If you watched the proceedings on television, you may have caught the undeniable smile on Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff's face as he witnessed the card turn over to reveal the Calgary Flames logo, assuring him that the Jets would pick no lower than third. In contrast, sitting to Chevy's immediate right was Flames GM Brian Burke. From that picture, it isn't very difficult to see who got the better pick. Priceless.
The word is there is a substantial drop in the talent level from the top three mentioned and the rest of the draft. After those three, eyes would then shift to Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL, Matthew Tkachuck of the London Knights of the OHL and Alexander Nylander of the Mississauga Ice Dogs of the OHL.
But the Jets don't have to worry about that since they stole the number two overall pick (this despite the opinion of many Jets fans that their winning the last four games of the season that presumably ruined their chances for a decent pick) and will get a player that will almost certainly improve the team immediately.
The heavy consensus is the Maple Leafs will select Matthews as he is not only the best player available in the draft (so say the "experts") but he is the center the Leafs have been coveting since the departure of Mats Sundin in 2008. That leaves either Laine or Puljujarvi for the Jets to hedge their bets on taking their franchise into the future. The consensus says Laine as he has been compared to Alexander Ovechkin. Puljujarvi is no slouch either. In fact NHL's central scouting almost had Puljujarvi rated higher than Laine until Laine's performance in the Liiga's post-season. They are so close in fact, the Hockey News compared the two in an article that, well, didn't really solve the debate.
So, unless Lou Lamoriello and/or Brendan Shanahan have an embolism, Austen Matthews will be centering their top line come next October. That leaves Kevin Cheveldayoff with the challenging but not tough pick of either Laine or Puljujarvi. I mean, what a conundrum to have. I'm going with Laine. I think he is slightly more NHL-ready than Puljujarvi is and he is seemigly more valuable on the power-play which the Jets so desperately need. Imagine Laine, Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers and their triple-threat of bombs from the blue line? (or off the boards on the left-wing in Laine's case) Plus, if you pass on any player with that shot that Laine possesses, you really should have your head examined.
