In defence of Brian Lee

by TheGuineaPig on Jul 6, 2011 10:20 AM EDT

Brian Lee is, without exaggeration, probably the most disappointing Senators draft pick since Brian Berard. Picked 9th overall in the 2005 draft, before such notables as Anze Kopitar and Marc Staal. Accordingly, Lee is invoked as a legacy of Muckler's poor drafting and general handling of prospects during his tenure as GM. But how much of a failure is Brian Lee, really? Do the players drafted after him muddle fans' opinions of him?

I decided to look at the players drafted in the #8-10 spots from 2000 to 2005, and see how their NHL careers played out with respect to Lee's.

2000

#8 Nikita Alexeev (F): 159 GP, 37 P

#9 Brent Krahn (G): 1 GP

#10 Mikhail Yakubov (F): 53 GP, 12 P

A pretty terrible crop. Two eventually ended up in the KHL after unproductive NHL careers, and one's been a career AHL tender.

2001

#8 Pascal Leclaire (G): 173 GP

#9 Tuomo Ruutu (F): 460 GP, 265 P

#10 Dan Blackburn (G): 63 GP

Hey look! Two familiar names! Hard to believe that Leclaire's only played 173 games in the bigs since being drafted. Ruutu is the first on this list to be an NHL regular, and a pretty solid pick at #9. Blackburn was a back-up to Mike Richter for two seasons, and retired by 2005.

2002

#8 Pierre-Marc Bouchard (F): 485 GP, 305 P

#9 Petr Taticek (F): 3 GP, 0 P

#10 Eric Nystrom (F): 286 G, 51 P

Bouchard is a solid second liner, probably the best draftee so far. Nystrom has blossomed into a 4th-line regular. Taticek was a bust. Decent crop.

2003

#8 Braydon Coburn (D): 379 GP, 111 P

#9 Dion Phaneuf (D): 470 GP, 268 P

#10 Andrei Kostitsyn (F): 326 GP, 186 P

In what was perhaps the deepest draft of all time, a correspondingly strong group. Coburn's a solid D-man, Phaneuf has been up-and-down but still a top-pairing guy (and the best draftee yet), and Kostitsyn is a decent third liner. Very good.

2004

#8 Alexandre Picard (F): 67 GP, 2 P

#9 Ladislav Smid (D): 331 GP, 44 P

#10 Boris Valabik (D): 80 GP, 7 P

A poor crop. The best to show here is Smid, who's been a third-pairing defenceman on a terrible defensive team.

2005

#8 Devin Setoguchi (F): 267 GP, 159 P

#9 Brian Lee (D): 132 GP, 20 P

#10 Luc Bourdon (D): 36 GP, 2 P

Here we are. Setoguchi has become an OK top 6 forward. Lee, we know the story. Bourdon died tragically, and will not be included in the rest of my analysis.

So, from all those draftees over the years (minus Bourdon and the goalies), the average amount of games played was 250. Among defencemen, who typically take a little longer to break into the league, it was 278. So, while Lee's clearly played less than the average, one needs to take into consideration that he is among the youngest of the draftees. He's already had more NHL experience than 6 other draftees (7 including Bourdon), and will likely surpass Leclaire and Alexeev in the short term.

Furthermore, when ranking him amongst the other defenceman, Lee comes in the middle. Phaneuf is the obvious gem, and while Coburn might be overpaid in Philadelphia he'd still be a solid #3/4 option on Ottawa. Smid has played more games, but on a much weaker team. I'm not sure he'd crack Ottawa's D-corps, even if Heatley had accepted the trade to Edmonton, so I rank him about even with Lee. Valabik, despite his size, is more or less a career AHLer.

In conclusion, Lee isn't really all that much of a bust when you compare him to the others taken around him each year in the draft. It might be easy to look back in hindsight and curse Muckler for his obvious ineptitude, but it's not like we compare Cody Bass to Keith Yandle. All in all, Lee's been about what one might expect from someone drafted in his position. Provided he sees more ice time in the next few years, I'll expect he'll be just about average over his career. So maybe we should stop being so hard on the kid, and hope that in the rebuild he can grow as a player.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Silver Seven community, and does not necessarily reflect the beliefs or opinions of the site managers, editors, or Sports Blogs Nation, Inc.

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Comments

It's just painful

It’s just painful because there I was in front of the TV screen yelling Anze Kopitar and they picked Brian Lee (who?).

And it’s high time to forget all of that and live in the present. As usual, Lee now has yet another chance to prove himself this year because he has played himself into an moveable position, where he was waved and nobody wanted him. So how many teams are going to now magically give us something for him… and a miracle may happen and he could all of a sudden become a good defenceman. I won’t hold my breath.

by Marvellous on Jul 6, 2011 11:09 AM EDT reply actions

I think my problem is that you have to compare Lee to other draft picks to prove he isn't a bust

Considering the low success percentage rate of most draftees, that’s not as strong an argument as it first appears.

As a player with the Senators, Lee has not lived up to expectations, and I find that more frustrating than any “what ifs” that usually get thrown around when we talk about him.

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by Mark Parisi on Jul 6, 2011 11:24 AM EDT reply actions

I thought Lee had a strong year last year

I think Clouston didn’t like him and kept him on too short of a leash to start the season (that 20-game benching was outrageous), and I thought Lee was playing a simple, effective game to finish off the season.

I don’t expect him to ever become more than a 4-5 defenceman, but I’m looking forward to seeing how he does this year.

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by DarrenM on Jul 6, 2011 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

Lee's all right

I mean, it’s not his fault that he was picked when he was picked.

If he improves under MacLean; great. Even so, I think it would be good of the team to try and trade him to a team, perhaps in the offseason next year, where he is sure to get more ice time and more responsibility (provided he can handle it), defensive depth permitting.

The Marginal Virtues

by JonathanA on Jul 6, 2011 5:43 PM EDT reply actions

This is the thing

Blaming Lee for where he was picked and the players picked afterwards is like blaming Daigle for taking the massive contract he was given. It’s silly.

Still, what frustrates me about Lee is that at some points, we see him playing solid defensively. We’ve actually seen two seasons where, as a late-season call-up, he stepped in admirably, only to fall right back into old habits for the start of the next season. I don’t know why, but it makes it frustrating, and makes it very difficult to guess where he might fit in to the lineup.

The bottom line is that Lee has to improve, or he will simply be left in the wake of the stronger prospects we have blasting past him. He has little choice.

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by Peter Raaymakers on Jul 6, 2011 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions

But the point was that he's about average for where he was drafted

People just got so optimistic about prospects everyone’s bound to be a disappointment.

Zibanejad will be great if he can be Mike Fisher. That’s a great outcome for a #6 pick, especially for a weak draft.

by TheGuineaPig on Jul 7, 2011 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah I like Lee as a player

If he keeps things simple and physical he will be a valuable mobile defensive d-man. The problem with him being picked at the nine spot is that Ottawa took a risk. The team was stacked up front and on the back end. So the obvious choice should have been to pick the bpa. I doubt Lee was the bpa in that spot. We have to remember that he was ranked consensus wise around the 15th spot. Kopitar was ranked a lot higher that year. He dropped a bit but would have been a steal in the 9 spot.

by paulbeam on Jul 7, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

This year's draft was not a weak one...

by paulbeam on Jul 7, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Zibanejad is

Bigger than Fisher, has better skills than Fisher, and has a higher ceilling than Fisher at that age. I expect him to be a very good 2nd line centerman.

by paulbeam on Jul 7, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Good point.

Competition will hopefully be good for him.

by paulbeam on Jul 7, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Despite where he was drafted

Lee is just not hard enough on the puck and doesn’t offer much in terms of offense. A lot of the frustration over Lee is because he’s just not consistent and good enough to play a role on the team, and he’s pretty expendable. He appears to be a 6th D for most teams and it might be wise for Murray to unload him this offseason before nobody wants him at all. Sometimes this time of year GMs getting caught up in the frenzy and take chances, maybe a GM will give us a late pick for him.

by Captain11 on Jul 6, 2011 10:54 PM EDT reply actions

Enough already with Lee

I’d look the other way and just be patient and hope for bigger things to come if he’d just use his size and hit someone once in a while. That he’s so soft is the final straw with him for me. The one thing I love best about a dman is when they go into the boards they drive and by sheere will combined with their physicality they come out with the puck. He doesn;t do that enough and he’ll never be more than a 7/8 guy. We have so many other potential dmen with so much more upside than that… so get rid of his and let’’s move on to better prospects.

by Marvellous on Jul 7, 2011 9:05 AM EDT reply actions

Disagree with you a bit

Lee is close to being an effective 5th of 6th d-man. His skating cannot be overlooked. And if he keeps things simple and has shown enough physicality to separate the man from the puck this year he will have a decent career…in Ottawa or elsewhere.

by paulbeam on Jul 7, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I like Brian lee

And always have. He wasn’t terrible last year, I think he’s getting better.

by spatial.taxes on Jul 7, 2011 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

I think he's getting better, too

And I’ve always hated Double Down. Like Peter mentioned, he needs to keep improving or he’s going to get passed by other guys.

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by Mark Parisi on Jul 7, 2011 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Good news for Lee, though

The Double Down is back in Canada.

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by Peter Raaymakers on Jul 8, 2011 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions

I think Brian Lee finally gets it

Twice he has made an impression late in the season and received high praise from fans, press and the organization. Each time he has lost his edge by the time the following season began. I’m not sure if his problem was ego, confidence, entitlement, strength, conditioning or a combination of these but he has not been able to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him. Personally I got the impression his self assessment was a tad generous. He felt under appreciated which hurt his motivation and resulted in lackluster play.

Eventually most everyone was ready to write him off, except Brian Murray. BM did the best thing possible for Lee by waiving him. When no one took him even at half price Lee got the reality check he needed and responded admirably. He trained hard during his months as a healthy scratch and eventually returned to the roster with a renewed compete level. We even caught glimpses of the player we hoped he’d become.

Now, once again, we look forward to Brian Lee’s breakout year. If he has kept his competitive fire burning and is training hard, his future is bright. If he thinks he has arrived (again) and puts his feet up for the summer his career will be DOA at camp. I’m hoping for the former.

by anothersensfan on Jul 7, 2011 11:52 PM EDT reply actions