Well, with the 2014-2015 NHL season nearly upon us, one of the biggest events of the NHL season is coming closer and closer.
The 2015 NHL Draft.
This year's draft is hosted at the BB&T center in Sunrise, Florida - home of the Florida Panthers. On June 26th and 27th, hundreds of team executives, players, their families, and their agents will descend to one of the most beautiful and exotic areas represented in the NHL. Every single team will have someone in their hearts and minds, a player who they hope will become the centerpiece of their franchise for years and years to come.
A few short months ago the Minnesota Wild took power forward Alex Tuch with their first round pick, bolstering our pipeline with a fantastic winger who can slot in under any role and seemingly excel. This year, we as fans have a lot to look forward to. Having traded away no draft picks thus far, along with adding a Vancouver Canucks 7th rounder, the Wild has a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 7th round picks to pick gems. Who could these guys be? Read on:
Top of the list is Connor McDavid, a Canadian center who has been hailed as the best prospect since Stamkos, Tavares, or even Crosby. He's got good size, is fast on his feet, and has vision on par with the best of them. He scores goals and piles up assists while helping everyone on the team around him and is almost guaranteed to bring a bottom feeder team to the top in just a few short years. NHL.com had a wonderful post on him a few weeks ago:
The best American prospect since Patrick Kane, Boston University's Jack Eichel is an electrifying centerman who has the potential to bring a franchise to the top. He played on a line with our very own stud RW prospect Alex Tuch last year with the USNDTP and is going to be one of the best players in college hockey this year. From the same NHL.com link as above,
The top defender of the draft is, much to my personal pleasure, another American stud prospect. Noah Hanifin is a big, physical defender who can shoot the puck and carry it from one end of the ice to the other. He is a fitness freak - a guy who spends hours and hours in the gym and working his butt off during the off-season. He is good friends with our young stallion Center/RW, Charlie Coyle, and they work out and play together back in Massachusetts in the summer.
Yes, both Eichel and Hanifin are Massachusetts natives. Let's hope this doesn't become a trend. Minnesota might be losing our top spot. Other top Americans are either from the area or are committed to playing NCAA hockey there in just a few short years:
Beyond the top three, the list is pretty wide open. Islanders' prospect Ryan Strome has a younger brother, Dylan, who is near the top of every list. Mathew Barzal and Mitch Marner are two Canadian forwards almost always listed up there as well. European players such as Oliver Kylington, Pavel Zacha, and Mikko Rantanen give hope to their respective countries to represent them well.
This draft is lauded as being one of the deepest in several years. Projected with fantastic high end potential and talented high-caliber players being available well into the second round, the 2015 draft is one that could go down in the record books as being a great one. Could this be the best draft since the famous 2003 draft?
Nobody really knows, but it is going to be close.
The 2015 NHL Draft.
This year's draft is hosted at the BB&T center in Sunrise, Florida - home of the Florida Panthers. On June 26th and 27th, hundreds of team executives, players, their families, and their agents will descend to one of the most beautiful and exotic areas represented in the NHL. Every single team will have someone in their hearts and minds, a player who they hope will become the centerpiece of their franchise for years and years to come.
A few short months ago the Minnesota Wild took power forward Alex Tuch with their first round pick, bolstering our pipeline with a fantastic winger who can slot in under any role and seemingly excel. This year, we as fans have a lot to look forward to. Having traded away no draft picks thus far, along with adding a Vancouver Canucks 7th rounder, the Wild has a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 7th round picks to pick gems. Who could these guys be? Read on:
Top of the list is Connor McDavid, a Canadian center who has been hailed as the best prospect since Stamkos, Tavares, or even Crosby. He's got good size, is fast on his feet, and has vision on par with the best of them. He scores goals and piles up assists while helping everyone on the team around him and is almost guaranteed to bring a bottom feeder team to the top in just a few short years. NHL.com had a wonderful post on him a few weeks ago:
The best American prospect since Patrick Kane, Boston University's Jack Eichel is an electrifying centerman who has the potential to bring a franchise to the top. He played on a line with our very own stud RW prospect Alex Tuch last year with the USNDTP and is going to be one of the best players in college hockey this year. From the same NHL.com link as above,
The top defender of the draft is, much to my personal pleasure, another American stud prospect. Noah Hanifin is a big, physical defender who can shoot the puck and carry it from one end of the ice to the other. He is a fitness freak - a guy who spends hours and hours in the gym and working his butt off during the off-season. He is good friends with our young stallion Center/RW, Charlie Coyle, and they work out and play together back in Massachusetts in the summer.
Yes, both Eichel and Hanifin are Massachusetts natives. Let's hope this doesn't become a trend. Minnesota might be losing our top spot. Other top Americans are either from the area or are committed to playing NCAA hockey there in just a few short years:
Beyond the top three, the list is pretty wide open. Islanders' prospect Ryan Strome has a younger brother, Dylan, who is near the top of every list. Mathew Barzal and Mitch Marner are two Canadian forwards almost always listed up there as well. European players such as Oliver Kylington, Pavel Zacha, and Mikko Rantanen give hope to their respective countries to represent them well.
This draft is lauded as being one of the deepest in several years. Projected with fantastic high end potential and talented high-caliber players being available well into the second round, the 2015 draft is one that could go down in the record books as being a great one. Could this be the best draft since the famous 2003 draft?
Nobody really knows, but it is going to be close.
