Fortunately for us, there's a handful of defenseman that also happen to be projected to be BPA at 27. This draft is more of a crap shoot than past ones, so I wouldn't be shocked if a defenseman rated in the 18-25 range dropped to us.
1. EDM - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C (Red Deer Rebels)
2. COL - Gabriel Landeskog, LW/RW (Kitchener Rangers)
3. FLA - Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW (Saint John Sea Dogs)
4. NJ - Adam Larsson, D (Skelleftea)
5. NYI - Dougie Hamilton, D (Niagara Ice Dogs)
6. OTT - Sean Couturier, C (Drummondville Voltageurs)
7. WIN - Ryan Strome, C (Niagara Ice Dogs)
8. CLB - Mika Zibanejad, C (Djurgarden)* I think PHI will acquire this pick+, in a deal for Carter
9. BOS (via TOR) - Ryan Murphy, D (Kitchener Rangers)
10. MIN - Nathan Beaulieu, D (Saint John Sea Dogs)
11. COL (via STL) - Duncan Siemens, D (Saskatoon Blades)
12. CAR - Sven Bartschi, LW (Portland Winterhawks)
13. CAL - Mark McNeill, C (Prince Albert Raiders)
14. DAL - Joe Morrow, D (Portland Winterhawks)
15. NYR - Jamieson Oleksiak, D (Northeastern)
16. BUF - Zach Phillips, C (Saint John Sea Dogs)
17. MON - Mark Scheifele, C (Barrie Colts)
18. CHI - Boone Jenner, C (Oshawa Generals)
19. EDM (via LA) - Jonas Brodin, D (Farjestad)
20. PHO - Nicklas Jensen, LW (Oshawa Generals)
21. ANA - Oscar Klefbom, D (Farjestad)
22. PIT - Joel Armia, RW (Assat)
23. OTT (via NSH) - Brandon Saad, LW (Saginaw Spirit)
24. DET - Ty Rattie, RW (Portland Winterhawks)
25. TOR (via PHI) - Matt Puempel, LW (Peterbrough Petes)
26. WAS - Tomas Jurco, RW (Saint John Sea Dogs)
27. TB - Scott Mayfield, D (Youngstown)
28. SJ - Rocco Grimaldi, F (USNTDP)
29. TOR (via BOS) - Jonathan Miller, C (USNTDP)
30. VAN - Tyler Biggs, RW (USNTDP)
Last edited by Tampa Bay Trio: 06-10-2011 at 11:51 PM.
In February's U18 event Biggs was a monster and was the most noticeable player on the ice whenever he touched it. During the U18 World Championships, Biggs was almost an afterthought. The intense and aggressive power forward was unable to create much in terms of offense and even saw his physical advantage taken away by some surprising sources. Biggs has really created a lot of questions around his development and whether he can play the style that makes him so appealing at the higher levels. Although invisible for a lot of the tournament, Biggs still provided the tournament with two of its most memorable moments, scoring the OT winner against Canada in the semi final and launching a German player into the bench with easily the biggest hit of the tournament during their round robin meeting.
As far as drafting goes, I'm not a big fan of drafting based on team needs, because by the time these prospects end up on the big club, chances are the team needs will have already been fulfilled.
That being said, I think we ought to draft one of Mayfield or Grimaldi (I realize they are two very different players both in style and position). If it were up to me, I'd choose Mayfield, but it would be a tough choice. I don't know what it is, but there's something about Grimaldi that makes me think that if he was still on the board and we passed him up, we'd regret it.
So nice to not be talking about which of the top 5 prospects we want though. I'd take playoff hockey over a high draft pick every year.
The 4 "experts" doing the mock drafts on nhl.com have us taking:
Jonas Brodin, D (Farjestad)
Oscar Klefbom, D (Farjestad)
David Musil, D, Vancouver
or
Max Friberg, LW, Skovde
Guess they think Stevie likes Swedes....
I've looked through those mocks a few times, and I feel as though their scouting info is outdated. Before the season began, Musil was projected as a early-mid first rounder and his stock quickly plummeted as the year progressed. At this point, I feel as though he's a definite early-mid second rounder who will be chosen around 38-45. It'd definitely be a reach to take a chance on a defensive defenseman in the first round, but this draft is so unpredictable that anything could happen.
Either Klefbom or Brodin would be incredible value at 27, and I'd be happy with either.
Musil was a top-5 player in the draft a year ago, projected as the best czech(I think) prospect since Jagr and the best defense prospect ever for them.
His stock has fallen but I would gladly take him with our 1st rounder or 2nd if other good defense-man are not available.
Not sure how many, or if any, of you guys live in Orlando, but I wanted to let you know I'm having a draft get together at my place on the 24th. Going to have several HF Panther fans over, I know at least one Wing fan will be over, and think it'd be fun to meet some of the others on here.
I live in MetroWest, and we'll be starting about an hour or so before the draft starts and you're welcome to stay til it's over. Let me know.
__________________ Gudbranson fanboy and defender for liiiiiife!
Musil was a top-5 player in the draft a year ago, projected as the best czech(I think) prospect since Jagr and the best defense prospect ever for them.
His stock has fallen but I would gladly take him with our 1st rounder or 2nd if other good defense-man are not available.
It wouldn't be the end of the world if we drafted Musil at 27, but there'll be plenty of other better value players available at 27. If Klefbom, Brodin, Morrow, Mayfield and Oleksiak are all gone when we pick, it would probably mean a few higher rated forwards have slipped. Like most others, I don't like drafting based on need, and Musil is still a reach at 27.
Not sure how many, or if any, of you guys live in Orlando, but I wanted to let you know I'm having a draft get together at my place on the 24th. Going to have several HF Panther fans over, I know at least one Wing fan will be over, and think it'd be fun to meet some of the others on here.
I live in MetroWest, and we'll be starting about an hour or so before the draft starts and you're welcome to stay til it's over. Let me know.
Can we pound a few beers and wrestle in the living room?
