Top 5 Tuesday: Five First Round Picks We're Impatiently Waiting For

Before we get to tonight's list, take note that we're on at a special time tonight from 6-8 PM MST. We'll pay tribute to our Canadian Military with Remebrance Day tomorrow, we'll also be joined by a Hockey Hall Of Famer turned coach, 2 rookie NHL Dmen, a 2010 draft prospect and the Head Coach for the Springfield Falcons. You can listen online by clicking here.

With 6 of the first 33 players drafted in 2009 playing regularily in the NHL these days, and 13 from 2008 seeing plenty of ice time, I thought about taking a look at 5 first round picks from the past that still have potential, but are running out of time.

5. Bob Saguinetti - 21st overall, 2006The American blueliner did it all in junior. He scored 23 as an eighteen year old and 29 in his next and final OHL season. He also represented the U.S. at the World Junior Championship. But since turning pro, the closest he's came to the ice at MSG is the pre season. Sanguinetti has now been passed by this year's rookie blueliners Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto. However he is having his best season as a pro with 17 points in 14 games for Hartford of the AHL.

4. Kyle Chipchura - 18th overall, 2004
An NHL scout recently told me that Kyle Chipchura has more offence to give than the defensive player he's been pigeoned holed as. Well in 13 games with Montreal this year, Chipchura has yet to produce a point. Chipchura has good size, smarts and skates well, but has only played a full season once in the last 8 years due to injuries. He's been with Montreal the whole year, but a shoulder injury in training camp limited his playing time and he's been in and out of the line up as a healthy scratch.

3. Jonathan Bernier - 11th overall, 2006
When Jonathan Bernier left for LA Kings camp as a 19 year old, some thought he might not come back to Lewiston. He did and his return to junior started a bit of a free fall for the goaltender. He ended up losing his starting job at the World Juniors that year, and has seen the NHL ice just 4 times. However things might be turning around for the Kings prospect, as he's having himself a bounce back year with Manchester of the AHL. Unfortunately he has to dethrown a possible U.S. Olympian with the big club as Jonathan Quick has the Kings surprising everyone right now.

2. Jack Skille - 7th Overall, 2005
How bad were the Chicago Blackhawks? They've had so many top ten picks, that they aren't haunted by the fact that Jack Skille has less than 30 games on his resume despite the fact that he was 7th overall in 2005. This is the former Wisconsin Badgers 4th year of pro hockey and while he did get in 5 games with the Hawks this year, he is currently in Rockford of the AHL. Drafted out of the U.S. National Development team, Skille averaged 20 points in his two years of NCAA hockey. His best pro season was last year when he mustered 45 points in 50 games.

1. Benoit Pouliot - 4th Overall, 2005
Minnesota hockey aren't so Wild about Benoit Pouliot anymore. Drafted 4th overall behind Sidney Crosby, Bobby Ryan and Jack Johnson, Pouliot has played just 62 games in the NHL and has produced just 17 points. Maybe the Wild saw something noone else did, as Pouliot topped out at 35 goals and 65 points in Sudbury of the OHL and has never had more than 19 goals in the AHL. The 2005 draft has produced many players that have yet to reach their potential, but Poliot tops the list.

Top 5 Tuesdays: Prospects Who Need to Move

The NHL trade deadline can be a stressful time for most players as they worry about having to uproot their families and head to a different city. For some though... a trade might be just what the doctor ordered to get a new lease on their hockey life.

Here's 5 guys we think would benefit from a trade because the future doesn't look bright where they are:

5. Benoit Pouliot - 4th overall, 2004

Taken 4th overall by Minnesota back in the Crosby Lottery draft of 2005, Pouliot was considered to be a bit rough around the edges but just scratching the surface of incredible potential. So far he's been a disappointment with the Wild and only pretty good on the farm. In the three seasons since leaving Sudbury for the pro game, Pouliot has appeared in 51 NHL games and has 14 points to his credit. At 6'3 and nearly 200 lbs he's got good size and the skills are obviosuly there but perhaps he'd benefit from moving to a team that is more willing to live with mistakes defensively as long as the offensive creativity is present. No one has ever confused Minnesota with being anything but a defence-first organization.

4. Cory Schneider - 26th overall, 2004

His brief 8-game NHL stint this year was a disaster but with only 5 losses in 28 AHL games, the former Boston College keeper is proving that he's a goalie to watch for. Schneider's biggest problem is that he's got one of the best goalies in the NHL ahead of him in Vancouver. It's a great problem to have if you're the Canucks but it's got to suck for the almost 23-year-old who knows he'll never get to play as long as Roberto Luongo is around. It might not be the best thing for the Canucks to trade him but for Schneider and his NHL career... clearly it would.

3. Alex Picard - 8th overall, 2004

2004 was one of the first drafts where I was able to really view a lot of the players in person during the season leading up to that June and Picard was a guy I liked from the first time I saw him. It was at Canada's summer WJC camp in Calgary and the first thing that stood out was his hunched over skating stride that was an exact replica of Ryan Smyth. Picard looked pretty much like a can't miss kid and I wasn't surprised at all when the Blue Jackets took him inside the top 10. Since then it's been crazy for the former Lewiston Maineiac. Really average numbers on the farm in Syracuse and only 2 points in 58 NHL games, it's not hard to imagine Columbus being willing to toss him into any sort of package at the deadline.

2. Kenndal McArdle - 20th overall, 2005

Like I said on Monday, this is a guy that it's very hard not to cheer for. I actually think he'd be an interesting fit here in Edmonton where there are obviously holes on the left wing. McArdle has speed, size, toughness and at the junior level he could carry his own weight offensively. He's also best friends with Gilbert Brule so there is some instant chemistry there too. As a pro he's really struggled with injuries; a broken jaw and ankle last year kept him to just 36 games. He appears to have been passed by others in Rochester so the Panthers might find him to be expendable now.

1. Rob Schremp - 25th overall, 2004

No doubt about it, the most hotly debated prospect in Edmonton over the last five years is losing ground to others in the system. The Oilers have a number of players his size that aren't hampered by the lack of the one trait the organization covets -speed. He's produced well in the AHL, enough that another NHL team might be willing to give him a chance that the Oilers don't seem to be either willing or able to do. Moving him to another organization might be healthy for Oilers coach Craig MacTavish too who earlier this season revealed that he was obviously fed up with the questions and the attention that Schremp generates.