Quoting: aadoyle
From what I have been hearing and from recent reports there are 3 Favs rn for the 25 OA pick
1. Belluz
2. Beck
3. Pickering
Pickering probably happens if Sandin gets traded for a young C or something
If Sandin stays then Beck or Belluz probs happen
Imo that’s too early for Beck and probably too late for Pickering. You’re probably looking at LDBB, maybe Kulich or Ostlund. Or for a D, someone like Rinzel.
Quoting: Db1899
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mateychuk falls to the leafs
I wouldn’t either tbh. He’s an undersized left shot D. I think a lot of teams will talk themselves into taking guys like Bichsel and Pickering first (who I think are more defensive, while Mateychuk is a great 2-way guy) despite them not being as good. I think taking Korchinski first is justified, and maybe Mintyukov if a team isn’t worried about the Russia factor and wants a more dynamic defenseman, so Mateychuk could pretty easily slip to being the 5th LD off the board.
Quoting: MatthewsFan
Not sure how much of a limb I’m going on but I will be shocked if a Russian is selected in the 1st round. Yes, I’m including Yurov.
I’m inclined to agree. This Fedotov case will likely scare a lot of teams off from selecting guys that live in Russia. If Mintyukov is currently in NA, he may be the exception, but any Russian currently in Russia is too risky to take in the 1st imo. Yurov or Miroshnichenko are hard to gauge because they’re both easily top 10 guys on talent, but like, does that matter if he can’t leave the country to play for you? I’m sure every NHL team is either doing a ton of due diligence on exactly what is happening to Fedotov right now, or simply deciding to not select Russians.