1 | | - | | Montreal won't want to get booed by their hometown fans if they take anyone else but Wright, even if he may not be at the top of their draft board. Think the hometown factor guarantees Wright number 1. |
2 | | - | | Experts suggest that NJ will take Slaf here due to their obvious depth at Center. I think Cooley is still a possibility though, since he is capable of playing winger. Devils take the size and skill of Slafkovsky though. |
3 | | - | | Arizona takes best player available to help restock (or start stocking?) the prospect pool. Can't wait to see Cooley scoring Michigans in front of 3200 fans. |
4 | | - | | Experts suggesting that he fits Seattle much better than Jiricek. They will almost definitely take a dman here. |
5 | | - | | Apparently there is some chatter that Philly may go in an unexpected direction here. The Flyers take Gauthier as they are enamored by the size/skill combo that he can bring. They also view him as a Center apparently as many teams have been. Pretty much down to Jiricek or Gauthier here. |
6 | | | | Columbus will likely be after a finisher, but based off their past, it has been suggested that they may really like Jiricek. I think it comes down to Kemell or Jiricek here with Jiricek winning out. With the recent pick of Kent Johnson though, I wouldn't be surprised to see Savoie or Lekkerimaki here either, depending on what happens in front of them. The Johnson pick seemed to me and some of the experts that I have read as another indication that we have no real indication how Jarmo views forward prospects. I mean heck, they took Chinakhov. Who knows lmao |
7 | | - | | Is there a big 6'2+ player out of the USNDP available? No? Well, Idk then. JK. Sorry Sens fans. Anyways, apparently theyre most interested in Savoie and Kemell here. There's no doubt they need more gamebreaking skill to surround their team of grinders and lunch pail guys. I could definitely see Gauthier here if he is still availble. Also, apparently the Ottawa scouts have been at multiple Winnipeg ICE games. What if they weren't looking at Savoie? Anyways, I think they go Kemell here. |
8 | | - | | I think this comes down to Kasper vs Savoie. We all know the tendency with SHL players and the Red Wings, and we also know that Stevie Y will reach if he really likes a player. Honestly, I am torn with what the Wings decide to do, considering the word is that the scouts definitely feel this is a bit early for Kasper. For the sake of this mock I'll say they do it. Also, apparently scouts weren't thrilled with the end to the season for Savoie and then his injury. Someone has gotta reach right? |
9 | | - | | With Dahlin, Power and to a lesser extent Johnson already in the system, I see them taking a forward here. They also have many talented wingers in the system, so I think they take Savoie here as they believe he has a chance to play Center at the next level. Reuniting him with former ICE captain Peyton Krebs. |
10 | | - | | We all know there has to be 3 defencemen in the top 10 right? There always is. So if the Ducks don't go D here, someone before them will surprise and take one. I could see them taking Korchinski or Mintyukov here to compliment their small super skilled Zellweger and Drysdale. They also traded Lindholm so taking a bigger (than what they have) D would make a lot of sense here. It's tough for me to see another team pass on Lekkerimaki though, but someone is going to drop, right? |
11 | | - | | Their prospect pool is relatively bare on defence, and the experts speculate that this will lead to them taking a defenceman. Lekkerimaki would look good in their system too though, alongside Eklund and co. Mateychuk, WHL-finalist Korchinski, and Mintyukov are all options. I also just wonder if some teams devalue Mintyukov due to the Russian factor (even though he's already in NA with the brutal Spirit.) For the sake of this mock I'll say they go back to the WHL with Mateychuk. |
12 | | - | | I think if they go forward with their first pick, they'll go D here and take one of the aforementioned group. I have them mocked with Jiricek, so I think they'll go Forward here. Geekie and Yurov are both reportedly options here. Multiple firsts make this pick easier to jump off the board a bit and take another Russian. However, I'm not sure again about Russians in this draft. Lekkerimaki would check all the boxes here for them however. A nice sniper to match with Johnson. the drop ends here. |
13 | | - | | Geekie is an option here. I think he'll actually go higher than this, considering GMs will literally trip over themselves to take size. They could also use a D prospect here as well considering the cupboards are bare. Who knows what Lou will do. I'm putting Geekie here, but I'm not confident about it. I think Geekie will be gone by now anyways so I'm confident in that. |
14 | | - | | If you look at the past drafts for the Jets, they haven't taken a defenceman high up in a while. I could see them doing that, but they have some real interesting prospects in Heinola, Samberg, Chisholm, Gawanke, Flint's Kuzmin, etc. I think the smart call (as a Jets fan theres obviously bias that will be here), would be to wait until pick 30 to grab a second/third tier dman that may be right handed (they have a very thin RHD prospect pool). I'd like to see more finishing talent added to the system. The Jets have also shown they are willing to take the BPA if someone falls to them (think Connor, Perfetti and even Lucius to a lesser extent). They also like their Americans so they could definitely go USNTDP here. I could however see them reach for a bigger D here and then wait to take their skill guy at 30. Options look like Nazar, Howard, Chesley for USNTDP guys, Mintyukov as a dman slated around here (LHD), and Bichsel, Pickering as later defenceman who are probably going to go much earlier than the public expects due to size. I think it ends up coming down to Mintyukov or a US guy. I think in the end they probably take Mintyukov. I'd LOVE Nazar here, but apparently teams aren't as high on him as the general public is. |
15 | | - | | I like the fit of Ohgren here. It's a new management team so we don't quite know fully yet how they intend to run their drafts. That will be interesting to see. Vancouver is kind of in a position where they can just add the top player on their list as opposed to going for a positional fit. I could see Ohgren reasonably being that guy. I wonder also if someone like Kulich would be high up due to his excellent U18 point production (mostly on the PP). Jim usually doesn't have 1st rounders so who knows what he does. |
16 | | | | I think this is where teams may start considering Lambert and Yurov as big swings. Kulich is also a consideration. With multiple picks, I think the Sabres swing for the fences instead of trying to take a "safer" pick (meaning they should/will target high upside). I think Lambert goes here. The Sabres may also look to try to bring him over ASAP but that's only my opinion. |
17 | | - | | Supposedly, the Predators will probably try to look to target a Dman after a string of years taking forwards early. Speculation suggests Lian Bichsel will be a much higher pick than initially thought. Nashville takes him here. |
18 | | - | | The Stars have had an annoyingly good last two drafts, taking Mavrik Bourque, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven. Experts speculate that they will go with a defenceman because of this, so Pickering or Chesley make sense. However, just because it would be so annoying, they get another unbelievable talent in Frank Nazar and something really starts to build. It's getting later in the draft, so my personal touches are going to be on some of these picks now. I just can't imagine a team continues to let him drop. |
19 | | - | | LA has a well documented deep system. I think they can go one of two ways here: take BPA or take a swing on someone like a Miroshnichenko if they are confident about his health, or a Yurov. Yes, the Russian factor could also be at play here to make the pick even riskier. I say they go option 2 and go riskier. Yurov. |
20 | | - | | Experts suggest the Capitals may take a defenceman here if they are high enough up on their list due to their recent forward picks. If Pickering or Chesley are high enough on their list I could see it. Kulich and Yurov are also possible. I'm saying that Pickering is the guy. He's like their prospect Vincent Iorio but significantly better. |
21 | | - | | The Penguins have the worst prospect pool in the NHL. Experts suggest that they need to hit in order to start the next phase of Penguins hockey. Two names that I've seen mentioned are McGroarty and Gaucher. However, I wonder if they feel a guy like Kulich is too good to pass up. However, I believe that the Burke/Hextall duo will value the "safe" pick and take McGroarty. Hard to imagine Kulich continuing to "fall" considering his U18 performance but for the purposes of this mock, he is. |
22 | | | | With Zegras and McTavish down the middle, and now Zellweger, Korchinski and Drysdale on D, the Ducks have something cooking. I think they're in a position where they take the best available forward. I could see them believing it is Kulich. Taking another American here is very possible too (like Howard or Snuggerud). I got them with Kulich because I still believe some team will overrate his largely PP driven point production from the U18. Don't get me wrong though, Kulich is still a very good player with intriguing tools. It's not a bad pick at all. |
23 | | - | | I see the Blues going Defence here. The cupboards are pretty bare on D and they could use a bluechip guy here. If Pickering or Bichsel is here, I think they snap them up easily, based on their perceived success with bigger Dmen recently. Here though, theres nobody too too big left on the board, but the best available in most teams eyes is Ryan Chesley. Supposedly NHL scouts just love his game. He's a bit more of a "safer" pick, but I think a good bet to be an NHL player. I think he's a safe bet to go somewhere around here. |
24 | | - | | I've seen experts suggest Yurov here if he is available. Minnesota has an excellent crop of Centers , D and G. I've seen experts suggest Howard here. That seems like it fits, considering they took another pretty good NTDP winger a few years ago (Boldy). Also, with how strong their system is, experts wonder if Miroshnichenko could be a guy here. IMO you'd have to be REALLY confident to take Miroshnichenko here, given the Russian factor and obviously the concerns around his health. However, there was no doubt about the talent. He and Yurov are both borderline top 10 talents that have dropped for similar and also different reasons (health and russian factor, both didnt play much for different reasons). |
25 | | - | | We all know the Leafs are going to draft the most skilled player possible if they make a selection here. Experts look at Ostlund and Firkus as two names to watch, in addition to Howard if available. I'm going Ostlund here as Ostlund is ranked higher by consensus than Firkus. Another name I'd like to throw out is Lane Hutson. Don't discount Dubas taking the slight defenceman here. The raw data suggests this could be a home run pick if Hutson grows a little more. I'll also throw Mesar in this mix. |
26 | | | | If the new management team wants to endear themselves to the hometown fans, do they take a local French kid here? Luneau or Gaucher would work. I've also seen people suggest that Snuggerud would be an option here. I'm thinking they take Gaucher here. Think he's a pretty safe 3C of the future. |
27 | | | | Filip Mesar told a group of reporters that he thought the Lightning and Coyotes were the most interested in him. So, based on that, I will slot him into one of these picks here. Scott Wheeler hypothesizes that the Coyotes could take him here if hes their guy if the Avalanche win the Cup putting Tampa at 31 in front of their next pick. Literally for that reason only, I'm going Mesar. Also, this is his range anyways. Coyotes should do the reverse Ottawa and take as much skill as possible with all their picks. If a couple of them hit, you could have stars instead of just good nhl players...but that's only my opinion. |
28 | | | | Taking 2 forwards already, I could see the Sabres go a couple ways here. They go with another big home run swing (which I already have one in Lambert going here, so this would probably depend on if they swing big on their second pick or not), or they could take a defenceman. For the purposes of this mock, I am going to give them a defenceman, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Firkus or Miroshnichenko here if they decide to take a swing at someone with massive talent. Like I said before, this may depend on that second pick. I see them taking one of the better RHD available in order to balance out their handedness in the prospect pool (Power, Johnson and in the NHL Dahlin are all LH). Sam Rinzel is the pick here. This is a guy I've seen rumours about sneaking into Round 1, and a team with 3 first round picks can gamble on the tantalizing tools that he possesses. |
29 | | - | | Frankly, I have no idea who the Oilers would target. I have strong opinions of Ken Holland that I am not going to share here. Bourgault and Holloway seem like solid picks, though. I've seen Jack Hughes and other forwards like Firkus listed here. However, this is completely my thoughts, I think the Oilers improve their D core here. I've got Luneau as the pick. Think he's a safe bet to be an NHL player for them, so that Ken can stop acquiring past-their-prime former stanley cup winners on D. Sorry I had to. |
30 | | | | I know who I would like the Jets to take here...and I also know what kind of pick I would make here. I would take Jagger Firkus in a heartbeat. I'd take the most skilled player available. After taking yet another Left shot D at 14, however, the Jets will likely go best forward on their list. As I said before though, if they go forward with their first pick, I see them taking that third tier of defenceman here. Looking at the RD like Luneau, Casey, Rinzel, Odelius (LS). However, I don't know if I see them taking another small D this early, but they have shown their willingness. Assuming they take their highest rated forward here, Owen Beck, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Luca Del Bel Belluz scream Jets pick to me. I'm going to give the Jets Owen Beck here. |
31 | | - | | In possibly the most annoying pick of the draft, the Lightning take a small skilled forward out of Moose Jaw. Where have we seen this before? (I've also seen speculation that Miroshnichenko could be the pick here) |
32 | | | | In terms of this draft, I think this pick would come down to Snuggerud (Cooley's linemate at the NTDP) or Miroshnichenko (gamble on the top 10 talent). For the purpose of this mock, I'm going to give them Snuggerud. I think it's very possible that Miroshnichenko slips to Round 2 due to the Russian factor and his health. |