Fox Sports Mock

[Jaded-Fan]

In the crease: Amateur draft projection
Brian Rosenbaum /

One of the more important events on the NHL calendar - the 2006 NHL Entry draft - is set to take place in Vancouver this Saturday evening.

We have set out below a mock draft that takes into account the talent available this year and each NHL team's organizational needs. Let's see how close we come…

1. St. Louis Blues
The Blues system is crowded with second and third-line forwards. They have a top-flight goalie prospect in Marek Schwarz, but no elite offensive players and are relatively thin on the blueline. They could easily select Phil Kessel or Jonathan Toews with the first-overall pick, but we believe they will draft standout defenseman Erik Johnson.

(and then picks four through thirty at the link below)

http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/story/5712486

Click to read more...

 

[mercury]

Another mock draft with the Flyers taking Mark Mitera. A month or two ago, it looked like Joe Ryan was the name coming up most often. Has Ryan's stock fallen, or Mitera's risen, or both?

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

Not the worst I've seen, but certainly not great. This guy's research is a bit lacking in some areas.

23. Washington Capitals (From Nashville)
With their second pick of the first round the Capitals will address their lack of depth on defense by taking QMJHL power-play specialist Ivan Vishnevsky.

Lack of depth? The Caps have drafted 10 defensemen in the past two drafts. Depth on the blueline is something the organization has plenty of, its the headliners it lacks.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

A decent draft, although I doubt the Isles will take Bernier.

 

[clay]

Bryan Little at 17 is a joke.

 

[Mess]

Bryan Little at 17 is a joke.

Yup

That is not very likely to happen unless Bryan Little slips on a Banana peel and tears his ACL and MCL in both knees from now until Saturday's draft time..

 

[Kvashinator12]

A decent draft, although I doubt the Isles will take Bernier.

Not a chance in you know what, and secondly what are they talking about saying we have a solid defense? Did they see this team play last year at all???

 

[kostitsyn1489]

I don't think habs won't draft Sanguinetti if they can! They have enough muscle on Denfense with O'Byrne Emelin Komi Coté Souray Rivet etc. They don't have a good yound D who can control the puck!

 

[Hedberg]

Why do the Islanders need a heir to Rick Dipietro?

 

[insider]

Gryba before Little

and

The Avalanche boast a strong forward contingent and with Jose Theodore in town, goaltending concerns have been alleviated for the time being. However, the team is terribly thin on the blueline and team officials will focus their attention on 17-year-old Brian Strait out of the U.S. Olympic program.

 

[rt]

Yup

That is not very likely to happen unless Bryan Little slips on a Banana peel and tears his ACL and MCL in both knees from now until Saturday's draft time..

#8 to the Phoenix Coyotes sounds about right, to me.

 

[Chaos]

27. Dallas Stars
The Stars have some depth on defense, with Niklas Grossman, Mark Fistric, Vojtech Polak and Matt Niskanen. Dan Ellis and Mike Smith are reasonable goaltending prospects. However, the system lacks offensive firepower, and Dallas is sure to pick a forward that will help alleviate that deficiency. Kingston center Corey Emmerton would be a smart pick in this slot.

He's almost the exact opposite of a defenseman.

 

[Kev22]

For the umpteenth time its Columbus, not Colombus. Its been six years, writer should know that by now. The proofreader should be fired.

 

[boredmale]

Why do the Islanders need a heir to Rick Dipietro?

Yeah i saw that and was like what the hell. Beyond that saying the Islanders are strong on defense is a bit misleading. Grebs upside is top 2(but that is somewhat a longshot) and Campoli and Gervais can be top 4, but we sorely lack any defensive defensemen. If we take a goalie with the 7th pick i will freak. If the Islanders are that hig on Bernier trade down to the 12-14th pick.

 

[Chrisd]

wild take nigel williams at 9 and little at 17...

maybe if you switch those 2 around... little at 9, williams at 17

ugh

 

[thestonedkoala]

The Wild have one of the strongest groups of forward prospects in the league. Patrick O'Sullivan, Mikko Koivu, Roman Voloshenko and Benoit Pouliot are all destined to be very effective NHLers. If Josh Harding continues to develop in net, Minnesota's biggest need may be on the blueline. Defensive prospect A.J. Thelen will be good, not great. As a result, the Wild would do well to draft workhorse rearguard Nigel Williams in the number nine slot.

Except the fact we have no toughness up front and we might be out two of six, top six forwards. Okposo would be the pick in my opinion or even Little or Sheppard. Not Williams. Too high as I keep saying. Then again, the Wild have surprised teams by taking risky picks. Thelen, Pouliot, Burns...

Oh and we have no CENTERS. Bouchard, O'Sullivan, Pouliot and Voloshenko are all wingers and Koivu is going to maybe be a second line center but with his size and okay skating, he might end up more as a Selke candidate then a feeder.

 

[Old Hickory]

If the Kings pass up Okposo I will lose it

 

[Dr Pepper]

27. Dallas Stars
The Stars have some depth on defense, with Niklas Grossman, Mark Fistric, Vojtech Polak and Matt Niskanen. Dan Ellis and Mike Smith are reasonable goaltending prospects. However, the system lacks offensive firepower, and Dallas is sure to pick a forward that will help alleviate that deficiency. Kingston center Corey Emmerton would be a smart pick in this slot.

He's almost the exact opposite of a defenseman.

I noticed that too

Emmerton works for me, though.

 

[BuppY]

Leafs will not pass on Little. They are very interested in him and according to some scouts might trade up to secure him.

 

[KH1]

If goaltender Jonathan Bernier goes to New York and sees ice time as a rookie, at least he'll have a solid defense helping him out.

...oh my god he's serious. This guy clearly did not see a single Islanders game last season--let's just say that our defense is less than solid. Unless he has some insider information on free agents that we're gonna sign. Or his definition of "solid" is "bottom five in the NHL."

 

[boredmale]

One of the problems with this mock draft is they seem to have a NFL draft mentality where you pick a player to fill a need for the team over taking who might be the best player in 2-5 years.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Tlusty before Little or Sheppard would have me breaking things.

 

[habs91]

The Habs will NOT, I repeat, NOT pick Gryba before Sanguinetti or Little.

 

[KH1]

One of the problems with this mock draft is they seem to have a NFL draft mentality where you pick a player to fill a need for the team over taking who might be the best player in 2-5 years.

No, the problem with this draft is that the guy is an idiot. Not to flip out over some FOX sportswriters mock draft just because it doesn't go well for my team but Bernier does not fit a need for the Islanders. We could use depth in our prospect system between the pipes, but if we were drafting for need we'd reach for a defenseman (though according to this guy defense is our #1 strength )

 

[Titan124]

This wins my award for worst mock draft of the year. Little taken at 17 and Isles taking Bernier ruin the credibility. The Islanders have a pretty nonexistant goalie prospect pool, but DiPietro is only 24, and we have 3 third round picks to take a decent goalie! Also there's a good 5 years before there's much of a reason to worry about goaltending prospects, terrible call.