I had an entire post written about the Leafs two picks last night, but decided to scrap it as it became ridiculously long-winded. The Leafs made two very safe selections last night, but also two of the first rounders with the least long-term potential. Nearly every scouting report that I read questioned the offensive ceiling of Tyler Biggs. Sounds to me like a kid who matured early and physically dominated a bunch of USHLers. No offense to the USHL, but many were questioning whether a "similar player" (used loosely) in Gabriel Landeskog should go in the top five, and Landeskog scored 35 goals in the OHL. The USHL is not, by any stretch, near the skill level of the OHL. While every contending team needs quality bottom six players who can hit and fight and work hard, I don't think you need to draft David Clarkson type players in the first round, and I certainly don't think you need to trade your high second round pick to move down three spots to do it. Those kinds of players are available in free agency and the highly skilled ones are not. Not to mention we drafted Brad Ross last year. YAY for penalties! Anyways, I hope that I'm wrong and Biggs and Percy turn out to be solid picks, but for right now I think I'll just continue to scratch my head.
Links after the jump...
Saturday links:
VLM on the Liles deal
Puckin' Eh on the first round
MLHS has some early evaluation
Brian Soupy Campbell sent to Florida; Burns traded to San Jose
The Hockey News has the details
