The Saint John Sea Dogs are well on their way to winning a Memorial Cup but even if they don’t their seven-loss season and now guaranteed Mem Cup Final appearance is impressive but the best is yet to come. The team has four potential first rounder’s on the roster in center Jonathan Huberdeau, RW Tomas Jurco, defenseman Nathan Beaulieu, and center Zack Phillips.

While Phillips could be on the odd-man out here, the last time one team has had four players of this quality was when, well, never, as far as I can tell. The only one that comes close in recent memory was back in 2001 when Omsk Avangard had three first rounders; Tampa Alexandr Svitov, Anaheim Stanislav Chistov, Montreal Alexander Perezhogin.

Getting back to the Saint John players, in my opinion Huberdeau is a very talented player for a lot of reasons. Here is where I think he will go http://www.sportsology.info/2011-Mock-Draft-Picks-6-10 but after seeing him play in the Memorial Cup I also noticed that he competes very hard in the corners and he’s a spotlight player who can ratchet up his play in big games as he’s done in this tournament. One thing is for sure, Huberdeau will need to get stronger before he can play at the NHL level.

“You have more time to show your play,” said Huberdeau. “I try to work hard every shift. If I wasn’t working then I was in front of the goal….You have to go in front of the net to score some goals.”

Beaulieu has been impressive in his own right. Here is where I think he will go in the draft http://www.sportsology.info/2011-Mock-Draft-Picks-10-15 and he had me thinking could he possibly go higher? If he were physically stronger I think he would but that will come in time after he's drafted. Right now he has to move players with his stick. He is great on the power play and very solid in the defensive zone.

Jurco (6-2, 193) seems to be the player on the rise. I haven’t quite decided where he will go in the first round but I think he’s a first-round talent. He has terrific breakout speed, he’s able to get around opposing defenses with ease and his stickhandling is NHL quality. He has an amazing backhand which is an underutilized shot in the NHL these days. He currently has 18 points in 19 playoff games.

“I think there is no difference I think people are just saying that stuff. We’re a really good team this year… I think it can work in any league,” he said confidently. “I don’t want to be just the guy who can just score. I am trying to play more physical, stickhandling more and just play for the team. It’s really great for us, for all the the four guys… I think more than four for this draft year…We can show what we can do in front of the scouts.”

I think Phillips (6-1, 181) seems to be the player that gets lost in the shadow of his talented teammates like Penguins first rounder, defenseman, Simon Despres. He’s really good on the power play, has excellent vision and he has good stick skills and presents his stick well. He doesn’t have great speed at the moment and I’m not sure he’s a future star. He has some great teammates and he plays well with them, the test for him will be to see how he can perform away from them like he did in the top prospects game. He has 24 points in 17 playoff games.

To read about the rest of the Sea Dogs who are teasing pro scouts then read this great article by Julie Stewart-Binks here:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stanleycup/story/2011/05/23/sp-memorial-...