Top62_BAP

Stutzle #3 over Drysdale. And Raymond should be with Perfetti and above Askarov and Sanderson

Drysdale isn't top 5, let alone top 3.

Central Scouting ranks Drysdale as their #3 skater in North American rankings (hey they'e not always right - I was considering their order in my draft. It was my opinion following that ranking, that the Sens on getting #2 and #3 picks in the lottery would go Byfield and hedge with Drysdale on Defense. They could then swing for the fences with Hendrix Lapierre at pick #18. If they truly went Best Available player then picking Byfield, then Stutzle and picking up Lapierre really overloads them with a forward top heavy draft. That is another strategy.

As to Sanderson - he is picked #4 now in the NHL Central Scouting rankings and with Botterill's tendencies to pick USA players, my comments justified why I slotted him there.
Raymond could very well be picked by Chicago ahead of Askarov who would fall to New Jersey - Just seemed to me that the hawks have goalie needs (all of theirs are in free agency), and should pick up Askarov. New Jersey already has Cory Schnieder locked up for 2 more years. I realize that Askarov is not an immediate NHL starter. Of all the supposed top 10, there are usually some surprises. NHL central scouting now ranks Raymond as their #4 Euro skater behind even #3 Lundell so that was again a source for my support to lower Raymond.

NHL Central Scouting seems to disagree with you ranking Drysdale as their #3 NA skater. I'm not hung up on Drysdale either but see my reply to csick above as to a line of reasoning. One would think someone in the top 10 will elect to choose defence

There are some good D prospects throughout the draft, but I don't think it's a particularly strong crop at the top of the draft. Drysdale is the best Dman, but he's not a top five talent. It's been so long since we had a draft with no D in the top 5, that I think the Best D has become a top 5 pick by default.

Maybe the Sens take Drysdale at 4 but I could not pass on Stutzle. We need a winger with speed that can run the half-wall on the powerplay. Brannstrom can run PP2.

Very good mock, I agree with most based on positional need. I like the Hawks picking Askarov with their G situation, I think it's the best fit.

Thanks for the feedback- If the Sens did go forward heavy with Byfield Stuztle or others, then I could see them at pick 18 selecting a dman like Poirier or Schneider and skipping Lapierre. If I had only one number 1 pick I don’t think I would put all the concussion eggs in one basket by taking a risk on Lapierre - thus I think it’s Sens, Rangers, New Jersey Minny, or the Ducks that take the risk on Lapierre who ev1 says is unlikely to fall to the 2nd round

He may not be top 3 but I have heard quite a few people that say he is easily better than Byram.

I don't think Byram was a top 5 player in his draft either.

You're right last year almost everybody here was talking about how good Byram was and a lot of them don't think Drysdale any good.