2015 World Draft Analysis
Written by Kris Knesis, GM Helsinki Lynx
Editor's Note: After two months of action in the 2015-16 IceHL season, one GM analyzes the best and worst picks of each round in the 2015 IceHL World Draft.
ROUND 1
Best pick: Jamie Benn (Gold Coast Rush) - 7th overall (Keeper)
Worst pick: Ryan Getzlaf (Quebec Armada) - 5th overall (Keeper)
Sleeper: Alex Ovechkin (London Royal) - 1st overall
Benn and Crete's Tyler Seguin will obviously feed each other for the remainder of the season. Stockholm's 2nd overall pick in Connor McDavid has been rather unlucky, but not necessarily bad. This is a keepers league, afterall. Getzlaf raised eyebrows as a keeper pick and has yet to deliver. Ovechkin, however, will get his points and has the potential to be the best of the round.
ROUND 2
Best pick: Patrick Kane (Stockholm Hammers) - 14th overall
Worst pick: Tyler Johnson (Moscow Cosmonauts) - 23rd overall
Sleeper: Evgeni Malkin (Munich Machine) - 15th overall
Kane is running away with it, scoring nearly 7 points per game. Johnson's had a slow start and was actually dropped by the Cosmonauts and picked up by Seoul Express. Malkin, who is slowly heating up, was drafted by Munich but recently traded to Auckland in a blockbuster deal involving six players.
ROUND 3
Best pick: Brent Burns (Moscow Cosmonauts) - 35th overall
Worst pick: Dennis Wideman (Osaka Samurai) - 28th overall (Keeper)
Sleeper: Jonathan Quick (Crete Minotaurs) - 32nd overall
Burns is a beast with 9 goals and 11 assists on the season. Wideman was probably the strangest of all the keeper picks and unsurprisingly has less than 3 points per game. Quick will start the majority of games this season and has a good team playing in front of him, which should translate to many wins. Unlucky pick here is the injured Logan Couture (36th overall, Auckland).
ROUND 4
Best pick: Marc-Andre Fleury (Seoul Express) - 42nd overall
Worst pick: Jiri Hudler (Gold Coast Rush) - 43rd overall
Sleeper: Matt Duchene (Geneva Mountaineers) - 46th overall
Fleury has been bailing out a struggling Penguins team for most of the season so far and the points have been coming in. Hudler was just recently waived and is not in a good place right now. Duchene started slowly but was unstoppable in November and has found good chemistry with line mates Landeskog and MacKinnon.
ROUND 5
Best pick: Nathan MacKinnon (Munich Machine) - 51st overall
Worst pick: Semyon Varlamov (Quebec Armada) - 53rd overall
Sleeper: Taylor Hall (Seoul Express) - 54th overall
Nathan MacKinnon is bouncing back from his sophomore slump big time and was a steal at Round 5. His real life teammate Varlamov, however, has struggled with injuries and poor play and is a Free Agent in IceHL World right now. Hall is another Round 5 steal, courtesy of Andy Taylor and Seoul Express.
ROUND 6
Best pick: Justin Faulk (London Royal HC) - 72nd overall
Worst pick: Jordan Eberle (Auckland Rockhoppers) - 61st overall
Sleeper: Mark Stone (Osaka Samurai) - 69th overall
Faulk has been one of the few bright spots on Carolina Hurricanes, while Eberle has just recently returned to the lineup from injury, but hasn't yet produced at the expected rate. Mark Stone has the potential to be the best pick of the round, Ottawa being one of the top offensive teams in the league.
ROUND 7
Best pick: John Klingberg (Osaka Samurai) - 76th overall
Worst pick: Cam Talbot (Moscow Cosmonauts) - 83rd overall
Sleeper: Gabriel Landeskog (Quebec Armada) - 77th overall
Already called 'The Next Lidstrom', Klingberg has impressed in his sophomore season. Talbot has been out of job for over a month now and isn't likely to find one soon. Landeskog is playing on 'The 9 Line' with MacKinnon and Duchene and will continue to produce.
ROUND 8
Best pick: Ryan Suter (Munich Machine) - 94th overall
Worst pick: Alex Galchenyuk (Stockholm Hammers) - 95th overall
Sleeper: Cory Schneider (Crete Minotaurs) - 89th overall
In a round of solid choices, Suter averages nearly 5 and a half points per game (and over 28 minutes). Galchenyuk is not bad, but the other 8th-rounders have just been better. Schneider has what it takes to be one of the top-5 fantasy goalies this season altogether, Express were wise to acquire him, once Minotaurs waived the goalie.
ROUND 9
Best pick: Daniel Sedin (Osaka Samurai) - 100th overall
Worst pick: Matt Moulson (Moscow Cosmonauts) - 107th overall
Sleeper: Jake Allen (Auckland Rockhoppers) - 108th overall
Daniel Sedin has regained vintage form and is producing very well to start the season. Moulson was dropped by 'Nauts on November 15. Allen, interestingly, was also dropped, but then again picked up by 'Hoppers nearly a month later — dodged a bullet there. Allen has been solid.
ROUND 10
Best pick: Blake Wheeler (Crete Minotaurs) - 113th overall
Worst pick: Trevor Daley (Stockholm Hammers) - 119th overall
Sleeper: Alex Steen (Moscow Cosmonauts) - 110th overall
Wheeler averages over 5 points per game, not what you'd expect from a 10th round pick. Daley has been out of work for a month, after he was dropped by the Hammers on November 2. Steen has been a pleasant surprise and with such high quality line mates that he has, he might continue to wow.
LATER ROUNDS
BEST PICKS
Martin Jones (London Royal HC) - 14th round, 168th overall
David Krejci (Osaka Samurai) 13th round, 148th overall
Patrice Bergeron (Osaka Samurai) 11th round, 124th overall
Evgeny Kuznetsov (Geneva Mountaineers) - 15th round, 178th overall
Jones has become a true #1 goalie for his team, while Krejci and Bergeron — teammates in Boston and Osaka, have combined for 231 points so far. Kuznetsov was actually dropped by Geneva and immediately picked up by Helsinki Lynx.