1. Edmonton Oilers - Nail Yakupov RW
First pick. Best player in draft. Moving on.
2. Columbus Blue Jackets - Ryan Murray D
The Jackets are in serious need of defenders. I was tempted to give them Forsberg, but Murray can play right away.
3. Montreal Canadiens - Mikhail Grigorenko C
Like him or not, he's too skilled to pass up. Also, the Habs have enough legendaryness on their side that he'll probably stay.
4. New York Islanders - Filip Forsberg RW
The big, mobile winger has unreal hands and a great shot.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs - Alex Galchenyuk C
The Leafs, after years of dreadful choices and ill-advised pick trading, finally get it right. Galchenyuk could end up the best player in the draft.
6. Anaheim Ducks - Mathew Dumba D
Mobile, physical, and competitive. What's not to like? His defence is a work-in-progress, but his ceiling is arguably higher than Murray's. He also has an absolute canon of a shot.
7. Minnesota Wild - Griffin Reinhart D
Big, all-around defenseman. The Wild have practically nothing left on the blueline after trading away most of their top4 and bringing in only Tom Gilbert. Jonas Brodin is a great prospect, but he can't do it all alone.
8. Carolina Hurricanes - Teuvo Teravainen RW
The Hurricanes supposedly don't like taking defensemen in round 1, though they did it last year. This year, they get an ultra-talented Finnish winger who can already play with men.
9. Winnipeg Jets - Jacob Trouba D
The Jets get possibly the most underrated of the top dmen in the class. No big deal.
10. Tampa Bay Lightning - Morgan Rielly D
Bolts have an aging corps and an antique goalie. Rielly gives them an exiting talent on the blueline, and another playmaker to feed Stamkos' one-timers. You know, like if St. Louis doesn't last forever or something.
11. Washington Capitals - Radek Faksa C
The Caps take the do-it-all Czech power forward from the OHL off the table.
12. Buffalo Sabres - Cody Ceci D
Ceci sort of came out of nowhere last season. On the other hand, he almost made team Canada.
13. Dallas Stars - Sebastian Collberg RW
Lightning-quick Swedish sniper gives the Stars someone to compliment Jamie Benn or Louie Eriksson.
14. Calgary Flames - Zemgus Girgensons C
Big, strong, physical, skilled, mobile, defensively responsible, Latvian... there's nothing to dislike about him. Except the inconsistency part. He also has the third best name in the draft (behind Roberts Lipsbergs and Teodors Blugers, also Latvian).
15. Ottawa Senators - Pontus Aberg LW
Swedish sniper/speed demon is a perfect fit for the Sens. He even plays for the same team as top prospect Mika Zibanejad, Djurgarden of the Elitserien (now Allsvenskan).
16. Washington Capitals - Olli Maatta D
Super-smart all-around defensemen with good size don't grow on trees. Possibly the only downside to Maatta is he has to return to Finland for no less than one season after the draft.
17. San Jose Sharks - Hampus Lindholm D
Big, physical, fast offensive defenseman rocketed up draft rankings over the course of the season, and the Sharks can't afford to shy away from his potential downside in the defensive zone.
18. Chicago Blackhawks - Brendan Gaunce C
The 'Hawks add to their stable of big, strong forwards. Gaunce is the least skilled of the bunch, but also the best shooter and thinker.
19. Tampa Bay Lightning - Tomas Hertl C
Czech forward had a great season in the Czech Extraliiga. His skills may be enough to offset his poor skating when he comes to North America.
20. Philadelphia Flyers - Matt Finn D
The 2-way defenseman is not flashy--almost boring, really--but he can do it all. The Flyers are, apparently, under the influence of a goaltending curse of some kind, so defensemen make sense.
21. Buffalo Sabres - Tom Wilson RW
The Sabres figure there is more Milan Lucic than Tim Jackman in Wilson, and also figure that he could be a good compliment to some of their smaller scoring forwards like Tyler Ennis or Nathan Gerbe; or, failing that, a bigger one like Joel Armia.
22. Pittsburgh Penguins - Derrick Pouliot D
One of the more naturally talented offensive defensemen in the draft, Pouliot could end up being a steal this low... if he learns how to play defense.
23. Florida Panthers - Slater Koekkoek D
A 2-way defenseman with good size, Koekkoek might have reached the top 10 if he hadn't been injured so often.
24. Boston Bruins - Andrei Vasilevski G
The Bruins figure, with Tim Thomas taking a year off and a year closer to turning 40, they should have another goalie in the system other than Tuukka Rask. Vasilevski is as good as they get.
25. St. Louis Blues - Brady Skjei D
Underrated 2-way defender plays a complete game and has good size and skating. There are questions about his physical game and offense, but the Blues have plenty of talented forwards.
26. Vancouver Canucks - Henrik Samuelsson RW
The Canucks like Samuelsson's combination of size, strength, and skill. His skating needs a lot of work, though.
27. Phoenix Coyotes - Martin Frk RW
The Coyotes want a forward, and Frk is actually one of the more talented players in the draft--he's a potential gamebreaker. Unfortunately, he's also a dreadful skater, though it's nothing a few hundred power-skating lessons won't fix.
28. New York Rangers - Nicolas Kerdiles C/LW
A good, physical, 2-way forward for a good, physical, 2-way team.
29. New Jersey Devils - Malcolm Subban G
Martin Brodeur can't play forever--though it certainly seems like he's been around forever already--and the Devils don't have an heir apparent, though their system is suitably deep at the position. Subban would make a good eventual starter.
30. Los Angeles Kings - Dalton Thrower D
I'm not completely derisive of the Blue Jackets, and I can't think they're dumb enough to take the Kings' pick for this season when they have the choice of next season--and the Kings are unlikely to repeat as champions. Thus, a robust, physical defenseman makes sense. He would fit nicely in the Kings' system, an eventual replacement for either Rob Scuderi or Willie Mitchell and, possibly, a partner for Slava Voynov.
No comments:
Post a Comment