Player Rankings: Tier 5 D-men

Tier 5:

31. Andrej Meszaros, TB
Projected Stats: 10 G, 34 A, -4, 68 PIM, 32 PP, 167 SOG

Meszaros found a willing buyer in Tampa. He goes from one great powerplay situation to another is the likely heir apparent to Dan Boyle's powerplay throne. He will, I suspect, receive stiff competition from Carle, but should start the season dishing it from the point.

32. Brent Burns, Minn
Projected Stats: 13 G, 30 A, +10, 74 PIM, 21 PP, 148 SOG

Wow. Before Zidlicky? Yes. But Espn ranks... I KNOW WHERE ESPN RANKS HIM. Espn takes points too highly at this position though. Burns does a lot of everything and he was a high first round draft pick by Minnesota. He is only going to get better. Zidlicky's arrival DOES raise some questions about Burns' ice time however which is why he didn't make Tier 4.

33. John-Michael Liles, Col
Projected Stats: 9 G, 34 A, +4, 24 PIM, 29 PP, 172 SOG

JM cannot possibly be as useless as he was last year... can he? Liles, like the rest of the team suffered without Stasny and Sakic. Everyone is healthy to start the season, expect a slight bump in his numbers as a result.

34. Marek Zidlicky, Minn
Projected Stats: 7 G, 36 A, +7, 66 PIM, 24 PP, 122 SOG

"We are no longer the knights who say Ni we are now the knights who say icky icky icky Marek Zidlicky" Look... if he explodes then I'm sorry. But every talented d-man that has ever gone to Minnesota to play point almost immediately disappears into Lemaire's system. Minnesota, where if you want to play offense you have to risk being fired. Zids should be fine, but if his points take dip then, like Kaberle, there isn't a whole lot of interest here.

35. Joni Pitkanen, Car
Projected Stats: 9 G, 38 A, +2, 72 PIM, 26 PP, 100 SOG

Pity about the last couple seasons... sigh. Pitkanen had a great rookie campaign and has yet to deliver on that promise. The plus side... he's only 24 and will be competing for powerplay time with Joe Corvo, if not sharing it. Pitkanen has a lot of potential and should be drafted as such.

36. Brent Seabrook, Chi
Projected Stats: 9 G, 27 A, +15, 94 PIM, 18 PP, 154 SOG

No powerplay time and lower point totals aside, Seabrook is the future of this Blackhawks team, along with Cam Barker, on the blue line. Campbell is the present though. Seabrook is a good 4th D-man until he starts getting serious powerplay minutes.

37. Michal Rozsival, NYR
Projected Stats: 11 G, 27 A, +7, 84 PIM, 18 PP, 133 SOG

Is he better without Jaromir Jagr? Or did a lot of his value just run off to Russia? Time will tell.

38. Ron Hainsey, Atl
Projected Stats: 9 G, 32 A, -8, 54 PIM, 28 PP, 170 SOG

From one bad team to another, Hainsey will steal away some of Enstrom's powerplay time and/or they will play together (more likely) and mutually benefit each other. I can't stress how bad this Atlanta team is though. Really. Its horrendous.

39. Mattias Ohlund, Van
Projected Stats: 11 G, 22 A, -4, 102 PIM, 19 PP, 172 SOG

Oft-injured but always useful, Ohlund doesn't do much outside of PIM and SOG but at this stage of the draft those are harder and harder to get in the same package.

40. Adrian Aucoin, Cgy
Projected Stats: 10 G, 24 A, +12, 46 PIM, 20 PP, 135 SOG

Case in point. Aucoin had a really solid comeback season last year. It should continue this year as he is still the second best option in Calgary.

41. Tobias Enstrom, Atl
Projected Stats: 6 G, 33 A, -4, 48 PIM, 28 PP, 124 SOG

Call it the Kovalchuk factor. Enstrom had a very impressive rookie campaign, and while I think Hainsey is the safe bet on this team Enstrom is one of the best "Upside" picks late in this draft. Prepare for the "Atlanta-factor" though which roughly translates to bad plus-minus.

42. Mark Streit, NYI
Projected Stats: 8 G, 38 A, -15, 24 PIM, 26 PP, 140 SOG

Yes he had 62 points last year. Why am I knocking him down so far? The Islanders leading scorer had 49 points last year. Yea. Its like that. Streit isn't Bobby Orr and he's just been signed by one of the worst offensive teams in the game. Adjust his value accordingly. I did.