The Right Pick

I’ve never been a homer; you should always pick the best player available, regardless of where he’s from. But there was a small bit of hometown pride that twinged inside me last night when the team took Nick Leddy from Eden Prairie. Leddy is better prospect than Matty Niskanen, Keith Ballard, Ryan McDonough or Jake Gardiner were at this point. He fits a need in our system, an offensive defenseman. Plus, I now have a real reason to watch some Gopher hockey this fall. Good pick, Fletch.Of course, they’ll be some that say Jordan Schroeder should’ve been the pick. Heck, I even posted a few days ago about my desire to see Schroeder in Iron Range Red, but the more I think about it the more I agree with passing on the forward. Schroeder’s a great talent, but he is not a scorer. He’s a PMB-like winger who passes exceptionally-well, but will not develop into more than that. Still, it will be interesting for years to watch him develop for the Evil Empire of the Northwest.