30. New Jersey Devils : Kasperi Kapanen 29. Los Angeles Kings : Brendan Lemieux 28. Tampa Bay Lightning : Julius Honka 27. Chicago Blackhawks : Conner Bleackley 26. Montreal Canadiens : Nick Schmaltz 25. Boston Bruins : Alex Tuch 24. Anaheim Ducks : Jack Dougherty 23. Colorado Avalanche : Travis Sanheim 22. Pittsburgh Penguins : Nikolay Goldobin 21. St. Louis Blues : Joshua Ho-Sang 20. San Jose Sharks : Brendan Perlini 19. Tampa Bay Lightning : Ivan Barbashev 18. Minnesota Wild : Roland McKeown 17. Philadelphia Flyers : Sonny Milano 16. Columbus Blue Jackets : Jakub Vrà¡na 15. Detroit Red Wings : Adrian Kempe 14. Dallas Stars : Robby Fabbri 13. Washington Capitals : Dylan Larkin 12. Arizona Coyotes : Jake Virtanen 11. The Nashville Predators : William Nylander
10. The Anaheim Ducks select Centre Jared McCann of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the OHL
6’1, 176lbs, 1996-05-03 : 18 years old
64 – 27g – 35a – 62p
McCann is the consensus best defensive forward in this draft. Despite Bennett winning the OHL’s Top Defensive forward, in my opinion that was more like the Selke being the award for great defensive players who can score good and do other things good too. His defensive acumen is what teams will be looking at when drafting him. In a time where the defensive centre is so glorified and centre depth so very key to any team not named the Blackhawks in contending for the Stanley Cup, a guy like McCann can really sneak up in a draft as permeable as this one.
Offensive production is still a question mark with McCann. He shows flashes and he is a very smart player, but we haven’t seen the results from his play that one would expect. When he was selected in the OHL Bantam Draft there certainly were more expectations in the offensive zone to go with the usual praise about his mature game. He has a strong shot, good passing ability and overall makes some offensive moves that make you wonder…where is the production? Well, like J.T. Miller (at the junior level), he is a player who seems to do a lot of things in the offensive zone that won’t go on the score sheet, but will make a coach send him out again on the next shift. That is one interesting thing about him and why despite the safety of picking him in the first round, there is a bit of risk wayed in over whether he can elevate his scoring to a level required in the NHL to be more than a bit player. The first round is littered with NHL players who have shown they can do just enough to be NHL players, but are essentially busts for where they were selected (Malhotra, Steckel, Lewis, Torres etc.), some were safe picks, some were hopes. McCann brings safety and gives hope that he might one day become a fantastic third line defensive centre.
Overall he brings defensive awareness, penalty killing ability, face-off ability and a general work ethic that should improve as he gains more size and strength. Anaheim has a plethora of prospects, their need is rather unspecific. The one thing I see them looking for in this draft is centre depth. Rakell has the makings of a centre, so much so they dealt Holland. Yet Rakell is their only centre prospect of note and his ceiling is hard to determine, it’s still hard to say if he could be a solid number two behind Getzlaf. Outside of Rakell they have…Leblanc? Karlsson is often a winger, just for those who will say him.
McCann gives them versatility in their depth pool and something that they will need long term as they try to compete for a Stanley Cup. It’s a safe pick, one most people bedazzled by the potential of others would/will hate, but it’s a savvy move for a team that can afford to pick the guy that fits them best earlier than perhaps expected.
Comparison : Brandon Sutter
Thanks for reading.