Some Draft and Free Agency Talk with Scotty Wazz

One of my favorite people to do e-mail interviews with, Scotty Wazz of the Face-Off Hockey Show, was kind enough to take time out of his hectic schedule to give us his thoughts on the 2012 NHL Entry Draft as well as what is going on in the NHL when it comes to the free agent season.

PH: As always, you and the FOHS crew were at the NHL Entry Draft this season. What was that experience like for you?
SW: It was an interesting experience, for sure. The CONSOL Energy Center is a pretty sweet building and the new video board the NHL has for the draft board made it’s grand debut. Plus, it’s always good to see my other friends from the blogging and media world, as well as putting faces and real names to those people I interact with on Twitter. Despite the confusing roads and all the bridges in Pittsburgh, it was a good time overall.

PH: As a whole, did you enjoy the draft this year? were there any surprises or disappointments?
SW: It was definitely an interesting draft, as some thought it could be a crap-shoot after the first couple of picks. Two of the bigger surprises could be the move the Penguins made moving Jordan Staal to Carolina, which would open up some money for the Penguins in the free agency market and help Jordan bust out of the shadows of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The other surprise was the Calgary Flames picking up Mark Jankowski in the first round, as he was projected to go much later and considering he is coming out of the Quebec high school system (despite playing US prep schools)—it’s a sizeable risk when it comes to a first round pick when there could be better talent in higher skilled leagues out there.

I don’t know if there’s many disappointments, though maybe you could consider the fall down the board of Filip Forsberg and Mikhail Girgorenko to the mid-first round. Also, the fall through the year of defenseman Nick Ebert, who didn’t have the best year in Windsor; but he fell all the way until the last pick—which could help the Kings when he develops even more. Yet, on a day like draft day, I’m sure just getting drafted is a great time for them, regardless of where it is.

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/glr/comments/some_draft_and_free_agency_talk_with_scotty_wazz/

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