My first Ever Mock

Holden Caulfield

Eternal Skeptic
Feb 15, 2006
22,807
5,400
Winnipeg
This is my first attempt and all too often i haven't seen these players enough but im going to take a try.

1. St. Louis: D Erik Johnson
Big Pronger-esque defenseman to begin the rebuilding era for the Blues.

2. Pittsburgh: C/LW Phil Kessel
Considered more complete player in Toews, but felt that Kessel will adapt better to playing wing. Crosby/Malkin to Kessel will be a combo often heard in Pittsburgh (or Kansas City :shakehead ) in the near future.

3. Chicago: C Jonathan Toews
IMO, clear cut number 3 in this draft. A more talented Brad Richards, not only does Toews have great skills, but is solid defensively and a great leader.

4. Washington: C Nicklas Backstrom
Slick skating center Backstrom will fit in nicely in between Ovechkin and Zubrus. He is the most NHL prospect in the draft, and has a chance to make the NHL next year with the Capitals.

5. Boston: C Jordan Staal
Surprised that the raw talent of Staal slipped to them at #5, since STL was looking at them at #1. Glad to add Staal as a future #1 center with Bergeron on the wing.

6. Columbus: C Peter Mueller
Columbus loves to take CHL guys, and Mueller is a very solid pick for them. Brule is projected to be #1 there, but Mueller can be a solid #2 guy. Big size, good shot, good vision, will make a VERY good second line C.

7. New York I: C Derek Brassard
NYI get a true scoring center to add to the checking C's they already have. Brassard to Tambellini might be heard quite a few times out on Long Island in the next few years

8. Phoenix: RW Kyle Okposo
Rapidly rising Okposo will be a nice fit in Phoenix's future,, although i would not be surprised if PHO goes off the board. Okposo is solid sniper, plsu will have lots of time to develop in the NCAA.

9. Minnesota: RW Chris Stewart
Hard working power forward Chris Stewart will fit in very nicely in Minnesota system which is lacking a dominant power forward who can score. Jacques Lemaire should like this guy as he is an extremely hard worker, forced to walk onto an OHL team to make it. Minny looks at Sheppard, but decide for Stewart.

10. Florida Panthers: D Nigel Williams
With their depth of prospects, and the lacking need of a big powerful defenseman, Florida can afford to take on a project like Williams. A good skater for his size, plus is huge. Has the potential to be a dominant defender in the NHL.

11. Los Angeles Kings: D Bobby Sanguinetti
Tough pick for LA with Little, Tlusty, Frolik, Sheppard all on the board, but the need for a bluechip d prospect is too great to pass a talented defender in Sanguinetti. Skates well, very good PP QB, but needs work on his defensive game.

12. Atlanta: C Bryan Little
Atlanta really needs a C to go in between Kovalchuk and Hossa since Savard is an UFA. Little has great vision, and makes great plays happen on the ice.

13. Toronto: RW Jiri Tlusty
Toronto adds a very talented player in Tlusty to add some scoring depth to the their wings with all of their young scoring coming from the C right now in Wellwood, Stajan, Steen (some of these moved to wing i think).

14. Vancouver: RW Michael Frolik
Vancouver decides on Frolik over Sheppard just due the fact Frolik has a higher upside. Dispite reports of stopped development, i think Frolik will be a solid player, but is probably risker than Shappard.

15. Tampa Bay: G Jonathan Bernier
Realized that Grahame, Burke, Coleman will never work.

16. Montreal: D Yuri Alexandrov
MTL surprises and goes off the board with Alexandrov. Dispite being a very solid player, and making a Russian Super League Team at 18 years of age, is off the board due to the transfer agreement. Montreal will gamble and say that the agreement will get signed in the next two years, and maybe get a great steal.

17. Minnesota: G Riku Helenius
Minnesota adds a very good G prospect to go with the quantity goalies they already have. They already addressed the power forward hole, now sures up the future goaltending situation.

18. Colorado: LW James Sheppard
COL cannot believe it when they see potential top 10 pick sitting in their laps at 18. It is nothing against Sheppard, just with everybody so close it will come down to team needs and i think he will slip.

19. Anaheim: C Cory Emmerton
ANA adds a true scoring C with Emmerton, to add to only Getzlaf down the middle. Emmerton has great hands, great vision, and passign ability but needs work on twoway game and physical play.

20. San Jose: RW Alexander Vasyunov
Has top end talent, bottom end attitude. But the tempermental shifty winger is still worth it at this point in the draft simply due to his talent.

21. New York R: RW Michael Grabner
Rangers like this sniper with their late first rounder to hopefully fill some of the slack when the likes of Jagr, Straka, etc retire.

22. Philadelphia: D Ty Wishart
Some still have him as high as 10-15 range, but has slipped due to poor play at the U-18's. Still a big fierce defender that loves to throw big hits and should be a solid defender in the NHL.

23. Washington: D Mark Mitera
Washington adds a bigger defensive defenseman to their softer offensive defenseman from recent years. Although they have alot of project defenseman already, i think a more sure pick like Mitera will be bpa available for WAS at this point.

24. Buffalo: D Ivan Vishnevsky
Have a feeling this will be the 30th overall pick, but anyways Buffalo adds a defenseman they will love in the mold of a Teppo Numminen. Will be a very good PP QB, but needs to improve his defensive game to be a pro player.

25. New Jersey: LW Nick Foglino
Certainly a New Jersey pick, hard working winger Foglino should fit right in on Lou Lameriollo's Devils. NJ needs to add some wingers to go with C's Parise and Zajac.

26. Calgary: LW Mike Forney
This sniper finally gives Calgary a true scoring player in the system, not just big hard working power forwards. Sutter wanted Foglino, but Forney and Iginla on the same line is scary.

27. St. Louis: LW Claude Giroux
Saw this guy as high as 11 on some people lists, but i see him realistically about here. St. Louis looks at Joensuu but decides there are too mny risks.

28. Dallas: RW Jesse Joensuu
Dallas loves them fins, but this pick is about more than that. Im still not sure what this guy has done to go from top 5 pick to 2nd rounder. His stats are comparable to Lauri Tukonen, and Lauri Korpikski in their draft years, and they both appear to be very solid players.

29. Ottawa: C Patrik Berglund
Ottawa is very good at drafting late (see Meszaros, Andrei) and Berglund is a potential great steal. He is a very good player, who will fit in nicely in the Ottawa system.

30. Detroit: C Ondrej Fiala
Solid hard working player, but his offense is in question. However Detroit has no problem scoring goals with Zetterberg, Datsyuk so Fiala will be a solid pick.

Comments critism is welcome, however please remember this is just my opinion, and anything and usually will happen on draft day.
 

rt

The Kinder, Gentler Version
May 13, 2004
96,890
45,264
A Rockwellian Pleasantville
WpgKings13 said:
8. Phoenix: RW Kyle Okposo
Rapidly rising Okposo will be a nice fit in Phoenix's future,, although i would not be surprised if PHO goes off the board. Okposo is solid sniper, plsu will have lots of time to develop in the NCAA.

Why does everyone think that Phoenix likes to go "off the board". Sjostrom, Kories, Eager, and Hanzal all went within a few picks of where the "experts" had them going. Wheeler, obviously was a suprise selection at #5 in '04, but that makes one suprise out of the last five first round selections. Not a huge deal. People should learn to let this go.

Anyway, I'd be happy with Okposo at eight.
 

Holden Caulfield

Eternal Skeptic
Feb 15, 2006
22,807
5,400
Winnipeg
Originally Posted by rt
Why does everyone think that Phoenix likes to go "off the board". Sjostrom, Kories, Eager, and Hanzal all went within a few picks of where the "experts" had them going. Wheeler, obviously was a suprise selection at #5 in '04, but that makes one suprise out of the last five first round selections. Not a huge deal. People should learn to let this go.

Anyway, I'd be happy with Okposo at eight.

Sure the Wheeler pick helped this idea, but "Off the board" did not really mean that far off since i was thinking Sheppard, Williams, Tlusty, Frolik, etc since they are all so close.
 

thestonedkoala

Going Dark
Aug 27, 2004
28,169
1,600
Minnesota would jump on Sheppard if he fell that low. Harding is going to be a back up and has many years ahead of him. Kopriva showed some flash this year and so did Khudobin.
 

bullsville

Registered User
May 13, 2006
523
0
I think Blackhawks finally will pick Jordan Staal...i dont know but i can see Tallon pick Staal instead Toews
 

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