NHL Mock Draft Thread!!

[misfit]

k well im ready to pick, ne1 know if shannys time is up?

Not for another 9 hours

 

[shelovesshanny]

With the 253rd pick in the NHL draft, the Washington Capitals are very proud to select, from the United States, defenseman, Chris Chelios!

 

[Nomis]

Ok well im gunna pick my 4th line center now!!!!!!!!!!!
according the the hockey news :
"no matter the pain, hes always willing to block shots and battle. Also a key man in the faceoff circle."
Sounds like just the man i want on my 4th line.

Montreal is proud to select:

Stephane Yelle(C)

 

[ORBluesFan]

With their 17th and 18th round picks, St. Louis selects two players who can play both ways - they can at least put up adequate defense while scoring 20-25 goals a year or better. They complement each other (one more playmaker, one more shooter) and would also be good fits on the top 2 lines if we need injury fill-ins.

The Blues are pleased to select wingers Mark Parrish and Ray Whitney.

 

[Nomis]

Montreal selects: 6'6 245lbs dman Andy Sutton(D)

 

[VanIslander]

I've been waiting 28 picks since last I've picked, and have to wait 20 more, due to the trades I made to move up and nab Rathje, Esche and Gelinas earlier than I could have otherwise.

And surprisingly, only two! ( ) of the last 28 picks were from the list of players I'm hoping to choose from: Mitchell and Kapanen.

You guys have seriously surprised me with the lack of goaltending picks. Man, I could have waited on Esche (who had a good postseason and good World Cup) and taken one of several competent netminders still available. Now, with only 20 picks before I get to pick, you guys may pick up the good starters that are left, and use them as backups, but then there's still the half dozen great backups in the league too.

So, unless there's a serious run of more than a dozen goaltenders in the next 20 picks, I'm going to be well enough set in net to backstop the best team of defensively-minded forwards with offensive talent that I could muster. The entire second (Modin-Elias-Guerin) and third lines (Maltby-Holik-Rolston) are Stanley Cup champions to boot.

My draft strategy makes my forwards a force come playoff time, at both ends of the ice (though I wanted Drury, Langenbrunner , Morrow and/or Lehtinen on the team as well - oh well). Goaltending was supposed to be a weakness. But it won't be much of one, though clearly lower than some.

What about you guys. How has your draft strategy been going?

 

[ORBluesFan]

Rats, Sutton was going to be my pick here. Should have taken him instead of one of the previous guys. Oh well.

My other pick I was looking at is going along the lines of what VanIslander is thinking. With one all-star goalie in tow, we'll add a younger guy who while playing for a team that was supposed to score a lot of goals to keep him from being the focus, actually was a strong help in keeping his team in the hunt while they weren't scoring, posting a stellar .924 save percentage while replacing one of the greatest goalies of all time.

The St. Louis Blues are pleased to select goaltender David Aebischer.

 

[wolfen]

The St. Louis Blues are pleased to select goaltender David Aebischer.

I think he's probably the best backup goalie there is right now... capable of being a starter at a very high level, but also able to stay sharp while being the backup.

 

[wolfen]

How has your draft strategy been going?

it's a little early to say for sure how everything will work out...

but I think the blackhawks have the best goalie and the best group of centers. If stevens and hatcher can play up to the level they have in the past, chicago also has the best group of stay-at-home defensemen and the best penalty kill. I'm figuring the odds are good that one of the two will recover, but worst-case scenario is stevens stays concussed and hatcher continues to play like a 3rd-pairing dman... given the defensive strength of the forward lines and the good goaltending, I'm reasonably comfortable with a top 4 of norstrom, schneider, phillips, and kaberle.

weaknesses are at wing and offensive dman, both are pretty strong but nowhere near the level of some of the other teams. But I think this team is well set up to counter all the offensive firepower some of the other teams have... one very strong checking line, and two scoring lines with great defensive centers.

 

[tripledekehockey]

Vesa Toskala is the pick of the detroit red wings

way to go steelers, the streak is over

 

[wolfen]

the blackhawks draft LW jochen hecht.

 

[hossy316]

To sure up our goaltending because of the tendency for CuJo to get injured, the select goaltender:

Rick Dipietro

 

[ORBluesFan]

To complete our forward lines, the Blues choose another forward who, while older, has shown to be extremely strong on faceoffs, good defensively, and can provide another 20+ goal scorer to our lineup, as he has hit that level year in and year out. We can also put him in front of the net on the 2nd power play to put in some of the rebounds.

St. Louis is pleased to select forward Dave Andreychuk. We'll stick him at RW with Draper and Damphousse and move Madden down to the 4th line.

 

[pei_bruins]

I am pleased to select goaltender-

Marc Denis

 

[misfit]

To continue with the goalie trend, the Jets select G, Patrick Lalime

 

[ORBluesFan]

How has your draft strategy been going?

Well, being at the back of the line for the most part (except for the trade, has given me the opportunity to get 2 guys that I want each time, though it's a long way between picks.

Forwards: I started just going with the BPA theory, and it worked for several rounds. Combine the top two lines with passers (Sundin, Palffy), shooters (Hossa, Leclair), and gritty "muckers" to clean up a little (Tkachuk, Arnott). I think I have the best set of overall scoring forwards in the draft, with 5 guys who are likely 30+ scorers and everyone is at least near a 20+ goal scorer. My goal was to get the best offensive players possible while trying to avoid defensive liabilities. Having good 3rd and 4th defensive lines is a decent bonus.

Additionally I wanted centers and additiaonal guys who could win faceoffs, one of the most underrated abilities IMO. With Sundin, Arnott, Draper, and Madden down the middle, plus Damphousse, Andreychuk, and even Tkachuk if the main guy gets tossed, I think I've accomplished that quite well.

Defense: My goal here was twofold: get the best puck movers who could spring the forwards and run the power play, and pair them with steady stay-at-home type guys who could still move and shoot the puck. With two very good sets of both the first (Leetch and Jonsson) and the second (Souray and Smith), I can afford to wiat to pick up 2 more at the end. Lots of good guys left to choose from, but will likely stick with the formula.

Goalies: Hard to predict from team to team, so the best way I can look at it is by going with save percentage. Waiting to get Roloson late with his near-league-leading numbers, and with Aebischer not far behind, I've done what I needed to here.

All in all, I think I've done exactly what I needed to do to get a team to win next year. Haven't picked a lot of injury-prone type guys, and have a great combination of finesse and grit, and no real defensive liabilities. I think we could play a wide open game and win it all over the course of a 100+ game year.

 

[Amen evil king]

Atlanta Thrashers pick Tomas Holmstrom (LW/RW)

I've got an exam in like 15 minutes, so can someone else PM cupfever101?

Cheers.

 

[ORBluesFan]

Atlanta Thrashers pick Tomas Holmstrom (LW/RW)

I've got an exam in like 15 minutes, so can someone else PM cupfever101?

Cheers.

I'm on it.

 

[Amen evil king]

I'm on it.

Thanks for that

 

[cupfever101]

charleston is happy to select, lw, oleg kvasha, nyi

 

[Newfie Bruin]

The Bruins have took some time to select their backup. But the time has come..The Bruins select Goalie....Kevin Weekes.

 

[BEAUlieve]

The Pittsburgh Penguins are proud to select Dan Cloutier

 

[fredez]

Nordiques select Martin Lapointe

They will announce their next selection in the next few minutes

 

[fredez]

Quebec pick Chris Gratton

 

[BEAUlieve]

The Pittsburgh Penguins are proud to select Chris Clark