2017 NHL Mock Draft

[forsbergfan]

1. NJ - Nico Hischier
It's Nico vs Nolan, and I think the Devils go with Nico. They've already got an every-situation center in Pavel Zacha, so I think they go for the dynamic center now. Ray Shero built the Penguins with speed down the middle, now imagine the Devils with Hischier and Mikey McLeod.

2. PHI - Nolan Patrick
Craig Button just spoke about how perfect of a fit this is. Ron Hextall has ties to Patrick's family, and Patrick is the hard-nosed type of player the Flyers always like.

3. DAL - Gabe Vilardi
The Stars are loaded at defence, and have a glaring need for forwards prospects. This pick reeks of Ken Hitchcock, future top-six center (behind Seguin) who has both tons of offensive ability and plays with lots of physicality.

4. COL - Miro Heiskanen
The Avalanche lost the lottery big-time, but it could be a blessing in disguise. It's no secret they need defencemen, and with their first rounder they're going to take the best one in the draft. Heiskanen plays the game similarly to Nick Lidstrom, and that's the kind of player you want to build around. This pick also puts less pressure on them to totally blow up their team by trading Duchene and/or Landeskog, since they were looking for a defenceman in those deals. They'll still probably trade one of them, but less pressure to totally blow the whole thing up now.

5. VAN - Cody Glass
Vancouver wanted a center last year, and they want one this year. Obviously they're disappointed they fell out of the top 2, but Cody Glass plays similarly to Mark Scheifele and Ryan Johansen, so he's a great player to build your offense around. Glass and Horvat will form a tremendous 1-2 punch down the middle for years to come.

6. VEG - Casey Mittelstadt
This next pick is a bit of a wildcard, as obviously Vegas doesn't have anyone in their system yet (well, except for Zach Duke!). I think they go with Mittelstadt, since I feel he is the best prospect available to build your team around with his skill set. No question marks, very little risk with this pick, but very high reward.

7. ARI - Owen Tippett
The Coyotes have a stacked prospects cupboard, but they're a little thin at RW. They've got Christian Fischer, and not much more there. Still too early to tell if Clayton Keller will wind up on the wing or at center, but this pick will give them more options. There have been questions about Tippett's hockey sense, but Yotes GM is an analytics guy, so I assume he'll see the insane production Tippett has put up in juniors and pounce on him.

8. BUF - Cale Makar
This is a really tough pick to make. The Sabres need a defenceman, and they can't afford to make a mistake here. Liljegren has too many question marks due to his play, and while Makar has his own question marks, those are due to his competition, not his own play as are Liljegren's issues. Another issue complicating this pick is that the Sabres real need is for a defensive minded Dman, since they've already got Ristolainen at the NHL level, and Brendan Guhle coming up soon, who also has good offensive skills. Neither one of Liljegren or Makar seem to fit that description, and it seems way too early for any of the other dmen to get taken. I wouldn't be surprised if the Sabres traded this pick, but provided they don't, I think they take Makar, since Liljegren just has way too many question marks.

9. DET - Elias Petterssen
I actually debated Detroit going with major draft faller Tim Liljegren here due to their need for a top pairing dman, but there are too many question marks there for a team who doesn't really like to take question marks (plus they might be content with guys like Cholowski and Saarijarvi as the future of their D). Petterssen plays similarly to Henrik Zettenberg, and the Wings love to slow cook their prospects, which is exactly what Petterssen needs.

10. FLA - Michael Rasmussen
This a team (and now once again the same GM) who drafted Lawson Crouse, a huge player with low risk but possibly lower upside a few years ago, and had to trade him away last offseason. This pick seems very similar. Everyone seems to agree that Rasmussen is going to be a guaranteed NHL player, they're just not sure if he's gonna be a 30 goal center or a solid mid-line player. Sounds very familiar to Crouse! And looking at the Panthers team, if all he becomes is their third line center, that's okay, since they've got tons of top level talent but very little depth.

11. LA - Kristian Vesalainen
No one had a more important U-18 tournament than Vesalainen. He had a horrible season, but he was playing against men, so once he played against players his own age, he was the best player out there. The Kings needs offense, and Vesalainen has top line potential.

12. CAR - Martin Necas
I have no doubt that the Canes are hoping to draft a center with their first round pick, and they would be elated if Necas fell to them. He has top line center potential, something phenomenal to add to their already solid group of young forwards and amazing defence corps (oh, and now Scott Darling).

13. WIN - Lias Anderssen
This one might be a bit of a shocker, but it's a perfect fit. Anderssen is the kind of player that helps you win championships with his two way play. He's got some offensive ability, but even if it doesn't come to fruition (which it very well might not), he will fit in perfectly as a middle six center who plays against opposing teams top players. Think Sean Couturier - offensive ability hasn't developed but he's a guy you want on your team come playoff time.

14. TB - Tim Liljegren
Finally, the biggest draft faller gets taken! Stevie Y has not been afraid to take chances with his first round pick in the past, and for a team that needs defence in their system, this is a chance worth taking. He'll never need to be a 30 minute, number one dman with Hedman around, so even if he develops into a purely offensive speciailist, that's okay for this team. Pair him with Stralman on the second pairing and his defensive shortcomings are greatly reduced.

15. NYI - Jusso Valimaki
Lots of quality forwards still available, but the Islanders have been loading up on offensive forwards the past few seasons, and I believe Ryan Pulock was the last defenceman they took in the first round, and that was a while ago. Valimaki is the total package, a future top 4 dman who can play in all situations. That kind of player is lacking in the Isles' system.

[forsbergfan]

Hope you all enjoy my mock draft. I plan on updating it after the second round when the order of the next 12 picks will be official. Still plenty of quality forwards available (Vesalainen, Kostin, Suzuki, Poehling) who I assume will be part of the next wave of players taken, but it'll all depend on which team is drafting.

For now, please join my league! We need 3 dedicated owners.
http://forums.dobbersports.com/showt...3-replacements

[Axeman33]

We usually have a thread as the draft gets closer where people can post their own mock draft as well.

[Jouko-Pouko]

Great mock draft, I can't really disagree with any of the picks. Maybe the one change I'd make is Winnipeg taking Valimaki as they need a left-handed shot on their blueline. And when Valimaki is no longer available for the Islanders, I think they'd take one of those forwards you still have available. Or they could take Urho Vaakanainen who is a really solid 'D' prospect who played a full pro season in the Finnish top league.

I was going to make my own mock draft today but most of my picks would have been exactly the same with similar reasoning, so why bother anymore.

[Axeman33]

I actually enjoy these draft years more than the ones with the "givens" because we really dont have a clue who anyone is going to take at any point in this draft. Even the first pick is up for argument and both sides would probably be right. It also means that someone at 4/5/6 could end up being just as good as the top couple picks in a few years down the road. As we well know, there are no guarantees in these types of drafts so to me, a lot of teams win, not just the top couple. It's not a weak draft, but one spread out with talent IMO.

Its going to be fun to watch for sure.

[GinFizz]

I can't see the Devils passing on Patrick though I agree with your assessment. Maybe the Flyers trade up and grab Patrick.

[forsbergfan]

I actually enjoy these draft years more than the ones with the "givens" because we really dont have a clue who anyone is going to take at any point in this draft. Even the first pick is up for argument and both sides would probably be right. It also means that someone at 4/5/6 could end up being just as good as the top couple picks in a few years down the road. As we well know, there are no guarantees in these types of drafts so to me, a lot of teams win, not just the top couple. It's not a weak draft, but one spread out with talent IMO.

Its going to be fun to watch for sure.

to your point, these kinds of draft classes make it even more important for us to do our own scouting for fantasy purposes. when there are givens, at least within the first couple of months after the draft when just about all fantasy drafts are held, each players' value is generally around where he was drafted, but this season, and for example, the ekblad/reinhart draft, when after the first few picks everything is basically up to the team's preference, and the players are more or less of equal value, we need to do our own scouting for fantasy purposes.
my mock draft is what I think will happen in the real draft, but for fantasy purposes, it would be a whole different story. and i'm not gonna give that away since there are some in my leagues that are regulars on the dobber forum!!!

[Jouko-Pouko]

I can't see the Devils passing on Patrick though I agree with your assessment. Maybe the Flyers trade up and grab Patrick.

Patrick and Hischier are neck and neck, it comes down to personal preference. From Bob McKenzie:

It's Nico versus Nolan, the most legitimate draft battle for No. 1 we've seen since Taylor (Hall) versus Tyler (Seguin) in 2010. It is, of course, also a massive victory for alliteration.

Brandon Wheat King centre Nolan Patrick is No. 1 on TSN's Top 15 rankings, Draft Lottery edition, but only by the slimmest of margins over Swiss centre Nico Hischier of the Halifax Moosehead.
TSN surveys 10 NHL scouts from 10 different teams to get its consensus rankings.

--

For TSN's Draft Lottery edition, five scouts ranked the 6-foot-2, 198-pound Patrick No. 1; five scouts ranked the 6-foot-1, 176-pound Hischier No. 1. The Swiss pivot has closed the gap with his dynamic play, which came at a time when Patrick's injury-riddled season was ended prematurely by an upper-body ailment that wasn?t related to the groin/abdominal issues that plagued him for the first half of the season.

In order to break the Nolan-Nico dead heat, TSN decided to survey another 10 scouts representing another 10 teams and ? yup, you guessed it ? five named Patrick as No. 1 and five put Hischier at No. 1.
Twenty NHL teams; another deadlock.

In order to break the tie, TSN surveyed three more scouts from three more teams. Patrick got two votes for No. 1; Hischier got one.
Advantage, ever so slightly (12-11), goes to Patrick.

[forsbergfan]

Patrick and Hischier are neck and neck, it comes down to personal preference.

Craig Button has Hischier going to the Devils. And like Jouko pointed out, according to the overall opinion of NHL scouts, they're about as neck and neck as can be. The Devils need a dynamic scoring center who can be Hall's linemate much more than they need a Getzlaf type, all around centerman. They've already got that in Pavel Zacha.
Another point is that I believe there are no question marks regarding Hischier, but plenty regarding Patrick. The Devils absolutely can not afford to make a mistake with this pick. This is it for them - this is the future of their franchise. Of course it sucks that they aren't getting a generational talent, but how often do point per game number one centers come along? If they take Patrick and then his injury concerns continue, or if he doesn't materialize into the number one center that he should be (which is a legitimate concern according to many scouts), then they have doomed their franchise to several more years of mediocrity.
Listen to the latest episode of dobber prospect radio, and hear Grant McCagg talk about Patrick. Then you will get the idea of why some are worried about him. Don't get me wrong, the Flyers will be elated to get him, but if they miss on their pick, considering where they finished (just out of a playoff spot) and the strength of their prospect system (it's awesome), it's not the end of the world. Plus, Patrick will not have the pressure of being their number one center - Claude Giroux has that one taken care of. I know he's been declining, but he's still their number one for the next few seasons and Patrick could be brought along slowly, just like they have been doing with the rest of their prospects. They also have Couturier, who is gonna be their center who fights the hard battles with opposing teams' top players (see my Winnipeg pick), and another really talented prospect in German Rubtsov, who they drafted in the first round last year, who has a great mix of scoring and defence, so Patrick will have less responsibilities with the Flyers than with the Devils, which limits the question marks. Maybe it also limits his upside from a fantasy perspective, but that's not what this mock draft is about. The Flyers are a great fit for him.

[GinFizz]

the Devils will sell a lot more season tickets if they pick Patrick than Hischier. thats for sure

[Axeman33]

the Devils will sell a lot more season tickets if they pick Patrick than Hischier. thats for sure

The Devils will sell a lot more season tickets if they start winning games. I think both kids give them the ability to do that. While Patrick may be a force, Hischeier will get the fans out of their seats with his skillset more than Patrick. He's that exciting to watch.

[Jouko-Pouko]

the Devils will sell a lot more season tickets if they pick Patrick than Hischier. thats for sure

The Devils will sell a lot more season tickets if they start winning games. I think both kids give them the ability to do that. While Patrick may be a force, Hischeier will get the fans out of their seats with his skillset more than Patrick. He's that exciting to watch.

Yeah, I agree with Axeman here. Hischier is a flashy offensive player which is what casual fans love to watch. Patrick is a bit more boring to watch for the casual hockey fans.

I also totally agree with forsbergfan's assessment of the situation - the Devils already have Zacha, and Patrick is a similar player. Adding a player with different skill-set is better for the whole team.

[VincentVega]

If Hischier goes to the Flyers, he will be the more tempting pick for fantasy purposes this fall.

[pharling]

Great read, thanks for posting.
Paul and I will be doing a live mock draft on the next episode of DobberProspect Radio which will be posted on Wednesday May 3rd, tune in

[VintageVibe]

Great list and read for sure! Although I think Suzuki will find his way into the top 15 (maybe even top 10). Kids going to be an all-around stud.