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Displaying pretext
The 1991 NHL Entry Draft class is a very deep and talented one. The 1988 crop was topped by a PGVT+ of 11.0; this year there are six players above that mark. In 1988, there were 19 players available with a mark of 6.0 or above, while this year there are 30. Eric Lindros is the consensus number one, which is also the result that fictional Saskatoon GM Ardal Ekrub's Project-a-Tron objective draft ranking system gives. After Lindros, there is still a group of excellent prospects made up of Scott Niedermayer, Markus Naslund, Peter Forsberg, Martin Lapointe, Pat Falloon, and Ray Whitney. Ekrub, picking first at number 21, would be very happy if one of these players was available at that time, but he's not holding his breath.
Top 30 Players Available at 1991 Entry Draft
Rank Player Pos League PGVT+ Drafted
1 Lindros, Eric F OHL 28.7 1
2 Niedermayer, Scott D WHL 13.4 3
3 Naslund, Markus F Swe 13.4 16
4 Forsberg, Peter F Swe 13.3 6
5 Lapointe, Martin F QMJHL 12.9 10
6 Falloon, Pat F WHL 11.2 2
7 Whitney, Ray F WHL 10.5 23
8 Nylander, Michael F Swe 9.9 59
9 Stumpel, Jozef F Cze 9.2 40
10 Caloun, Jan F Cze 8.9 -
11 Palffy, Zigmund F Cze 8.8 26
12 Bremberg, Fredrik F Swe 8.3 55
13 Hamrlik, Martin D Cze 8.3 31
14 Shields, Steve G CCHA 8.3 101
15 Zhitnik, Alexei D Rus 8.1 81
16 Cherbaev, Alexander F Rus 7.6 -
17 Lehtinen, Jere F Fin 7.5 -
18 Matvichuk, Richard D WHL 7.4 8
19 Bilodeau, Brent D WHL 7.4 17
20 Reevesm Kyle F WHL 7.4 64
21 Varvio, Jarkko F Fin 7.4 -
22 Tuomainen, Marko F Fin 7.4 -
23 Straka, Martin F Cze 7.3 -
24 Van Impe, Darren D WHL 7.1 -
25 Seguin, Brett F OHL 7.0 130
26 Corbet, Rene F QMJHL 6.6 24
27 Boucher, Philippe D QMJHL 6.4 13
28 Johansson, Andreas F Swe 6.4 134
29 Mironov, Boris D Rus 6.3 -
30 Lachance, Scott D HE 6.1 4
Ekrub is glad to get Ray Whitney, who he would have drafted in 1990 if not for the restriction that 17-year-old Canadian major junior players are generally restricted to the first three rounds of the draft. Other than Whitney, and the fifth round selection of Darren Van Impe, the Westerns once again load up on European talent. Again, this is not Ekrub's intent but an indication that other teams are not valuing European players properly. Surely, part of it is an assessment of risk, where a European might have trouble living in North America, or may even decide not to cross the Atlantic at all. But it must be, at least in part, that more scouting resources are dedicated to the various North American leagues than to Europe. This is one advantage of a statistical draft ranking system: you don't need someone watching the player in question to obtain an estimate of his draft value.
Saskatoon Westerns 1991 Entry Draft Picks
Pick Player Pos League PGVT+
21 Whitney, Ray LW WHL 10.5
43 Nylander, Michael C Swe 9.9
65 Zhitnik, Alexei D Rus 8.1
87 Caloun, Jan RW Cze 8.9
104 Van Impe, Darren D WHL 7.1
109 Cherbaev, Alexander RW Rus 7.6
131 Lehtinen, Jere RW Fin 7.4
153 Varvio, Jarkko RW Fin 7.4
175 Tuomainen, Marko RW Fin 7.4
197 Mironov, Boris D Rus 6.3
219 Straka, Martin C Cze 7.3
241 Hoglund, Jonas LW Swe 5.8
263 Stepanov, Alexei LW Rus 5.6
Ekrub finds himself facing a logjam of goaltending prospects at the AHL level. Already having J-C Bergeron, Andre Racicot, and Stephane Fiset, 1989 draft pick Felix Potvin is now going to start the season at that level as well. Rotating three netminders is fine, but four is simply too many. To address this issue, and also the team's relative paucity of defensemen on the Reserve List, Racicot is dealt to Montreal in exchange for young blueliner Kevin Dahl, who is also a native of Saskatchewan.
Center Brian Bradley is lost in the Expansion Draft, and the regular roster purge is completed, resulting in the releases of Randy Taylor, Craig Endean, Roman Nemcicky, Keijo Sailynoja, Luc Beausoleil, Patrice Tremblay, Markus Akerblom, Stefan Elvenes, and Mikko Laaksonen.
Saskatoon Westerns 1991-92 Reserve List
Pos Name Age Acquired
G Beaupre, Don (k) 29 Trade—1983
G Bergeron, J-C (k) 22 Draft—1987 (79)
G Fiset, Stephane (k) 21 Draft—1988 (24)
G Potvin, Felix (k) 20 Draft—1989 (61)
G Riendeau, Vincent (k) 25 Draft—1984 (238)
D Albelin, Tommy (k) 27 Draft—1983 (132)
D Andersson, Peter (k) 26 Draft—1983 (54)
D Bodger, Doug (k) 25 Draft—1984 (9)
D Brown, Jeff (k) 25 Draft—1984 (30)
D Dahl, Kevin (k) 22 Trade—1991
D Friman, Kari-Pekka (k) 24 Draft—1985 (57)
D Hawgood, Greg (k) 23 Draft—1986 (36)
D Lambert, Dan (k) 21 Draft—1988 (61)
D Maciver, Norm (k) 28 Draft—1984 (197)
D Mironov, Boris 19 Draft—1991 (197)
D McCrimmon, Brad (k) 32 Trade—1983
D Norwood, Lee (k) 31 Trade—1983
D Numminen, Teppo (k) 23 Draft—1986 (15)
D Olsson, Mattias 19 Draft—1990 (150)
D Snell, Chris (k) 20 Draft—1990 (249)
D Van Impe, Darren 18 Draft—1991 (104)
D Whitham, Sean (k) 24 Draft—1985 (114)
D Yushkevich, Dmitri 19 Draft—1990 (45)
D Zhitnik, Alexei 18 Draft—1991 (65)
D Zubov, Sergei 20 Draft—1990 (81)
C Chalifoux, Denis (k) 20 Draft—1990 (165)
C Conroy, Al (k) 25 Draft—1984 (218)
C Firth, Jason (k) 20 Draft—1990 (186)
C Gilmour, Doug (k) 28 Transfer—1983
C Goodall, Glen (k) 21 Draft—1988 (82)
C Kivela, Teppo (k) 23 Draft—1987 (16)
C Lapointe, Claude (k) 22 Draft—1988 (229)
C Larouche, Steve (k) 20 Draft—1989 (40)
C Larter, Tyler (k) 23 Draft—1986 (225)
C Lebeau, Stephan (k) 23 Draft—1990 (141)
C Miller, Colin (k) 20 Draft—1990 (228)
C Nieuwendyk, Joe (k) 25 Draft—1985 (9)
C Nylander, Michael 18 Draft—1991 (43)
C Perreault, Yanic (k) 20 Draft—1990 (102)
C Raitanen, Pauli 21 Draft—1988 (103)
C Reichel, Robert (k) 20 Draft—1989 (19)
C Sakic, Brian (k) 20 Draft—1990 (39)
C Straka, Martin 19 Draft—1991 (219)
C Zhamnov, Alexei 20 Draft—1990 (60)
LW Alatalo, Mika 20 Draft—1989 (103)
LW Andersson, Niklas 20 Draft—1989 (43)
LW Hoglund, Jonas 19 Draft—1991 (241)
LW Horak, Roman 21 Draft—1988 (19)
LW Jurik, Juraj (k) 23 Draft—1987 (163)
LW Kiuru, Marko 22 Draft—1987 (58)
LW Kozlov, Vyacheslav 19 Draft—1990 (18)
LW Norton, Darcy (k) 23 Draft—1987 (226)
LW Propp, Brian (k) 32 Trade—1983
LW Recchi, Mark (k) 23 Draft—1987 (142)
LW Rob, Lubos 21 Draft—1989 (145)
LW Stepanov, Alexei 19 Draft—1991 (263)
LW Suvanto, Harri 20 Draft—1989 (166)
LW Tikkanen, Esa (k) 26 Draft—1983 (69)
LW Torkki, Jari (k) 26 Draft—1983 (90)
LW Tormanen, Antti 20 Draft—1989 (187)
LW Whitney, Ray 19 Draft—1991 (21)
RW Audette, Donald (k) 21 Draft—1988 (250)
RW Caloun, Jan 18 Draft—1991 (87)
RW Cherbaev, Alexander 18 Draft—1991 (109)
RW Drulia, Stan (k) 23 Draft—1986 (162)
RW Fleury, Theoren (k) 23 Draft—1986 (204)
RW Graham, Dirk (k) 31 Free Agent—1983
RW Lebeau, Patrick (k) 21 Draft—1989 (82)
RW Lefebvre, Patrice (k) 23 Draft—1987 (184)
RW Lehtinen, Jere 18 Draft—1991 (131)
RW Mullen, Joe (k) 34 Transfer—1983
RW Nielsen, Jens 21 Draft—1989 (229)
RW Nilsson, Henrik 21 Draft—1988 (166)
RW Petrov, Oleg 20 Draft—1990 (57)
RW Prochazka, Martin 19 Draft—1990 (144)
RW Sjogren, Thomas (k) 23 Draft—1986 (57)
RW Tuomainen, Marko 19 Draft—1991 (175)
RW Varvio, Jarkko 19 Draft—1991 (153)
RW Vujtek, Vladimir 19 Draft—1990 (207)
RW Wahlsten, Sami (k) 23 Draft—1986 (120)
Players on Reserve List (Maximum 80): 79
Players Under Contract (Maximum 50): 49
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Pucks From The Past (11/14)
2 comments have been left for this article. 
I think it's time to package up some veterans for more picks and prospects while they still have some trade value.
It might also be time for a blockbuster deal. Ekrub can package together some of their surplus B-level riches for an A-level stud or two.
P.S. What a draft year!
He's going to avoid trading for players - instead going for draft picks to leverage his draft ranking system. He'll certainly be moving veteran players while they still have value.
And yes, that was one heck of a draft year.