Blake Wheeler Chooses Boston

When the Phoenix Coyotes took Blake Wheeler with the 5th selection in the 2004 draft, most people wondered what the hell Gretzky and Pals were smoking. Wheeler was not expected to go until at least the second round, and was pretty much a raw 'project' prospect that would require more work than Prescilla Presley's face.

Well, after the big slug had a good-but-not-great college career, the Coyotes didn't feel Wheeler was worth 5th overall money (and he's not), so they let him go on the free agent market.

After hitting up the likes of Toronto and New York, Wheeler chose Boston as the team to sign with.

"More than 20 NHL teams were interested in Blake, and this was a very tough decision," agent Matt Keator told the Boston Globe. "And ultimately it came down to a few things for Blake, but mostly that he was comfortable with where the Bruins were headed as an organization - how this year they brought along kids like David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Mark Stuart."

Folks, any time a prospect is labeled a 'project', stay the hell away! Remember Kristian Kudroc, Michael Rupp, Nikita Alexeev, and Chris Wells? Some foolish GM's drooled over what could possibly become of a tall, clumsy player, and the results weren't pretty.

Just because a player is 6'4" 220lbs and has a little bit of skill does not mean he'll turn out to be the next Todd Bertuzzi. A player generally either has "it", or he doesn't. Even the late bloomers have a good level of skill that is obvious to the scouting eye.

As for the Bruins, they can afford to stick Wheeler in the minors for as long as needed, and may just end up with a serviceable NHL player for nothing more than a small dip on Jeremy Jacobs' profits. If not, at least they didn't waste the 5th overall pick to do so.