Matthew Gunning, blog manager for Bird Watcher's Anonymous here on the SB Nation sports blog network, was in attendance at the NHL Entry Draft...  And still around, Friday Night, for when the Lightning traded up with the Detroit Red Wings and selected Carter Ashton.  He got a hold of Carter just after his selection by the Lightning:

Most Tampa Bay fans have never seen you play hockey, so can you give us a short description of your style of game?

Ashton:  With my size, I like to utilize that and definitely kind of see myself as a power forward. I mean, I like the corners, I like to drive the puck wide of the net. I'm not necessarily like Kovalchuk, but I like to score goals down low.


Can you describe what a Carter Ashton goal looks like?

Ashton:  I mean, it may be me shooting off the rush and going ahead and getting a rebound. Or else , I mean, finding a way to get to the net and taking it wide.


Of a shot, a pass, and skate; what would you consider to be your strongest attribute as a hockey player?

Ashton:  I would say my shot right now. One thing I would like to do is to shoot the puck. And success has come from that this year and I've worked on that over the years.

(continued after the jump)

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Instead of writing an update again in our open thread, we wanted to highlight the fact that the Lightning have been talking for most of the night about trading up to get someone from their top draft-option list that is still on the board.

We're trying to guess just who that player is and we've narrowed it down to two players... Defensiveman Simon Despres or Right Wing Zach Budish.  Guessing based on SB Nation's NHL Mock Draft and selections from the night so far.

Our original hunch was John Moore, but Moore was taken and the "We want to trade up" talk continued.  But with the 1st round nearing a close, trading up could become moot.  The Lightning's next selection is at #32.

[update!] #29 was acquired by the Lightning.from Detroit....  And it looks like it will be Carter Ashton

Tampa Bay Lightning Select VICTOR HEDMAN (D) from MoDo of the Swedish Elite League with the #2 selection in the 2009 NHL Draft

credit Bird Watchers Anonymouss for the picture

Welcome to Raw Charge's NHL Draft open thread and live blogging event.  We'll try our best to post news as they come to pass after the fold.

Everyone's invited to chime and contribute to the thread through comments.

--JPF

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Joe Bolts Fan reprinted some remarks that Brian Lawton made yesterday during an interview from Montreal.

And basically they don't encourage, unless you have the utmost confidence in Lawton or are being paid to react as if you have the utmost confidence in him:

After Lawton finished voicing his thought, Duemig quickly asked Lawton to backtrack and explain, "If we don’t trade the pick …"

With a smile in his voice, Lawton calmly said he’s getting attractive offers that are improving steadily, "It’s starting to get very interesting now. …People would be shocked at the quality of names."

The article goes on and paints a best-case, glowing scenario of Lawton walking out of the draft having dealt the #2 pick and picked up more top 10 picks (two, and more!) with thanks to being willing to trade down.  It also ignores the quote itself saying "People would be shocked at the quality of names."

Names...  Names.  Not picks.  Names... meaning players already in the league.

Other media sources locally - Damian Cristordero at the Times and Erik Erlendsson at the Tribune, as well as other sources nationally -- have been conculding that the Lightning will hold on to their draft pick and select Victor Hedman if available (or John Tavares, if he should be there instead of Hedman)...  What kind of fall out would ensue if Lawton were to trade it?  And what coming back would be a necessity to make a deal a winning proposition?

Every year, a right of passage takes place with each professional sport league in North America.  The renewal of potential, an infusion of depth to the organization, and the addition of hope that can revitalize a morbid fan base that can only see light if they look to the long-term and not the short-term effects from a professional sports draft.

Yes, between entry draft events for each league and (at a later date) pre-season camps, hope can be fused back into the skeleton of a professional sports franchise's body, giving it renewed strength, substance, vigor and vitality.

But of the four major sport drafts, I just have to say it:  the National Hockey League entry draft is routinely the worst one to witness and the most painful to endure each and every year, without exception.

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A couple of weeks ago, I was asked, "…if you were a coach, what would you look for in a prospective player for your team?" An 18-year-old was asking my advice on what he needed to do to get on to a junior team. So that got me to thinking that it might be helpful to outline the expectations of each position. Well, my interpretation of the expectations, anyways.

These are just the ideal basics, which don’t always hold true during an actual game – particularly when it comes to positioning. Hockey is a fast and fluid game, so nothing is ever written in stone. Set plays are sketchy at best and not often used except during power plays and faceoffs. However, most of the time, players should be in the general vicinity of where their position dictates.

Overall Expectations for All Players

There are different things look for depending on the position, but for any position, maturity (relative to the age level), intelligence (not book smarts but common sense), quick feet and hands, passing ability, being defensively responsible, physical play, and being in the right kind of physical shape are the big ones. Which are probably similar requirements for many other team sports. From there, you can get more specific according to position.

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I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Who? I've never heard of this guy. Why would the Lightning want to pick him?"

In the event that Victor Hedman is chosen by the New York Islanders first overall...well, let me just say that I don't think Tavares will go second. At least, not to the Lightning. No, instead, I think that they could pull a serious upset.

It's common knowledge that the Lightning need help on defense. So why would they pick yet another center in either John Tavares or Matt Duchene? And most of the top ten prospects ranked are, in fact, centers.

They already have two franchise centers in Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos. To pick another would likely mean that they'd have to trade someone or something - either Lecavalier, the second overall pick, or the actual center picked second overall by Tampa Bay. Any and all of those scenarios aren't going to keep them many fans.

John Moore is the highest-ranked North American defenseman by NHL Central Scouting. Oliver Ekman Larsson of Sweden is the next highest-ranked European defenseman after Hedman. Unfortunately for us, Central Scouting doesn't combine the two lists to give us a comprehensive view of who's supposedly better than the other. You have to judge on your own between the North American rankings and the European rankings. However, judging by the current roster, I have reason to believe that they could take Moore second overall. Or, perhaps, trade down and still draft him.

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Here at Raw Charge, we've made it pretty clear who we want in the draft.  Our Mock Draft selection was preceded the last few months with posts about Lukas Krajicek having to serve as a top pair D-man, how bad things had gotten on the blue-line last season, etc.  Yeah, we want Hedman.

But I got me a what-if?...

Bramption Battalion center Matt Duchene via www.thehockeynews.com

You might recall earlier this month, I wrote up three scenarios that pop up if Victor Hedman actually goes first overall to the New York Islanders.  The anarchy that would ensue if that happens seemed pretty clear with a take'im-or-trade'im result on John Tavares.  Real neat and clean, really...

What isn't quite so straight-forward is if Matt Duchene were to go first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

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