Here's my guesses for picks 15-30.
15. Tampa Bay Lightning- Riku Helenius, Goalie, Finland
Comment: The Lightning would probably take Bernier if he was available. If one of the forwards from the top 14 is still available, they also might go after him.
16. Montreal Canadiens- Ty Wishart, Defenseman, Prince George(WHL)
Comment: Wishart is a big defenseman that plays his position very well.
17. Minnesota Wild (from EDM)- Ryan White, Forward, Calgary(WHL)
Comment: Probably a bit early for White, but the Wild’s Tom Thompson said they were planning on drafting someone that they thought might have been available at number 30.
18. Colorado Avalanche- Bobby Sanguinetti, Defenseman, Owen Sound(OHL)
Comment: The Avs don’t have a lot of depth on defense, and they’ll be extremely please if Sanguinetti falls this far.
19. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim- Ivan Vishnevsky, Defenseman, QMJHL
Comment: With Sanguinetti falling one pick before, the Ducks take the next best offensive defenseman available.
20. San Jose Sharks-Mike Forney, Forward, Thief River Falls HS
Comment: The Sharks will be willing to let Forney spend a few years at North Dakota to develop his game.
21. New York Rangers- Patrik Berglund, Forward, Sweden
Comment: Skilled enough offensively that the Rangers decide to take a chance on him
22. Philadelphia Flyers- Ben Maxwell, Forward, Kootenay(WHL)
Comment: He should fit in well with the Flyers other young, high-scoring talent
23. Washington Capitals (from NSH)- Chris Summers, Defenseman, USA U18
Comment: After securing a forward with their first pick, the Caps go back to trying to build up their defense. They’ll choose Summers over Mark Mitera because they’ve already drafted players similar to Mitera in recent years. Summers has the potential to be a little more dynamic.
24. Buffalo Sabres- Brian Strait, Defenseman, USA U18
Comment: The Sabres seem to like taking college players. Strait is an excellent defensive defenseman.
25. New Jersey Devils-Mark Mitera, Defenseman, Michigan
Comment: The Devils are another team that likes taking college prospects. Mitera would fit in well with the Devils style of defense-first hockey.
26. Calgary Flames-Jamie McGinn, Forward, Ottawa(OHL)
Comment: The run of NCAA players stops here. I’d be surprised if the Flames took another college player in my lifetime. The Flames would have liked Ryan White, but will instead have to settle for McGinn who plays a hard-nosed style that Calgary appreciates
27. Dallas Stars-Ondrej Fiala, Forward, Everett(WHL)
Comment: The Stars could use some offensive talent, and from the 27th position, it’s worth taking a gamble on a player with a lot of potential like Fiala.
28. Ottawa Senators-Dennis Persson, Defenseman, Sweden
Comment: Kind of in the same mold as Brian Lee, who they picked in the first round last season, but having defenseman that can skate at a high level should be valuable commodity in the new NHL.
29. Detroit Red Wings-Jesse Joensuu, Forward, Finland
Comment: The Wings have a long history of taking sleeper-type picks from Europe.
30. St. Louis Blues (from CAR)-Trevor Lewis, Forward, Des Moines(USHL)
Comment: Having already taken Erik Johnson, the Blues look for some offensive talent to add. They’ll hope Lewis can develop in college the same way T.J. Oshie has at North Dakota.
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1 comment:
I like the Lewis pick for the Blues, they need a center they can potentially build around and would be pretty nicely set after the first round with Johnson and Lewis.
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