Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
He was far from consensus.
There's quotes that CGY had Galchenyuk #1.
Burke tells Bettman in a behind scenes video that TOR had Reilly #1 as he's walking off the podium after the pick.
Seems like CBJ had Murray ahead Yakupov to me.
I've heard that EDM's scouts actually liked Murray more, and that a couple of their key management guys liked Reinhart more. They took Yakupov because of Daryl Katz.
Just because CSS and Bob Mackenzie had Yakupov #1 doesn't really mean crap that year. It was a weird year in that a couple of the top 5 guys missed most of the season due to injury (Galchenyuk and Reilly).
If you did the draft 30 times with each team picking #1 I'd be shocked if Yakupov was taken by even half the teams at that time. Opinions differ. Not everyone is gonna take a one dimensional goal scorer #1 in a bad draft year.
|
The father of one of my best friends is extremely high up in the league office of one of the major jr leagues and I remember him saying the exact thing about Murray/Yak shortly after the draft. He found just prior to the draft that Edmonton was planning on taking Murray and then was shocked when Yakupov was announced at #1. When he inquired about what had changed their minds, he was told that Edmonton's management/scouts did a vote to see who they liked more and the overwhelming consensus was in favour of Murray. Katz happened to be in the voting minority and ended up overruling his management team and instructed them to take Yakupov.
I remember how giddy I was when he told us that story. It was obvious the Oilers were still in deep trouble despite their owners big pockets when it became obvious how meddling he was with the on-ice product.