The Detroit Red Wings newest franchise defenseman...

With the 15th pick in the 2nd round, #45 overall, in the CLS redraft, the Detroit Red Wings selected defenseman Duncan Keith. With a cap hit of only 1.475M/yr (for this year, at least), and a stat line of 77GP 8G+36A=44P and +33, playing ~25 minutes a night, Keith was a bargain that couldn't be passed. Especially after having deviated from my original plan of grabbing a defenseman in the first round, I really wanted to get a top end defender in the second. Jay Bouwmeester was considered, but with a cap hit reaching close to 7M, it just wasn't going to happen. I'm not unhappy to "settle" for Keith though, as I think he is either at the top level of defensemen in the NHL, or very very close to it, and at only 26 years old, I don't think he's hit his ceiling yet. What's not to love about this pick?

One of the interesting things about how this CLS redraft is working out is the way some people are drafting, based on what metric they want to win by. RudyKelly has discussed the fact that he doesn't care about any other metric except winning the NHL10 simulation. Some people are drafting to try to win the fantasy hockey league that will be created out of this. What am I trying to win by? I guess I'm going for the judging panel win.

I don't just want to build a team on paper by putting a bunch of snipers on my team, and ignore the fact that there would be no one to do the dirty work on such a team. I want to build a team that would actually work, if it were put together. Even if I come in last by every "metric", if I have a team that I think would be fun to watch and hard to play against, I'll be happy. Picking up Jarome Iginla in the first, and Duncan Keith in the second is a long way towards making a competent and tough team. Your team might be flashier than mine, but my team will knock you on your ass.

Also, since I couldn't find it for the Iginla selection post, here's the "Shift" commercial with Iginla. Personally, I think its right up there with the "35 pounds" commercial at the top of the NHL commercial mountain. Massive props to James O'Brien for grabbing it off Youtube for me, since I was at work.