There was little doubt about what area of concern Don Waddell hoped to address during the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, last weekend. After coaching a team that offered up as much resistance as a wet noodle, the Thrashers brass elected to go defensive with their No. 3 overall pick. Friday night the Thrashers selected Zach Bogosian from the Peterborough Petes. He played two years at the junior level, but his second was by far his most impressive. He was the only defensemen to lead his team in points, scoring 61, and sat second overall among league defensemen in assists with 50. With the hiring of John Anderson as the team’s new coach, the Thrashers will be looking for strong offensive play at the blue line, and immediately.
In an interview with NHL.com, Bogosian made no reservations about how much he wants to be on the ice at Blueland from Day 1: “I’m going to make that decision hard for them to send me back to juniors. I’m going to train hard this summer.”
LATER PICKS
Later in the evening the Thrashers used their second first-round pick on a forward, Daultan Leveille. Leveille led his team with 29 goals while playing in the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League. In his two years with the St. Catherine’s Falcons, Leveille was able to score a point in all but one playoff game.
However, don’t look for Daultan to have the same impact on the team next season as his first-round counterpart. Daultan will attend Michigan State University this fall, a school that won the NCAA title just two years ago. While at East Lansing he will look to build some weight onto his 165-pound frame.
On Day 2 of the Draft the Thrashers focused mainly on strengthening their wings, selecting three wingers out of their next five picks. Danick Paquette, Vinny Saponari and Nicklas Lasu, all wingers, were selected in Rounds 3 through 5.
Out of the three the most interesting backstory belonged to Saponari. He was born in Atlanta, and when he moved to Ann Arbor to train with the United States Development Program, he became the first Georgian to ever play in the top US junior league. Next year Saponari will go to Boston University to play with his brother Victor and for legendary coach Jack Parker.
Atlanta closed out the final two rounds by selecting players they hope will be keeping pucks out of the net. Round 6 saw Atlanta select goalie Chris Carrozzi from the Ontario Hockey League. With the final pick, the Thrashers selected defenseman Zach Redmond, who last year completed his freshman season at Ferris State University, a Division I program. … With all their entry players now selected, the Thrashers will look to make some signings during the free-agency period, which begins on July 1.
Boral can be reached at jboral@scoreatl.com.
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