Throughout the team's string of recent playoff successes, one side effect has been an increased workload on the scouting staff as they have sought to find impact players later in the draft. GM Steve Stringer believes his staff have delivered again after selecting four players, led by towering defenseman Jared Cowen.
Cowen, a hulking 6'5" defenseman from the Spokane Chiefs, was the Rovers first selection of the draft at 24th overall. Originally thought to be drafted much higher, Cowen dropped into the Rovers lap amidst injury concerns. "He blew out his knee last year, but he seems to have recovered from that. We're confident that he'll be a fixture on our blueline in the coming years". Despite having an abundance of defensemen on their prospect list in John Carlson, Keaton Ellerby, and Jeff Petry, and having recently acquired Niklas Hjalmarsson, some questioned the Cowen pick based on position. Stringer, for his part, simply quoted his team's draft philosophy. "Best player available. If we could have gotten a player with a top-end offensive ceiling, we might have taken that player. But we felt Cowen's upside was better than that of any forward or goalie in that part of the draft".
The Rovers did not have a second-round pick, despite furious attempts to move back into that round. When they finally did return to the podium, they tabbed a pair of forwards at the top of the third round in Richard Panik and Zach Budish. Panik is a skilled goal-scoring forward from the Belleville Bulls, while Budish is a bruising big-bodied forward with soft hands from the University of Minnesota. Both have size and skill and were attractive to Rovers brass. "We are excited about the potential of both of these players", Stringer said. "They'll be a few years away, but we plan to be patient and think that they could both be top-6 players in the future".
Seemingly finished at that point, the Rovers eyed one more player who was still available late in the round and picked up the phone to deal with the Kitchener Mounties. Swapping a third pick next season for the current slot, the Rovers grabbed goaltender Alex Stalock from the Worcester Sharks. Entering his first pro season as a presumed backup, Stalock shot to the starters role and never let it go, posting an AHL rookie record 39 wins in the process. "We're very happy to have gotten Alex here", Stringer said. "We felt that if teams had another year to watch him, there was no way he was going to be a third round pick in RHL21. With Pekka Rinne looking to join the big club, we felt it was an opportunity to replenish our organizational depth at the position".
No comments:
Post a Comment