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Mock Draft I, Picks 1 - 10 |
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Welcome to the Hotstove!
Mark Spizziri, Adam French, Ian Esplen, Richard Cloutier and myself went ahead and did a first-round mock draft a few days ago. Below are the results. There's a good chance we'll either extend it out of the first-round for future posts, or perhaps dive into the second and third-rounds as June 30 inches closer.
Below are picks 1 - 10:
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1.) COLORADO AVALANCHE -- C Nathan MacKinnon, Halifax [French]
Being given the dubious honour of the first overall put me in a bit of a bind. I decided to go with MacKinnon for the simple fact that the kid is 11 months younger (1 week from being in the 2014 draft) than Jones his closest rival, showed progression through his season culminating in his unforgettable Memorial Cup MVP campaign. Another reason is that he plays like an NHL player; he does it all over the ice and is one of the fiercest competitors. He doesn’t have the razzle dazzle that Jonathan Drouin has, but Jonathan Toews doesn’t have the dazzle of Patrick Kane, and how many people would take Kane over Toews? That’s why I like MacKinnon in a nutshell.
2.) FLORIDA PANTHERS -- D Seth Jones, Portland [Yost]
Pretty easy pick for me in the second-spot, with wunderkind Nathan MacKinnon the only body off of the board. Florida has one of the deepest prospect systems in the league, and the addition of Jones on the back-end is only going to help matters. The 6'4, 205 lb. Jones is an excellent skater for his frame, and I liken him a bit to Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues -- he can skate, he can move the puck, and he can play off of the puck, comfortably in the defensive zone. The thing about Jones is no particular aspect of his game blows you away: it's the well-rounded player he is at the tender age of eighteen that makes him a blue-chip National Hockey League prospect.
3.) TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING -- W Jonathan Drouin, Halifax [Spizziri]
With Martin St. Louis turning 38 a couple weeks prior to the draft, it makes complete sense for GM Steve Yzerman to go with the ultra-talented Drouin to play the role of "heir apparent" to St. Louis as the pint-sized offensive dynamo of the Lightning. Armed with “off the charts” hockey intelligence, many scouts would argue that the reigning CHL player of the year is the most offensively gifted prospect in the draft. No-brainer for Tampa with McKinnon and Jones off the board.
4.) NASHVILLE PREDATORS -- C/W Hunter Shinkaruk, Medicine Hat [Esplen]
Well I guess I have a little bit of explaining to do on this pick. The truth is I don’t “expect” to see Shinkaruk be drafted with the number four pick, but I do expect to see him be one of the top three players when the dust settle in this year’s class and that is why I took him here. Ideally I move down to the six or seven spot and take him there, but in this draft I’ll take the best player off my list with every pick.
I’ve had Shinkaruk rated no lower than seven this season because of his play and skill set. After getting to talk with him for a story I wrote, I can honestly say this kid has as much desire as any player out there. I like desire and I find when you mix desire and work ethic with the off the chart skating and skill, I think you have a special player.
And that is why I took him where I did.
Comparable- Claude Giroux
5.) CAROLINA HURRICANES -- W Valeri Nichushkin, Chelyabinsk [Cloutier]
What can I say? I believed the hype.
I had a hard time choosing between Aleksander Barkov, who was still available, and Nichushkin. The deciding factor for me had to do with positional need on the Hurricanes. They have two amazing centers in brothers Eric and Jordan Staal. What the team lacks is defense and wingers with size...Outside of Seth Jones, there are no slam-dunk defensemen, so drafting the winger was the better option.
Certain commentators were comparing Nichushkin to Eric Lindros at the NHL Combine a few weeks ago. That's good enough for me.
6.) CALGARY FLAMES -- C Alexander Barkov, Tappara [French]
People that have read my draft stuff know I love Barkov to no end. He’s such a complete and calm player despite his age (one day younger than MacKinnon). He’s 55% on face-offs against men and was 66% in the WJC’s, he can shutdown players just as easily as score on them, elite passing and net presence are what really impress me. If he fell to 6…well, that’s a major coup.
7.) EDMONTON OILERS -- D Darnell Nurse, Sault Ste. Marie [Yost]
Two elite European wingers fall before Nurse -- matters not, as Nurse is the best fit for this Edmonton team going forward. I've always kind of operated under the best-player-available umbrella, but Edmonton's a special case: a team loaded with offensive talent, but with questions abound on the back-end. With Nurse arguably being the best player available and the best fit, the choice is easy for Craig MacTavish. Nurse is an absolute machine in the defensive zone, arguably better at protecting the crease and limiting the opposition than the second-overall pick, Seth Jones. His offensive game is still lagging a bit behind, but Nurse did manage to score forty-one points [12G/29A] in sixty-eight games with Sault Ste. Marie this season. The scary thing about Nurse is that his body, already an impressive one, still has room to fill-out. His weight's probably a bit on the lower-end for guys clocking in at 6'4", and if he can pack some muscle onto his frame, he can grow into one hell of a shutdown guy for the Oilers.
8.) BUFFALO SABRES -- C Elias Lindholm, Brynas [Spizziri]
Despite the Buffalo Sabres having talented young pivots currently in Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson, along with last year's first round pick in Mikhail Grigorenko, the two-way talents of Lindholm will be too difficult for the Sabres to pass up after Darnell Nurse falls off the board thanks to Mr. Yost at #7. Playing in the Swedish Elite League mostly on the wing as a teenager, the natural centreman Lindholm impressed enough at both ends of the rink this season for the media in Sweden to begin comparing him to the great Peter Forsberg. Lofty comparisons indeed.
9.) NEW JERSEY DEVILS -- C Sean Monahan, Ottawa [Esplen]
I was a little shocked Monahan was around at nine, but when he was there, I didn’t think twice about taking him. I love the size and skill he has and I really feel that he will be a first-line centre down the road. Some were scared off by his 10-game suspension, but personally I liked seeing that side of him because I felt before that he needed to play more physical to reach his potential. While like most 18-year-old he needs to work on his strength, I think that will come around.
Comparable- Mikko Koivu
10.) DALLAS STARS -- D Rasmus Ristolainen, TPS [Cloutier]
Many scouts involved in the draft consider Ristolainen the second-best defenseman available. He's a "total package", possessing size, speed, puck-moving ability and pedigree. For being a puck-moving defenseman, he delievers a physical edge and a bit of a mean streak. He could end up being one of the steals of the 2013 draft.
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Picks 11 - 20 and 21 - 30 will be up shortly ..
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Thanks for reading!
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