The no-brainer is picking Rossi at #5. It gets a bit more difficult at that point, as you could have highly divergent opinions on BPA between the likes of Drysdale, Holtz, or Perfetti. Personally, I'm not sold on Perfetti... there seem to be too many reported concerns regarding skating, intensity, and work ethic, which is an especially dangerous issue for an undersized forward (e.g. Rossi suffers from none of these concerns). Drysdale is probably the BPA, but I'd then like to see them strongly consider trading one of Brannstrom or Thomson to secure a high-end forward. If they can't do that effectively, then you have to think maybe it's just easier to draft Holtz as a high-potential sniper, which really is a glaring team need.
- khawk

Good points.

Man, I'm torn on the following players: Rossi, Perfetti, Lundell, Lapierre

Question for you guys: Which players are SLAM dunk top 20 prospects for you? I think we can all agree on the following (but this is just IMO):

Laf, Byfield, S-zle, Raymond, Holtz, Rossi, Perfetti, Drysdale, S-son, Askarov

Holloway, Zary, Quinn, Jarvis, Lundell?

Ottawa's first 2 picks are going to to be either Lafteniere, Byfield, Stutzle, or Sanderson. They will not touch Rossi, Raymond, Holtz, Drysdale or any of the other little guys.

Question for you guys: Which players are SLAM dunk top 20 prospects for you?
- AlfieisKing

For me, the first round has a pair of groups...
1st Tier - Lafreniere, Byfield, Stutzle, Drysdale, Rossi, Holtz, Raymond
2nd Tier - Perfetti, Sanderson, Askarov, Lundell, Holloway, Zary, Quinn, Mercer

Beyond that group of 15, it's really a mess. I could see the likes of Guhle and Schneider going in the 16-20 range, especially if Drysdale and Sanderson go off the board pretty fast. Maybe some combination of Jarvis, Bourque, Gunler, Mysak, and Perreault to round it out. My prediction for Lapierre is late 20's/early 30's, just due to the risk he presents for any team with only 1 early pick in the draft.

For me, the first round has a pair of groups...
1st Tier - Lafreniere, Byfield, Stutzle, Drysdale, Rossi, Holtz, Raymond
2nd Tier - Perfetti, Sanderson, Askarov, Lundell, Holloway, Zary, Quinn, Mercer

Beyond that group of 15, it's really a mess. I could see the likes of Guhle and Schneider going in the 16-20 range, especially if Drysdale and Sanderson go off the board pretty fast. Maybe some combination of Jarvis, Bourque, Gunler, Mysak, and Perreault to round it out. My prediction for Lapierre is late 20's/early 30's, just due to the risk he presents for any team with only 1 early pick in the draft.
- khawk

As always, it is interesting to get your opinions.

Ottawa needs to grab a #1 center in this draft whether that is Byfield, Stutzle or Rossi. Ideally we land Lafreniere and still grab that #1 center.