1. Edmonton: Taylor Hall (LW)
I personally think that it is no
contest and barring injury, we shall see that the sniper is the best pick five
years from now. He is a natural goal scorer with a knack for big goals. He''ll
fit in nicely with the Oilers.
2. Boston: (Via Toronto) Tyler Seguin (C)
Do not be surprised if the Bruins trade down as they really want
Hall. If they do not get him, someone will jump up to take Seguin. Seguin is a
playmaking center who was forced to shoot more often with the Whalers due to a
lack of talent around him. He is a bit soft but has outstanding offensive
skills.
3. Florida: Erik Gudbranson (D)
Florida is another team
that is fielding a lot of calls to trade their pick. If they hold onto it,
Gudbranson will more than replace Jay Bouwmeester who they dealt to Calgary last
off-season. Gudbranson is skillful both offensively and defensively and has the
size to be a top defenseman.
4. Columbus: Brandon Gormley (D)
Columbus is looking for a defenseman to quarterback the power play. While he
does not have a tremendous shot, his offensive prowess is what the Blue Jackets
are lacking at this time.
5. New York Islanders: Jack Campbell (G)
While I have not heard any talk of Campbell in this spot, the Islanders cannot
rely on a return from Rick DiPietro who has missed most of the last two seasons
with injury. Campbell is a stud and proved it at the World Junior Championships
and the Under-18 as he led the United States to gold in both
tournaments.
6. Tampa Bay: Cam Fowler (D)
Fowler''s stock seems to
be dropping as he is not a physical presence on the blueline. This is a nice
spot for him as Tampa Bay is still looking for more offense from their
rearguards and Fowler definitely has offensive flair.
7. Carolina: Nino Niederreiter (RW)
The Swiss native played his first season in North
America with the Portland Winterhawks and starred for Switzerland at the World
Junior Championships as his overtime goal eliminated Russia in the
quarter-finals. Will eventually play on the top line.
8. Atlanta: Ryan Johansen (C)
Another Winterhawk, Johansen is an excellent playmaker and
two-way player. He needs to add weight and muscle but looks to be a top-six
forward when he finally makes the NHL.
9. Minnesota: Brett Connolly (LW)
Connolly lost some of his value as he played only 16 games for
Prince George of the WHL this season due to a couple of hip injuries. He is
outstanding offensive skills. The Wild are severely lacking in offensive talent
so the choice of Connolly, who could easily have been the third overall pick, is
a good one.
10. New York Rangers: Vladimir Tarasenko (RW)
Tarasenko has a lot of offensive talent as he managed to play in the KHL as a
top-six forward at the tender age of 18. His major drawback is that the Russian
Federation and the NHL do not have an agreement, but look for the Rangers to go
back to Russia despite the Cherepanov tragedy in 2008
11. Dallas: Mikael Granlund (C)
Granlund is a play-making center with outstanding offensive
skills. He first played for the Finnish World Junior team at the age of 16. The
only knock against him is his size as he is listed at five-feet, ten inches, 180
pounds. If the Stars get him at this spot, players like Loui Eriksson and James Neal will benefit from his play-making
abilities.
12. Anaheim: Emerson Etem (RW)
The California-born
forward could be coming home. Etem played his first season in the WHL in 2009-10
and potted 37 goals, enhancing his value as a goal scorer. He tends to play on
the perimeter and does not like the rough going as his 26 penalty minutes in 72
games in the rough WHL indicates. He is however, a goal scorer and any team
could use his abilites.
13. Phoenix: (via Calgary) Jeffrey Skinner (C)
Skinner scored 50 times in his second season in the OHL and then scored
another 20 in the playoffs as he shot up the rankings on all NHL teams'' lists.
Skinner is improving on the defensive side of the game and should be a top-six
forward in the NHL as well as playing on the top power play.
Picks 14 through 17
14. St.
Louis - Dylan McIlrath (D)
15.
Boston - Teemu Pulkkinen (LW)
16. Ottawa - John McFarland (LW)
17. Colorado - Alexander
Burmistrov (C) (Pictured) - A terrific skater and very good playmaker, the Russian made a
smart move as far as an NHL career is concerned when he came to the OHL last
season and scored 22 goals and 65 points with Barrie. Burmistrov may be wooed by
the KHL and that could drop his stock as far as the draft is concerned, but he
definitely is a top-15 talent in this draft.
Picks 18 through 21
18. Nashville - Austin
Watson (LW) - (Pictured) - Watson is a very good two-way player. His stock rose when he was
traded from Windsor to Peterborough as he had an opportunity to show his
offensive skill, something that he had trouble with in Windsor as they had such
an outstanding team, winning the Memorial Cup. He managed 20 points in his last
ten games with the Petes, giving him 20 goals and 54 points in 52 games last
season.
19. Los Angeles - Beau Bennett (RW)
20. Pittsburgh - Riley
Sheahan (C)
21.
Detroit - Jarred Tinordi (D)
Picks 22 through 25
22. Phoenix - Jaden Schwartz (C)
23.
Buffalo - Marek Pysyk (D) (Pictured) - Pysyk was hampered by playing for an expansion
team the last two years in Edmonton, so he had a hard time showing off all of
his assets. He will eventually be a solid defenseman with some nice offensive
skills. He is a bit slight at this time as he is only 175 pounds but look for
him to add some bulk in the next couple of seasons.
24. Atlanta
(via New Jersey) - Derek Forbort (D)
25. Vancouver - Jonathon
Merrill (D)
Picks 26 through 30
26. Washington - Alexandre Petrovic (D)
27. Montreal - Nick Bjugstad (C)
28. San Jose - Calvin Pickard (G) (Pictured) - Brother of Nashville prospect Chet, Pickard should be chosen by the Sharks who
definitely need a top goaltending prospect with Evgeni Nabokov getting older. Is the second ranked goalie
in the draft behind Jack Campbell.
29. Anaheim (via Philadelphia) - Ludvig Rensfeldt (LW)
30. Chicago - Evgeni Kuznetsov (C)