Where Does Justin Schultz' Offensive Stats Rank Among Recent High D Picks From The NCAA? Part 2

I guess it shows how long it's been since I've blogged, it looks like a number of changes have been made, so I'll continue the rest here!

Firstly here are Schultz' stats, he was drafted in '08

Freshman Season: 43 6-16-22
Sophomore Season: 41 18-29-47
Junior Season: 37 16-28-44

He seems to be way up the ladder in 2nd and 3rd year production, however one thing that catches my eye is that there are three high scoring Wisconsin Badgers on the list and the lower scoring McDonagh, Brendan Smith, Schultz, and Gardiner. Is it a great system in Wisconsin for offensive D, or do they just recruit some of the best D talent around?

Obviously the Badgers are a big NCAA program, but Schultz' stats are in between Smith's and Gardiner's in their junior years, although he is far superior to their Sophomore stats. Four high end D were drafted out of their program in a 2 years span! 

2006
Erik Johnson
Freshman Season: 41 4-20-24
Best NHL Season: 79 10-29-39

Jeff Petry
Junior Season: 38 4-25-29
Best NHL Season: 73 2-23-25

Jamie McBain
Junior Season: 40 7-30-37
Best NHL Season: 76 7-23-30

2007
Brendan Smith
Sophomore Season: 31 9-14-23
Junior Season: 42 15-37-52
Best AHL Season: 57 10-24-34
Best NHL Season: 14 1-6-7

Ryan McDonagh
Sophomore Season: 36 5-11-16
Junior Season: 43 4-14-18
Best NHL Season: 82 7-25-32

2008
Jake Gardiner
Sophomore Season: 41 6-7-13
Junior Season: 41 10-31-41
Best NHL Season: 75 7-23-30


2009
Nick Leddy
Freshman Season: 30 3-8-11
Best NHL Season: 82 3-34-37

2010
Justin Faulk
Freshman Season: 39 8-25-33
Best NHL Season: 66 8-14-22

Could Schultz be one of the best of the bunch? The stats would say that the answer is yes, quite frankly if he turns out to be as good as the top 20% of this list he'd be a tremendous signing. Here's to hoping that the Oilers can pull it off and bring back the player that the 2nd round pick that went to Anaheim as compensation for the Dustin Penner offer sheet yielded. 

Where Does Justin Schultz' Offensive Stats Rank Among Recent High D Picks From The NCAA?

Now naturally there are no guarantees that he signs with the Oilers, but just how special is this kids offensive game relative to 1st and 2nd round offensive defensemen picks that went the NCAA route? Let's look at the list since the turn of the century.

2000
Ron Hainsey
Sophomore Season: 33 10-26-36
Best NHL Season: 81 6-33-39

2002
Ryan Whitney
Junior Season: 38 9-16-25
Best NHL Season: 81 14-45-59

Keith Ballard
Junior Season: 37 11-25-36
Best NHL Season: 82 8-31-39

Duncan Keith
Sophomore Season: 15 3-6-9
Best NHL Season: 82 14-55-69

2003
Ryan Suter
Freshman Season: 39 3-16-19

Best NHL Season: 79 7-39-46

Matt Carle
Freshman Season: 30 5-21-26
Sophomore Season: 43 13-31-46
Junior Season: 39 11-42-53
Best NHL Season: 77 11-31-42

2004
N/A

2005
Jack Johnson
Freshman Season: 38 10-22-32
Sophomore Season: 36 16-23-39
Best NHL Season: 82 5-37-42

Matt Niskanen
Sophomore Season: 39 9-22-31
Best NHL Season: 80 6-29-35

Does The Uncertainty Of the NHL's CBA Multiply "The Russian Factor" For Yakupov, Grigorenko and Galchenyuk?

If the '12-13 season ends up being postponed due to CBA negotiations could we see the likes of Yakupov, Grigorenko and Galchenyuk heading to the KHL while the NHLPA and Owners wage war against each other?

It has been my opinion that since each of these young men decided to play in North America prior to the draft that they are eying the NHL. However they have all made sacrifices to come here and part of the beauty of being a highly touted young hockey player is the insane money that comes your way.

If the NHL season doesn't start on time do they look at the KHL? And if so, once they get there and get a taste of the good life would it make them less likely to want to come back over to this side of the pond? In my opinion once they get settled and spoiled by the lifestyle it might change the likelihood of them wanting to come back and ultimately could cost teams wasted lottery picks.

Through 35 Career NHL Games RNH Has More Points Than Kane, Tavares, and Skinner, But Trails Sid

While it may seem like RNH has hit a bit of a rookie wall, he has still chipped in with three assists in his last five games which still puts him in elite company among NHL players that entered the league right after the draft.

At the 35 game mark RNH is 9 points ahead of last year's Calder winner's pace. Depending on how long RNH's "slump" lasts, he could still very well end up second to only Sidney Crosby on this list when his season concludes.

After 35 Games

Crosby 16-21-37 -8 116sog.

RNH 13-22-35 Ev 73sog.

Kane 7-26-33 -5 94sog.

Tavares 15-12-27 -4 87sog.

Skinner 9-17-26 -4 92sog.

Hall 11-10-21 -9 97sog.

Duchene 9-10-19 -7 76sog.

Gagner 3-13-16 -7 46sog.

Landeskog 6-9-15 +5 108sog.

Stamkos 4-10-14 -11 75sog.

Seguin 6-7-13 +3 65sog.

Couturier 32gp. 5-6-11 +10 49sog.