NHL is feeling the draft earlier of late

It seemed like a perfect fit in June when the Atlanta Thrashers selected Evander Kane with the fourth pick in the 2009 NHL draft, and nothing has changed since to think otherwise.

Kane’s father loved hockey, as do most residents of Vancouver. But Perry Kane also had a passion for boxing, and his son’s name is a product of that. When the Thrashers picked a tough, skilled kid whose namesake is one of Atlanta’s most famous native sons, it was only a matter of time before Kane met Evander Holyfield.

“The Thrashers set it up, and it was a great day,” Kane said. “It was really great that everybody got to meet him, including some of our staff and my teammates.”

That Kane was able to meet Holyfield at a Thrashers practice so soon is part of a growing trend in the NHL. Kane is one of six players from the 2009 draft in the NHL this season, and all six are off to productive starts.

The Washington Capitals face Kane and the surprising Thrashers (4-1-1) in Atlanta on Thursday before traveling to Long Island for their first peek Saturday night at the John Tavares Show. Tavares was the top pick in June and is averaging more than a point a game for the Islanders.

There always have been kids who went straight from the draft to the NHL but never in this volume. Twelve members of the 2008 draft played in the NHL last season, and seven played in more than half their team’s games.

“A lot of them are ready, whereas a lot of them weren’t ready in years past,” Caps general manager George McPhee said. “They know more about nutrition and training. They train hard now, so they’re physically stronger. You can watch every NHL game, so they know about the league and about the players.”

Kane is a prime example. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, he is a physical specimen for someone who didn’t turn 18 until August. He has plenty of experience against elite competition, winning a Memorial Cup with the Vancouver Giants in 2007 and joining Tavares as the youngest players on Canada’s world junior championship team last year.

While Kane isn’t being asked to save the franchise like some other high picks of late (Tavares certainly comes to mind), his ability combined with his physical maturation has helped him not look out of place in his first six games.

“He’s one of our best skaters already. He’s got a great nose for the puck, and he’s already 190 pounds,” Atlanta general manager Don Waddell said. “The thing we have to remember is he’s only 18 years old.”

Had the lockout not wiped out the 2004-05 season, Alex Ovechkin might have joined Steve Eminger as the only players during McPhee’s tenure to go straight from the draft to the NHL. But the lockout did help facilitate a slew of rule changes that opened up the game and allowed skill to have more impact than just brawn.

“I think the new rules have made a huge difference,” Caps defenseman Brian Pothier said. “Before the lockout there was a lot of clutching and grabbing, and the skill level was watered down a bit. Now with these young kids there is no picking, no holding guys up, so they can just go. They’ve got the legs to create separation, so it makes a lot of sense.”

Eminger’s career is something of a cautionary tale about rushing prospects to the NHL. The defenseman played 17 games for the Caps the season after he was drafted, but he was probably better suited to be playing a larger role on his junior team.

Last year’s top pick, Steven Stamkos, was hailed as the next Ovechkin- or Sidney Crosby-type savior, but he struggled in the first half of the season because he wasn’t physically ready for the league. Two of the guys who spent last year with Phoenix, Mikkel Boedker and Viktor Tikhonov, have spent time in the American Hockey League this season.

“Maybe he hasn’t developed the way we all hoped he would because he played early,” McPhee said of Eminger, who’s now with Anaheim. “Some teams make the mistake of keeping kids that aren’t ready, but for the most part these days, these kids are ready.”

Notes - The Caps assigned Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on a conditioning stint Wednesday. Nylander still counts toward the team’s 23-man roster and the salary cap. …

Alexander Semin did not practice for the second time in three days, and coach Bruce Boudreau said he is “touch and go” with an illness. Boyd Gordon also missed practice and won’t play against the Thrashers.