NHL Entry Draft: Habs76's 2018 NHL Mock Draft

[Habs76]

Habs76' Mock Draft:

1. Buffalo: LHD Rasmus Dahlin -- The Sabres already have their face of the franchise center locked up long-term in Jack Eichel, but their defense still lacks that elusive #1 defenseman. Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe are great defenders, but neither are #1 caliber and Buffalo doesn't have the offensive firepower or stellar goaltending to win a Cup without a #1D, so they'll take Dahlin who's skating skills fit in great in the new NHL.
2. Arizona: RW Andrei Svechnikov -- The big Russian powerforward sure can skate for a big guy, and has some silky mitts to boot. So far this season, Svechnikov has scored above a goal per game, which makes him a great fit to lead the Arizona Coyotes' offense- a group of very skilled players like Clayton Keller, Derek Stepan or Max Domi, yet lacks an elite offensively talented player.
3. NY Rangers: LHD Quinton Hughes -- The Rangers have made a point about drafting and acquiring Americans going through the college route over the years- a strategy that's worked very well, with players like J.T. Miller and Chris Kreider now having big impacts at the NHL level. But that's not the only reason they pick the undersized, 1999-born defenseman. His offensive abilities and skating ability make Hughes a truly threatening defenseman who may just have the potential to turn into a #1 one day.
4. Montreal: C Brady Tkachuk -- The big knock on Brady is his age- he was just one day off being a 2017 eligible prospect, as he was born September 16th, 1999. Aside from that, there's really no negatives. Like his family name indicates, Tkachuk is a gritty little f***er who will go into all areas of the rink- infront of the net, into the corners, you name it. Add that to some legitimate offensive skill, and you have a better version of his brother who can play center- while also holding the size advantage. As a Habs fan, I really hope this pick of the mock draft is a pick in the real draft too.
5. Dallas: D Jared McIsaac -- McIsaac is already one of the more physically mature players in the draft. Although he isn't extremely tall at 6'1", the Mooseheads defenseman has filled out his 194-pound frame quite well, and should be ready for the NHL in the relatively near future.
6. Boston: LW Filip Zadina
7. San Jose: C Joseph Veleno
8. Edmonton: D Bode Wilde
9. NY Islanders: C Ryan McLeod
10. Vancouver: D Ryan Merkley
11. Minnesota: D Ty Smith
12. Carolina: C Olivier Wahlstrom
13. Winnipeg: C Jesperi Kotkaniemi
14. Nashville: C Benoit-Olivier Groulx
15. Philadelphia: C Rasmus Kupari
16. Ottawa: LW Joel Farabee
17. Florida: D Jett Woo
18. Pittsburgh: D Calen Addison
19. Anaheim: C Isac Lundestrom
20. Los Angeles: D K'Andre Miller
21. Detroit: LW Anderson MacDonald
22. Tampa Bay: C Akil Thomas
23. NY Islanders (via Calgary): D Adam Samuelsson
24. Columbus: LW Nando Eggenberger
25. Toronto: D Evan Bouchard
26. Colorado: D Noah Dobson
27. New Jersey: C Jack McBain
28. Vegas: D Mattias Samuelsson
29. Washington: RW Dmtri Zavgorodniy
30. Chicago: LW David Levin
31. Philadelphia (via St. Louis): C Alexander Khovanov

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[Habs76]

I chose to base the draft order off the current NHL standings, and I'm aware it will look nothing like this when the draft rolls around. I just like to base my picks around the teams picking them. I plan on making a few mock drafts this year, hopefully once a month.

 

[Tryamkin]

Not bad man. I don’t see a world where Veleno, Zadina, and Smith are 6, 7, and 11 respectively, they should all be higher. I’d like your reasoning on why you chose Wilde over both Merkley and Smith, I see them both ahead of Wilde. Adam Boqvist needs to be on the list, he’s a top 5/10 prospect and arguably the 2nd best defender of the class. I think McLeod is a little high and McBain too low but a good start

 

[Habs76]

I don't know how I missed Boqvist... yeah, he's clearly top ten and perhaps higher.

I think Veleno is a guy who's just been extremely hyped through his entire junior career solely due to his exceptional status but just isn't as good as some rankings and mocks say he is. Zadina could be a spot or two higher as I really like his game, but I don't know who to put him above.

I personally am not Smith's biggest fan, although that could change. From everything I've heard, he seems like a "jack of all trades, master of none" type player. Good skating, hockey sense, vision and defensive smarts, and is undersized too. It seems like there's a very high possibility of him turning into a top four defenseman, but I don't see him having the top pairing potential that some other defenders in the draft possess.

Wilde seems like an Edmonton type of pick. When you've got Draisaitl and McDavid on your offense, it's not hard to fill out 10 other forward spots, so I feel as though their defense's biggest need is evidently defense. Now look at some of their best dmen. Adam Larsson, Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera, Kris Russell are only a few of the defenders they've brought in over the years, and all of them play a similar game to Wilde. They have a good first pass which is clearly something the Oilers put emphasis on, and also have good skating ability and defensive smarts.

I like Merkley and could see him going ahead of Wilde, though.

McLeod might be a bit high- mid 1st seems to be the appropriate range for him, but Jack McBain is a guy I don't really want to put too high. He's playing in a weak Junior A league with the OJHL not really being on the level of the BCHL or even AJHL from what I've heard, and his offensive potential worries me too. He strikes me as a player who will be a really good third line center but no better.

 

[ViktorBaeArvidsson]

If I were the Preds I would take Kupari or Thomas, but Groulx is still pretty good.

 

[Dan Kelly]

If the Oilers ever picked that high again then I'm pretty sure that RD Adam Boqvist is the guy they'd take. Could solve once and for all the need for a true #1 d-man if he develops properly.

 

[King Weber]

Interesting how Veleno has seemingly fallen out of most peoples Top 5.

If Montreal picks at #4 and Veleno is available, I think they'd go with him, with him being a center and a hometown boy.

 

[Habs76]

Veleno isn't a top five pick anymore. I honestly think #7 was generous of me, he just doesn't have the offensive upside.

 

[johum7]

Pretty hype rankings if I said so myself

 

[Mallard]

I'd be very happy if the Ducks took Lundestrom! Left hand Centre with good size!

 

[dannyfinn22]

The Habs need a player like Brady Tkachuk alot more than Veleno, Timmins has drafted small, slight players way too often, what we need are a couple of players who produce both Points and Grit. Even if Price's return knocks us out of a top 5 player, Marc Bergevin should go all out and move Up to try and get Tkachuk.. Habs management, however is clueless at the draft so good luck with that.

 

[Savant]

The Rangers probably take Tkachuk at 3 in that scenario (although they probably shouldn’t).

 

[Habs76]

The Habs need a player like Brady Tkachuk alot more than Veleno, Timmins has drafted small, slight players way too often, what we need are a couple of players who produce both Points and Grit. Even if Price's return knocks us out of a top 5 player, Marc Bergevin should go all out and move Up to try and get Tkachuk.. Habs management, however is clueless at the draft so good luck with that.

Yep. As a Habs fan I'd really like to see us steer away from the smurf reputation that we still have even though Veleno isn't small. If you can put speed, grit, meanness and goal-scoring together, you've got one hell of an offense. And Tkachuk has 3/4 of those.

 

[MasterMatt25]

As nice as Tkachuk looks, I'd rather we drafted McIsaac or Ty Smith. Just a personal preference. I feel like the development as of late in Poehling, plus the rise of Jake Evans means we don't need as much centre prospects

 

[Habs76]

As nice as Tkachuk looks, I'd rather we drafted McIsaac or Ty Smith. Just a personal preference. I feel like the development as of late in Poehling, plus the rise of Jake Evans means we don't need as much centre prospects

Tkachuk is more of an LW. I know I listed him as C in my list but he's been playing wing for a while now.

 

[JK2K]

When is your next mock draft?

 

[Habs76]

When is your next mock draft?

Sooner or later.