Nhl Draft Day

[KingDL1]

2009 NHL Mock Draft

Playing Along with a Mock Draft

8. Dmitry Kulikov

Ht/Wt:6.01/195 lbs

Position:D

Drafted From:Drummondville (QMJHL)

8. Dallas Stars- Dmitry Kulikov. The Stars' organization is beginning to run thin on prospects, especially in the defensive end. An offensive defenseman would be the best route for Dallas to take, and although quite a few mock drafts have him going lower, Kulikov fits that mold perfectly. The Russian was the quarterback for Drummondville's lethal power play, and could easily do the same in Texas.

Both have of these mock drafts have Dmity as our 1st choice, I figured we would go goalie first then defenseman any thoughts?

Anyone know much about Dmitry?

Defending Big D has it like this:

D Dmitry Kulikov, Voltigeurs, QMJHL

D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Leksand IF (SWE-2)

D Jared Cowen, Spokane Chiefs, WHL

RW Jordan Schroeder, University of Minnesota

D Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires, OHL

No goalies listed I guess I did not know what I was smoking. I would not think a winger is would even be in our top choices, but I don't know enough about the draft pool.

Edited June 26, 2009 by KingDL1

[Censored by Laurie]

The goalie the Stars are after is Swedish prospect Jonas Gustavsson...he's being courted by 5-10 teams and would just sign a FA contract. The chances of landing him are good...he was teammates with Fabian Brunnstrum and a month ago the 2 teams thought to be a top the running were Dallas and Toronto...and Joe Newey (not even gonna try to spell it out) was the one courting him.

[KingDL1]

The goalie the Stars are after is Swedish prospect Jonas Gustavsson...he's being courted by 5-10 teams and would just sign a FA contract. The chances of landing him are good...he was teammates with Fabian Brunnstrum and a month ago the 2 teams thought to be a top the running were Dallas and Toronto...and Joe Newey (not even gonna try to spell it out) was the one courting him.

That is good to know, Turco played way too many games last year, and far too many when he was in his funk. I am looking forward to having some real relief available for Turco.

[Quoner]

The goalie the Stars are after is Swedish prospect Jonas Gustavsson...he's being courted by 5-10 teams and would just sign a FA contract. The chances of landing him are good...he was teammates with Fabian Brunnstrum and a month ago the 2 teams thought to be a top the running were Dallas and Toronto...and Joe Newey (not even gonna try to spell it out) was the one courting him.

And he threw out the first pitch at the last game of the Rangers/Astros series. The biggest barrier is Toronto just hired the best goalie coach in the history of Sweden hoping to lure him (and get decent goaltending in general). Brunnstrom is his former teammate, so that should help too. Still, not many teams are closer than Dallas in terms of competing and Turco could be gone after this year if we don't resign him, so it's a good fit if he wants to win.

[KRAM1]

The NHL has a draft? Who knew? I think, if the Stars land their Swedish goalie prospect a solid defenseman should be the target. Turco needs a solid back-up/understudy who will take some pressure off when he is in one of his "funks". Besides, can Turco have that many "good" years left, and it seems to me that goalie is the key to the Stanley Cup in the NHL. But, I am not anywhere near a big NHL fan, so am certainly not in a position to know the "ins and outs" of such things. But, from the limited number of NHL games that I have attended, it seems the key to it all is how well your goalie plays over an extended period of games.

GO STARS!

[Quoner]

The NHL has a draft? Who knew? I think, if the Stars land their Swedish goalie prospect a solid defenseman should be the target. Turco needs a solid back-up/understudy who will take some pressure off when he is in one of his "funks". Besides, can Turco have that many "good" years left, and it seems to me that goalie is the key to the Stanley Cup in the NHL. But, I am not anywhere near a big NHL fan, so am certainly not in a position to know the "ins and outs" of such things. But, from the limited number of NHL games that I have attended, it seems the key to it all is how well your goalie plays over an extended period of games.

GO STARS!

Sort of - but a god, deep defense or puck possession style can make anyone look good when they click.

When Chris Osgood gets in the Hall of Fame, he should immediately get on all fours and let Lidstrom, Kronwall, Rafalski, Wheelchair Russian, Larry Murphy, Chris Chelios and everyone else who wore the winged wheel have their way with him like a white girl at a late night meeting of Japanese business men. Osgood was an above average goalie, but there are countless goalies who could have won as much or more if they would have had his situation.

I think they just need to draft the best available and not worry if it's a D-Man. The last time they picked this high, they convinced themselves they needed a D-Man first and reached on Richard Jackman, who was a total bust. Take the best talent available and don't look back.

[KingDL1]

Sort of - but a god, deep defense or puck possession style can make anyone look good when they click.

I figure any time you have a God, and a deep defense you can't be beat. The God alone could probably do it.

I am excited about the draft, I think next year will be a great year for the Stars.

Edited June 26, 2009 by KingDL1

[Quoner]

I figure any time you have a God, and a deep defense you can't be beat. The God alone could probably do it.

I am excited about the draft, I think next year will be a great year for the Stars.

No - they only have lowercase god, like a Baal or Egyptian guy - because the Red Wings are pure evil sent from hell to destroy us and cloud the message of Jesus.

[KingDL1]

No - they only have lowercase god, like a Baal or Egyptian guy - because the Red Wings are pure evil sent from hell to destroy us and cloud the message of Jesus.

Diablo, I think, hangs out with the Red Wings though I hear he is busy making his third piece of a series at Blizzard.

Do you have anyone in mind for this draft first round, I am not up on the buzz other then the mock draft sheets I briefed over this morning?

[Quoner]

Diablo, I think, hangs out with the Red Wings though I hear he is busy making his third piece of a series at Blizzard.

Do you have anyone in mind for this draft first round, I am not up on the buzz other then the mock draft sheets I briefed over this morning?

There was a winger that bob Sturm was high on InsideCorner, but I can't find him. Sadly, Sturm is on vacation, so all we really have is Heika to talk about local stuff. I can't find anything too compelling from him, but he does support my take the talent strategy: http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2...y-on-skill.html

Also, saw Zubov's house is up for sale. It's probably time to move on, but that depresses the hell out of me.

[Rudy]

Newy was talking heavily with the Seedish goalie when he was in Toronto, and him become the GM here is probably what puts us over the top. It would be great if we got him, but we'll see if the Toronto goalie coach sways him. If for some reason we dont get him, I think Climie may be ok as the backup. I thought he played very well when he was up here at the end of the season. Granted, he was playing against other teams who had mailed it in, but I thought he did a good job. I hate to say it, but I think we still need Zubov. I get frustrated as hell with him on defense, and not taking enough shots when he has that freaking cannon, but our power play stalled without him. If we draft that offensive defenseman, we still need Zubov to work with him. Robidas has come along way towards being our PP quarterback, but I dont think he is ready to be humber 1 yet. I still believe the Stars need a Hatcher/Matvichuk/Charra/ Samuelsson type on D. Someone who will knock your block off if you try to come near the crease.

[Quoner]

Newy was talking heavily with the Seedish goalie when he was in Toronto, and him become the GM here is probably what puts us over the top. It would be great if we got him, but we'll see if the Toronto goalie coach sways him. If for some reason we dont get him, I think Climie may be ok as the backup. I thought he played very well when he was up here at the end of the season. Granted, he was playing against other teams who had mailed it in, but I thought he did a good job. I hate to say it, but I think we still need Zubov. I get frustrated as hell with him on defense, and not taking enough shots when he has that freaking cannon, but our power play stalled without him. If we draft that offensive defenseman, we still need Zubov to work with him. Robidas has come along way towards being our PP quarterback, but I dont think he is ready to be humber 1 yet. I still believe the Stars need a Hatcher/Matvichuk/Charra/ Samuelsson type on D. Someone who will knock your block off if you try to come near the crease.

I think someday we will look back and think of all the people at the AAC at Zubov to shoot more as the same type of people who booed Aikman during his last couple of seasons. We'll probably never see that pure a passer in a Stars jersey ever again. I'm still holding out hope he comes back.

We need Bouwneister, but our cheap owner will probably keep us 6-8 million under the cap this summer. If he ever sold the Stars, they would be able to sign a free agent or two right away, which is nice.

[KingDL1]

There was a winger that bob Sturm was high on InsideCorner, but I can't find him. Sadly, Sturm is on vacation, so all we really have is Heika to talk about local stuff. I can't find anything too compelling from him, but he does support my take the talent strategy: http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2...y-on-skill.html

Also, saw Zubov's house is up for sale. It's probably time to move on, but that depresses the hell out of me.

Sad to see Zubov go, I figured he was done, but a couple of my hockey buddies seemed to think he just needed the time to heal up correctly and we would still get a few more good years out of him. I guess we will see what he does, maybe he is just getting a new place.

It does seem to be the consensus of what I have read about the NHL draft these days - is for a team to just build up its best blue chips through the draft and then deal them as they have to.

Most of what I see strongly agrees with your talent strategy.

[KingDL1]

Stars are up, here it comes

[KingDL1]

The 8th overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft for the Stars is

Scott Glennie.

[Green Gas]

The 8th overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft for the Stars is

Scott Glennie.

A winger, I heard a few speculate this player. I heard Dallas would not spend a first round pick on a Russian.

[Quoner]

A winger, I heard a few speculate this player. I heard Dallas would not spend a first round pick on a Russian.

Only one Russian taken in the first round. Hope Vladmir Constantinov was sitting down.

I'll see myself out.

[KingDL1]

Only one Russian taken in the first round. Hope Vladmir Constantinov was sitting down.

I'll see myself out.

They kept talking about the Russian problem during the draft, something about the Russians fold up camp and head home suddenly leaving teams out to dry. Not sure I got the whole story.

One other question more about the draft and what it means in hockey. I was under the impression that when you made yourself available for the draft you were ready to enter the team's program. Maybe sent to the minors like baseball, but you were ready to play hockey for the team that drafted you. Again maybe I have heard or read this wrong but it seemed that several of the players in this draft won't able to play for their teams for years to come. Like they had years on other contracts or were going to college first. Do they get to play for their college team? It seemed to me that drafting like this puts the cart out ahead of the horse so to speak. Again maybe I misunderstood this whole thing, but why draft a kids this early if they are not going to play for you?

By the way as of the Star's Draft list through yesterday no defenseman or goalie, just forwards mostly wings.

Edited June 28, 2009 by KingDL1

[Quoner]

They kept talking about the Russian problem during the draft, something about the Russians fold up camp and head home suddenly leaving teams out to dry. Not sure I got the whole story.

One other question more about the draft and what it means in hockey. I was under the impression that when you made yourself available for the draft you were ready to enter the team's program. Maybe sent to the minors like baseball, but you were ready to play hockey for the team that drafted you. Again maybe I have heard or read this wrong but it seemed that several of the players in this draft won't able to play for their teams for years to come. Like they had years on other contracts or were going to college first. Do they get to play for their college team? It seemed to me that drafting like this puts the cart out ahead of the horse so to speak. Again maybe I misunderstood this whole thing, but why draft a kids this early if they are not going to play for you?

By the way as of the Star's Draft list through yesterday no defenseman or goalie, just forwards mostly wings.

The league over (KHL) is starting to pay players - including non-Russians like Ray Emory and a few others - more money than NHL teams can now and have stolen a few mid-level talents back from the NHL. There was someone in Nashville who scored about 25 goals a few years ago and now I think Viktor Kozlov is headed over there from the Caps. Plus, there's been issues with getting players out of Russia (Ovechkin and Malkin had big issues a few years ago, for example.) With Swedish players being suddenly the "in" nationality, everyone figures they can work around dealing with them.

The NHL Draft is different - some of these kids go to college after being drafted (that's part of the fun of the Frozen Four - some guys you start learning about are held by teams and enter the AHL afterwards.) Think of the AHL as AAA and then all of the stuff underneath it as the Rookie, Single A, Double A, etc. The college players can leave at any time (I think even in season) if they are ready to go pro, which makes it different than the other sports as well.

The Stars picked the best talent for them at each spot, but it was interesting that they went for a different mix of size and skill than before. They've loaded up on D-Men in the last 3 drafts more than I remembered, but we'll see where this goes. I've seen nothing but praise for it so far on few scouting sites, but we won't know for years if it's worth it.

Also, rumor is that Gustavsson will announce his decision tomorrow, but we'll see.

[KingDL1]

The league over (KHL) is starting to pay players - including non-Russians like Ray Emory and a few others - more money than NHL teams can now and have stolen a few mid-level talents back from the NHL. There was someone in Nashville who scored about 25 goals a few years ago and now I think Viktor Kozlov is headed over there from the Caps. Plus, there's been issues with getting players out of Russia (Ovechkin and Malkin had big issues a few years ago, for example.) With Swedish players being suddenly the "in" nationality, everyone figures they can work around dealing with them.

The NHL Draft is different - some of these kids go to college after being drafted (that's part of the fun of the Frozen Four - some guys you start learning about are held by teams and enter the AHL afterwards.) Think of the AHL as AAA and then all of the stuff underneath it as the Rookie, Single A, Double A, etc. The college players can leave at any time (I think even in season) if they are ready to go pro, which makes it different than the other sports as well.

The Stars picked the best talent for them at each spot, but it was interesting that they went for a different mix of size and skill than before. They've loaded up on D-Men in the last 3 drafts more than I remembered, but we'll see where this goes. I've seen nothing but praise for it so far on few scouting sites, but we won't know for years if it's worth it.

Also, rumor is that Gustavsson will announce his decision tomorrow, but we'll see.

Thanks for the info, I hope Jonas does come to Dallas, it would be nice to have the Goalie situation in a better place.

[Censored by Laurie]

Welp...see ya later.

[Quoner]

Welp...see ya later.

One year deal on a poor defensive team - good luck with that, kid.

get ready for Marty Biron or the other guy with the crazy last name from Philly. Just anyone who gets Turco on the bench for 20 games is cool with me.

[Censored by Laurie]

One year deal on a poor defensive team - good luck with that, kid.

get ready for Marty Biron or the other guy with the crazy last name from Philly. Just anyone who gets Turco on the bench for 20 games is cool with me.

Biron is a player...Philly just asked too much of him as a lead. Biron can give Marty 30 games.

[Quoner]

Biron is a player...Philly just asked too much of him as a lead. Biron can give Marty 30 games.

Gagree - I think he is the best option left, but wouldn't mind Manny Fernandez as a plan B (or C at this point).

[KingDL1]

Gagree - I think he is the best option left, but wouldn't mind Manny Fernandez as a plan B (or C at this point).

Got the other thread going the same time as this one renewed. A shame about Jonas, we may see the kid yet. I don't understand the year contract with Toronto.