NHL Entry Draft: MHN 2023 1st Round Mock Draft

[Mdamico]

Now that we have a good idea of where each team is picking in the 1st-round, it's time for MHN's 1st-Round 2023 NHL Mock Draft.

MHN Post-Lottery 1st-Round Mock Draft

All but four picks have yet to be determined in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft, which means it’s time for our first top-32 mock draft. With the final four picks still yet to be decided, they were awarded based on regular-season point totals, and are not a prediction of where each team […]

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[Zetterberg4Captain]

I'll take it from a DRW point of view

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

Ditto.

 

[toddkaz]

Why does the writer think Buffalo is well stocked on defense?

 

[spfan]

Why does the writer think Buffalo is well stocked on defense?

Well on the left side they definitely are. But their only real weakness overall is natural RHD.

 

[toddkaz]

Well on the left side they definitely are. But their only real weakness overall is natural RHD.

What LD prospects are you thinking of?

 

[spfan]

What LD prospects are you thinking of?

Well I'm also including players on the roster. Considering how young Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson, it doesn't really matter that they're no longer prospects. They'll be on the team for the next 10-15 years. They also have Ryan Johnson. Not likely to become much, but they did spend a 1st on him.

For the right side it's much more bare. Only really Jokiharju, but he is decent and young still too.

Sabres should either trade up or down in the draft or trade the pick entirely and get a RHD that's in the NHL already.

 

[Ace]

Well I'm also including players on the roster. Considering how young Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson, it doesn't really matter that they're no longer prospects. They'll be on the team for the next 10-15 years. They also have Ryan Johnson. Not likely to become much, but they did spend a 1st on him.

For the right side it's much more bare. Only really Jokiharju, but he is decent and young still too.

Sabres should either trade up or down in the draft or trade the pick entirely and get a RHD that's in the NHL already.

1. They don’t “have“ Ryan Johnson. He hasn’t signed and can go ufa in August.

2. Jokiharju is a bad player who can’t play with either Dahlin or Power. He has to go…not be counted as their best RHD and a top 4 option

3. Whenever one of the three good D they have got hurt…the team became an absolute disaster. There is nothing in the pipeline. Nothing. They had 22 picks the last two years and took almost nothing but offense.

4. Right now…before this draft…Buffalo can’t fit all their high picked forwards onto the roster when they’re ready. They have 4 first round forwards who haven’t made the league yet. Three who can play center. Thats behind Tage, Cozens signed for 7 years and Mittelstadt/ Krebs. Just at Center. And not counting on anyone drafted outside of round 1 to ever do anything.

They have 0 defensemen coming. And 3 on the roster

 

[Ace]

This is the funniest part from the same article:

”The St. Louis Blues have been loading up on forwards over the last few years, but they desperately need to bring their defensive corps up to speed.”

“The Buffalo Sabres are well stocked at almost every position“

…

Blues last three drafts - 9F, 7D, 1G

Sabres last three drafts - TWENTY-ONE Forwards, 5D, 1G

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

The blues will not draft two small defenseman. We already have the problem now of small defenseman.

 

[spfan]

1. They don’t “have“ Ryan Johnson. He hasn’t signed and can go ufa in August.

2. Jokiharju is a bad player who can’t play with either Dahlin or Power. He has to go…not be counted as their best RHD and a top 4 option

3. Whenever one of the three good D they have got hurt…the team became an absolute disaster. There is nothing in the pipeline. Nothing. They had 22 picks the last two years and took almost nothing but offense.

4. Right now…before this draft…Buffalo can’t fit all their high picked forwards onto the roster when they’re ready. They have 4 first round forwards who haven’t made the league yet. Three who can play center. Thats behind Tage, Cozens signed for 7 years and Mittelstadt/ Krebs. Just at Center. And not counting on anyone drafted outside of round 1 to ever do anything.

They have 0 defensemen coming. And 3 on the roster

1. Well theoretically they could have him.

2. He's okay. I didn't say he's great.

3+4 I've said they don't need more forwards, but the defense isn't in bad shape. They have 2 elite d-men who are extremely young, that's already an incredible start. They could use a RHD, maybe 2. But They have a very strong group of LHD.

The likely scenario though is that Reinbacher will be gone. ASP is 50/50 if he'll be gone. I think Reinbacher goes pretty high though, so I think Vancouver could be pretty likely to then take ASP, as they also really need d-men and then Arizona need d-men too and have two 1sts, so they could also go for ASP(if they don't take Reinbacher at 6 already). Then there's a gap to the next RHD(in my opinion).

So Buffalo's 1st option is to trade up and get 1 of them. The 2nd option is to trade down and they should target Tom Willander. But like I said, trade down for him. At 13, he's not very close to BPA in my opinion. They could just simply take the best forward available too. And then make moves down the road with their incredible forward group to get d-men.
Then the final option, which I think is maybe the best option, is to trade the pick straight up and get a top 4 RHD. Similar to Vancouver trading their second 1st rounder to get Hronek.
And with Buffalo, that would make even more sense given that forward group they have already and their rebuild is over.

 

[StanleyCup2035]

approve for sharks

 

[TK 421]

The blues will not draft two small defenseman. We already have the problem now of small defenseman.

Yep, last thing the Blues need.

We do desperately need top 4 defense prospects but because of that glaring deficiency any D they select needs to be an all situations type defender, not a specialist. Simashev, Strbak, Willander are the kind of D they should be looking to add.

In order of priority
1. D
2. C
3. W

I'm thinking they're going after Honzek at 10th with a likelihood of Barlow or Danielson being other short list targets. Don't think the Blues are going D at 10th. They'll pick a D at 25th.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Yep, last thing the Blues need.

We do desperately need top 4 defense prospects but because of that glaring deficiency any D they select needs to be an all situations type defender, not a specialist. Simashev, Strbak, Willander are the kind of D they should be looking to add.

In order of priority
1. D
2. C
3. W

I'm thinking they're going after Honzek at 10th with a likelihood of Barlow or Danielson being other short list targets. Don't think the Blues are going D at 10th. They'll pick a D at 25th.

Unless they feel the gap is that great between Reinbacher and Willander between the rest available to which I agree on the right side. I think you can still get a Rehkopf, Ziemmer, Sawchyn or my personal choices of Edstrom and Wahlberg with your later picks.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

This is the funniest part from the same article:

”The St. Louis Blues have been loading up on forwards over the last few years, but they desperately need to bring their defensive corps up to speed.”

“The Buffalo Sabres are well stocked at almost every position“

…

Blues last three drafts - 9F, 7D, 1G

Sabres last three drafts - TWENTY-ONE Forwards, 5D, 1G

For the Blues they were probably just referring to the 1st round, as we haven’t picked a dman in the first since 2012 (and only 3 since the lockout)

 

[Schemp]

The Coyotes will not take Reinbacher with the 6th overall, that would be a reach. They'll pick BPA. Either Leonard, Benson, or Dvorsky

 

[ZDH]

The Coyotes will not take Reinbacher with the 6th overall, that would be a reach. They'll pick BPA. Either Leonard, Benson, or Dvorsky

I think they're going D, especially with another 1st at 12 overall. It'll be either ASP or Reinbacher at 6.

 

[Schemp]

I think they're going D, especially with another 1st at 12 overall. It'll be either ASP or Reinbacher at 6.

They'll go with best player available and there will be no blueliner in the top 10 list of the Coyotes...

 

[ZDH]

They'll go with best player available and there will be no blueliner in the top 10 list of the Coyotes...

No offense but I doubt you're a part of the coyotes draft team so i have no idea how youre this confident. Unless you have a link that has them saying they arent picking defense at pick 6.

It's the NHL draft, crazy things happen. Just saw a mock on tsn that had ASP gone before 6. Nobody knows how it's going to play out after pick 1.

 

[Schemp]

No offense but I doubt you're a part of the coyotes draft team so i have no idea how youre this confident. Unless you have a link that has them saying they arent picking defense at pick 6.

It's the NHL draft, crazy things happen. Just saw a mock on tsn that had ASP gone before 6. Nobody knows how it's going to play out after pick 1.

I guess being a Coyote fan and listening to the GM speak about what kind of team he wants to build, hinting on who he is impressed with, knowing the GM's history of being transparent, the kind of scouting department he put together, a coach who prefers to play 11forwards and 7 ds to give forwards more playing time doesn't mean anything. I also know that 2024 draft will have more favorable defensemen than this draft.

 

[ZDH]

I guess being a Coyote fan and listening to the GM speak about what kind of team he wants to build, hinting on who he is impressed with, knowing the GM's history of being transparent, the kind of scouting department he put together, a coach who prefers to play 11forwards and 7 ds to give forwards more playing time doesn't mean anything. I also know that 2024 draft will have more favorable defensemen than this draft.

At the end of the day you need D to get anywhere and Arizona's prospect defensive depth is pretty trash right now. You have quite a few offensive studs in Cooley/Geekie/Gunther but it falls off a cliff when you look at the defense. The athletic has Soderstrom as your top d prospect and wrote this "...he still projects as a top-six defenseman, but there was a time when some scouts were confident he was going to become a second-pairing guy and that doesn’t feel like a sure thing at the moment." Then you have Keith Jones talking about drafting defense non stop who happens to be drafting after Arizona and before their second first rounder. If there's a guy they're sold on they're taking him at 6. If they see Seider in Reinbacher they're taking Reinbacher.

Theres no way you can say "the coyotes dont have a defenseman in their top 10". You don't know that. I don't care what scouting department they've assembled or how their coach runs his lines or what your gm has said. Its an outrageous claim.

 

[Schemp]

At the end of the day you need D to get anywhere and Arizona's prospect defensive depth is pretty trash right now. You have quite a few offensive studs in Cooley/Geekie/Gunther but it falls off a cliff when you look at the defense. The athletic has Soderstrom as your top d prospect and wrote this "...he still projects as a top-six defenseman, but there was a time when some scouts were confident he was going to become a second-pairing guy and that doesn’t feel like a sure thing at the moment." Then you have Keith Jones talking about drafting defense non stop who happens to be drafting after Arizona and before their second first rounder. If there's a guy they're sold on they're taking him at 6. If they see Seider in Reinbacher they're taking Reinbacher.

Theres no way you can say "the coyotes dont have a defenseman in their top 10". You don't know that. I don't care what scouting department they've assembled or how their coach runs his lines or what your gm has said. Its an outrageous claim.

Interesting that JJ Moser is younger than Soderstrom and was picked 60th OA. I like Artem Duda and think Lamoureux, as a long term project, will turn into a stud. Vladislav Kolyachonok is dependable in his own zone.

Everything you posted shows that you know little about the Coyotes organization. Getting Moser as an overager in the 3rd round shows we have one of the better scouting departments and can find talent in the later rounds. Hearing Bill Armstrong talk about a swarming offense tells me he wants at least 9 top 6 forwards.
We got Valimaki as a waiver claim and he is pretty solid as a 2nd pairing.
Having Chayka trading a 1st and a 2nd and then having the league take away a 1st and a 2nd gutted the prospect pool, and not the way the Coyotes have drafted since then.

 

[ZDH]

Interesting that JJ Moser is younger than Soderstrom and was picked 60th OA. I like Artem Duda and think Lamoureux, as a long term project, will turn into a stud. Vladislav Kolyachonok is dependable in his own zone.

Everything you posted shows that you know little about the Coyotes organization. Getting Moser as an overager in the 3rd round shows we have one of the better scouting departments and can find talent in the later rounds. Hearing Bill Armstrong talk about a swarming offense tells me he wants at least 9 top 6 forwards.
We got Valimaki as a waiver claim and he is pretty solid as a 2nd pairing.
Having Chayka trading a 1st and a 2nd and then having the league take away a 1st and a 2nd gutted the prospect pool, and not the way the Coyotes have drafted since then.

That's fine and all. There's no high end d prospect.

 

[Schemp]

That's fine and all. There's no high end d prospect.

What, in this draft? I agree!

 

[McDoused]

How dare a coyotes fan express their opinion on a message board without first hand knowledge of what the team is doing.