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Sunday, June 28, 1998
Sharks: Legwand over-rated
SWAP OF EARLY FIRST-ROUND PICKS SETS TONE FOR DRAFT DAY
And because there was one of those disagreements yesterday, the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators pulled off the biggest trade of the day at the National Hockey League draft.
Seconds after the Tampa Bay Lightning had opened the proceedings by selecting Vincent Lecavalier, the Sharks and Predators flipped the second and third picks.
It was a move that stunned most people in the audience. After all, according to the accepted wisdom, the gap between the second- and third-rated players is vast.
IMPROVED STEADILY
David Legwand, the big American centre ranked second by Central Scouting, improved steadily as the season went on. When the junior playoffs wound down in May, there were even those who thought he should have been ranked ahead of Lecavalier.
But either way, those two were running neck and neck while there was believed to be a long drop to whoever was selected third -- Bryan Allen, Manny Malhotra or Brad Stuart, depending on which team's scouting staff was making the evaluation.
So why would the Sharks make that deal? Why would they drop so far? Granted, there was another transaction involved. The two teams also flipped later picks, with Nashville's No. 29 overall going to San Jose for its third-rounder, 85th overall. But even so, the Sharks appeared to be giving up far too much.
They didn't think so. In fact, they disagreed violently and that was the reason they made the deal.
They do not share the widely held appraisal of Legwand and although they phrased it delicately, they are convinced that Central Scouting and all those who put Legwand in Lecavalier's bracket are wrong. In plain language, they believe he is over-rated.
The Sharks braintrust felt that Legwand's vaunted reputation largely was the result of media hype. They also felt that many teams increasingly were impressed by Stuart as the season progressed, but the word was not getting out because of the secrecy attached to draft lists.
The Sharks, however, liked Stuart a lot, especially in view of the fact that they need a good young defenceman to complement their good young forwards. Furthermore, they badly wanted to add depth through a second-round draft pick, having traded away theirs.
Meanwhile, over at the next table, Predators GM David Poile wasn't sure what to do. Unlike the Sharks, the Predators feel strongly that Legwand is a budding star. In fact, they were devastated when they dropped from second to third as a result of a bad draw in the draft lottery. They had been nursing visions of building a franchise around Legwand.
They fell only one spot and had the third pick, but were so unimpressed by its value that they had no intention of using it. They were convinced that there was little to choose between the next five or six players and had therefore lined up a couple of willing trading partners ready to take that third pick off their hands.
They wouldn't have dropped out of the top 10, but they felt that any pick between fourth and 10th would give them a player of roughly the same calibre, so they would have listened to bids for the third pick and accepted the sweetest offer.
But just as the draft was about to get under way, Poile looked at the next table and found that Sharks GM Dean Lombardi was looking at him. They had only five minutes until the Sharks were supposed to go up on the stage and make the second overall pick, so they had to act quickly. But they both knew what they wanted, so moments later, the deal was done.
DIFFERENT EVALUATIONS
It was only one trade, but it was the embodiment of draft day. Teams evaluate players differently and in extreme cases like this, a team sees a player as its cornerstone whereas another has no interest in his services.
"He has a chance to be a special player," Poile said. "He can skate like the wind and he can score."
But the Sharks don't think so. They're convinced he won't have as much impact as Stuart.
Obviously, one of them is wrong. But it's probably going to take five years to find out which one it is.