Colorado Avalanche: Redrafting The 2005 NHL Draft

The Colorado Avalanche have gone through a fair amount of NHL drafts since being introduced to the league in 1995. We won’t go back quite that far and start ten years later instead, when we take a look at players that were drafted each year. Who turned out to be a decent player for the Avalanche and who didn’t? Who could we have had instead?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Today, we can simply look at a past draft and point out which players were worth a pick and which ones were not. For NHL teams at the draft, however, it is a completely different situation.

Mitch Marner is supposed to be the next Patrick Kane, Jack Eichel is America’s best player since Mike Modano and Connor McDavid is supposed to be Sidney Crosby’s successor? All we know is that Kane, Modano and Crosby are all great players that had and still will, in the case of Crosby and Kane, have incredibly great careers. Kane is getting the chance to win his third Stanley Cup, Modano is America’s greatest scorer of all time and Crosby is a member of the Triple Gold Club.

Marner, Eichel and McDavid, however, have not really achieved anything too big yet. Still, they will likely be the “safe picks” of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. It gets harder and harder to find real gems, the farther the draft advances. As we wait to see who the Avalanche are convinced of this year, we will use our lovely tool that is hindsight and re-draft the 2005 NHL Draft the way we would have liked it to happen.

Eligible to be re-drafted are all players that were drafted after the Avalanches respective pick and before their next pick.

The Avalanche’s 2005 first round pick was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, so we will jump right into Round 2.

Next: Round 2

Round 2

34th overall:
Colorado Avalanche pick — C Ryan Stoa
New pick — D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (35th to SJS)

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I recently wrote a bigger piece about this pick (here). Unfortunately, Stoa never turned out to consistently be the big power forward he was supposed to be. We have to admit, though, if Stoa was ten years younger and available when the Avalanche pick in the second round this year, there is a great chance that Patrick Roy would want the 6-foot-3 center again.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the other hand, turned out to be a true No. 1 defender that excels both defensively and offensively. An Olympic gold medal winner with Team Canada in 2014, Vlasic is exactly what the Avalanche would need right now.

44th overall (from PHO):
Colorado Avalanche pick — C Paul Stastny
New pick — C Paul Stastny

There probably aren’t many people that would disagree with this being the best possible pick. Paul Stastny was a great player for the Avalanche and perhaps one of the reasons for the massive decline from the 2013-14 season to the 2014-15 campaign.

47th overall (from WSH):
Colorado Avalanche pick — LW Tom Fritsche
New pick — G Jonathan Quick (72nd to LAK)

Tom Fritsche was a massive disappointment. Picked mid-second round, he never played an NHL game and stopped pursuing his dreams to be a successful hockey professional after the 2011 season with the CHL’s Tulsa Oilers.
We all know Jonathan Quick’s story. It took four years for him to become an NHL regular, which is probably still considered quick (how punny) development for a goaltender, but today he is one of the league’s best. Two Stanley Cup rings speak for themselves.

Next: Round 3

Round 3

Mar 21, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; New York Rangers defensemen Keith Yandle (93) looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in the shoot out. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

88th overall:
Colorado Avalanche pick — C T.J. Hensick
New pick — D Keith Yandle (105th to PHO)

T.J. Hensick played 112 NHL games to this day. That is still decent for a third round pick, but could be much better. Hensick is still active in the AHL, where he is one of the better scorers in the league. In 2014-15, he scored 60 points in 71 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
But then there is Keith Yandle. Similar to the Vlasic pick, he is exactly what the Avalanche could need right now. However, he finally left Arizona for a more successful team in 2015, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final with the New York Rangers.

Next: Round 4

Round 4

Apr 23, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Darren Helm (43) skates with the puck in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game four of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena. Tampa Bay won 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

95th overall:
Traded to MIN, then OTT

124th overall (ANA):
Colorado Avalanche pick — D Raymond Macias
New pick — C Darren Helm (132nd to DET)

Raymond Macias appeared in a total of seven NHL games. Most of his career was spent in the AHL, but he also took a trip over to Germany and spent the 2014-15 campaign with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies.
Detroit Red Wing Darren Helm’s career has been quite a bit more successful. He never exceeded his role as a bottom line forward, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a valuable player for the Wings. To this day, he has played 366 NHL games and there is likely more to come.

The Colorado Avalanche’s 2005 fifth round pick was traded to Carolina.

Next: Round 6

Round 6

May 6, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman (6) reacts after center Tyler Johnson (9) scored a goal in the third period of game three of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

166th overall:
Colorado Avalanche pick — D Jason Lynch
New pick — G Joe Fallon (167th to CHI)

Jason Lynch, a 6-foot-4 defenseman, seemed like a good pick back in 2005, if he panned out. He didn’t, though, so in hindsight we have to say that it was not too good of a pick. He spent the last three years of his career in the Canadian equivalent to the NCAA at UBC. He is probably still a heavy-hitting defenseman for some beer league team in his native British Columbia.
Joe Fallon may come as a little suprise here, since most people probably don’t even know him. Well, due to the rules of this re-draft (eligible are only players that were selected between the Avalanche’s pick and their next pick), Fallon was the only eligible player. He appeared in no NHL games, but at least played 64 games in the AHL, which Lynch did not.

168th overall:
Colorado Avalanche pick — C Justin Mercier
New pick — D Anton Stralman (216th to TOR)

Justin Mercier appeared in nine games for the Avalanche, which is more than most other sixth round picks. He is still active in the ECHL and occasionally the AHL.
As opposed to Jason Lynch, Anton Stralman is currently farther away from beer league level than ever before. After many years of mediocrity on Toronto’s, Columbus’ and New York’s bottom defense pairs, Stralman elevated his game and turned into one of the best defensemen of the Stanley Cup Finalist Tampa Bay Lightning this season.

Next: Round 7