John Tavares and Victor Hedman Ready To Take The NHL By Storm

Six months from now, one NHL GM will have a big decision to make. It’s the type of decision that can follow a team for years. One that can reestablish your franchise’s relevancy, immediately make you playoff caliber and leave you with a championship foundation to build around. Or it can leave you wondering how you failed to capitalize on such a golden opportunity, endlessly second guessing the logic behind your mistake.

Despite the high stakes, every GM managing a team near the bottom of the NHL standings is secretly rooting to be the guy to make the pick. They all want the chance to choose between the next great Canadian center or a Norris-trophy-bound defensive pillar? Do they prefer the next Yzerman or the next Lidstrom?

Do they select John Tavares or Victor Hedman?

On one side of the pond, Victor Hedman’s size and raw ability are blowing people’s minds in Sweden. Scout after scout who venture to see him play for Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik, of the Swedish Elite League, all leave comparing the 18-year-old, 6’7’’, 230-pound Swede to a cross between Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Pronger. He’s considered a once-in-a-generation defensive prospect, specializing in the nuances of the position.

Think back to all of the defensemen recently selected at the top of the NHL draft: Drew Doughty (2nd overall), Zach Bogosian (3nd overall), Alex Pietrangelo (4th overall), Thomas Hickey (4th overall), and Luke Schenn (5th overall). Then think about this: Victor Hedman is better than all of them, and if the scouts are right, he’ll be better than pretty much every other defenseman too!

The thing making this one of the most anticipated NHL drafts of all time is not only the out-of-this-world prospect in Sweden, but also the other one on this side of the pond. And his name is John Tavares.

There are good Canadian prospects, and then there are the great Canadian prospects. John Tavares would fall in the latter category. By all accounts he is destined for greatness in the NHL. For the past three and a half years the Ontario Hockey League has been terrorized by Tavares’ dizzying skill. Through three seasons Tavares scored 329 points in only 191 games, including a record-breaking 72 goals as a sixteen-year-old. If Hedman is a cross between Pronger and Lidstrom, then Tavares is a cross between Yzerman and Thornton.

Monday night the eyes of the hockey world watched the two juggernaut prospects battle for gold in the finals of the IIHF World Juniors. It only seemed fitting.

John Tavares was, as expected, running wild scoring 14 points in only five games, helping Canada outscore their opponents 41-11. Meanwhile, Victor Hedman and Sweden played some of the best defense the World Juniors have ever seen, surrendering only three goals in the preliminaries, en route to the finals.

On this night the super-talented Canadian machine was simply too much for Sweden, winning the game 5-1 for their 5th straight World Junior title. Hedman was slowed by an apparent shoulder tweak, while Tavares was held in check, tallying a lone assist. It was far from what many expected, yet a prelude nonetheless.

With their NHL destinations still a mystery to all, both players have been making a strong case for the number-one overall pick. While Tavares and Hedman are sure to go 1-2 in next summer’s draft, the question now becomes: In what order? And to who? Hence the dilemma facing that lucky GM come June.

If the season ended today, the New York Islanders have the best shot at being first on the clock. Would they opt to solidify their defense with Hedman, pairing him with recent all-star selection Mark Streit? Or would they choose to grab Tavares, put him on Kyle Okposo’s line, and start watching the goals fly?

Next worse is Atlanta. They had the number-two pick in last year’s draft and took hulking defensemen Zach Bogosian. It would seem very tempting to want Bogosian and Hedman on the same blue line. On the other side of the coin, Atlanta GM Don Waddell is probably envisioning of a dream scenario where he can add Tavares to play along side Russian sniper Ilya Kovalchuk.

Decisions, decisions.

Tampa Bay would love to have the Tavares/Stamkos connection light up the conference, but their main weakness is defense! Then there’s always Brian Burke lurking in Ottawa. The new Senators GM has always been known to wheel and deal on draft day, and his team is currently only three points better than the Islanders.

And therein lies the debate. Would they rather have the player many consider the next great Canadian center, following the likes of Gretzky, Yzerman, Lindros and Crosby. Or the Swedish reincarnation of the hall-of-fame bound Lidstrom, winner of six Norris trophies.

What will be valued more on draft day is anybody’s guess.

The debate will surely rage on until June 25th, when Gary Bettman steps to the podium at the Bell Centre in Montreal and ends the conversation. If you’re lucky enough to be a fan of a bottom feeder, I have one piece of advice: Start rooting for your team to lose; good luck, and I’ll see you when they pick the ping pong balls in May.

Photos used in this article were taken from elitserien.com and thehockeynews.com