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Displaying pretext
A whole new world of hockey prospects was opened for the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, and it was opened by Viacheslev Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Sergei Makarov, Vladimir Krutov, and Igor Larionov. When these five great Soviet players crossed the Atlantic to play in the 1989-90 NHL season, suddenly the possibility of accessing an immense pool of talent was created. Fictional Saskatoon Westerns GM Ardal Ekrub quickly adapts his Project-a-Tron system, taking into account the quality of the Soviet hockey league, in order to include these players on his list of draft prospects in 1990.
Top 30 Players Available at 1990 Entry Draft
Rank Player Pos League PGVT+ Drafted
1 Jagr, Jaromir F Cze 25.7 5
2 Kozlov, Vyacheslav F Rus 13.0 45
3 Kidd, Trevor G WHL 11.0 11
4 Renberg, Mikael F Swe 10.8 40
5 Yushkevich, Dmitri D Rus 9.7 -
6 Ricci, Mike F OHL 9.1 4
7 Sydor, Darryl D WHL 9.1 7
8 Primeau, Keith F OHL 9.0 3
9 Nolan, Owen F OHL 8.4 1
10 Nedved, Petr F WHL 7.9 2
11 Petrov, Oleg F Rus 7.8 -
12 Zhamnov, Alexei F Rus 7.6 77
13 Perreault, Yanic F QMJHL 7.2 -
14 Weight, Doug F CCHA 7.2 34
15 Prochazka, Martin F Cze 7.2 -
16 Slaney, John D OHL 7.0 9
17 Ouimet, Marc F CCHA 6.7 94
18 Viitakoski, Vesa F Fin 6.7 32
19 Sanderson, Geoff F WHL 6.6 36
20 Hatcher, Darien D OHL 6.4 8
21 Zubov, Sergei D Rus 6.4 85
22 Daniels, Kimbi F WHL 6.3 44
23 Lenarduzzi, Mike G OHL 6.2 57
24 Seguin, Brett F OHL 6.1 -
25 Andersson, Erik F Swe 6.0 112
26 Whitney, Ray F WHL 5.9 -
27 Chalifoux, Denis F QMJHL 5.9 246
28 Raymond, Eric G QMJHL 5.6 -
29 Hirsch, Corey G WHL 5.6 -
30 Olsson, Mattias D Swe 5.6 -
Ekrub does not set out specifically to draft Soviet players, but as often turns out, he ends up drafting a class of players that other teams are ignoring for one reason or another. It's understandable that teams using traditional scouting methods would not have a good idea of the available Soviet players. Before this season, there was really no reason for NHL teams to be scouting Soviet players to any great degree.
Add to this the fact that in 1990, other teams at the top of the draft do a very good job of selecting the best players available, according to the draft rankings. Of the first 11 picks in the draft, only the sixth (Scott Scissons) and the tenth (Drake Berehowsky) are not rated highly by the system. Owen Nolan, Petr Nedved, Keith Primeau, Mike Ricci, Jaromir Jagr, Darryl Sydor, Darien Hatcher, John Slaney, and Trevor Kidd are all in the top 20 draft prospects, according to the Project-a-Tron. This means that more of the top players than usual are gone before Saskatoon gets even its first pick of the draft, and as such, Soviet players are more attractive from a cost-benefit perspective, since Ekrub does not have to sacrifice good-quality, safer North American players in order to select them. So in that sense, it's little surprise that five of his team's first six selections are all from the USSR.
Saskatoon Westerns 1990 Entry Draft Picks
Pick Player Pos League PGVT+
18 Kozlov, Vyacheslav LW Rus 13.0
39 Sakic, Brian C WHL 12.1
45 Yushkevich, Dmitri D Rus 9.7
57 Petrov, Oleg RW Rus 7.8
60 Zhamnov, Alexei C Rus 7.6
81 Zubov, Sergei D Rus 6.4
102 Perreault, Yanic C QMJHL 7.2
144 Prochazka, Martin RW Cze 7.2
150 Olsson, Mattias D Swe 5.6
165 Chalifoux, Denis C QMJHL 5.9
186 Firth, Jason C OHL 5.4
207 Vujtek, Vladimir RW Cze 5.4
228 Miller, Colin C OHL 5.0
249 Snell, Chris D OHL 3.8
Ekrub acquired a number of picks before the draft, as part of his annual purging of parts no longer needed. Petr Klima is dealt to Detroit for their third round draft pick (45th overall) and eighth round pick (150th overall). Robert Kron and a sixth round pick are traded to Hartford for their third round pick (57th overall). Rob Brown goes to Pittsburgh for their 1991 fifth round pick.
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Pucks From The Past (11/22)
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