1 | | - | | Pretty no-brainer pick;Kakko might be better right now, but the skillset Hughes maintains will result in him being the best player to come out of this draft. American kid brings some much-needed hope to a floundering organization, but it's of my opinion that Hughes shouldn't play in the NHL next season, but should at least start in the AHL. |
2 | | - | | Consolation prize of the century. The 1-2 punch of him and Kravtsov going to be deadly in a couple seasons. |
3 | | - | | Chicago's gone on a run of offensive defenders in the past couple drafts. 2-way guys like Byram areally only available at the draft, and the opportunity to take him at #3 is not worth overlooking. A blueline of Jokiarju, Boqvist, and Byram would quickly give the 'Hawks one of the strongest bluelines in a few seasons. |
4 | | | | While Podkolzin might be the BPA at #4 with Byram going a bit earlier than expected, Colorado is going to be desperate for a #2C with Jost taking longer than expected to develop into the role.ozens has the speed, size, and skill to step into the NHL right away and should comfortably slot into that #2C role on the Avalanche. |
5 | | - | | The uncertainty behind Vilardi's back injury is going to see the Kings looking to add another dynamic center prospect, but with the rebuild expected to continue next season, the Kings should be fine with taking Dach and waiting a couple years for him to pan out. |
6 | | - | | Detroit looks to add an all-American center to slot alongside Larkin for years to come. The Red Wings will bank heavily on Turcotte's skillset, as it could be argued he should have been ranked higher if he would have stayed healthy. |
7 | | - | | Podkolzin slides due to the Kolvalchuk relationships with the Kings and thed Wings being all-in on Turcotte. Podkolzin, given time to develop, will give either Eichel or Mittelstadt a top-line winger to cash in on opportunities. |
8 | | - | | The second Edmonton gets wind of Zegras having a similar nastiness as Matt Tkachuk with arguably more skill, whoever the acting GM is at the time will literally sprint to the podium to announce the pick.
The Oiler thing to do however, would be to take Krebs at #8 strictly because he plays in the WHL instead of the better pick from the USNTDP. |
9 | | - | | Anaheim take Boldy's toolbox as arguably the most complete player in the draft over Krebs' playmaking ability as the condition of their roster is suggesting that they'll be rebuilding for a few more years unless Gibson posts a .930 average year over year |
10 | | - | | The Canucks will flip coins over Krebs and Caufield, and will eventually settle on Krebs, as Pettersson and Boeser can play as triggermen for Krebs' playmaking. |
11 | | - | | Philly is happy to take the best goal-scorer in the draft to compliment their impressive collection of prospects. |
12 | | - | | Minnesota is lacking any stud defensive prospects to slot onto their roster once Suter hangs them up (when his contract expires in 50 years); Minny gambles on Broberg being able to combine his skillset with consistency, and has the roster today to give him a couple years to refine his craft. |
13 | | - | | Harley has shot up the draft rankings quickly since the start of 2019; one of the major pieces Florida continues to lack is a strong LHD to play alongside Ekblad. Florida gets the added benefit of an in-house scouting report from former teammate Owen Tippet. |
14 | | - | | The Coyotes, despite their hot midseason, still need a bonafide goal-scorer to their roster. If there's a team that takes a long, hard look at Kaliyev in the top-15, it'll be Chayka and the Coyotes |
15 | | - | | Montreal does the unpopular thing and opts to take a LHD instead of adding Suzuki's younger brother. York brings a strong 2-way game, and Montreal is bursting at the seams with forward prospects. |
16 | | - | | With everything Colorado has in its system currently, the only thing they appear to be missing is a franchise goaltender. Knight has been touted to be better than Vasilevskiy during their draft seasons: with the "sure-thing" pick in Cozens at #4, the Avalanche can afford to get a little creative with the #16 pick. |
17 | | - | | Soderstrom slides in this mock draft not due to his skillset, but the combination of organizational need and skillset in the teams sitting in the range where he should be expected to go. Gives Vegas an opportunity to replace moving Brannstrom out earlier out in the year. |
18 | | - | | Dallas still features a huge gap at the #2C spot, and with the uncertainty on reaching on Dellandrea last year,Suzuki makes a ton of sense here having slid a few spots from where he was expected to go. |
19 | | | | The hardest part about judging who the Senators take with this pick, is that immediately, this player is going to be expected to be as good as the players Ottawa sent out at this year's trade deadline. Newhook probably stands out as the best-bet forward to cover the bill on that requirement, as he already has the speed to play at an NHL level. A year in the NCAA will give him an excellent opportunity to refine his other skills an regain some of the hype that surrounded him coming into the start of the 18/19 season. |
20 | | | | Seider slides more than he probably should in this draft, but Anaheim would be happy to snag him at 20th as an eventual replacement for Montour. |
21 | | - | | Brink is having a fantastic year in the USHL, and with Dundon's insistence that the Hurricanes are to only draft snipers with their 1st Round Picks, fits the bill for the Hurricanes. |
22 | | | | Rangers continue their mid-first round trend of safer picks and pick up one of the stronger 2-way defenders in the draft. |
23 | | - | | Pittsburgh will happily take whichever forward is available in this spot; Lavoie has slid throughout the season, but is going to be incredibly welcome in Pittsburgh and their barren prospect pool. |
24 | | - | | Nashville won't reach here, and will just quietly take the BPA. |
25 | | | | Despite his size, Pelletier is clearly a high-skill player and is showing hints of a Debrincat-esque player out of the QMJHL. A rebuilding Los Angeles has no business passing on such a quality player with the emergence of high-scoring undersized players emerging throughout the league. |
26 | | | | The absolute gluttony of forward prospects the Sabres boast is going to allow them to select a defenceman later in this draft Heinola's numbers as an 18 year old in the Finnish Elite League suggest a maturity to his game, and that he might not take long to develop into a full-time NHL player. |
27 | | - | | Vlasic plays a much safer and composed game than some of the Isles' curent defense prospects, and would pair fantastically well alongside either Wilde or Dobson in a few years, as his ability to take care of business on the back end allows them to wheel and create opportunities up ice. |
28 | | - | | With most of the prospect pool lacking due to continuous playoff runs, the Capitals are likely to add a center: Tomasino is the better player betweenhim and Guskov, but Washington lives to add Russian players to their core given the success of Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. Hard to say, but I think they'll opt for the better player this time. |
29 | | - | | Boston goes off the board a bit with this pick considering the strength of their forward prospects and young forwards on the team. Honka gives them a strong, right-handed powerplay option to eventually replace Krug with and a fellow countryman for Vaakanainen to develop alongside. He had a strong playoffs for Keuruu, but lacked any consistency to where he was playing this season in order to gain a legitimate foothold in the Finnish leagues. Without a current extension on his Finnish contract, would be AHL-eligible for the start of the 2019-20 season. |
30 | | - | | While the Flames currently have a prospect system almost entirely dedicated to forwards, their need for a player to pan out and be able to slot onto the roster as a legitimate center is pressing. The lack of defense prospects can be addressed in subsequent rounds, as the young core Calgary currently ices will be around in their top four for a while. I do not agree that Leason should be a first round pick: he's a gigantic double-overager with no history of the production he had this season. However, his AHL eligibility, Calgary's need for a young center to develop and pan out before Backlund ages out of the league, and Leason being a local kid could sway the Flames into gambling on him. |
31 | | - | | Regardless of whether or not this is the TBL pick or NYR pick, Poulin posted solid production in the QMJHL and would compliment a Tampa forward core laden with superstars or the young roster emerging in New York. |