Storm draft history ’04 & ’05
On Sunday June 30th at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey Jason Dickinson, Hunter Garlent, Tyler Bertuzzi, Ben Harpur, Justin Auger, and Zac Leslie will hope to fulfill a lifelong dream of being drafted to the NHL.
Leading up to the draft, GuelphStorm.com will revisit the past 16 NHL Entry Drafts beginning with the 1993 draft reviewing the many Storm players that have been grabbed by NHL clubs and where their professional careers would take them.
The year Alexander Ovechin and Evgeny Malkin went 1st and 2nd overall, Storm players Ryan Callahan and Danny Taylor were selected in the 4th and 9th rounds respectively. In Raleigh North Carolina on June 26th, Ryan Callahan was taken by the New York Rangers, 127th overall with the third last pick of the round. Callahan is one of only three players drafted in the 4th round to play over 100 games, leading the way with 147. The Rochester NY native had his best NHL season in 2011-12 playing in 76 games and recording 54 points (29 goals and 25 assists). In 2011 at the age of 26, Callahan was named the 26th captain of the New York Rangers and on Feb 25, 2012 he recorded his 100th career NHL goal.
In the 7th round, selected 221st overall, Storm goaltender Danny Taylor was taken by the LA Kings in the 2004 draft. Starting off his professional career in the ECHL, the 23 year old played for four different teams before being called up to the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL for 23 games. That same season, Taylor played his first NHL game for the Los Angeles Kings. Five years later and many years of swapping between the AHL and ECHL, Taylor made his second appearance in the NHL with the Calgary Flames on February 18th 2013. He made 37 saves in the 4-0 loss to the Coyotes. Less then a month later, he recorded his first NHL victory with a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Ryan Parent and Matt D’Agostini were the only two Storm players drafted in 2005. In Ottawa, 17 picks after Sidney Crosby, Storm defenceman Ryan Parent was selected by the Nashville Predators with the 18th overall pick. During the 2006-07 season, Parent was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in a deal that would see Peter Forsberg go to the Nashville Predators. Parent played six games for the Phantom and one for the Flyers after the Storm were eliminated from the playoffs in 2006-07. The next season the Sioux Lookout native started in the AHL with the Phantoms before joining the Flyers for 22 games. In 2008-09, Parent suffered a shoulder injury in the first half of the season that forced him to miss a number of games. In 2009-10 he played 48 games with the Flyers before being traded to Vancouver. Playing just four games with the Canucks, Parent was sent back down to the AHL where he currently remains. He was signed by the Anaheim Ducks this season and currently plays with the Norfold Admirals.
With the 190th overall pick, in the 6th round, the Montreal Canadiens selected Storm forward Matt D’Agostini. Playing 54 games with the big club, D’Agostini has played 40 times more NHL games then any other player selected in the 6th round of the 2005 draft. A free agent walk on for the Storm, the Saut Ste. Marie native started his professional career with the Hamilton Bulldogs scoring 49 points in 63 games. In 2007-08, D’Agositini played the majority of the year in Hamilton playing one game in Montreal with the Canadiens. In his third season, D’Agostini led the Bulldogs in goals with 14 and was the AHL’s third leading scorer when he was called up to the Canadiens in November. In just his second week with the team, the Sault Ste. Marie native scored in four consecutive games, including the game winner against the Calgary Flames on December 9th. During the month of December, the 22 year old led the team in goals with six and shots on goal with 39. As the season went on D’Agostini cooled down and finished the season with 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points. During the 2009-10 season, D’Agostini was traded by the Canadiens to the St. Louis Blues where he played three seasons before joining the Devils via trade this year.
