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Mock Draft
Blog — By PuckCentralHQ on April 15, 2012 8:50 PM
This is my first Mock Draft. I plan on doing one after each NHL playoff series.
Top ranked prospect, and best player in the draft, Nail Yakupov
1-Edmonton: Nail Yakupov (Best player in the draft. I think Edmonton trades down though.)
2-Columbus: Ryan Murray (Columbus needs to once again rebuild and Murray is the best place to start.)
3-Monreal: Mikhail Grigorenko (He has crazy skill. Plus there’s a good chance his junior coach could be coaching the Habs next season.)
4-New York Islanders: Filip Forsberg (Big, skilled winger. Will compliment John Tavares very nicely.)
5-Toronto: Alex Galchenyuk (Could probably go higher but teams will hesitate because of his injury.)
6-Anaheim: Griffin Reinhart (Toss up between him and Dumba. Reinhart is the safer pick, plus they already have Fowler.)
7-Minnesota: Mathew Dumba (Simply too good to pass up. High risk high reward type player.)
8-Carolina: Radek Faksa (Really safe pick. Plus they took Murphy last year so I can’t see them taking a defenseman this year.)
9-Winnipeg: Cody Ceci (Hard to choose between him or Trouba, went with my gut.)
10-Tampa Bay: Morgan Rielly (Great puck moving defenseman, which is what Tamp needs.)
11-Washington: Jacob Trouba (Caps get a very good two-way defenseman with great size.)
12-Buffalo: Teuvo Teravainen (Scoring winger. Should blend in well with the rest of Buffalo’s young forwards.)
13-Dallas: Brendan Gaunce (Should be a great fit with Jamie Benn. Hard worker, who can grind it out and score.)
14-Calgary: Sebastian Collberg (Calgary needs offense. Collberg provides that.)
15-Ottawa: Pontus Aberg (Sens love their Swedes, plus their defense is good and young,another forward wouldn’t hurt.)
Olli Maatta of the London Knights. Will be a bit of a wild card.
16-Washington: Olli Maatta (Could easily take a forward here but Hunter coached him in junior so that could be an influence.)
17-Florida: Derrick Pouliot (Once again I agree with Trevor that he has potential to run Florida’s PP once Campbell is gone, as long as he’s developed properly.)
18-Columbus: Zemgus Girgensons (If he slips to Columbus here they’ll be laughing. Great prospect who can potentially be a top 6 center)
19-San Jose: Slater Koekkoek (Like many players in this years draft, injuries derailed his season. He could have competed for a top 10 pick. Should be a solid defender someday.)
20-Phoenix: Tomas Hertl (Might be a bit off the board but he’s a good player with lots of potential. Defense is solid so they need to start drafting forwards.)
21-Chicago: Andrei Vasilevski (Chicago’s goaltending is questionable. Vasilevski is the best goalie available so they should take him.)
22-New Jersey: Malcolm Subban (Have potential in Wedgewood but Subban is a great goalie with tons of potential. Can’t afford to only have one good goalie prospect in their system.)
23-Tampa Bay: Martin Frk (Missed a lot of time with a concussion, so draft stock has fallen. Tampa can afford to be patient with him. Could be a steal at 23.)
24-Boston: Brady Skjei (Solid defenseman with loads of potential. Needs a team who can develop him and be patient with him and Boston can do just that.)
25-Philadelphia: Hampus Lindholm (To be honest I don’t know much about him but from what I’ve heard he’s a solid defenseman, which is what Philly needs.)
26-Buffalo: Phillip Di Giuseppe (Many thought he should have made Team Canada at the WJC. Solid two-way player with a knack for scoring. Should fit in well with Buffalo’s forwards.)
Tanner Pearson of the Barrie Colts. After being passed up in two drafts he`ll finally get his shot.
27-Pittsburgh: Tanner Pearson (A bit of a wild card since he’s already been passed up in two drafts. Took his game to another level this season but needs a team who can be patient with him.)
28-St.Louis: Matt Finn (Potential to be a top 3 or 4 defenseman. Some people would have him going much higher.)
29-New York Rangers: Oscar Dansk (I know this is a bit of a bold prediction since the NYR have Lunqvist but he’s getting to older now so they can take the proper time to develop Dansk and by the time he’s ready Lundqvist will be at the end of his career.)
30-Vancouver: Colton Scissons (He doesn’t play too far away so I’m sure the Canucks have seen plenty of him. He’s a hard working player who can score. Also has great leadership qualities.)
Other Prospects to Consider:
-Steffan Matteau
-Tom Wilson
-Ludvig Bystrom
-Jarrod Maidens
-Nikita Gusev
Please share your opinions! Leave a comment or send me a tweet at:@PuckCentralHQ and don’t forget to check 0ut my blog, puck-central.blogspot.com
79 Comments
Nail Yakupov is hands down the best player in this years draft class
couldn’t agree more!
I hope to see some videos of these guys in the future. I think that would be sick!
Next Mock Draft I’ll make sure I put some videos up!
nice
I’d love to see the Leafs pick up Galchenyuk
Me too! but if he’s not available that that means Forsberg or Murray will be and they’re right up there with Galchenyuk.
Love seeing the leafs with young skilled players
the leafs are gonna need all the help they can get.
Not sure why some things didn’t “bold” but I apologize if this is a bit hard to read, not sure if it is or not.
It is plenty easy to read but I agree with the whole list including the Edmonton trade down, but I feel that they will trade someone other than columbus and try to get some veteran material..
And I really agree with the Tampa pick we need all the help we can get on the backend and we need desperately to find a contending starting goaltender or we are in for another long season.
They could draft a really good Goalie prospect with their second first rounder but that won’t help for at least another two years, so free agency will be the best place for them to find a goalie.
Yeah I just hope it happens soon, I really hope tokarski can settle in and become great.. like he was in the juniors but one can only hope haha. Hopefully we can snake a decent goalie in the FA with all of our cap space.
yakupov is a stud
absolutely
great read
Im fine with both of the Capitals picks
Nikita Gusev probably won’t go in the first two rounds but I think he has the potential to be very good. If you watched the World Juniors this year he was the small player who played with Kuznetsov a lot. Don’t know if he has the frame to play in the NHL but the skill is there.
Really hoping that the Leafs pick up Galchenyuk but wouldn’t mind even if they moved down to take Brendan Gaunce. Good kid and a hard worker
edmonton has too many young players
edmonton has too many young forwards, should trade down get dumba and a player
I disagree Dougs, yes they have too many but I’d trade Hall and Hemsky to Columbus for the second overall, keep the first overall pick and then draft Ryan Murray too. But they definately don’t need Dumba Murray is a reliable NHL ready Defenseman thats hard to come by
edmonton trade down hundo. get a player then draft a D and theyre all set
good read
unreal
Nail may be the best but hoping Oil trade down and acquire some defensive help
it will be intersting to see how things shake out
as a sabres fan i’m excited to see who they’re able to get this year with their 2 first-rounders
about right
good read
fully agree with pearson gettin picked this year 19 year old kid, puttin up 91 points in the O not to shabby
why should Pearson be drafted? he is a 19 year old playing against 16, 17 and 18 year olds. Should he really be a first round pick?
He’s also playing against 19year olds and some 20 year olds. He took the league by storm though, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if goes second round.
oilers are going to have a loaded offence
I sure hope the leafs can either move up in the draft or grab Dumba
Not sure if Dumba is what the Leafs are looking for though. He’s a couple years away, doesn’t have much size (Although he plays like hes 6’3), and is somewhat of a risk because of the type of player he is. But I think they could try to move up.
I think Matt Finn could go much higher than 28th but just slipped because I felt other players would be a better fit for that team. Overall I think he’s more than capable of going top 15 to top 20.
nice looking list
I hope the Oilers pick Ryan Murray! Maybe trade their 1st overall and get him and another pick or get a player too!
nice
Troubas from my hometown. great to see him projected so high, hope he has a long career
after Nail its pretty hard to pick who’s gonna go where
Is Yakupov a North-American type guy or a Euro?
He’s all North-American. Not a strong defensive player but plays hard and physical, and isn’t affraid to get his nose dirty.
nail!
unreal
Brendan Gaunce is going to be a really nice mid round pick
Nail is unreal, I think Subban will be someone alot of teams have intrest in
wow i totally agree
Colts player is a beauty
Really hoping the Wild don’t take another Fin/Swede
avs really fucked themselves.. the next 2yrs for varly?!
hopefully Alex Galchenyuk works out for the leafs
seems like a safe bet
Penguins could take time with Pearson
Good predictions its gonna be fun seeing how everything ends up.
I agree
gally
beauty
Unreal!
unreal list
good list should be a sick draft
seems pretty accurate
can’t wait for the draft
edmonton goign for yakupov then trading him for defense already playing in the league
Unreal!
cant wait for the draft
i wonder who will make the trade for the first pick
unreal
great list
filthhyy
unreal
grigarenko dropped a lot
sick
nice stuff
good stuff!
cool
cool
mocky