NHL Entry Draft
By Bob Grove

As the Penguins headed into another late-season swoon last month, fans couldn't help but turn their attention to the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, June 21 in Nashville.

Pittsburgh seemed almost certain to finish among the league's bottom five teams, thereby earning a spot in the NHL Draft Lottery for the second consecutive season. The Penguins also had a very real chance of finishing last overall, which would not only give them short odds at securing the first pick but ensure a choice no lower than second.

There's no big, talented French-Canadian out there this year, unlike 1984, the last time the Pens finished last in the NHL. But Kyle Woodlief, a former scout with Nashville who now runs the independent and highly-respected Red Line Report, believes this is a great year to be drafting high—or often.

"If you've accumulated some extra picks, this is the type of year where you can really make some hay in the draft and set yourself up for the next 10, 12 years," Woodlief says. "It's an extremely deep draft. Some of the players I have rated in the second round this year would have been easy first-rounders last year.

"And honestly, there's not a whole lot of difference between the top five players and the second tier of 11. One through 16, there's not a big difference. I wouldn't be surprised if the 12th player picked this year turns out to be the best player in the bunch five years down the road."

Perhaps the most intriguing of Woodlief's top five prospects:

Nikolai Zherdev, 6-0, 174, LW, Elemash (Russia). "I still feel that Zherdev has the best offensive upside. No question, he has the most offensive skills and diverse ability as far as putting points up."

Nathan Horton, 6-3, 195, C, Oshawa (OHL). "He can beat you any way—by scoring goals, setting them up, hitting you, intimidating you. . . I kind of refer to him as Joe Thornton Lite."

Woodlief also rates G Marc-Andre Fleury (6-0, 174, Cape Breton, QMJHL), LW Milan Michalek (6-2, 204, Budejovice, Czech Republic) and D Braydon Coburn (6-5, 208, Portland, WHL) among his top five.

PSR Senior Writer Bob Grove has been covering the Penguins since 1981 and is author of "Pittsburgh Penguins: The Official History of the First 30 Years." He currently serves as a regular co-host on the Penguins Radio Network.