… Ryan Murray, a defenseman from White City, Saskatchewan.
This pick is no surprise. From what I’ve heard, Murray is exactly what’s missing in Everett’s system, an offensive-minded defenseman. I’ve seen him listed at 5-foot-9, so he’s not the biggest d-man in the world, but he is supposed to be a good point man on the power play.
The Tips took Murray about where he was projected, maybe a couple picks earlier, but obviously Everett was set on getting a d-man in the first round. I’d be curious to know, however, how the Tips brass felt when Mitch Topping was taken one pick earlier by Chilliwack. If Topping, listed by many as the top d-man in the draft, had fallen to Everett, I suspect the Tips would have been very happy.
Red Deer took center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from Burnaby, B.C., with the first pick overall, a pick that actually involved some drama. Nugent-Hopkins, a playmaker, was one of about four forwards considered in the top group, with little separating them, and there had been no indications out of Red Deer which direction the Rebels were going. Often it’s known who the first pick is going to be before the draft starts, but that wasn’t the case this year.
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UPDATE, 10 a.m.
The Tips traded up in the second round, swapping picks with Prince Albert to move up four spots to No. 27 and select skilled center Tyler Giebel from Balgonie, Saskatchewan. Giebel was a bantam teammate of first-rounder Murray.
According to the Prince Albert Web site, the Tips gave up a third rounder in 2009 in the deal. Seems like a stiff price for moving up four spots in the second round.
Interestingly, Prince Albert, with Everett’s former pick at No. 31, picked yet another Balgonie Prairie Storm player in defenseman Harrison Ruopp.
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