The deep end: while this year's class may lack a can't-miss prospect floating at the top, NHL executives are excited to dive into what looks to be a talent-rich pool - 2003 NHL Draft Preview

Hockey Digest, Summer, 2003 by Tom Worgo

UNLIKE RECENT YEARS, THE NHL draft class of 2003 seems to lack a can't-miss prospect. In all the pre-draft chatter, there seems to be no mention of the next Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros, or Jaromir Jagr.

One is even hard pressed to find comparisons to the most recent so-called franchise players--the Tampa Bay Lightning's Vincent LeCavalier, the Boston Bruins' Joe Thornton, or the Atlanta Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk.

"We don't have what you might call a real high-class franchise-type of player," says Frank Bonello, director of file NHL's central scouting bureau, of this year's draft, which will be held in Nashville

Still, despite an absence of bonus babies, this class could be the deepest draft in more than a decade, with high quality players found well into the second round.

"I think its fair to say it's the deepest draft I have seen in 14 years," Bonello says.

Columbus director of amateur scouting Don Boyd echoes Bonello's assessment. "I think it's probably the deepest I have seen in 13 years," he says. "There are probably more players with more than one quality than can get to the NHL this year than in the recent past."

It's unlikely the top players available--goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, forwards Milan Michalek, Nikolai Zherdev, Nathan Horton, Eric Staal, and defenseman Braydon Coburn--will have the same kind of immediate impact that two members of the class of 2002 mainly the Columbus Blue Jackets' Rick Nash and the Florida Panthers' Jay Bouwmeester--have had.

Those six prospects are the closest things to a franchise player that the draft offers, though. If any of the six comes close; to matching the success of Nash or Bouwmeester, then the club that picked them will be thrilled.

Nash finished seventh on the Blue Jackets in scoring this season with 17 goals and 22 assists in 73 games, and Bouwmeester ranked as one of the Panthers' top blueliners all year long.

"You never know, but I don't see too many guys jumping into the NHL next year," Atlanta Thrashers GM Don Waddell says. "There will be one or two guys that will. I just don't know who will at this point."

There's no consensus among NHL clubs and draft experts as to which player will be selected No. 1 overall.

As always, a trade could impact the pick. For instance, last year on draft day, Florida dropped down from No. 1 overall to No. 3 in a trade with Columbus.

"To me, you could take any one of a half-dozen guys at No. 1," says Kyle Woodlief, publisher and chief scout of The Redline Report, an independent scouting newsletter. "There is a little bit of everything in this draft."

Waddell isn't sure Who will be the top pick, either. "It could be one of three or four guys or maybe even five guys," Waddell says. "I think everyone will have the same names for the first five guys. I think it will depend on the team's needs, whether or not the team picking first needs a goalie or not."

Columbus, for one, is a team that won't draft just based on needs. The Blue Jackets traded up last year to select Nash No. 1 overall because they considered him the best available talent, regardless of position.

"I do honestly believe you have to take the most talented player, because that is the guy that you are really hoping is going to play in your lineup," Boyd says. "Even if you are strong at all three positions on each line, if this kid is truly the best hockey player, he will make you better by taking someone else's spot."

For the second year in a row, Florida won the NHL draft lottery and will make the first selection in the draft. The question is: Will Panthers GM Rick Dudley trade the pick again? Last year on draft day, he peddled the No. 1 overall selection to Columbus, moving down two slots and choosing defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. It was a great move since Bouwmeester looked like a future All-Star this season.

If Dudley decides to stay in the draft's top five, he can take some confidence in the Panthers' draft history. Florida picked center Rob Niedermayer fifth overall in 1993 draft and defenseman Ed Jovanovski was the top pick in 1994. They're both still NHLers and were key members of the team's 1996 Stanley Cup Finals squad. Even Florida's 2001 first-round pick, Stephen Weiss (fourth overall), looks like he's on his way to a solid career.

While Carolina had a league-low 61 points, the Hurricanes will pick second, followed by Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Buffalo.

Pittsburgh GM Craig Patrick, for one, knows something about selecting quality players. He picked Jagr, Markus Naslund, and Martin Straka in consecutive years, starting in 1990.

Patrick thinks the draft lottery works well. "They wanted to make sure that teams kept competing throughout the regular season and were not throwing games to get the top pick," says Patrick, whose organization was accused of tanking some games so it could select Mario Lemieux with the No. I overall pick in 1984. "There was a concern about the perception that might have been out there."

One of the candidates for the top overall pick is Fleury, who competed for Cape Breton in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this year.