A Consensus on Crosby: He’s in a Class by Himself

The Kings and the Mighty Ducks don’t often agree, but they concur about the boundless potential of 17-year-old center Sidney Crosby, who will be chosen first by the Pittsburgh Penguins today in the NHL entry draft.

“The thing that impresses you, and you never want to compare a young player to an icon, is that there are some similarities to the way Wayne [Gretzky] played,” said Al Murray, the Kings’ director of amateur scouting.

“He sees the ice so well. He’ll come out of every game with a goal and three assists or a goal and five assists. Though he’s not very big, he’s tenacious and an unbelievable competitor. The higher the stakes, the more his abilities rise.”

Chuck Fletcher, an assistant general manager of the Mighty Ducks, rates Crosby a level above his most talented peers.

“There’s Crosby, and then we feel there’s a group of six hockey players after Crosby that all have potential to be impact players in the NHL, and you’d be happy to have any one of them,” Fletcher said. “After those seven, there’s a significant drop-off.”

The Ducks won the second pick and the Kings got the 11th pick in the weighted selection lottery held last week after the 310-day lockout ended. Because preparation time was short, today’s event will be scaled down from previous years: The draft will consist of seven rounds instead of nine and will take place at an Ottawa hotel before small delegations from each club, instead of entire front-office staffs.

The draft won’t be televised in the U.S. but will be streamed live at www.nhl.com starting at 9 a.m. PDT.

Crosby, of Cole Harbour, Canada, has been projected to be this year’s top pick since he was 14. A modest 5 feet 10 inches and 185 pounds, he scored 66 goals and had 168 points in 62 games last season with the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Who is No. 2 -- and whether Duck General Manager Brian Burke will keep that pick or trade it -- are today’s big mysteries.

After saying last week that he would trade the pick for immediate help, Burke said Friday he had only one firm offer and “lots of tire-kicking.” He said he expected demand to rise in the final hours and cited two major draft-day deals he made while general manager of the Vancouver Canucks. “If I had to make a prediction and put odds on it, I think it’s 90% that we’re going to pick,” he said.

Burke denied rumors that he would trade for St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger, who is due $7.2 million and would be a tight fit under a salary cap with Sergei Fedorov ($6.08 million), Jean-Sebastien Giguere ($3.99 million), Petr Sykora ($3.116 million) and Steve Rucchin ($2.261 million). “We have nothing going on with St. Louis for that player or any other player,” Burke said.

The NHL’s Central Scouting Service ranked Crosby the top North American skater and Slovenian-born center Anze Kopitar of Sweden’s Sodertalje junior team as the top European skater. Benoit Pouliot, a 6-3, 179-pound left wing with Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League, was second to Crosby. Right wing Bobby Ryan of Owen Sound of the OHL, a New Jersey native who’s touted as a power forward, was third.

Defenseman Jack Johnson of the U.S. National Development Program is the fourth-ranked North American skater, and Gilbert Brule, a center for Vancouver of the Western Hockey League, was ranked fifth for his grit and poise.

The top North American goaltender was Carey Price of the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. Defenseman Ray Macias of Long Beach and Kamloops of the WHL, was ranked 71st among North American skaters.

“There’s one superstar, five to six top-quality prospects, 15 to 20 solid prospects, and then a lot of guys who are inconsistent,” Murray said. “We got 11, and we wanted to stay in the top 15.”

Fletcher said a player’s position isn’t of primary importance. “With the exception of Crosby, most of these kids will take two or three years to play in the NHL, and that’s the top-end players,” he said. “When you’re trying to project your needs down the road, your positional needs might be different later than they are now.”

Whatever happens, Fletcher enjoyed preparing for the draft. “There’s a sense of not knowing what’s coming around the corner,” he said. “After the last year, this is fun.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Draft order

First-round order for today’s NHL entry draft, to begin at

9 a.m. PDT in Ottawa:

*--* 1. Pittsburgh 16. N.Y. Rangers 2. DUCKS 17. Phoenix 3. Carolina 18. Nashville 4. Minnesota 19. Detroit 5. Montreal 20. Philadelphia 6. Columbus 21. Toronto 7. Chicago 22. Boston 8. Atlanta 23. New Jersey 9. Ottawa 24. St. Louis 10. Vancouver 25. Edmonton 11. KINGS 26. Calgary 12. San Jose 27. Colorado 13. Buffalo 28. Dallas 14. Washington 29. Florida 15. N.Y. Islanders 30. Tampa Bay

*--*

*--* TOP PROSPECTS

*--*

SIDNEY CROSBY

* Position: Center.

* From: Rimouski (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League).

* Born: Aug. 7, 1987.

* Height, weight: 5-10, 185 pounds.

* Comment: Everyone’s No. 1 pick. Has been compared to Wayne Gretzky and his soon-to-be-Pittsburgh teammate Mario Lemieux because of his passing skills and vision. Led all Canadian junior scorers last season with 66 goals and 168 points in 62 games. His team went to the Memorial Cup final, where he led all scorers with six goals and 11 points in five games.

BENOIT POULIOT

* Position: Left wing.

* From: Sudbury (Ontario Hockey League).

* Born: Sept. 29, 1986.

* Height, weight: 6-3, 179 pounds.

* Comment: Described as a strong skater with good speed and difficult to knock off the puck. He uses his size well and doesn’t shy away in traffic. Also said to be a good puck handler with good vision and impressive passing ability. Has good hands and an effective wrist shot.

JACK JOHNSON

* Position: Defenseman.

* From: U.S. National Development Program.

* Born: Jan. 13, 1987.

* Height, weight: 6-1, 201 pounds.

* Comment: Moved up from fifth among North American skaters in the Central Scouting Service’s midseason rankings to fourth in the final rankings. He had 12 goals, 31 points and 143 penalty minutes for the U.S. National under-18 team last season and is considered a strong skater with good speed and sound offensive instincts.

Source: NHL Central Scouting Service