I know, I know. I’ve been slacking. In my defense, however, it is the offseason. And many of the blogs John posts tend to be collaborations.
Enough of this tedious self-justification. Here’s your update on where we’re at with the Cycle like the Sedins NHL Re-Draft. First, let’s go over where current Lightning players have gone.
We just started the 7th round. Interestingly enough, Vinny and Mattias ended up on the same team. And in the Southeast Division, no less.
| Round | Pick | CLS Team | Player | Position | Cap Hit |
| 1 | 10 | Atlanta | Vincent Lecavalier | C | $7,727,273 |
| 2 | 40 | New Jersey | Martin St. Louis | RW | $5,250,000 |
| 4 | 116 | Chicago | Steven Stamkos | C | $3,725,000 |
| 6 | 171 | Atlanta | Mattias Ohlund | D | $3,607,000 |
| 7 | 183 | Tampa Bay | Ryan Malone | LW | $4,500,000 |
Yes, I even managed to pick up a current Lightning player in this draft. Crazy, ain’t it? More after the jump.
Here’s where I’m at so far:
| Round | Pick | Player | NHL Team | Position | Cap Hit |
| 1 | 3 | Henrik Lundqvist | NY Rangers | G | $6,875,000 |
| 2 | 58 | Mike Cammalleri | Montreal | C | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | 63 | Mark Streit | NY Islanders | D | $4,100,000 |
| 4 | 118 | Milan Hejduk | Colorado | RW | $3,900,000 |
| 5 | 123 | Brent Burns | Minnesota | D | $3,550,000 |
| 6 | 178 | Matt Stajan | Toronto | C | $1,750,000 |
| 7 | 183 | Ryan Malone | Tampa Bay | LW | $4,500,000 |
The grand total so far, for seven players, is $30.675m – which isn’t bad, as these things go. There are actual NHL teams that have 4 or 5 players that tie up that amount of cap space. That means that I have $26.325m for the rest of the team. The majority will probably have cap hits of $1m or less.
So this is what I’m thinking. Top line may be LW Malone, C Cammalleri, RW Hejduk. It’ll depend on what wingers I can pick up in the next round. Which, unfortunately, will be the 238th pick. I’m thinking a winger and another defenseman for the 8th and 9th rounds.
The interesting thing about this draft has been the people who haven’t been drafted as of yet. I really wanted to pick up Brad Richards. I thought about it long and hard. I still even have him on my list of who I’d like to pick next. The one thing that’s stopping me – and is stopping everyone else as well – is his price tag. And it’s not just Brad, but a few others as well. This is what it means to play with a salary cap.
You can find out more on the CLS: Re-Drafting the NHL Boards.
