Who’s Going №1 Overall In The NHL Draft?
Quentin Young makes a bunch of predictions based on what just happened at the NHL Draft Lottery.
The NHL Draft Lottery took place just a few hours ago, and there’s been a lot of shuffling at the top of the draft. Colorado, who finished with the worst regular season record, got leapfrogged by Dallas, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, the new holders of first overall pick.
Now that we know the non-playoff draft order, we can start to make projections about what may happen with the franchises picking in the top 10.
1. New Jersey: Nolan Patrick will be great, I can see him, Zacha, and possibly Taylor Hall at some point. New Jersey has a decent prospect pool. This might signal time to sell the rest of the veterans and build on the prospects.
Pick: Nolan Patrick — C
2. Philadelphia: Nico Hischier is amazing. I’ve been convinced at points that he should be #1. He should fit in nicely with Philly’s youth movement, but there might not be much left in the prospect pool for them.
Pick : Nico Hischier — C
3. Dallas: If you weren’t sure if Dallas was going to commit to a rebuild, you should be now. They couldn’t have expected to get the number three pick, but it immediately provides a cornerstone for the next Stars team that they can build around as soon as Round Two of the draft.
Pick: Miro Heiskanen — D
4. Colorado: Sakic wasn’t pleased. His comments pre-draft mentioned that, although they had the best odds of any team, the odds were still overwhelmingly against them to get a top three spot. Colorado is bulldozing the roster this summer, though there are possibilities of players such as Tyson Jost and Mikko Rantanen staying with the soon-to-be fourth overall pick. Still a good asset for Colorado’s rebuild.
Pick: Owen Tippett — RW
5. Vancouver: Two years running, Vancouver has moved down to fifth place from the third best odds. Straddling the blurry line between past and future, Trevor Linden will be happy to add another piece to the young core Vancouver is building to replace the Sedins.
Pick: Gabriel Vilardi — C
6. Las Vegas: They’ll take what they can get, it’s all gravy. Vegas is about to get picks by way of trade. What are they giving up? Considerations, and all that means is they won’t pick certain players in the expansion draft. George McPhee has to be happy picking sixth overall and shaping his brand-new team.
Pick: Cody Glass — C
7. Arizona: They’ll add more prospects that won’t hit their potential, same as usual. I hope they get a guy that works, like Chychrun, but they may get more duds.
Pick: Timothy Liljegren — D
8. Buffalo: They’re getting there. Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel are dangerous, and this pick could be not long from joining them as Buffalo’s new foundation heading into a post-Murray era.
Pick: Casey Mittelstadt — C
9. Detroit: SELL SELL SELL! Trade this pick up, and give up a vet to do it. Vegas could be convinced.
Pick: Michael Rasmussen — C
10. Florida: Should be a solid addition to a well-developing young cast around Barkov and Ekblad.
Pick: Cale Makar — D
Quentin Young is a hockey writer for theocho.ca and a Public Relations student at Algonquin College. Follow him on Twitter at @young_quentin, and check out his weekly Sens news recap every Thursday.
