Every year I do a mock draft based on readily available scouting reports, draft rankings and in the case of the Canadian Hockey, especially the QMJHL, mine own eyes.
I’m biased toward Nico Hischier, but I still think he goes first overall. He’s the kind of dynamic offensive wizard the Devils need. The Flyers are still laughing at their dumb luck as they draft Nolan Patrick, while I have the Stars going “D” with Miro Heiskanen, though I can’t see Dallas keeping that pick.
If the Avs stay at 4, Cale Makar may be a bit of a reach but for a team that is so pathetic on defense, they need to add the offenseman to their pipeline. No team has been screwed by the draft lottery more than the Canucks in the past two seasons, but if they fail to move up Gabriel Vilardi is a terrific prospect to add to the mix, rounding out the top five.
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Other first round notes:
- Klim Kostin to the Panthers at 10: I don’t see Florida being afraid of the (very real) Russian factor, getting him in this slot is a minor steal.
- The Bruins may have found the heir apparent to Czech center David Krejci with another Czech pivot in Martin Necas.
- Cal Foote just seems like a Calgary Flame, doesn’t he?
- Timothy Liljegren is all over the map. Is 14 to the Lightning a reach, or a steal? Can’t wait to see where he lands.
- If the Jackets keep their pick at 24, I really like Maxime Comtois here. He’s a complete winger who saw his offensive totals drop from his rookie season with Victoriaville while he rounded out his game. He briefly spent time on a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois at the CHL Super Series. I thought long and hard about taking Kristian Vesalainen here, mainly due to how much he intrigues me, but I settled on the Tigre winger. /