Quote:
Originally Posted by flambers
He was drafted 11th overall, by the Stars
Scoring 111 points in 1994-1995.
Guessing the scouting report had him as a 1st or 2nd line forward?
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I lived in Kamloops those years and maybe missed 6 games between 91 and 96.in his draft season he was a third line player with little to no PP time on a really stacked Blazers team with a revolving door of linemates. Had 33 goals and 71 points in 72 games. He did have a really good Memorial cup as the Blazers had beefed up their depth which gave him some better guys to play with. It was the next year when he got top line time where he had 63 goals and 136 points. In his draft year going at 11 was maybe a bit of a reach because teams had not seen Iginla play enough in better situations to confidently know what he was. Turns out Dallas had been smart enough to project what he could be in a larger role.
Shane Doan had way more hype around him from his debut as a Blazer, and as a third year player in a larger role was a better known commodity on draft day. But by the second year I think someone who had seen both players everyday might have figured out after that given the age difference, Iginla could be the better player. By the of his age 17 season he wss as strong as Doan, a better skater, and superior shot.
So I always reflect on that as it shows that you really need to use where the player was to where he is, and have good trusting relationships with people like coaches who see these guys everyday when evaluating players. Trying to draft 18 year olds...many of them who were 17 in the season they're being evaluated is really difficult.