Friday, November 16, 2007

Wizards Rookies

Earlier this year, the Wizards drafted 10 players in the combined Super draft and Supplemental draft. How did these 10 players perform in their first year as professional players. I'll go in the order the player was drafted.

Round 1 (Pick 3) - Michael Harrington - Harrington played in 33 of 34 games for the Wizards this season getting 3 goals and 4 assists this season in 2812 minutes. While he started off strong, he faded down the stretch. In the end, though, Harrington was a great pick up at the number 3 slot and should give the Wizards a good option on the left for years to come.

3 (29) - Edson Elcock - The Wizards second pick of the draft did not play a minute with the first team, but played 599 minutes for the reserve team, recording 1 assist. Showed some good speed this season, will be interesting to see if he gets time on the wing next season.

4 (42) - Kurt Morsink - Came on late and started many of the games for the Wizards late in the season. Raked up 1845 minutes playing 32 games for the first team in league, US Open Cup, and playoffs, along with the reserves.

Supplement 1 (3) - Aaron Hohlbein - Started 4 games for the Wizards early in the season, but tapered off as the season went on. Didn't play in a game for the first team after the July 1st game against Toronto. Did start 9 games for the reserves, though, scoring 1 goal.

2 (16) - Michael Todd - Never made the roster, haven't been able to find any information on him.

3 (29) - Chris Konopka - The Wizards third string goalie this season. Came off the bench in 3 of the Wizards reserve team matches, getting 135 minutes.

4 (30) - Eric Frimpong - Was drafted by the Wizards, but never made it onto the team's roster. Part of that had to do with the Frimpong's legal trouble. Unfortunately I haven't found any more updated information then that.

4 (32) - AJ Godbolt - Another player who only appeared in reserve team matches, playing in 6 of them.

5 (48) - Michael Kraus - The MO Valley Conference player of the year last year didn't play in a first team game, but was able to make the bench this season after impressing with the reserves. He was one of only 2 rookies (Elcock the other) to play in all 12 reserve games. Had 2 goals and 4 assists in those 12 games.

5 (52) - Willy Guadarrama - Mr. Irrelevant, the last player taken in last years draft tied Harrington for the most goals scored by a rookie, scoring 3 in the reserve league while playing in all but one of the reserve games.

Overall, a decent rookie class this year. The Wizards got first team contributions out of 3 of their rookies. All 3 looked like they'd be able to contribute in the future. Will be interesting to see if their contributions continue next year and which, if any, of the other rookies will be able to contribute next year.

1 comment:

Hough said...

Nice article, it is good to see that there was more than the obvious Harrington who contributed this year.