2015 mock drafts

[Jouko-Pouko]

Now that we know the order for the first 14 picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, it's time to do some mock drafts. Feel free to post your own mock draft here, and feel free to mock my mock draft.

I'm only posting the first 14 picks for now since I don't want to guess who drops from the playoffs. Here we go.

1. EDM - Connor McDavid, C
2. BUF - Jack Eichel, C
3. ARZ - Dylan Strome, C
4. TOR - Noah Hanifin, D
5. CAR - Mitch Marner, RW
6. NJ - Ivan Provorov, D
7. PHI - Lawson Crouse, LW
8. CBJ - Mikko Rantanen, RW
9. SJ - Pavel Zacha, C
10. COL - Zach Werenski, D
11. FLA - Mathew Barzal, C
12. DAL - Kyle Connor, C
13. LAK - Timo Meier, RW
14. BOS - Brock Boeser, RW

- McDavid and Eichel are obvious picks.
- I think the Coyotes go with Strome because they have lots of D-men but no centers (assuming Domi plays wing).
- The Leafs are glad to see Hanifin dropping to them, and the same can be said for the Hurricanes. Best player available.
- The Devils don't need another D-man but Provorov is the best player available and would allow them to trade Gelinas who doesn't seem to fit in their system.
- Crouse to Philly is another obvious choice (think about him playing with Giroux and Voracek).
- Kekäläinen knows Finnish players better than anyone, so he grabs Rantanen at 8th.
- San Jose is going into a rebuild, so they take the player with the highest upside. Zacha will take some time and patience but that's fine with them.
- The Avalanche are happy to see Werenski available at 10th, a left-handed shot for their blueline is exactly what they need.
- The Panthers take the best player available, and they believe Barzal can switch to wing because there's no room for him at center.
- The Stars add another center in preparation for a time when Spezza leaves.
- The Kings take Meier who is close to being NHL ready and fits in their system.
- The Bruins need goal-scoring from the wing and Boeser can deliver that.

[StuperousFunker]

I wonder how much the Leafs would give up or the Yotes would ask to trade up to the #3 spot for Strome. I'm not sure what the drop-off between Strome and Hanafin's potential is, but with Reilly and Gardiner already there, and the Leafs obvious need for a C, maybe swapping picks and netting a prospect from Toronto as well would make sense Arizona.

[ztking]

I wonder how much the Leafs would give up or the Yotes would ask to trade up to the #3 spot for Strome. I'm not sure what the drop-off between Strome and Hanafin's potential is, but with Reilly and Gardiner already there, and the Leafs obvious need for a C, maybe swapping picks and netting a prospect from Toronto as well would make sense Arizona.

The Leafs are still going to be a lottery team next year and there will be C to draft next year. If Hanifin falls to the them at 4 I'd be ecstatic. Either Hanifin or Strome will be huge for the organization but I don't see them trading up for it. Leafs just need to take the best player available at this stage I think. Arizona also needs a C more than Toronto even. I also like the idea of having Hanifin, Rielly and Gardiner as the cornerstone of the teams defense for the foreseeable future. Can't have enough high quality on a team. Would be a luxury Toronto hasn't had in forever.

[jmouland]

I think Toronto takes Marner over Hanifin at 4. Offense is easier to project than top pairing D at the next level. Whoever the new GM is can`t afford to swing and miss at the 4 position.

[forsbergfan]

I think the first five are fairly set in stone:
EDM - McDavid
BUF - Eiche
ARI - Hanifin
TOR - Strome
CAR - Marner

first two pick are obvious. i think hanifin goes third - he's been the concensus 3rd pick all season, and he's done nothing to change that. plus, the coyotes love drafting dmen. then the leafs take strome, since they need a franchise center, and marner rounds out the top 5.

after that, there are a few ways it could go:
NJ - crouse
phi - rantanen
cbj - provorov
sj - barzal
col - werenski
fla - meier
dal - zacha
lak - chabot
bos - carlo

i think the devils probably go with crouse. usually, they also love drafting dmen in this position, but crouse is the kind of forward they like to draft early as well.
rantanen is hextall's kind of player, and they really need high end, first line type, forwards.
provorov is exactly what the blue jackets want. a do-everything dman that can go 30 minutes, play pp and pk. kinda like a few years ago when the ducks were already good but had a bad season and wound up with the 5th pick - they took hampus lindholm, who i a very similar player to provorov.
sj wants a center. i think they go with zacha, but they might also go with barzal. zacha is a clone of tomas hertl, and they've already got tomas hertl, so they could go with the dynamic playmaker instead.
avs would love to take werenski. he's exactly what they need, but good chance he's gone by then.
panthers need a winger. they made it very clear during last year's draft when they said they might move the 1st overall pick for a winger. they've got some elite talent, especially barkov, and meier is a really good player who makes great players elite. just what they need.
stars r loaded at D, they're gonna go with a forward. they can afford to take a chance on the extremely high upside of barzal, due to their great drafting in previous years.
i think both the kings and bruins go D. the kings want a two way, all around dman. i think they go with chabot over guys like zboril, or the more offensively talented jeremy roy.
and i think the bruins look for chara's successor. they take carlo, who's stock has fallen a bit, but definitely has the potential to be a chara lite player with his huge size.

things all change if the devils decide to take a dman. they could just switch players with the blue jackets, with the devils getting provorov and the jackets getting crouse, since he's their kind of forward, but i have a feeling they want a dman. so then it could look like this:
NJ - provorov
phi - rantanen
cbj - werenki
sj - crouse
col - meier
fla - kyle connor
dal - zacha
lak - chabot
bos - carlo
in this version, barzal fall quite a bit. i think the sharks will be most interested in him due to his huge offensive potential, but the ability to draft someone like crouse, who they don't have anything resembling in their system, will be too good to pass up. the panthers will take connor, who will play wing in the nhl, and has the ability to put up a ton of points.

[forsbergfan]

The Leafs are still going to be a lottery team next year and there will be C to draft next year. If Hanifin falls to the them at 4 I'd be ecstatic. Either Hanifin or Strome will be huge for the organization but I don't see them trading up for it. Leafs just need to take the best player available at this stage I think. Arizona also needs a C more than Toronto even. I also like the idea of having Hanifin, Rielly and Gardiner as the cornerstone of the teams defense for the foreseeable future. Can't have enough high quality on a team. Would be a luxury Toronto hasn't had in forever.

if strome goes at number 3, then the leafs would be really happy to get marner. they have another first round pick, and their will plenty of quality dmen left in the early 20s (assuming that's where the pick winds up being). jakub zboril and jeremy roy would be great pickups for the leafs. kylington might even still be available then.

[Jouko-Pouko]

first two pick are obvious. i think hanifin goes third - he's been the concensus 3rd pick all season, and he's done nothing to change that. plus, the coyotes love drafting dmen. then the leafs take strome, since they need a franchise center, and marner rounds out the top 5.

ISS and Craig Button rank Strome #3, so I wouldn't call Hanifin the consensus 3rd pick. Yes, he could go 3rd overall and yes, CSS has him ranked #3 but it's not a foregone conclusion that he's drafted 3rd overall.

In my opinion, there's 55% chance of Strome going 3rd overall and 45% chance of Hanifin going 3rd overall. They're really close. Hanifin has done nothing wrong, Strome has just been that good.

and i think the bruins look for chara's successor. they take carlo, who's stock has fallen a bit, but definitely has the potential to be a chara lite player with his huge size.

Carlo was ranked #17 in TSN's mid-season ranking (where McKenzie surveys actual NHL scouts) and like you said, his stock has fallen a bit since then. CSS has him ranked 25th best North American skater. I don't see him going in the Top-15 but in the 20-30 range. Of course the Bruins could trade down if they really want him, I just don't think they'll use a Top-15 pick on him. But of course I've been wrong before with similar players like Samuel Morin for example.

with the devils getting provorov and the jackets getting crouse

I just can't see Crouse getting past the Flyers. In my opinion, he's exactly the type of player the Flyers want, and they're also missing that 1st line Left Wing to complement their two superstars.

So I disagree with some of your thoughts here (which is pretty normal) but all in all, you make some good points, so thanks for posting!

[Southpaw20]

As a Leaf fan I sure am hoping for strome to be available at 4 but don't see Arizona passing on him. Having a really tough time deciding between Hanifin and Marner. My gut tells me Marner because, as mentioned earlier, there should be some quality Dmen available at the Nashville pick. I expect myself to flip flop on those two several times before draft day though.....Good problem to have I guess

[poolsharks]

I think TO go with Marner if Strome is gone. Very dynamic player . He said he would be thrilled to play for the Leafs being a local boy ....

The Leafs are still going to be a lottery team next year and there will be C to draft next year. If Hanifin falls to the them at 4 I'd be ecstatic. Either Hanifin or Strome will be huge for the organization but I don't see them trading up for it. Leafs just need to take the best player available at this stage I think. Arizona also needs a C more than Toronto even. I also like the idea of having Hanifin, Rielly and Gardiner as the cornerstone of the teams defense for the foreseeable future. Can't have enough high quality on a team. Would be a luxury Toronto hasn't had in forever.

[ztking]

How about Marner ? Very dynamic player . He said he would be thrilled to play for the Leafs being a local boy ....

Yeah I definitely wouldn't be upset about that at all. Such high end skill on him. Kind of funny how everyone makes a huge deal about his size but he's 5'11 which isnt tiny by any means. A current #87 is the exact same height. My only qualm is if he would be a C at the NHL level. Some have said they see him as more of a winger, I haven't seen enough of him to have a good opinion on it but the Leafs need a C much much more than a winger. The Strome vs Marner debate will go on for years after this draft. I don't think the Leafs can have a bad pick with Hanifin, Strome or Marner being a guarantee.

[Bazz]

I would change:

NJ - Crouse
Philly - Rantanen
CBJ - Provonov
SJ - Werenski
Col - Brazal
FLA - Meier
DAL - Zacha
LAK - Connor
Bos - Svechnikov

[ericdaoust]

I think the Devils go with Crouse if he's available. Gelinas/Larsson/Severson/Merrill on D has to leave them leaning F at the draft. They have next to nothing up front in their organization.

[Buck Fush]

1) Edm - McJesus
2) Buff - Eichel
3) Ari - Marner
4) Tor - Strome
5) Car - Hanifin
6) NJ - Rantanen
7) Phi - Provorov
8) Cbj - Werenski
9) SJ - Crouse
10) Col - Meier
11) Fla - Zacha
12) Dal - Barzal
13) LA - Konecny
14) BOS - Kylington

[petegreg21]

3) Ari - Marner

This is what I was thinking. Maybe AZ wants to keep Domi and Marner together for a while longer

[jmouland]

This is what I was thinking. Maybe AZ wants to keep Domi and Marner together for a while longer

We'll know if Domi goes to the platform to make the pick!