HUH

So after reading some of the stuff that people have been saying about Taylor Hall after he declined to take part in the NHL combine; there is really only one thing to say. If Hall declining to take part in the physical part of the combine the deciding factor in who you select first then you are making a mistake.

Talent used to be the main factor in deciding who a team selected but nowadays there is a whole lot more that has to be taken into consideration. Long term and talent wise the odds are very good that Tyler Seguin would make the better pick but the Edmonton Oilers can not wait for Seguin to develop.

The Oilers need help yesterday and Taylor Hall is the best answer for all of Oiler problems. Hall is going to help with the Oiler's PR problems, will sell tickets for them and generate some badly needed excited for the Oiler franchise.

Hall has been playing hockey almost non-stop for the last 2 years and asking him to go though the physical part of the combine is pointless. Hall showed his entire package in leading the Windsor Spitfires to their second straight Memorial Cup title.

If you use the combine as the major reason in determining who gets picked in your own mock draft then something is wrong. The combine is helpful but really it is more a torture test than it is a true measuring stick.

Teams use their time to interview the 100 prospects who are invited to attend but really most teams already have their wish list set up and ready to go. The combine can be used to help prevent another Alexi Cherepanov as it it did with detecting Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in David Carle at the 2008 draft.

That really in my book is the only real value of the NHL Combine.

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The Blueshirt Bulletin is putting out a special pre-draft newsletter and one of the features is Kevin Baumer putting together an all Draft pick team. Not going to disclose who Kevin is putting on the team but one thing is for sure;when you look at the list of players who the Ranger had the rights to and gave away.

There is a nasty list of players who the Rangers gave away that they really never should have. Sergie Zubov, Mattias Norstrom, Rick Middleton, Andre Dupont, Marc Savard, Bob MacMillian, and one can even make a case for Mario Marois who played close to 1000 games in the NHL in his career.

People talk about Glen Sather as the worst Ranger GM of all time but I am sure many of us can also make a case for Phil Esposito or John Ferguson. Of course none of these lists will ever make it to the MSG Network as the "Best of the Rangers" series.

(Taylor Hall courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL Images)



Depending on when you became a Ranger fan then the worst move the Rangers ever made was with either trading Rick Middleton or trading Mattias Norstrom. The Rangers have just as much a tradition of giving up on their draft picks that goes way further than when Sather took over as GM.

On defense, you have Norstrom but also Andre "Moose" Dupont who won 2 cups with the Flyers during the 1970s.