Quote:
Originally Posted by _Q_
Thinking about it a little bit more over the last couple of days, I actually wouldn't mind drafting Nurse either. Yes, we have issues with our centre prospects, but I think we have bigger issues on defence.
Next season we have Stajan, Backlund and Horak as our top 3 centres... not the best in the league, but definitely not horrible. Backlund and Stajan are both capable 2nd line guys and Horak has proven he belongs in the NHL. Both Horak and Backlund are young enough that you can expect they will take a step forward in the next few years. Plus we also have Jankowski, which is a wild card right now and whoever else we draft with our remaining 2 first round picks.
If our scouting staff feels that Nurse can be a franchise defenceman a la Weber and Lindholm/Monahan will just be decent centres a la Backlund/Stajan... then I would go with Nurse 10 times out of 10. We already have the decent, underwhelming centres... we don't have a franchise defenceman.
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Sorry but a center group of Stajan, Backlund and Horak going foward is horrible. Stajan is a 2b/3a center at best. Backlund is a 2nd line center on a bad team, does not make top 6 on a good team. Granted he might make the next step. Horak is a 3rd line center. You are not going to win much in the next 3 years with that group. If that's the 3 for the next 3 years until Jankowski is ready, then that is the worst collection of centers in the league.