1 | | - | | Do the right thing New Jersey, don't let my boy Nico become a Flyer. I'm begging you, New Jersey. |
2 | | - | | HOT TAKE: Philly will draft either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier at #2 OA. |
3 | | - | | Gabe Vilardi, the most "eh, sure" top 3 draft choice in NHL history. |
4 | | - | | Colorado, who somehow managed to take another L a month after their season ended, needs some defense prospects. Heisky is probably the consensus top D-man in the draft at the moment. |
5 | | - | | Vancouver needs another solid center prospect to eventually complement Horvat down the middle, and they will likely have plenty of options at #5. I think they go with the center whose got the mix of size and skill.
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6 | | - | | The legendary franchise selects a center to begin building with, on a hope and a prayer that his rampaging of high school kids in Minnesota translates to a higher level of play. |
7 | | - | | Arizona is straight FLUSH with forward prospects, time to fill up the defense pipeline a bit. |
8 | | - | | Buffalo's defense is so bad you can smell it outside of the arena. Liljegren, although not thought as highly of in recent months, can (hopefully) be a good addition to a D-corps that desperately needs an overhaul. |
9 | | - | | Bit of a tough call here, as Detroit is probably more in need of defensemen and centers, but if Tippett is still available at #9, I think you have to take the best player available. |
10 | | - | | Florida doesn't have any glaring holes to fill in the prospect pool, so I think they take the best player available here. |
11 | | - | | LA may trade this pick, but I don't want to take the time to consider all that shizzle. Best player available. |
12 | | - | | Carolina, the anti-Coyotes, are straight FLUSH with young defensemen, so I think they go for a center with this pick. Only one more Elias to go until we can have a full Elias line in Carolina. |
13 | | - | | Winnipeg's prospect pool is friggin loaded. Best player available at this point. |
14 | | - | | Tampa Bay's pipeline is full of promising non-1st round talents that have proven themselves worthy of higher recognition. They'll look to add to their talented prospect pool with another skilled winger with size. |
15 | | - | | In preparation of Tavares going to the KHL after next season, The Isles replenish their center depth. Andersson would be a great pick at #15. |
16 | | - | | Nashville is going to be a good team for a very long time. Their defense is nasty, and locked down on a decent budget for a few more years, and their pool of talented young forwards just keeps going and going. Best player available. Also, RIP Fiala. |
17 | | - | | Calgary adds to a relatively small, but promising group of promising defense prospects at #17 |
18 | | - | | Furious that Calgary took Valimaki right before them and with Shanahan unable to hold him back, Lou Lamoriello burns the United Center to the ground, ending in >7,000 separate charges being filed against Skeletor -- I mean, Lou. This sends the league into a frenzy and the next three seasons are cancelled. A special draft is held to finish what should have been a great day for the teams, players, and their families, and Brendan Shanahan, holding back tears, announces that the Toronto Maple Leafs select Callan Foote with their 18th overall pick. |
19 | | - | | Boston needs some center depth in their pipeline, and Poehling has the potential to be a great fit on a growing Bruins squad. |
20 | | - | | St. Louis needs some defensive prospects. |
21 | | - | | Ottawa could use a solid sized winger to add to complement their impressive pool of centers in White, Brown, and Chlapik. Vesalainen fits that mold well. |
22 | | - | | Similar to Boston's boat, San Jose needs to shore up it's center depth, especially with the possible impending departure of Jumbo. Kailer is maybe a bit (okay, a lot) smaller than Joe, but he's got the skill and hockey sense to become Johnny Gaudreau 2.0 (rhyming is the shit!) |
23 | | - | | The Rangers need some young defense beyond Skjei, and there's still likely to be some decent defenders available at this point in the draft. |
24 | | - | | Popugayev is a monster, and could be an interesting complement to an already stacked group of forwards. |
25 | | - | | Doesn't this kid just seem like exactly what Montreal wants in a player? French Canadian, failing to live up to high expectations, he just seems like a perfect Hab. Still has the potential to be a great player, but his stock has dropped a ton in the last year. |
26 | | - | | The Ducks could use an infusion of talented center depth in their prospect pool, as they are pretty whittled down to Steel and Nattinen. |
27 | | | | If Lind is still available at this point in the draft, I think Arizona jumps on it, even if their needs are more situated in defense. |
28 | | - | | Columbus is loaded with prospects at almost every position. Chance they take a goalie here in Oettinger or Luukkonen, but more likely they go for best player available. |
29 | | - | | With Chicago likely to lose one of TVR or Pokka to Vegas, they would be smart to take a D-man with this pick. |
30 | | - | | The Pens need some defense in their prospect pool, Pouliot sucks. |
31 | | | | Tough to pinpoint exactly which fringe 1st round forward St. Louis might target here, but Robertson, who has seriously improved from his rookie season in the OHL, seems like a good fit for the Blues. |