Wild Select Colton Gillies in Draft

The Minnesota Wild traded up in the 2007 NHL Draft last weekend, but didn’t draft who many experts thought they would. The Wild must have really wanted Colton Gillies, because they gave up both their 19th and 42nd overall pick to acquire Gillies at only three picks ahead at 16th overall. Glen Andresen of Wild.nhl.com was sure the Wild was going to select either Alexei Cherpanov or Angelo Esposito. Andresen was high on Esposito because of his incredible on-ice speed. True to his potential, Esposito put up some outrageous numbers in the QMJHL. The 2006-07 season saw him notch 79 points and the 2005-06 season was even more crazy as he dropped 98 points on 39 goals for the Quebec Remparts. Esposito is only 18 years old at the time of the draft, and time will only tell if the Wild missed out on a furious NHL goal scorer. It’s all about the professional team creating a player’s image however, and the Wild has an opportunity to make Colton Gillies a big Minnesota Wild ticket draw in coming years.