I didn’t post one up yesterday due to Sunday traffic being hilariously poor. So the next one will have 6 teams. That way I can wrap up the first round and get into the second before the draft starts. It’ll be tight, but I like it tight.
1. Edmonton Oilers Select Connor McDavid 2. Buffalo Sabres Select Jack Eichel 3. Arizona Coyotes Select Mitchell Marner 4. Toronto Maple Leafs Select Noah Hanifin 5. Carolina Hurricanes Select Ivan Provorov 6. New Jersey Devils Select Dylan Strome 7. Philadelphia Flyers Select Mathew Barzal 8. Columbus Blue Jackets Select Zachary Werenski 9. San Jose Sharks Select Pavel Zacha 10. Colorado Avalanche Select Jakub Zboril 11. Florida Panthers Select Mikko Rantanen 12. Dallas Stars Select Lawson Crouse 13. The Los Angeles Kings Select Kyle Connor 14. The Boston Bruins Select Timo Meier 15. The Calgary Flames Select Nick Merkley 16. The Edmonton Oilers Select Yevgeni Svechnikov 17. The Winnipeg Jets Select Joel Eriksson Ek 18. The Ottawa Senators Select Travis Konecny
19. The Detroit Red Wings Select Defenseman Gabriel Carlsson from Linköping in the SuperElit
6’4 186lbs, 18 years old
39gp 0g 7a 7p
While the Wings have some good defensive prospects in the pipeline, they could still stand to improve in that area. Especially with Kronwall nearing the end of his career. Carlsson isn’t the most dynamic defenseman available, but he might be the steadiest. Strong positional smarts, excellent reach and the ability to match forwards in one on ones make him arguably the best defensive defender in the draft. He along with Carlo, Siegenthaler and Cernak are the four main combatants for that title. What has personally sold me on him was the U18’s. There was a lot of sloppy, but exciting play from the Swedish defense this tournament. Kylington was dynamic when the puck was on his stick, but was a turnover machine. Larsson showed amazing vision and stretch pass ability. Yet the guy that consistently made an impression was Carlsson. The way he skated. The way he was able to take the puck off some highly skilled players. The way he consistently was able to take the top lines of teams to task and make the left side of the ice near impassable. He has very little offensive instincts and will be expected to fill a defensive role in the NHL. I know for a fact that the first thing management will tell him is to work on his shooting which is Mike Komisarek levels of comical. Detroit often likes their “safe… first round selections and this fits with that.
NHL Comparable : Niklas Hjalmarsson
Potential : Top-Four Shutdown Defenseman
20. The Minnesota Wild Select Left Winger Paul Bittner from the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL
6’4 203lbs, 18 years old
66gp 34g 37a 71p
It wouldn’t be a draft without expecting the Wild to select a hometown boy. The Wild need centre prospects, but the way this Mock is shaking out that’s out the window. When the draft goes down differently (as it’s bound to do) they’ll likely take the best centre left. However Bittner still seems like a good fit considering that the Wild will need fresh faces going forward with all those older top-6 forwards slowing down. Personally I feel Bittner is a tad overrated by most, but there’s no denying he’s universally seen as a first round selection, in no small part due to his size and skating. He had a strong year being the third wheel on the top line in the CHL. Playing with Bjorkstrand and Petan helped elevate his game and showed that he can be a key compliment to higher end skill. He takes the body, forechecks well and provides some space around the net. A lot of people wondered what the big differences are between Bittner and Crouse since both are of a similar frame. The differences are three-fold. Crouse is defensively sound, Bittner isn’t. Even when not scoring, Crouse is consistent in his efforts and doesn’t tend to disappear from the play. Lastly, Crouse didn’t have his All-Star forward for the majority of the year to help him. All that said, the potential is high and the risk is too. The Wild have made bigger gambles.
NHL Comparable : Drew Stafford
Potential : 2nd/3rd Line Scoring Winger
21. The Buffalo Sabres Select Goaltender Ilya Samsonov from Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk in the MHL
6’4 201lbs, 18 years old
18gp 2.66GAA .918SV%
I changed this pick several times, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The Sabres are bursting at the seams with draft picks the past three years. They’ve gotten their share of defensemen and forwards. The missing piece is between the pipes. That doesn’t mean that they need to select a goalie in the first round, but it’s given them the flexibility of the option. Samsonov has been ridding higher and higher up the draft rankings following his Best Goaltender award at the U18’s. At this point it seems that scouts feel he is the best goaltender in the draft and most say that his raw athleticism with the size he has could provide even greater return. His lateral speed seems to be the thing separating him from the second ranked goalie Blackwood. The main issue I have is that he hasn’t yet had a clear starting role. In the MHL he was a split starter despite fantastic results. At the U18’s, in typical Russian style he had to fight for the starters role. Like the player I’m comparing him to, his movement just doesn’t seem to be of a guy that size. It’s really impressive. Taking a goalie in the first round is always a risk, but Buffalo can afford to do it.
NHL Comparable : Pekka Rinne
Potential : Starting Goaltender
Thanks for reading. Sorry for the lame joke at the top.