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Mock Draft Round Two Finale: 56-61 |
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The end of the second round...I got nothing clever let’s end this farce.
Previously
31. Ludvig Byström
32. Colton Sissons
33. Michael Matheson
34. Dalton Thrower
35. Phil Di Giuseppe
36. Damon Severson
37. Anton Slepyshev
38. Oscar Dansk
39. Tanner Pearson
40. Adam Pelech
41. Martin Frk
42. Scott Laughton
43. Tim Bozon
44. Jordan Schmaltz
45. Fredrick Andersen
46. Zach Stepan
47. Scott Kosmachuk
48. Pat Sieloff
49. Calle Andersson
50. Lukas Sutter
51. Cristoval Nieves (Who the hell named him “Boo?”)
52. Nikolai Prokhorkin
53. Nick Ebert
54. Michael (I’m actually born in January) Winther
55. Brandon Whitney
56. St. Louis Blues select Center Brady Vail Windsor Spitfires (OHL) 94/03/11 (18 years old) – 68GP – 22G – 30A – 52P
Vail might be the perfect cliché of the forwards you can expect to be picked in the second and third rounds. Hardworking two-way guy with a great attitude. Vail was a coaches dream for Bob Boughner of the Spit’s and was thrust into the duty of playing against top lines and playing in every situation. He is a masterful penalty killer, with great instincts on stick position and effectively stopping plays from the point. He is a non-stop forechecking player who can grind it out with the best. At 6’0 200lbs he is built very well and already is close to an NHL frame. His upside is limited and it is likely he will become a Manny Malhotra kind of playe, a guy who is a wizard on the PK and can give you 12 solid 5vs5 minutes a night. The Blues are stacked on talent in my opinion and could use some more heart and soul guys in the system.
57. Vancouver Canucks select Defenseman Jake McCabe University of Wisconsin (WCHA of the NCAA) 93/10/12 (18 years old) – 26GP – 3G – 9A -12P
With an older birthday, McCabe found himself in the NCAA against older competition before he probably should have. All in all however he turned a negative into a positive by having a great freshman year. Riding shotgun to Justin Schultz, McCabe proved to be his defensive watchdog and showed excellent prowess at covering any mistakes on the ice. He’s such a solid complimentary defender that he has few weaknesses. He is an extremely mobile skater and can close easily with some very fast forwards. He stick checks like a master. The big area for concern is that he lacks physicality. It may just be due to facing guys who are 22-24 on a regular basis, but he was outmanned a lot and needs to work that issue or he’ll find himself labeled as a “soft” player. All in all he could prove to be a solid top-4 complimentary player that can protect a puck moving dman from himself.
58. Phoenix Coyotes select Left Winger Andreas Athanasiou London Knights (OHL) 94/08/06 (17 years old) – 63GP – 22G – 15A – 37P
At 6’1 175lbs the skinny winger is in need of some serious protein shakes. Athanasiou is a dynamic skater and is easily one of the fastest if not the fastest player in the draft. He is grease lightning out there. Before this season began he was viewed as a dark horse to enter the top-10 with his late birthday and world class hands. It just never happened. Despite all the speed and elite dangles in the world, he could never translate that into production. He’s a long term project with serious upside however. His play without the puck is very poor and he tends to show a disregard for working hard on the boards. The Coyotes need skill in the system and at 58 Athanasiou offers the size, speed and hands that few have at this point in the draft. His inconsistencies need to be worked out or we could have a magical clone of Cogliano spliced with Shremp.
59. New York Rangers select Goaltender Jon Gillies Indiana Ice (USHL) 94/01/22 (18 years old) – 53GP – 2.77GAA - .915sv%
Probably the second best goalie coming out of the USHL in the past five years, Gillies played an unusually high number of games for a goalie in that league. Most will usually find themselves at 22-30 games because the USHL likes to hold the kids hands and give everybody a turn. Gillies defined himself as one of the best in the league and as the “guy” for the Ice. At a scary 6’5 215lbs, Gillies is a workout freak who prides himself on his training routines. His technique is great and makes up for his slower movement. He has an extremely quick and accurate glove hand and is very hard to beat upstairs. He is set to take over as the new starter in Providence College next season and it will be interesting to see how many games he starts having proven he can handle a big load. His main weakness is that he faced some adversity in blowout’s (5-0 6-0) where he got flustered after a bad goal and it led to poor decisions. It only happened 5 times in the whole season so I think it might just be nitpicking. The Rangers could use a long term option in net and Gillies is about 4-6 years away.
60. New jersey Devils select Defenseman Cody Corbett Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) 93/12/13 (18 years old) – 54GP – 6G – 20A – 26P
With the focus on the Griffin in Edmonton, the American born Corbett has fallen under the radar for most of the year. He was arguably the best defenseman on the team for a long stretch from January to March which is pretty impressive with some of the big name on the Oil Kings, but dealt with inconsistency and seemed fatigued with so many minutes and games. Corbett is a boom/bust kind of guy whose first adjustment to the CHL game was shaky like many American players. He has above-average skills in the offensive zone and can carry the puck effectively. In his own zone he is very strong and is often willing to muck it up. He brings some physicality and a two-way game. All he needs to do is get into better shape. New Jersey would be a good fit and have a tendency to get more from their defenders.
61. Dallas Stars select Left Winger Charles Hudon Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) 94/06/23 (17 years old) – 59GP – 25G – 41A – 66P
Hudon is diminutive in size only; the kid is a warrior who plays his guts out every game. He saw his draft stock fall because of his height (5’10?) and the fact that the Q is less trusted than the other CHL leagues. On a piss poor scoring Chicoutimi squad, Hudon found himself as the catalyst on offense surrounded by a large group of overagers (a la Q tradition). He is highly creative and has excellent skills both with and away from the puck. He is always in the middle of things and will fight for his ice. His main issue is his foot speed which is very average, some even questioning his ability to generate any kind of speed. At 5’10 the usual expectation is that he would be quick, but he isn’t, he uses his head and skills to compensate. The Stars need some more scoring potential and as David Desharnais showed last year, you don’t need to be a 200mph midget to play in the NHL if you have the hockey IQ to back it up.
Thanks for reading. Round Three will come out more quickly and with less detail since nobody gives a fig.
Follow me on some weird bird thing @AdamFrenchReal
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