1 | | - | | A no-brainer pick. Can make an immediate impact next season for the Rangers, who are already gifted offensively. |
2 | | - | | The Kings have plenty of centers in their system (Kopitar, Turcotte, Vilardi, and Kupari). Even though Stutzle mostly plays center, he can play on the wing. Also, the Kings have gained more interest in Stutzle and he has more capability to play in the NHL right away than Byfield. |
3 | | | | The obvious pick here. In my opinion, picks 1 and 3 are the easiest picks in the draft. If the Kings draft Byfield, the Senators will take Stutzle. But in this case, Byfield will be taken here. Ottawa could also go with Marco Rossi because he plays in Ottawa. |
4 | | - | | For the past few weeks, Yzerman has fallen in love with Perfetti’s game. At most, Perfetti is second-line center. Very unlikely he will fit into the top line right away. The playmaking and creativity is there, but the defense isn’t. |
5 | | - | | The Senators have a lot of offensive defenseman in their system (Chabot and Brannstrom), so it wouldn’t make sense to draft Drysdale. With Ottawa drafting Byfield earlier, they will take a defenseman. Sanderson has a more defensive game than Drysdale. |
6 | | - | | Anaheim has a big group of young forwards (Steel, Comtois, Terry, Lundestrom, and Zegras) so drafting a defenseman is ideal. Plus, after Drysdale and Sanderson, there isn’t much great defenseman available. The Ducks get the No. 1 defenseman in the draft in Drysdale. |
7 | | - | | This may be a shock to some people, but this is something that the Devils need. The rest of their team is more solid than they showed, and Mackenzie Blackwood emerged as the unquestioned starter over Cory Schneider. Once Schneider retires, Askarov could step in and replace him. |
8 | | - | | The best goal-scorer in the draft would be nasty alongside Eichel. There are many rumors that the pick will be traded, but with many players falling, you can’t trade the pick. |
9 | | - | | A must-have for Minnesota. There is no center depth on that team, with Staal gone and the plan of Koivu not resigning. They could take Rossi, but they need a player who can score goals. While Rossi is known for playmaking, Lundell can score goals and also defend the puck well. |
10 | | - | | This is my first steal of the draft with Rossi being a top-five pick. This draft is super deep, honestly anyone could fall. In this case, Rossi is one of them. Rossi plays a lot like Brayden Point. Just a solid playmaker who also has the capability to make the NHL right away. |
11 | | - | | This is my first off-the-board pick, with Nashville having a deep team. This season, their whole team, minus Juuse Saros, underachieved in point production. In the future, Jarvis can provide the offense that Nashville lacks as well as the point production. |
12 | | - | | The Panthers love acquiring Russians (Dadonov and Denisenko), and they will take another one selecting Amirov. Will definitely take a few years to develop in the KHL. |
13 | | | | This is shocking that Raymond falls to 13. The logical pick for the Hurricanes would be Askarov, but he is already taken. With their deep defense, they will go with a forward. If Raymond falls, I wouldn’t see him falling any further. |
14 | | - | | A great player to play alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. One season in college, and he will be ready to play in the NHL. |
15 | | | | The Maple Leafs need a right-handed defenseman. Schneider is the best available. |
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