December 2, 2011
Pucks From The Past
Saskatoon Westerns, 1994-95

by Iain Fyffe

Displaying pretext

The 1994 Entry Draft serves as a good illustration of why the imaginary Saskatoon Westerns (and their fictional GM Ardal Ekrub) have often had trouble keeping an appropriate number of defensemen on their Reserve List. Looking at the 26 highest-rated prospects in the draft, we find six blueliners and two goaltenders, about the number you would expect of each. However, all of these six defensemen are selected within the first 30 picks of the draft. Conversely, one of the goaltenders and 12 of the 18 top forwards are still available. Ekrub takes this as evidence that his system is not failing him in projecting defensemen, merely that the other teams do a better job of identifying the top blueline prospects (in the sense of agreeing with Ekrub's evaluations). He therefore feels justified in continuing to add a 15% premium to the ratings of defensemen, in an attempt to counteract his relative lack of advantage in projecting this position.

Top 30 Players Available at 1994 Entry Draft

Rank	Player			Pos	League	PGVT+	Drafted
1	Friesen, Jeff		F	WHL	13.4	11
2	Bonk, Radek		F	IHL	12.3	3
3	Theodore, Jose		G	QMJHL	10.3	44
4	St. Louis, Martin	F	ECAC	10.1	-
5	Botterill, Jason	F	CCHA	9.9	20
6	Perrin, Eric		F	ECAC	9.9	-
7	Ohlund, Mattias		D	Swe	9.4	13
8	O'Neill, Jeff		F	OHL	9.2	5
9	Tverdovsky, Oleg	D	Rus	9.2	2
10	Wiemer, Jason		F	WHL	8.4	8
11	Hejduk, Milan		F	Cze	7.8	87
12	Marha, Josef		F	Cze	7.7	35
13	Norris, Warren		F	HE	7.6	-
14	Sharifiyanov, Vadim	F	Rus	7.5	25
15	Varada, Vaclav		F	Cze	7.3	89
16	Epanchintsev, Vadim	F	Rus	7.0	55
17	Shalamai, Sergei	F	Rus	7.0	241
18	Baumgartner, Nolan	D	WHL	6.9	10
19	Neckar, Stanislav	D	Cze	6.8	29
20	Fichaud, Eric		G	QMJHL	6.5	16
21	Goneau, Daniel		F	QMJHL	6.4	47
22	Manning, Blair		F	HE	6.1	-
23	Jinman, Lee		F	OHL	5.8	46
24	Swanson, Brian		F	UHSL	5.7	115
25	Quint, Deron		D	QMJHL	5.5	30
26	Warrener, Rhett		D	WHL	5.5	27
27	Cloutier, Dan		G	OHL	5.5	26
28	Ekman, Nils		F	Swe	5.5	107
29	Moreau, Ethan		F	OHL	5.4	14
30	Domenichelli, Hnat	F	WHL	5.4	83

As it turns out again, this adjustment makes no difference, as Ekrub is not in a position where a defenseman is the best player available (even considering the adjustment) until the tenth round, when Burt Henderson (who does not project to be a terribly good NHLer) becomes the only blueliner drafted by Saskatoon in 1994. But Ekrub has little reason to complain; sometimes things just fall into place. The Westerns are able to draft three of the top six players available, according to the Project-a-Tron: Jose Theodore (#3), Martin St. Louis (#4), and Eric Perrin (#6). You can't complain about your draft results, regardless of what happens, if you can grab three players that highly-rated in the same year.

Ekrub is understandably chuffed at these results. He knows that although there's no such thing as a can't-miss prospect (TNSTAACMP), having so many highly-rated young players will most likely produce at least one or two good players. You and I know he's just drafted two future Hart Trophy winners in Theodore and St. Louis, of course, but just because a player ranks near the top of the draft list doesn't mean he'll turn out to be among the very best in the NHL. They just have the best chance to do so.

Saskatoon Westerns 1994 Entry Draft Picks

Pick	Player			Pos	League	PGVT+
26	Theodore, Jose		G	QMJHL	10.3
52	St. Louis, Martin	RW	ECAC	10.1
78	Perrin, Eric		C	ECAC	9.9
104	Norris, Warren		C	HE	7.6
130	Shalamai, Sergei	LW	Rus	7.0
156	Manning, Blair		C	HE	6.1
182	Miettinen, Tommi	LW	Fin	5.0
208	Westlund, Tommy		RW	Swe	4.7
234	Hassinen, Jani		RW	Fin	3.6
260	Henderson, Burt		D	WHL	2.8
286	Carroll, Ken		G	OHL	3.0

In 1993-94, the Westerns still had three players on the roster who had played with the team in their inaugural 1983-84 season; Doug Gilmour, Joe Mullen, Brad McCrimmon, and Dirk Graham. McCrimmon and Graham, both Saskatchewan natives, decide to retire before the season, and like long-serving Saskatchewanians Bernie Federko and Brian Propp before them, both have their numbers retired and are offered positions within the team's management structure. McCrimmon's alternate captaincy is given to Jeff Brown, now one of the veterans of the team.