badrobot101
Registered User
It was tougher than I thought it would be. I hope you may enjoy it, and will be kind with your comments (if any). Cheers!
please note: I have slotted Edmonton in as the #30 pick, as I think they will win it all this year. No offense is intended to either of Carolina's fans, they have a good team. Ish.
1 - St. Louis Blues – Phil Kessel, C
They need a dynamic scorer to put bums in seats. Might as well start with Phil the Thrill.
2 - Pittsburgh Penguins - Erik Johnson, D
Fortuitously, and maybe through sending a late round pick to St. Louis, the Pens get the guy they will desperately need a few years from now.
3 - Chicago Blackhawks - Jordan Staal, C
A consolation prize. Drafting 3rd for the second time in three years, means you get
a safe bet instead of a sure thing.
4 - Washington Capitals - Jonathan Toews, C/RW
They’ll probably think about a playmaker to go with Alex the Great, but I think ultimately that Toews is too good for them to pass up. If the Caps ever compete again, he’ll have a lot to do with it.
5 - Boston Bruins – Derrick Brassard, C
Um. I guess since he’s French Canadian, they might think he’ll have a natural rapport with Bergeron? I dunno. Maybe.
6 - Columbus Blue Jackets – Nicklas Backstrom, C
I agonized over this one. I truly did. Then I looked deep into my heart and pulled his name out of a hat.
No, I think he’s the guy they might have their heart set on. He’ll feed Zherdev and Nash, and help them score a bunch a few years from now. Right around the time that Nash becomes a Free Agent.
7 - New York Islanders – Chris Stewart, RW
I’m going off the board here, of course. I think he may have intangibles that Milbury (or whoever runs the NYI draft, now that the reins have been wrested free from Crazy Mike; not unlike the way you might have taken the TV remote from your Granddad) has a perceived need of. On the other hand, I won’t be entirely shocked if Stewart to the bottom of the first round. I like him though; I think he’s the Real Thing.
8 - Phoenix Coyotes – Jiri Tlusty, LW
I think the Coyotes have drafted badly in the past few decades. I don’t like Tlusty, he's neither fish nor fowl, and that’s why I think PHX will take him. They may never make the playoffs again.
9 - Minnesota Wild – Peter Mueller, C
It was a toss-up between him and Okposo. Both good players, both from Minnesota. Ultimately, I figure Riseborough will go with a big, two-way center.
10 - Florida Panthers – Bryan Little, C
A Keenan crap-shoot. Possibly his last draft ever and maybe he’ll go for a nice playmaker to offset his assassins (i.e. Horton, Stewart, and McArdle)?
11 - LA Kings – Michael Frolik, RW
The tradition continues. A juicy forward plummets, and LA is there with open arms. Damn, this team might have a stacked forward corps a few years from now. I’m guessing they’ll agonize over not taking a defenseman, but since this draft year is not exactly stacked with blueliners, Lombardi will be able to justify this pick to himself and sleep soundly at night.
12 - Atlanta Thrashers – James Sheppard, LW
I reckon they’ll be looking for forward depth, and in my view he’ll be the best one still on the board.
13 - Toronto Maple Leafs – Bobby Sanguinetti, D
It won’t be a popular pick with Leaf fans (I am hoping for Sheppard myself, but we probably won’t get anybody halfway decent. It sucks that the Leafs both failed to make the playoffs AND ruined their chances of drafting anybody other than a project. We probably won’t even get Sanguinetti. Tabernouche!), but Fergie knows he’ll be fired at the end of the season no matter what he does, and I think he’ll re-stock the blueline with the Best Player Available.
14 - Vancouver Canucks – Kyle Okposo, RW
Unless they take a defenseman. Or a goaltender. But they wouldn’t take a goalie, because that would be crazy. Wouldn’t it??? I am thinking that Okposo will fall due to his playing in the USHL, which I don’t know much about, but the caliber of competition may not be up to snuff. If he kicks butt in the NCAA next year, then I will happily be proven wrong. I’ll probably be wrong anyway, my mock drafts are always disastrously off-target. Knickers.
15 - Tampa Bay Lightning – Jonathan Bernier, G
Well, at least one goalie has to go in the first round, and I think Tampa really needs to look at scoring a netminder at some point. I realize he won’t be ready for 4 or 5 years, but sod it. I’m calling Bernier here.
16 - Montreal Canadiens – Ivan Vishnevsky, D
He played for Rouyn-Noranda this year, so the absence of a IIHF transfer agreement with the Russian mafia shouldn’t prevent this (allegedly) skilled offensive defenseman from getting signed and cracking the Bulldogs roster a few years from now. And I figured that the Habs need to restock the blueline, and there are too many question marks around Wishart, Nigel Williams and Mitera.
17 - Colorado Avalanche – Patrick Berglund, C
Maybe he’ll remind Denverites of a successful Swedish center from years ago. Then again, maybe he won’t.
18 - Anaheim Mighty Ducks – Nigel Williams, D
Okay, this is a purely random guess. I figured that since Burke passed on Jack Johnson last year, this time he might go with a large U.S.-born defenceman who has some potential. I realize Williams is a huge project, and a lot of people think he may fall out of the first round altogether. But I’ll be very pleased with myself if I’m right about Burke taking him.
19 - San Jose Sharks – Ty Wishart, D
The Sharks traditionally like WHL guys, and they might be in the market to add a defenceman to the prospect pool. Plus, most of the guys I know anything about will be gone by this point.
20 - New York Rangers – Ben Maxwell, C
Maybe he’ll work out well for them. I gather that most of the A-level depth is gone by now, and some of the B-level types are also thin on the ground. But this guy has skills.
21 - Philadelphia Flyers – Ryan White, C
Well, he seems like the kind of dude that Clarke likes. Actually, I like this guy too, but the consensus seems to be that he’s a pure grinder at the NHL level.
22 - Washington Capitals (from Nashville) – Joe Ryan, D
Since it’s their second first-rounder, I assume they’ll take a flyer on D.
23 - Buffalo Sabres – Mark Mitera, D
I thought he played well at the WJC, and the Sabres need to pick up some D. 2+2= …. 5?
24 - New Jersey Devils – Nick Foligno, LW
NJ has the track record of taking kids with an NHL pedigree. They also have a track record of going off the board and making some madcap selections (Adrian Foster, step on up!) so this might make sense.
25 - Calgary Flames – Cory Emmerton, C
Why not?
26 - St. Louis Blues (from Carolina) – Mike Forney, LW
With their 2nd first rounder, they may take on a Low-Risk, High-Return project.
27 - Dallas Stars – Jesse Joensuu, RW
My theory is: Dave Tippett has a Finnish granny. And that Finnish players have established themselves well in the big D.
28 - Ottawa Senators – Francois Bouchard, LW
Muckler goes off the board yet again. And probably snags a gem. Grrrrr.
29 - Detroit Red Wings – Chris Summers, D
I have no idea, but what the heck.
30 - Minnesota Wild (from Edmonton) – David Fischer, D
He’s from Minnesota as well, and it sounds like he might have good (albeit rough) tools: speed and size, and the Mr. Hockey award to boot. So, why not?
please note: I have slotted Edmonton in as the #30 pick, as I think they will win it all this year. No offense is intended to either of Carolina's fans, they have a good team. Ish.
1 - St. Louis Blues – Phil Kessel, C
They need a dynamic scorer to put bums in seats. Might as well start with Phil the Thrill.
2 - Pittsburgh Penguins - Erik Johnson, D
Fortuitously, and maybe through sending a late round pick to St. Louis, the Pens get the guy they will desperately need a few years from now.
3 - Chicago Blackhawks - Jordan Staal, C
A consolation prize. Drafting 3rd for the second time in three years, means you get
a safe bet instead of a sure thing.
4 - Washington Capitals - Jonathan Toews, C/RW
They’ll probably think about a playmaker to go with Alex the Great, but I think ultimately that Toews is too good for them to pass up. If the Caps ever compete again, he’ll have a lot to do with it.
5 - Boston Bruins – Derrick Brassard, C
Um. I guess since he’s French Canadian, they might think he’ll have a natural rapport with Bergeron? I dunno. Maybe.
6 - Columbus Blue Jackets – Nicklas Backstrom, C
I agonized over this one. I truly did. Then I looked deep into my heart and pulled his name out of a hat.
No, I think he’s the guy they might have their heart set on. He’ll feed Zherdev and Nash, and help them score a bunch a few years from now. Right around the time that Nash becomes a Free Agent.
7 - New York Islanders – Chris Stewart, RW
I’m going off the board here, of course. I think he may have intangibles that Milbury (or whoever runs the NYI draft, now that the reins have been wrested free from Crazy Mike; not unlike the way you might have taken the TV remote from your Granddad) has a perceived need of. On the other hand, I won’t be entirely shocked if Stewart to the bottom of the first round. I like him though; I think he’s the Real Thing.
8 - Phoenix Coyotes – Jiri Tlusty, LW
I think the Coyotes have drafted badly in the past few decades. I don’t like Tlusty, he's neither fish nor fowl, and that’s why I think PHX will take him. They may never make the playoffs again.
9 - Minnesota Wild – Peter Mueller, C
It was a toss-up between him and Okposo. Both good players, both from Minnesota. Ultimately, I figure Riseborough will go with a big, two-way center.
10 - Florida Panthers – Bryan Little, C
A Keenan crap-shoot. Possibly his last draft ever and maybe he’ll go for a nice playmaker to offset his assassins (i.e. Horton, Stewart, and McArdle)?
11 - LA Kings – Michael Frolik, RW
The tradition continues. A juicy forward plummets, and LA is there with open arms. Damn, this team might have a stacked forward corps a few years from now. I’m guessing they’ll agonize over not taking a defenseman, but since this draft year is not exactly stacked with blueliners, Lombardi will be able to justify this pick to himself and sleep soundly at night.
12 - Atlanta Thrashers – James Sheppard, LW
I reckon they’ll be looking for forward depth, and in my view he’ll be the best one still on the board.
13 - Toronto Maple Leafs – Bobby Sanguinetti, D
It won’t be a popular pick with Leaf fans (I am hoping for Sheppard myself, but we probably won’t get anybody halfway decent. It sucks that the Leafs both failed to make the playoffs AND ruined their chances of drafting anybody other than a project. We probably won’t even get Sanguinetti. Tabernouche!), but Fergie knows he’ll be fired at the end of the season no matter what he does, and I think he’ll re-stock the blueline with the Best Player Available.
14 - Vancouver Canucks – Kyle Okposo, RW
Unless they take a defenseman. Or a goaltender. But they wouldn’t take a goalie, because that would be crazy. Wouldn’t it??? I am thinking that Okposo will fall due to his playing in the USHL, which I don’t know much about, but the caliber of competition may not be up to snuff. If he kicks butt in the NCAA next year, then I will happily be proven wrong. I’ll probably be wrong anyway, my mock drafts are always disastrously off-target. Knickers.
15 - Tampa Bay Lightning – Jonathan Bernier, G
Well, at least one goalie has to go in the first round, and I think Tampa really needs to look at scoring a netminder at some point. I realize he won’t be ready for 4 or 5 years, but sod it. I’m calling Bernier here.
16 - Montreal Canadiens – Ivan Vishnevsky, D
He played for Rouyn-Noranda this year, so the absence of a IIHF transfer agreement with the Russian mafia shouldn’t prevent this (allegedly) skilled offensive defenseman from getting signed and cracking the Bulldogs roster a few years from now. And I figured that the Habs need to restock the blueline, and there are too many question marks around Wishart, Nigel Williams and Mitera.
17 - Colorado Avalanche – Patrick Berglund, C
Maybe he’ll remind Denverites of a successful Swedish center from years ago. Then again, maybe he won’t.
18 - Anaheim Mighty Ducks – Nigel Williams, D
Okay, this is a purely random guess. I figured that since Burke passed on Jack Johnson last year, this time he might go with a large U.S.-born defenceman who has some potential. I realize Williams is a huge project, and a lot of people think he may fall out of the first round altogether. But I’ll be very pleased with myself if I’m right about Burke taking him.
19 - San Jose Sharks – Ty Wishart, D
The Sharks traditionally like WHL guys, and they might be in the market to add a defenceman to the prospect pool. Plus, most of the guys I know anything about will be gone by this point.
20 - New York Rangers – Ben Maxwell, C
Maybe he’ll work out well for them. I gather that most of the A-level depth is gone by now, and some of the B-level types are also thin on the ground. But this guy has skills.
21 - Philadelphia Flyers – Ryan White, C
Well, he seems like the kind of dude that Clarke likes. Actually, I like this guy too, but the consensus seems to be that he’s a pure grinder at the NHL level.
22 - Washington Capitals (from Nashville) – Joe Ryan, D
Since it’s their second first-rounder, I assume they’ll take a flyer on D.
23 - Buffalo Sabres – Mark Mitera, D
I thought he played well at the WJC, and the Sabres need to pick up some D. 2+2= …. 5?
24 - New Jersey Devils – Nick Foligno, LW
NJ has the track record of taking kids with an NHL pedigree. They also have a track record of going off the board and making some madcap selections (Adrian Foster, step on up!) so this might make sense.
25 - Calgary Flames – Cory Emmerton, C
Why not?
26 - St. Louis Blues (from Carolina) – Mike Forney, LW
With their 2nd first rounder, they may take on a Low-Risk, High-Return project.
27 - Dallas Stars – Jesse Joensuu, RW
My theory is: Dave Tippett has a Finnish granny. And that Finnish players have established themselves well in the big D.
28 - Ottawa Senators – Francois Bouchard, LW
Muckler goes off the board yet again. And probably snags a gem. Grrrrr.
29 - Detroit Red Wings – Chris Summers, D
I have no idea, but what the heck.
30 - Minnesota Wild (from Edmonton) – David Fischer, D
He’s from Minnesota as well, and it sounds like he might have good (albeit rough) tools: speed and size, and the Mr. Hockey award to boot. So, why not?
Thanks for the mock draft. It is always fun to see what people are thinking. 
