1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th Overall Picks in this years draft - Who should I take?

[Oakville Squires]

So this year I traded a lot of my core keepers for prospects / picks to start a rebuild. We just had our draft lottery and I ended up with the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th overall picks in this years draft. During the draft I have to activate Nyquist, Coyle, Yakupov and Lehner who will all be taking over keeper spots at the end of next year. In 2015 I have 3 first round picks and have to activate Barkov, Baertschi, Ceci, and Scheifele. Since we can only keep 14 roster players, and after 2015 I will have a ton of young blue chippers activated that I will want to use keeper spots on, I am looking to draft players that are a little riskier, or will take longer to get their opportunity in the NHL, but have a bit higher of a ceiling.

Right now I am pretty sure I will select Bennett with my 1st pick but I would appreciate the Community's thoughts on who they would target/rank as their top 7 if they had my team (see team and league detail in my signature). I should also mention that undrafted prospects from prior year that are available include guys like Lazar, Poirier, Theodore, Samuelsson, Gaudreau, and Petan.

Thanks in advance.

[burnsy00]

Out of curiosity why not try and consolidate some of those picks and assets for upgrades with other teams?

[Oakville Squires]

Out of curiosity why not try and consolidate some of those picks and assets for upgrades with other teams?

Great Question. The GM's in my league tend to ask for a huge premium for proven players / highly regarded prospects that are in their early 20's, which is who I am targeting, and since this years draft isn't very highly regarded I don't think I would get the value out of the 1st rounders for 2014 that I would normally get (and don't want to move my 2015 potential McDavid / Eichel picks). Instead of moving a bunch of picks and prospects for a couple keepers that would help me next year I would rather draft some young guys with upside that may have more value in a couple years when I am closer to competing and really have to make some tough keeper decisions (likely in 3 to 4 years when I start activating the prospects that I draft in 2014 and 2015).

[Noddes55]

My top 7 would be

BENNETT
EKBLAD
REINHART
DRAISAITL
GAUDREAU
EHLERS
DAL COLLE

[Axeman33]

If I was drafting for my keeper today, with the info you gave (not know all the available from last years draft), I would rank them:

Reinhart
Lazar
Bennett
Draisaitl
Nylander
Dal Colle
Ekblad

[The Bottlenecker]

I am in a similar position with a young team, but without as many draft picks. I am leaning towards taking Reinhart if I get the first overall in the draft lottery, but am considering Ekblad if I have to pick later in the draft. I am required, of course, to count defence men in my pool, and I think Ekblad will be an exceptional blueliner.

[rataylor22]

Reinhart
Bennett
Lazar
Draisaitl
Gaudreau
Nylander
Dal Colle
Ekblad

[Oakville Squires]

I really appreciate the feedback and one name that jumps out at me that I wasn't really considering was Lazar. I haven't had a chance to see him play but considered him more of a great all round player than a top fantasy prospect and would be interested to know why he is so highly touted and what current NHL player would be most comparable in terms of his potential.

[mounD]

My top7:

Bennett
Reinhart
Draisaitl
Nylander
Ekblad
Ehlers
Dal Colle

[mounD]

I really appreciate the feedback and one name that jumps out at me that I wasn't really considering was Lazar. I haven't had a chance to see him play but considered him more of a great all round player than a top fantasy prospect and would be interested to know why he is so highly touted and what current NHL player would be most comparable in terms of his potential.

I feel like he could top out as a 60+ Top6 two-way Center who can play in all situations. In the prospects report he was described as "a smaller, more assertive Tomas Plekanec."

[Big Ev]

I feel like he could top out as a 60+ Top6 two-way Center who can play in all situations. In the prospects report he was described as "a smaller, more assertive Tomas Plekanec."

Oh god, who the hell wrote that? Just a terrible comparison.