The Draft Analyst: 1st Round Mock Draft (March Edition)

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

I dont think the Avs take Bouchard there. I know, don't forget bpa and all but the last thing they need is an offensively leaning RHD. Im not ruling out a defenseman entirely but I just don't see them go Bouchard there when some good forwards are still on the board.

I don't know, Bouchard is having a pretty ridiculous season, I'd be happy with him. Dmen with high potential have shown to have tons of value.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Pretty sure the Kings will draft the big, not so fast, good old Canadian boy in Serron Noel if he is still available with that pick.

As logical as the Devils will draft a Swede.

 

[Dodospice]

1- Arizona: Rasmus Dahlin D
2- Buffalo: Andrei Svechnikov RW
3- Vancouver: Adam Boqvist D
4- Detroit: Filip Zadina RW
5- Ottawa: Noah Dobson D
6- Montreal: Evan Bouchard D
7- Edmonton: Brady Tkachuk LW
8- Chicago: Oliver Wahlstrom RW
9- NYI: Ty Smith D
10- Carolina: Rasmus Kupari C
11- NYR: Quinn Hughes D
12- NYI (from Calgary): Joel Farabee LW
13- Florida: Jesperi Kotkanieimi C
14- Philadelphia (from St. Louis): Barrett Hayton C
15- Anaheim: Joe Veleno C
16- Columbus: Isac Lundestrom C/LW
17- Philadelphia: Grigori Denisenko LW
18- New Jersey: Bode Wilde D
19- Dallas: Dominik Bokk LW/RW
20- Los Angeles: Ryan McLeod C/LW
21- Colorado: Akil Thomas RW
22- Ottawa (from Pittsburgh): Jacob Olofsson C
23- San Jose: Ryan Merkley D
24- Minnesota: Mattias Samuelsson D
25- Toronto: Jack McBain C
26- St. Louis (from Winnipeg): Jared McIsaac D
27- NYR (from Boston): Martin Kaut RW
28- Washington: Jakob Lauko LW
29- Detroit (from Vegas): Jett Woo D
30- NYR (from Tampa Bay): Benoit-Olivier Groulx C
31- Chicago (from Nashville): Calen Addison D

 

[hawkeerox]

Bouchard goes ahead of Dobson, IMO
I see Veleno ahead of Hayton
McBain to Toronto! You think?

 

[lakai17]

Islanders selecting both Smith and Dobson is a start for their franchise.

Dobson at #14 is a bit more of a drop than I imagine but anything is possible in most drafts of course.

 

[AmericanDream]

I would be very disappointed if that is who the Hawks walk away with in the first round.

I want nothing to do with Veleno in the top 10 - just not seeing that potential you do. rather get one of those dmen available at that spot.

and if Hayton is available that late, would hope Hawks move up a few spots to snag him.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

So in the write up about Dahlin, is "general talent" really what you were going for? Or did you mean "generational"?

Because if not, I never knew general talent was a cliche.

And to be clear, I'm legitimately asking this. I have no clue if you did actually mean general or not.

 

[ProspectsSTC]

If Montreal takes Tkachuk at 6 with Dobson, Smith, Bouchard and Hughes still on the board I'll cry.

 

[Redder Winger]

I think one of Zadina, Boqvist or Svechnikov will fall to 4th, and a lot will have to do with how the lottery transpires. My gut tells me both Vancouver will go all out to try and draft Dahlin, sorta like Burke with the Sedins. The question I have is how high do Vancouver's or Detroit's scouts and GMs rank Boqvist. Plus the Ottawa situation with Karlsson may dictate how they approach this draft. I think Chabot's play shouldn't dismiss the idea that Boqvist could very well become their Karlsson of the future.

How about link to the site instead of the tweet that links to the site?

Draft site profiles feel like they're written by fans, not analysts.

 

[Redder Winger]

So in the write up about Dahlin, is "general talent" really what you were going for? Or did you mean "generational"?

Because if not, I never knew general talent was a cliche.

And to be clear, I'm legitimately asking this. I have no clue if you did actually mean general or not.

The funny thing is that generational means the opposite of what everyone thinks it means.
When something is generational, it is common to everyone in the generation. Like Mix tapes were generational to people who grew up in the 80s.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

How about link to the site instead of the tweet that links to the site?

Draft site profiles feel like they're written by fans, not analysts.

The Draft Analyst | 2018 NHL Mock Draft: Picks 1-31 (March)

I'll start linking both since a lot of employers don't allow social media at work. Sorry about that.

 

[Icebreakers]

Bokk Lethbridge hurricanes?

Bouchard is way too low. You draft him because of his production alone.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

So in the write up about Dahlin, is "general talent" really what you were going for? Or did you mean "generational"?

Because if not, I never knew general talent was a cliche.

And to be clear, I'm legitimately asking this. I have no clue if you did actually mean general or not.

It was meant to be generational. Thanks for pointing it out.

If Montreal takes Tkachuk at 6 with Dobson, Smith, Bouchard and Hughes still on the board I'll cry.

That's fine and understandable, to an extent. My DM's were filled with questions/complaints about the Poehling pick (and anger over not selecting Lipanov). One year later, the pick and the Lipanov non-selection seem like good choices. Like I said before, most GMs, if not all, want impact players as close to being NHL ready as possible. Tkachuk is BPA/most NHL ready at 6th overall than the four defensemen you mentioned.

The separation between Tkachuk and the overwhelming majority of forwards is pretty sizable. That's not the case with the top defensemen after Dahlin. The Habs have four 2nd rounders and this draft is loaded with puck movers/offensive defensemen. I don't see that big of a difference between Johnny Tychonik (for example) and Quinn Hughes. Hughes is the better prospect, but upside-wise they are very close.

Look at the Top-10 in NHL defense scoring -- seven were late 1sts or later. Klingberg, Subban, Barrie, Ghost were all drafted in the 2nd round or later.

I would be very disappointed if that is who the Hawks walk away with in the first round.

I want nothing to do with Veleno in the top 10 - just not seeing that potential you do. rather get one of those dmen available at that spot.

and if Hayton is available that late, would hope Hawks move up a few spots to snag him.

I'm guessing three things -- the Hawks don't use the first pick on a defenseman because Bowman has never done that two straight years. Plus the brutal power play this season and the lack of a playmaking center in the system will make them lean towards a power-play specialist/set-up guy.

Sikura, Edsjell, Altybarmakyan, Kayumov and Soderlund are all wingers or that's their natural position. I think the pick will be Kupari or Veleno,

Hayton will be gone by the time the Hawks pick. They don't have a 2nd and traded 25 or spots lower in the 4th and 5th. Although a high 3rd should be enough to move up a few spots in the late 1st, I don't see the Hawks trading away any picks this year.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Bokk Lethbridge hurricanes?

Bouchard is way too low. You draft him because of his production alone.

Thanks, it's fixed.

My worry with Bouchard is handling NHL speed to the outside/inside. He's does it pretty well in major junior, and having a long reach helps. I'm as big a stat watcher as anybody else but the game is a lot faster than it was 3-5 years ago. I think somewhere between 9-15 is a reasonable spot for him.

 

[AmericanDream]

I'm guessing three things -- the Hawks don't use the first pick on a defenseman because Bowman has never done that two straight years. Plus the brutal power play this season and the lack of a playmaking center in the system will make them lean towards a power-play specialist/set-up guy.

Sikura, Edsjell, Altybarmakyan, Kayumov and Soderlund are all wingers or that's their natural position. I think the pick will be Kupari or Veleno,

Hayton will be gone by the time the Hawks pick. They don't have a 2nd and traded 25 or spots lower in the 4th and 5th. Although a high 3rd should be enough to move up a few spots in the late 1st, I don't see the Hawks trading away any picks this year.

the Hawks have 3 centers already with skill - Toews, Schmaltz, and Anisimov- if we are going to take a center in the top 10 it will not be Veleno. that is way too high for him imo.

Our main issues on this team overall and on the power play comes from the point - we need defense and it is a mess -

2018 NHL Draft rankings for March, and what they mean for the Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks - Draft Picks - NHL - DraftSite.com

they will most certainly take another defensemen or two in the first 2-3 picks if bpa. if Hughes/Smith is still there and we are picking 8-10, they 100% will be looking there. it is our most glaring need, offense being generated from the point, not another skilled center- we have those already.

I appreciate the effort but you simply do not understand the Hawks issues or needs- outside of horrible systems on special teams, they lack DEFENSE. I want the BPA for each pick, and Hawks typically do that, but seeing how bad our defense has been the past few years and how we lack a pp qb, I am happy if they need to reach a bit to solve that with Hughes or Smith.

Thanks

 

[Redder Winger]

The Draft Analyst | 2018 NHL Mock Draft: Picks 1-31 (March)

I'll start linking both since a lot of employers don't allow social media at work. Sorry about that.

The best reason to it is that many of us turn off the scripts here at Hfboards, because they eat up our CPU.
So when people link to tweets, he have to hit reply, take the tweet # out, past the tweet number on to the end of another tweet.... and then we get a link to your site.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

the Hawks have 3 centers already with skill - Toews, Schmaltz, and Anisimov- if we are going to take a center in the top 10 it will not be Veleno. that is way too high for him imo.

Our main issues on this team overall and on the power play comes from the point - we need defense and it is a mess -

2018 NHL Draft rankings for March, and what they mean for the Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks - Draft Picks - NHL - DraftSite.com

they will most certainly take another defensemen or two in the first 2-3 picks if bpa. if Hughes/Smith is still there and we are picking 8-10, they 100% will be looking there. it is our most glaring need, offense being generated from the point, not another skilled center- we have those already.

I appreciate the effort but you simply do not understand the Hawks issues or needs- outside of horrible systems on special teams, they lack DEFENSE. I want the BPA for each pick, and Hawks typically do that, but seeing how bad our defense has been the past few years and how we lack a pp qb, I am happy if they need to reach a bit to solve that with Hughes or Smith.

Thanks

Jokiharju, Mitchell and Shea are all offensive defensemen. If the Hawks want to address a need, then they know the prospect pool is devoid of skill centers. Towes and Anisimov will be in their mid-30’s by the time the 2018 picks are in their early 20s.

Mitchell is only eight months older than Hughes and produced just as much as an NCAA freshman.

Again, Bowman has never gone two straight drafts picking a defenseman with the first pick.