2020 Mock v.1

I can see why people think that Stutzle going 2nd overall. but IMO it’s a no brainer that Byfield is going 2nd to LA. Jake Sanderson won’t go that high. If DET really wants him, they can trade down or acquire a pick near them top 10. Raymond > Hotlz. Minnesota is definitely drafting Rossic, Perfetti or Lundell. Winnipeg is definitely taking Rossi/PerfettiLundell if they’re still available. Barron is a late first, eary second rounder in most mocks.

Good points BUT NJ needs a scorer like Holtz and Jake Sanderson is WAY BETTER than people are thinking. I watch tape on him and he is an AWESOME Defensemen. Best D player who can play BIG minutes. I don't think he would get past pick #6.

He is awesome, but he isn’t going 4 IMO. I think he should go after Drysdale. 7-12 is a fair range for him.

Could be but good GM's know that players like him don't come around that often. Perfetti is overrated and goes too high in mock drafts.

I like Barron a lot and hope he drops to my Penguins.

Perfetti is definitely overrated but should still be a top 10 pick. Too much potential there for him to drop. I expect Sanderson to be good but him being committed to finishing a degree in University is still a relevant red flag. #4 is definitely too high for him and like @DriveFor25 said he should fall in the 7-12 range just because the top 6 (Lafreniere, Stuzle, Byfield, Drysdale, Rossi, Raymond) are all higher ceiling players. After that, outside of New Jersey you have a lot of teams that are looking for an NHL ready player in 1-2 years, not 4-5. So for me I have him dropping to 11 and being selected by Nashville, who has an aging d-core and a thin prospect pool on the back end. As for Barron, his situation is very similar to Lapierre. Both had season shortening health issues limiting their exposure and development. Barron has a pretty high ceiling and 1 year ago was apparently neck and neck with Drysdale. I think he will fall but will be in the 15-25 range.

Nice points. Thanks for sharing.

Ill be posting a list in the next few days with some details, deciding how far down the first round I want to go as it gets harder to choose between players at around #20

Agree with all of this. I think that Sanderson will “drop” a bit, because Minnesota and Winnipeg really need centers badly.

Totally agree with your sentiments - Byfield is coming out of a proven over time demonstrated high competition league. While the German developmental league is catching up Stutzle hasn’t played against anywhere near the level of comp, that Byfield has faced. The world juniors were an anomaly IMO and Byfield is 8 months younger

I am not in agreement with you on Sanderson being top level - you look at their schedule and Des Moines, Sioux City, GreenBay, Fargo and the sampling of NCAA college teams they play against are not exactly hockey powerhouses despite what you catch on tape. Drysdale and even the QMJHL d-men are facing far more elite scorers. Sure his father is the well traveled Geoff and Jake probably interviews well but I think any team that selects him in the top 15 is reaching - he could very well fall to pick 15

I like it for Jersey getting Holtz. I just dont see Sanderson, Lundell or Barron going before Perfetti. I think Perfetti is going to be a top 5 pick.

Some NHL scouts have him at 3, so don’t be too surprised if he goes higher than you think he should.

I wouldn’t be surprised, but I believe that Drysdale should go before him. As long as he goes after Drysdale, I don’t believe the team drafting him is making that a mistake.

Byfield also had a similar production to Laffy last year in the WJC. He is closer to Laffy than Stutzle IMO. I would be pissed if Stutzle goes to 3 since Byfield would be in the Habs’ division. That would be so scary to play against on a regular basis.