that this might be possible. Not to mention the irony of trading for Brodeur’s eventual replacement with Brodeur (as well as doomed backup Johan Hedberg, it turned out) in the building.
Despite my wanting a forward, I was on board with the deal from minute one. For one, it’s good value getting a young, all-but-proven goalie for a #9 pick and nothing else. Schnieder this year, or next year is ready to blossom into the next great goalie much like Tuukka Rask did this year, after years of mostly backing up Tim Thomas in Boston. Ironically the only time I’ve seen him in person, he nearly single-handedly beat the Devils 2-1 in a game a couple years ago where he made 30+ saves and earned high praise from Patrik Elias, among others. I don’t need to see him play to have confidence he’ll be good though, just look at his numbers and how he handled the Vancouver goaltending carousel fiasco to know he has both the talent, and the right makeup for an unenviable task of eventually succeeding Brodeur.
I didn’t want one of our kids getting stuck with the task of being the next goalie after Brodeur either. Before this daring acquisition by Lou though, I was initially hoping for a Hedberg-ish stopgap to bridge a couple years until one of our prospects (Scott Wedgewood or Keith Kinkaid) proved they deserved a chance. However, this not only improves the future of our goaltending tenfold, but the present as well. Replace Hedberg’s .885 or whatever save percentage with Schnieder’s .925+ during the 48-game season and the Devils would have made the playoffs easily this year, even with their other issues up front.
How this transition gets handled in the short-term with Brodeur still around will be tricky though, and is the one potential headache with this move, but that’ll be for another blog when I’m able to actually get my computer back from Staples (two weeks plus to fix a motherboard and do tests?!) and/or have time to talk more in depth about how the Devils shape up next season. Buying out Hedberg or coaxing him into retirement is a more minor, and temporary headache. I do feel bad for him to an extent, given he wanted a two-year deal last year to be able to move his family after commuting from Atlanta during a couple of one-year deals, but plain and simple he didn’t get the job done last year and he’s on the wrong side of 40 now too.
At least Marty had the later, unique consolation of being able to announce the drafting of his son Anthony late in the 7th round, after Lou friend Dean Lombardi did us a favor by giving New Jersey their late 7th round pick this year for our seventh-round pick in 2015. By then I’d already gotten home and turned off the draft but fortunately turned it back on in time to see most of the coverage of the Brodeur draft pick. To their credit, TSN did the entire draft (coverage seen both on NBCSN and NHLN in the US) and was on top of that. To NHL.com’s credit, they put the video up quickly last night so everyone could see that rare moment.
As far as my day was concerned, I hung around in my seat with my friends long enough for our second-round pick, just after 6:30 (of course another defenseman lol). Then I finally got the Cup picture and used up the rest of my food card while I sat in various sections of the lower bowl to see the view, until that got boring and I left after 8. Probably should have stayed till the finish, especially given what occurred but by then I was alone, tired and bored. But happy I’d come to experience this once-a-generation event known as the NHL Draft, and everything that went with it. And amused when I got home and listened to yet another Pierre-gasm on tape (analyst Pierre McGuire going nuts) over our trade.
I didn’t actually meet any other celebs though I saw a few and probably could have seen a lot more if I’d walked the concourse long enough. I saw Bill Daly leaving Edison Ale House before the draft after he did an interview for SiriusXM, and while I was stuck in the Cup picture line I saw none other than John MacLean getting pictures with a few fans. For the crap I give him about being the worst coach in NHL history, it is a shame it ended the way it did here given all his time as a player and assistant. Among my other random celeb sightings were EJ Hradek walking the halls (also while in the Cup line) as well as a few of the drafted prospects including Elias Lindholm (#5 overall pick by Carolina) having dinner with family and friends in the Ice Lounge. I didn’t want to bother him while he was probably winding down from a long day, and couldn’t really say anything to most of the others while in line anyway. Truth be told it’s hard to think of some conversation starter with a random sports exec/coach/player you only see on TV anyway. Oh well, there’s always Ken Daneyko at every Devils event – and I saw him posing for pictures down below yesterday too – if I want an easy conversation with a celeb.
Either way I got almost everything I could have asked for out of yesterday, and a bit more than I thought I’d get from the Devils themselves. Especially with Lou’s later admission that they would announce some UFA signings in the next few days (one of whom turned out to be Danius Zubrus today, and it looks like they’re close with Elias on a new deal too).
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