Continuing on with this series, we have a look at S-W.
Players picked before
Anaheim Ducks : 11 William Nylander and 30 Jack Dougherty
Boston Bruins : 23 Alexis Vanier
Buffalo Sabres : 1 Sam Reinhart and (potential) 5 Leon Draisaitl
Calgary Flames : 3 Roland McKeown
Carolina Hurricanes : 8 Haydn Fleury
Chicago Blackhawks : 29 Lucas Wallmark
Colorado Avalanche : 25 Nikolaj Ehlers
Columbus Blue Jackets : 14 David Pastrňà¡k
Dallas Stars : 9 Anton Karlsson
Detroit Red Wings : 13 Nikolai Goldobin
Edmonton Oilers : 2 Aaron Ekblad
Florida Panthers : 4 Sam Bennett
Los Angeles Kings : 24 Alex Tuch
Minnesota Wild : 19 Brycen Martin
Montréal Canadiens : 26 Nick Schmaltz
Nashville Predators : 7 Jared McCann
New York Rangers : 16 Anthony DeAngelo
Philadelphia Flyers : 17 Nick Ritchie
Phoenix Coyotes : 18 Connor Bleackely
Pittsburgh Penguins : 28 Jakub Vrà¡na
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks just need prospects, though with the way they are playing I could easily see them dealing their first, they have a nasty team. That said, if they were to use the pick, I think they should acquire the best guy they could get, instead of going for need…say a defenseman, as there are still a lot of intriguing forwards this late in the draft as opposed to high upside dmen.
26th Overall Pick : Centre/Left Wing Dylan Larkin of the USNTDP in the USHL
14 Games 11 Goals 6 Assists 17 Points
Larkin has seen his stock dramatically increase as the year goes on as he continues to make teams salivate over his power forward scoring game. He’s the kind of guy that will fight to the net no matter what, and despite being only 6’0 198lbs, he goes with authority and speed. He’s shown a high level of offensive ability and awareness mixed with a north/south kind of game that screams NHL future. I know the Sharks aren’t desperate for more offensive help, but they could be in 4-5 years.
St. Louis Blues
Now this pick will almost certainly be traded as the Blues will probably land Ryan Miller with it and Jaskin or something giving them the elite goaltending needed to win it all…or have it fail. You never know. That said, they still have it and I guess depth, depth, depth is the name of the game.
27th Overall Pick : Right Wing Joshua Ho-Sang of the Windsor Spitfires in the OHL
45 Games 20 Goals 35 Assists 55 Points
Ho-Sang might not seem like the kind of pick for the rugged Blues, but that might be deceiving, they have a lot of skilled guys that aren’t bruisers right now (Tarasenko, Schwartz, Steen and Roy). Ho-Sang is a dangler, which are always the hardest players to predict in the NHL (See Schremp). He has explosive and elite speed with elite hands, a nasty combination, and his work in the offensive zone is brilliant. That said, he has his faults, at 5’11 he’s on the small side, and not just due to size but play style. He also relies on himself a little too often choosing to carry the puck and dangle through rather than making the easy play. He’s a bit boom/bust, but he has a ton of talent and would be a really high reward at 27 especially with him getting more penalty killing time as the year goes on.
Tampa Bay Lightning
What do you add to the team with more prospects than anybody? More prospects! The Lightning are fairly deep everywhere though defense is an issue, yet as mentioned earlier, this isn’t the draft for that and around 22 there aren’t good enough options to beat out the forwards available here. So why not stockpile more young offensive talent, someday you can make the gut wrenching decision to trade one or the other!
22nd Overall Pick : Centre Ivan Barbashev of the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL
34 Games 15 Goals 30 Assists 45 Points
Due to an injury which slowed him down, Barbashev has lost a bit of the luster of being easily the top QMJHL pick to Ehlers…who gets to enjoy playing with Drouin while Barbashev plays with crap…but that’s a matter for another day. Unlike the typical Russian player, Barbashev is known for his hard work…weird right, that and his excellent offensive skillset. Despite his laboring play through an injury he was the only one of the ultra-talented three CHL Russians to make the WJC squad, and he performed pretty well in a 3rd line role playing a grinder on the predominantly older squad. I really like his game and while I think he’s a better winger than centre, he has shown he can handle that bigger role. He’s a guy who thinks pass first though, so the move to centre is semi-logical. Should be a good fit on one of the only teams giving Russian talent the benefit of the doubt…stealing Kucherov like that…ought to be ashamed.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs have done a good job at restocking their defensive prospects as well as getting some younger forward talent, plus they have two very strong young goalies right now…so what do they need? Depth, so much need for scoring depth. When the best you can plunk from the Marlies are Smith, Bodie, Ashton and D’Amigo you’re in trouble. Luckily this draft has a lot of offensive forwards, and I hope Nonis doesn’t go ultra-safe like he did last draft, or how Burke went ultra-safe in 2011…they need to think outside the future 3rd line box.
15th Overall Pick : Left Wing Jake Virtanen of the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL
46 Games 30 Goals 17 Assists 47 Points
I could see Virtanen going in the top-10 if he continues to heat up so that’s something to watch after a pretty blasé start. Virtanen is perhaps the best natural goal scorer in this draft outside of Goldobin, and he brings his goals more diversely. He brings to mind James Neal a lot, in that he plays a power game and has an elite shot with a lot of options. At 6’2 he has the size and speed to be a very good scoring power forward at the next level…it’s also encouraging that while he still needs work defensively, the Hitmen use him on the PK because of his breakaway speed. If he’s there at 15, it would be an excellent pick for the Leafs.
Vancouver Canucks
Again I think it’s simple, the Canucks just need more depth at the prospect level and to get their hands on the best guys they can get…it also would help if they were forwards. They need to rebuild those 2nd and third lines and plan for their first in 4-5 years when the Sedin’s slow down or leave. They started well last draft and should look to continue that trend.
20th Overall Pick : Centre Adrian Kempe of MODO in the Elitserien
31 Games 2 Goals 5 Assists 7 Points
The most interesting prospect in the draft and the guy people argue over constantly as to who he is, why he’s fluctuated from the 2nd to top-10 potential every other month and where he will ultimately end up. I think as the year goes on he will climb, probably past 20, but right now this would be a really nice place to take the risk with him. Being born 3 days from the 2015 cut-off date, Kempe is a Swede with a serious attitude and plays a North American power forward game (6’2 187lbs) and loves to hit. For such a young guy he’s done extremely well and it’s interesting to wonder how good he’ll be when he’s bulked up and able to use his power moves more effectively against older and bigger players. He loves to shoot the puck and crash the net. I think the Canucks going forward could use a guy like him as they continue to plan the transition their group will need in the coming years.
Washington Capitals
Despite popular belief, the Caps can’t score to save their life, it’s OV, Backstrom, Grabovski, Ward? and…ya, not good. What once was the deadliest team in the league offensively is now a shadow of their former self…trading away a top prospect for a terrible fit doesn’t help either, nor does having Kuznetsov stay in the KHL in the hope of making the Olympic squad and then not getting the call. I think they go for a scorer with this pick.
12th Overall Pick : Left Wing Brendan Perlini of the Niagara IceDogs in the OHL
45 Games 28 Goals 32 Assists 60 Points
If Virtanen is the top pure goal scorer of the draft class, Perlini is a very close second. Perlini has rocketed up the charts by burying pucks in the net and playing great offensively for the IceDogs. Perlini is one of the deadliest players with the man advantage (3rd in PPG and 8th in PPA) having an elite one timer that reminisces of Stamkos. He’s also shown that he is a shorthanded threat as well. He brings a lot of offensive upside to his 6’3 frame and amazing skating ability. One might be slightly worried at his insane production on the PP with 32 of his 60 points coming that way, but it also shows that if you give him any time and space he will bury you.
Winnipeg Jets
With a core defense they probably really love the Jets still just need to get as many good players as they can, and at six they could get a really good player. The Jets scouting staff has done a pretty good job with drafting in the first round and even though they went off the table to get Scheifele, he’s still a good young player…plus getting Trouba basically wipes out any wrong.
6th Overall Pick : Left Wing Michael Dal Colle of the Oshawa Generals in the OHL
46 Games 29 Goals 38 Assists 67 Points
Now he is listed as a centre, but hasn’t played that all year as he has been riding shotgun to Scott Laughton (Flyers) with Cole Cassels (Canucks) on the other side for arguably the third best line in the OHL. He’s a big lanky player at 6’2 172lbs that has a lot of room to get bigger (like Scheifele did) and a ton of natural talent. He sits fifth in the OHL in scoring and boasts equal skills as a playmaker and scorer. He’s shown that he has the makings of a very good two-way forward that can also bring some power to his game. Obvious he needs to bulk up seriously to make the NHL, but the raw talent is there and he’s worth the year or two wait he’ll need to make the NHL.
Just missing :
The two ultra-talented Finns, Kasperi Kapanen and Julius Honka. Kapanen was injured and it has really hurt his game, he was expected to compete for a top-10 selection, but he hasn’t brought it in his draft year. I can definitely see him being in the first few picks of the second round…or depending on which teams are in the bottom five a late first based on the hopes that his dominance at 17 is the real him and the injury issue behind him. As for Honka, I just think size is against him, at 5’10 as a defender he has been excellent in the WHL, however teams are extremely wary of picking that type of defender unless they are insanely higher than all competition (DeAngelo). Would be an excellent early second value pick.
Robbie Fabbri has a size issue, 5’9, other than that he’s a first round talent. Unbelievable hands and an amazing two-way work ethic. He’s so fast it’s nuts, I would use a first if I was a team, but I’m not sold an NHL team would, as much as it sucks, size matters (ladies).
Oskar Lindblom, you might not have heard of him, but he’s kind of a big deal…ok not really. Lindblom has been an amazing talent for Sweden internationally lighting it up in the Tre Kronor including leading the U17 with 8 goals and 13 points for the Gold winning Swedes. He was also one of the best Swedes at the Ivan Hlinka scoring 2 goals and 4 points. He’s a later birthday (August) and has good size, while not dominating the SuperElit, I think he’s a guy to keep an eye on as a serious potential steal…also he was sick at the U18’s last year too…shit he just loves playing for Sweden.
Vladislav Kamenev and Nikita Scherbak. Kamenev is simple, plays in the KHL/MHL and isn’t an elite talent. Can see him sliding to the third round, pretty good player though, good value in the later rounds thanks to the Russian factor. As for Scherbak, well he’s A. Russian, B. Came out of nowhere and C. A victim of numbers in the first round. Much like Zykov who came out of nowhere and went on to be Rookies of the Year for both the QMJHL and CHL, Scherbak will probably fall to the early second despite his obvious amazing skill level.
Sonny Milano. High-end skill might help him sneak into the first round, but teams have to be wary of his 5’10 size. His excellent puck skills and speed could draw attention from teams in need of that in the late first, but personally I would go in a different direction as I have on this list.
Thanks for reading.