Not that I got so many picks right till now, but in my opinion, the draft gets MUCH harder to project from this point on. Between now and to the early 40s, the players are all very closely bunched together. I’ll do my best…
20.Los Angeles – K’andre Miller. Miller draws comparisons to Ryan McDonagh, and for a team that doesn’t have much in the way of defence prospects outside of Kale Clague, this is a great value. Used to be a forward, so there’s some offensive upside there.
21.San Jose – Rasmus Sandin. They’ve done well retooling their team getting some good forwards into the mix, however, their defence cupboard is bare. Sandin has a lot of potential, and could wind up being a steal at this point. Definitely a second pairing dman with the potential for even more.
22.Ottawa – Jonny Tychonick. Pure offense. That’s what they want here, and that’s what they get. Teams have been more open to drafting out of the BCHL, and with their GM being a scout at heart, I think that’s what they do. This pick is a bit off the board, but no other defenceman available has as much offensive upside.
23.Anaheim – Nils Lundqvist. Ducks, Scandinavian defenceman with offensive upside. Sound familiar? Draws comparisons to Anton Stralman, and the Ducks wouldn’t mind if he turns into him. The kind of player that helps teams in all areas of the game.
24.Minnesota – Dominik Bokk. No way to know how a new GM will draft, but with a player with so much offensive talent available, how do you not take him? Was very hard for me to slot him so far down, in reality expect him to go higher.
25.Toronto – Jacob Olofsson. Leafs went D last year, and have an absolute ton of wingers in the system. They also seem to prefer Nylander on the wing, due to his chemistry with Matthews. So there could be a need for a center in the system. Olofsson projects as a very solid mid-line center, which would fit in nicely behind Matthews and Kadri.
26.NY Rangers – Serron Noel. With 3 picks in the first rounds, the Rangers can afford to draft a project with sky high potential, however he is a huge (and I mean huge, considering his size) project.
27.Chicago – Ty Dellandrea. He’s the Morgan Frost of this year’s draft. Late round pick that goes to a team with 2 first round picks. Had a good season, and poised to totally break out next season. Lots of offensive potential here. Was great on a horrible team.
28.NY Rangers – Jonathan Berggren. The last time a team had 3 first round picks, it was the Blue Jackets a few years ago, and then went with one high end player (Wennberg), one project with potential that might not pan out (Rychel, and he didn’t!), and one third line spark plug with some offensive upside (Dano). That’s the model I used for the Rangers. Berggren is their spark plug who could play from the top line down to the 3rd line. Draws comparisons to Viktor Arvidsson.
29.St. Louis – Jared McIsaac. The Blues are loaded with prospects, but it’s been a while since they’ve taken a defenceman with a high pick. Just about all their top young defencemen are more offensive oriented, so they go with a safe, shutdown dman with the pick.
30.Detroit – Akil Thomas. Hard working player that could wind up with top six offensive upside. Just seems like a Red Wings type of player.
31.Washington – Martin Kaut. This guy is a playmaker. That’s his calling card. On a team that has some guy named Alex Ovechkin, that’s an asset in high demand.