2018 HF Team Boards Mock Draft -- Pick #10

[mcpw]

Every year there's a mock draft done by the team boards of HF -- here are the results of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Rules are easy: just pick the player you want your team to draft based on who is still available; "trade the pick" is not an option

2018 Mock Draft
1 BUF --- D Rasmus Dahlin 117/126 (93%)
2 CAR --- F Andrei Svechnikov 69/74 (93%)
3 MTL --- F Filip Zadina 56/71 (79%)
4 OTT --- F Brady Tkachuk 38/71 (54%)
5 ARI --- F Oliver Wahlstrom 34/49 (69%)
6 DET --- D Adam Boqvist 41/93 (44%)
7 VAN --- D Quinton Hughes 34/64 (53%)
8 CHI --- D Evan Bouchard 28/39 (72%)
9 NYR --- D Noah Dobson 61/132 (46%)
10 EDM ---
11 NYI ---
12 NYI* ---
13 DAL ---
14 PHI* ---
15 FLA ---
16 COL ---
17 NJD ---
18 CBJ ---
19 PHI ---
20 LAK ---
21 SJS ---
22 OTT* ---
23 ANA ---
24 MIN ---
25 TOR ---
26 NYR* ---
27 CHI* ---
28
29
30
31

Click to read more...

 

[BarDownBobo]

If it goes like this Kotkaniemi is a no brainer imo. I think he'll end up going higher than this though.

 

[Joey Moss]

I've kind of flip flopped between Smith and Kotkaniemi of late. Voted Kotkaniemi, would be fine with either in this situation.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Every year there's a mock draft done by the team boards of HF -- here are the results of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Rules are easy: just pick the player you want your team to draft based on who is still available; "trade the pick" is not an option

2018 Mock Draft
1 BUF --- D Rasmus Dahlin 117/126 (93%)
2 CAR --- F Andrei Svechnikov 69/74 (93%)
3 MTL --- F Filip Zadina 56/71 (79%)
4 OTT --- F Brady Tkachuk 38/71 (54%)
5 ARI --- F Oliver Wahlstrom 34/49 (69%)
6 DET --- D Adam Boqvist 41/93 (44%)
7 VAN --- D Quinton Hughes 34/64 (53%)
8 CHI --- D Evan Bouchard 28/39 (72%)
9 NYR --- D Noah Dobson 61/132 (46%)
10 EDM ---
11 NYI ---
12 NYI* ---
13 DAL ---
14 PHI* ---
15 FLA ---
16 COL ---
17 NJD ---
18 CBJ ---
19 PHI ---
20 LAK ---
21 SJS ---
22 OTT* ---
23 ANA ---
24 MIN ---
25 TOR ---
26 NYR* ---
27
28
29
30
31

Thanks for making this series of polls!

I'd pick Kotkaniemi if this happens. I have a feeling though that NYR will pick him and Noah Dobson will fall to 10.

I would be ectastic if that happened.

 

[LaGu]

Maybe I should have refrained from voting, I never saw and don't know much about Kotkaniemi.... But Ty Smith looked really good to me in the Spokane games I managed to see. So I guess this is a vote for someone and not against anyone else.

 

[McMozesmadness]

I would sprint to the stage to select Jesperi.

Eventual ELC 3C down the middle to play with Pulju.

 

[PKSpecialist]

Thanks for making this series of polls!

I'd pick Kotkaniemi if this happens. I have a feeling though that NYR will pick him and Noah Dobson will fall to 10.

I would be ectastic if that happened.

Rangers will definitely be looking for a #1 center, but they have a tendency to draft for speed, and if there is a knock against Kotkaniemi, that would be it... he’s not a bad skater, but I wouldn’t consider it a strength.

 

[McDNicks17]

Kotkaniemi is the clear BPA, IMO.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Ryan Merkley RHD and will be in Jr and not uni over the next few years

 

[Jumptheshark]

Kotkaniemi is the clear BPA, IMO.

I have a slight, insane problem with Kotkaniemi after seeing him a few times--he reminds me of Anton Lander

 

[Ruok]

I have a slight, insane problem with Kotkaniemi after seeing him a few times--he reminds me of Anton Lander

Probably the bust I was most surprised by. I thought for sure Lander would make it in the NHL, at the very least as a 4th line center

 

[Jumptheshark]

Probably the bust I was most surprised by. I thought for sure Lander would make it in the NHL, at the very least as a 4th line center

that is why Kot scares me--to me and might only me

 

[Joey Moss]

I would sprint to the stage to select Jesperi.

Eventual ELC 3C down the middle to play with Pulju.

If Pulju is still on the 3rd line when Kotkaniemi is our 'eventual ELC 3C' that's an issue. Unless it's next season, which I guess isn't out of the question with a player like this.

 

[Jumptheshark]

If Pulju is still on the 3rd line when Kotkaniemi is our 'eventual ELC 3C' that's an issue. Unless it's next season, which I guess isn't out of the question with a player like this.

should we using a top 10 pick for a player who will be on the third line?

 

[BarDownBobo]

should we using a top 10 pick for a player who will be on the third line?

I think the Pens quite enjoyed having Crosby, Malkin and Staal down the middle.

 

[Joey Moss]

should we using a top 10 pick for a player who will be on the third line?

I think the 3C thing has more to do with us having McDavid and Draisaitl.. He'd actually be in a great position for his development playing easier minutes learning how to play a two-way game.

 

[Joey Moss]

Not to mention, Lander was never projected to be anything more than a 3rd line center. We always knew he was a character guy with good PK abilities even when he was Sweden's captain at the World Juniors. He never had the skillset Kotkaniemi does, it's not a comparison.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Not to mention, Lander was never projected to be anything more than a 3rd line center. We always knew he was a character guy with good PK abilities even when he was Sweden's captain at the World Juniors. He never had the skillset Kotkaniemi does, it's not a comparison.

He was projected to be a second line two way center set up man

 

[Joey Moss]

He was projected to be a second line two way center set up man

False.

Nearly every projected future line up back in 2010 had him and Pitlick as 3rd liners for the future.

 

[PKSpecialist]

Kotkaniemi seems to be the flavor of the month....for the future of this franchise, I hope Chiarelli is like Sonny Weaver Jr. on "
The Draft" and the piece of paper in his pocket says Defense no matter what....

Don't get me wrong, Kotkaniemi, Wahlstrom, Farabee etc. would all be great picks and great prospects for the Oilers, but at some point we need to go all in on our defense, and regardless whether Dobson, Boqvist or Hughes fall to us at 10, Ty Smith would be a fantastic pick and we need to find some top 4 and even more so top 2 defenders of the future.

Ty Smith needs to be the pick if the draft goes like this.

 

[Roof Daddy]

Kotkaniemi seems to be the flavor of the month....for the future of this franchise, I hope Chiarelli is like Sonny Weaver Jr. on "
The Draft" and the piece of paper in his pocket says Defense no matter what....

Don't get me wrong, Kotkaniemi, Wahlstrom, Farabee etc. would all be great picks and great prospects for the Oilers, but at some point we need to go all in on our defense, and regardless whether Dobson, Boqvist or Hughes fall to us at 10, Ty Smith would be a fantastic pick and we need to find some top 4 and even more so top 2 defenders of the future.

Ty Smith needs to be the pick if the draft goes like this.

Aside from the fact that movie is equal parts horrible and ridiculously unbelievable, I assure you Chia will be nothing like Weaver and instead a combination of the Jaguars and Seahawks GMs in that movie.

 

[McDNicks17]

Kotkaniemi seems to be the flavor of the month....for the future of this franchise, I hope Chiarelli is like Sonny Weaver Jr. on "
The Draft" and the piece of paper in his pocket says Defense no matter what....

Don't get me wrong, Kotkaniemi, Wahlstrom, Farabee etc. would all be great picks and great prospects for the Oilers, but at some point we need to go all in on our defense, and regardless whether Dobson, Boqvist or Hughes fall to us at 10, Ty Smith would be a fantastic pick and we need to find some top 4 and even more so top 2 defenders of the future.

Ty Smith needs to be the pick if the draft goes like this.

I don't think it's that simple.

The Oilers basically don't have a single center prospect right now.

I don't think Smith has enough upside to ignore the best center in the draft who is, IMO, a better prospect.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Rangers will definitely be looking for a #1 center, but they have a tendency to draft for speed, and if there is a knock against Kotkaniemi, that would be it... he’s not a bad skater, but I wouldn’t consider it a strength.

Well we took Lias at #7 last year and he’s FAR from a burner

I don’t have any more than instinct to back this up but i would suspect the Rangers select Kotkaniemi over Dobson IRL

jesperi would be an AMAZING pick for you guys, but I have a feeling he doesn’t make it this far down.

 

[belair]

I don't think it's that simple.

The Oilers basically don't have a single center prospect right now.

I don't think Smith has enough upside to ignore the best center in the draft who is, IMO, a better prospect.

We also don't have any high-end defensive prospects. We've got Jones and Bear who at this point could go either way. You historically don't find top pairing defensemen unless you draft them high.

 

[PKSpecialist]

I don't think it's that simple.

The Oilers basically don't have a single center prospect right now.

I don't think Smith has enough upside to ignore the best center in the draft who is, IMO, a better prospect.

Show me our D prospect with top pairing potential......

It's the same thing every year it seems. We are desperate for top pairing D, we get beat up in deals for dmen, we say all year that we need to find a dman, and then the draft comes and we see a shiny new toy and the defenseman is there, but we don't want to wait 4 years, and the forward could help us next year, and around and around we go.

I'm ok with using our second rounder to fill some of the holes. There will likely be several strong C prospects available there from the group of Wise, Drury, Khovanov, Dellandrea, McBain, Kurashev, Hallander, Lauko, Foudy, Groulx.... I would also be fine with this team using this pick on a second defenseman. Until our defense is fixed spend as many assets as possible on it. As we've seen in the past five years or so, it is easy to move good defenders for a good return... not so easy to move forwards.

I understand that our C prospect pool is extremely weak, and I won't be upset if we end up with Kotkaniemi, but we have McDavid, Drai and RNH at C. Assuming we hold on to all 3, we are using a number 10 pick on a guy we expect to be our 3 C, or he becomes another swing player who moves to wing. I'd much rather take a swing on a top pairing defenseman. Ty Smith has that potential. He's being overlooked because of how strong the defense pool in this draft is.