1st pick middle of pack- who to chose?
 

Who should I draft for my first pick if i were in middle of pack (6-8 position) and the regular top guys are already taken?

Presumably ill be keeping this guy for next year as well, so that has to factor in as well. My categories are in my signature. Im debating between Corey Perry, Tavares, and James Neal, not sure about Parise or Kovalchuck. Who would you recommend and in what order in case I end up picking even later in the round?

It depends on who the "top regular guys" are. The only guys you can count on for sure to be gone by then are Crosby, Stamkos and Malkin. I've seen Ovechkin, Giroux and Lundqvist all fall past 5th in different drafts. That said, if Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, Ovechkin and Giroux are gone, and you don't want to take a goalie with your first pick, I'd take Tavares. If Ovechkin or Giroux fall, I'd take them in that order. I don't think Perry should be taken in the first round here. Kovalchuk's situation means that he will probably fall farther than normal, and even before he said he might stay in Russia I snagged him in the 5th round of a 10 team, head-to-head league this year.

At 6-8 I'd be hoping for Tavares all the way.

I've found their is a consensus top 9 this year (6 skaters, 3 goalies):
Malkin, Crosby, Stamkos, Ovechkin, Giroux, Tavares.... Lundqvist, Rinne, Quick.

After that comes Neal/Perry/Parise/Kovalchuk type group.

Anyways, if you are drafting top 6-8, you should get one of the first group of players.
If you are deadset on drafting a skater and MCSOGT go... I'd put Neal, then Perry next in multi-cat.

Once Stamkos/Malkin/Crosby/Giroux are gone, next logical choice for me is Tavares.

this is definitely the group you should be targeting

Don't forget that Karlsson should be thrown in here somewhere.

John Tavares for me.

yep I was assuming that Stamkos,Malkin,Crosby,Giroux,Ovi are picked first, Im glad to see there a consensus on Tavares. I was actually debating between Tavares and Neal until I realized Tavares is only 21 years old, and he already has 80pt season. He'll probably develop even more next year. Im not too keen on getting a goalie first round, maybe in my second round if Rinne is still available. We'll see.

I think Ill go Tavares then Neal then probably Perry in that order. I'd definitely pick up Karlsson in 2nd round if he actually slips through, but I doubt it. Thanks for the input :D

tavares, lunqvist, quick, rinne