No. 1 draft pick in jeopardy if the Penguins keep winning

Hold off on the bobble-head dolls. Forget about the free duffle bags. There is something else… Hold off on the bobble-head dolls. Forget about the free duffle bags. There is something else dragging Pittsburgh Penguin fans to Mellon Arena nowadays — a good hockey team.

Since their National Hockey League record of 18 straight losses, which included an overtime loss, the Penguins have circled the Zamboni and posted a record of 10-3-2-0. They are, by far, the hottest team in the NHL, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs just around the bend.

But they are not playing for a better playoff position or for a division title this year. The Penguins are just trying to migrate away from the South Pole of the NHL standings.

They’ve been in dead last for a while now, but after their recent success, the Penguins find themselves three points away from stepping ahead of the deteriorating Washington Capitals.

This excites many Penguin fans, but at the same time poses the question: why win now?

The Penguins had the best chance at getting the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft solidified months ago, but then they started winning. If they overtake the Capitals for second-to-last place, the Penguins will only have a 18.8 percent chance at receiving the No. 1 — because of the lottery system the NHL uses — as opposed to the 25 percent chance they could hold if their status in the standing was to remain the same.

By winning, the Penguins could miss out on the player deemed to be the best available in the 2004 draft, Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin. The 18-year-old, who now plays for Moscow’s Red Army team, is said to have the potential to become a better player than Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk.

Ovechkin is described as a franchise player by scouts. And if the Penguins were able to acquire this prospect, they would have drafted two “franchise” players in the past two years — the other being their 2003 first-round draft pick goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The last franchise player the Penguins drafted, Mario Lemieux, led them to two Stanley Cup Championships.

Imagine what two new, high-caliber players could do for the Penguins with the elder franchise player suiting up for another NHL season.

Barring a lockout, these three players could combine, with the current team of rising stars, like Ryan Malone and Ric Jackman, to form a playoff contender next year.

And that is what’s at stake if the Penguins keep winning.

So why don’t the Penguins just lose?

Because the team has heart and their new first-year head coach Eddie Olczyk will not give up so easily. This is why the Penguins took to the ice, sporting a 20-45-7-4 record and blew away the Rangers 5-2 on Tuesday night. This is why they will play hard until the final horn sounds tonight and tomorrow night in their home-and-home series with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Penguins are filled with youth, and they are all finally coming together and looking like an NHL hockey team.

Led by first-year player Malone, who has had a stellar rookie season with 22 goals and 20 assists, the Penguins now have a power play that has been ranked among the best in the NHL since mid-January.

However, if the Penguins continue to win games and in turn, lose the No. 1 pick in the draft, they could still luck out come draft time because there is another Russian making noise in the 2004 draft. He is Evgeni Malkin, and European scouts have described him as a scary power forward, who works extremely hard — just like Olczyk’s crew does right now.

And with five games remaining for the Penguins, there is only one certainty. The Penguins will not go down quietly.

Jimmy Johnson is a staff writer for The Pitt News, and if the Penguins keep winning, he is positive that he will be the second overall pick in the 2004 draft.