The fourth mock Hockey Buzz mock draft driven by the readers and a few special guests is underway. Hank Bailing did not go off the board with the Sabres pick, selecting Owen Power first overall, while Sean Maloughney took Matthew Beniers as the first ever Seattle draft pick and Ryan Armstrong completed the Michigan trifecta with Kent Johnson. Zabber selected Luke Hughes with the Devils' pick. Slimtj selected Simon Edvinsson for Columbus with fed91stammer's grabbing William Eklund for Detroit.
Hockeygm traded San Jose’s pick to Ottawa, who, represented by optimus-rein, selected Dylan Guenther. Dudestar's pick for LA was Brandt Clarke. Nucker101's selection for Vancouver is below while Hockeygm is now on the clock for San Jose. Below is the voting poll, please weigh in with your view
First, some logistical information just for this blog: Thanks to all who have agreed to participate. Almost all teams are spoken for, meaning we have close to a full complement of General Managers, but need a few more. As a reminder, when you have your pick, rationale for the selection, who else you considered and if you weighed a trade, please send that to me via email to
[email protected]. As said previously, for those who agree to participate, please make sure I have your real name to go with your Hockey Buzz ID.
The draft is July 23 and we will start the draft July 8 in the morning. That will give us 15 days or so to complete the draft, even factoring in the Sabbath. For weekdays and Sunday, I will post a pick in the am, theen a second in the pm with voting in between, for around the first 20 picks. The last 11, we will run three per day so we get all 31 picks by or on July 23.
As a reminder, for each pick, included should be: a) Selection and reasoning/scouting report, and b) Alternatives considered(both players and trades). Please provide me via email your pick with the aforementioned information following the posting of the prior pick on the site. If I become aware of a pick or a few picks in a row, I will email you to help facilitate moving the mock draft along. I will post the blog with the pick and the voting poll within each blog.
Overall Rules and Process
As mentioned previously, there is a little kicker. After the pick or trade is made, a poll will be posted to rate the selection or deal. If the majority of people like the pick or trade, that selection stands and it moves on to the next team’s picks. If not, the majority rules and that’s what happens with that team and pick. I have the last right of refusal to keep everything on the up and up and avoid ballot box stuffing. My request to you is that you take this seriously and not make a mockery of the mock draft, because that would be an insult to the others who are participating and makes the whole process a sham. But by playing this out, we get to have healthy debate and conversation to remain engaged up and possibly beyond the draft. If teams make deals and they occur before a team’s selection is due, that deal will play a part as to when each person’s selection occurs.
Here how this will work: each morning and evening (for now, two picks per day, but we will go to three when we get to latter third of the mock draft, so that we complete on time) the team’s selector will email me at [email protected] their pick and their rationale for that selection. If making a trade, the same applies, and all the selectors have been listed below along with their screen name if from this site or their twitter handle if external to help facilitate making trades. I will post that pick and rationale on the site and create a voting poll. For now, I was thinking solely just a yes or no vote for the poll, but if people want me to list other options for the selection at that pick number in cases of a no vote, I am happy to do so, to help make it more robust.
With the 9th Overall Pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, the Vancouver Canucks, represented by Nucker101, select Mason McTavish, C, Peterborough (OHL)
Rationale for the selection with scouting report along with alternatives considered (both players and trades):
While the Canucks would’ve happily have chosen a faller like Eklund or Guenther here, McTavish fills a lot of organizational needs while also being BPA for a lot of Canuck fans(excluding goalies). The Canucks have struggled to find a strong 3rd line center for years and lack a prospect in the pipeline with that type of upside. With the modern NHL seemingly now requiring 3 capable scoring lines in order to win a cup, finding 3 centers capable of driving play is imperative. Not to mention that the Canucks in general would benefit from McTavish’s physicality, introducing guys like him and Podkolzin will bring a nice complement to the skill of Pettersson, Hughes, Horvat, Boeser, etc.
Scouting Report:
A couple of quotes from scouts:
“His release is terrific. He loves to shoot the puck and he loves to get to the net. He’s a heavy body. Sort of a one-speed guy but he’s competing and working more than last year, so that’s growth.”
“He kind of has that Nazem Kadri edge to him,” another scout added. “McTavish has the grit you want out of a physical forward and puts a ton of power into his shot. I’d say McTavish is more of a play driver than Kadri, though”
From the Scouching YouTube channel:
“ Last year, he was largely a shoot-first player, finding open space and ripping pucks into nets without tremendous pace or skating skill, but this year, he’s mobile, rambunctious, effective at both ends, and is trying to make plays as much as he’s trying to score pucks in a men’s pro league...He can play down the middle, he can play the wing, he can score, he can make a play off the boards, and he’s more than capable of getting the puck back if your team doesn’t have it.”
Others considered:
Cole Sillinger: was probably my 2nd choice here, really like his offensive upside
Carson Lambos: Would’ve been a target if we found a trade down partner
Jesper Wallstedt: purely as a potential BPA pick, however the Canucks should be set in goal for a long time with Thatcher Demko and also have Michael DiPietro ready to make the jump into the NHL
2021 NHL DRAFT ORDER
1. Buffalo Sabres - Hank Bailing, Owen Power, D, Michigan (73%, 267 votes)
2. Seattle Kraken - Sean Maloughney, Matthew Beniers, C, Michigan (85%, 144 votes)
3. Anaheim Ducks - climbdenali12, Ryan Armstrong, Kent Johnson, C, Michigan (20%, 192 votes)
4. New Jersey Devils - Zabber, Luke Hughes, D, USDP (U-18) (81%, 239 votes)
5. Columbus Blue Jackets, slimTJ, TJ Reilly, Simon Edvinsson, D, Frolunda (49% of 140 votes)
6. Detroit Red Wings - fed91tstammer, William Eklund, LW, Djurgardens (SHL) (72%, 162 votes)
7. San Jose Sharks - hockeygm, pick traded to Ottawa who selects Dylan Guenther, RW, Edmonton (WHL) (83%, 82 votes)8. Los Angeles Kings - dudestar, Nicholas Plazio, Brandt Clarke, RHD, HC Nove Zamhy (87%, 130 votes)
9. Vancouver Canucks - Nucker101, Mason McTavish, C, Peterborough
10. San Jose from Ottawa- hockeygm, Tuesday, July 13 am
11. Chicago Blackhawks - Theo Fox, Blackhawks blogger from site, Tuesday, July 13 pm
12. Calgary Flames - ShallowLarynx, Wednesday, July 14 am
13. Philadelphia Flyers - Flyersfan328, Phil Brunner, Wednesday, July 14 pm
14. Dallas Stars - NYRangers1124, Thursday, July 15, am
15. New York Rangers - Jan Levine, Thursday, July 15 pm
16. St. Louis Blues - Tommycasino, Tom Dueck, Friday, July 16 am
17. Winnipeg Jets - Ross77, Darren Ross, Friday, July 16 pm
18. Nashville Predators - Russ Cohen, Saturday, July 17 pm
19. Edmonton Oilers - maximumbone, Silas Bengtsson Sunday July 18 am
20. Boston Bruins - Anthony Travalgia, Bruins blogger on site, Sunday, July 18 afternoon
21. Minnesota Wild - jryan88 - Sunday, July 18 pm
22. Detroit Red Wings (from Washington Capitals) - fed91tstammer, Monday, July 19 am
23. Florida Panthers - jimbo, Jimmy Reilly - Monday, July 19, afternoon
24. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Toronto Maple Leafs) - slimTJ, TJ Reilly, Monday, July 19, pm
25. Minnesota Wild (from Pittsburgh Penguins) - jryan88, Tuesday, July 20, am
26. Carolina Hurricanes - Bingo, Chris Cote, Tuesday, July 20, afternoon
27. Colorado Avalanche - TommyGTrain, Tuesday, July 20, pm
28. New Jersey Devils (from New York Islanders) - Zabber, Wednesday, July 21, am
29. Las Vegas Golden Knights - Burnt_Juice, Clay Arseniuk, Wednesday, July 21, afternoon
30. Montreal Canadiens - Karine Hains, Montreal blogger on site, Wednesday, July 21, pm
31. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Tampa Bay Lightning) - slimTJ, TJ Reilly, Thursday, July 22, am
Looking forward to running this again. We had a ton of fun the last few seasons. That should be the same again this year with New York having the 15th pick in the first round.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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