When we last checked in on the 2018 SBNation NHL Mock Draft, we (on behalf of the Philadelphia Flyers) were doing some moving and shaking, bumping ourselves up a spot via a trade with Dallas before moving back three more to pick up an extra second-rounder from Colorado. That brings us to today, at the No. 16 pick, where it is our turn yet again. To recap the happenings so far: * Trades: NY Islanders traded the 11th pick to Washington in exchange for the 31st pick and Phillipp Grubauer. Dallas traded the 13th pick to Philadelphia in exchange for the 14th pick and Petr Mrazek. Philadelphia traded the 13th pick and the 127th pick to Colorado in exchange for the 16th pick and the 58th pick. It’s our turn again, and this time we actually pulled the trigger on making the pick. Hope you liked it. /walks up to podium /grumbles in very Ron Hextallesque fashion With the 16th pick, Philadelphia selects, from Kärpät, Rasmus Kupari. /highlight reel starts playing, with accompanying Whitesnake song The basics Position: Center Birthdate: 3/15/2000 Measurements: 6’1.5”, 189 lbs Team/League: Kärpät/Liiga (Finland) Handedness: Right 2017-18 Statistics: 6 G, 8 A in 39 GP (Liiga) 0 P in 5 GP (U20 WJC) 2 G, 1 A in 4 GP (U18 WJC) Adding some speed and skill down the middle, but with some clear room for improvement We’ve discussed Kupari a bit on this site before, as he grabbed the No. 13 spot on our Community Big Board earlier this month. (He was the highest player left on our board when we made this pick, so really, this was a pick for you, the people.) Kupari is a dynamic player who you first notice because of his speed, as he’s probably one of the quickest pure skaters in this draft class. That speed is supplemented by a good offensive skill set; Kupari has nice hands and a pretty good shot, to go along with decent size. (Kupari also performed well in testing at the Combine, for however much weight you put into that; he had the top bench press results of all prospects at the event, and did well in overall fitness testing on top of that.) Kupari’s year involved a lot of time being spent playing at levels that should normally be above the weight class of a 17-year old. He played in a minor role on Finland’s under-20 World Juniors team, which lost in the quarterfinals to the Czech Republic in a shootout. He also played at Finland’s highest level in the Liiga, getting into 39 games with Karpat and posting 14 points in those games, second only to Jesperi Kotkaniemi (who went 11th in this very mock draft) among under-18 players in that league. The highlight video above (and any highlights you’ll see of him) showcase what Kupari can do on a good day. His speed is a legitimate weapon, not only to win races outright but to force defenders to stay honest and give him room as he attacks in the offensive zone. On top of that, you see that he can place a shot with some precision and make good passes when he’s under control. But “when he’s under control” is the key part here, and it’s what makes this pick a bit of a gamble rather than a safe pick and what makes Kupari a mid-teens prospect rather than a top-10 guy. This is the part where we admit that, as Flyers bloggers who primarily focus on the NHL, we don’t get to spend a ton of time diving really deep into film study on 17-year olds in the Finnish league to get to know their intricacies, strengths, and weaknesses, to the point where we feel like we have the authority to speak confidently on them. So here we turn to the opinions of the experts, folks who do take the time to do these things and/or are well-connected with people who do. And a recurring theme from these types when it comes to Kupari is that he still has some work to do when it comes to lining up his near-world-class skating with his on-ice decision-making. Hockeybuzz’s Bill Meltzer wrote about Kupari earlier this month, contrasting Kupari with another recent first-round center who we’re all familiar with: current Flyers prospect Morgan Frost. The two both skate very well, but the similarities cease to an extent there, and in talking about the two of them together, Kupari’s biggest area for improvement becomes clear (emphases ours): Kupari is one of the most polished and fastest skaters in the Draft pool this year. While he is not considered to be on par with Kotkaniemi from a sheer hockey smarts perspective or in terms of playmaking creativity, both players are willing to compete for space and both have quick and accurate shots although neither is a world-class sniper. Kupari is sound defensively and has at least third-line potential even if he does not pan out as top-six caliber scorer or playmaker. There is a chance, however, that he could become a player who slots closer to the top of an NHL lineup if his ability to execute plays offensively catches up with his breakneck pacing. In some ways, Kupari is a bookend to Flyers’ prospect Morgan Frost. While Frost has excellent speed when he employs it, he typically prefers to slow the play down, assess his options and then carve up the defense when he sees his opportunity. Frost’s playmaking, ice vision and stickhandling are all excellent. As he advances to the pro level to play against NHL caliber defenses and has less time and space, along with getting stronger physically, Frost will have to pick up the pace of his game to fully utilize his raw skating ability. The jets are there, but currently aren’t turned on except when he really needs it. Kupari is a player whose speed is his number one weapon, but his feet currently work faster than his reads on plays off the rush. He could actually stand to be a little more methodical at times, ala Frost.<doc-sep>The SBNation NHL mock draft continued yesterday with picks eighteen through twenty-one. Over the next couple days, the NHL sites here at SBN will be finishing the first round deciding who they think their teams should pick. The Lightning don’t have a first round pick this year, so we won’t be included. Even so, we’ll be keeping an eye on the proceedings so that you know what to expect come Friday, June 22nd when the draft starts. We’ll cover picks 25, 26, 27, and 28 today. Today’s picks start with a big trade. The Toronto Maple Leafs were scheduled to pick 25th but they traded the pick along with prospect Jeremy Bracco and the rights to negotiate with pending UFA Tyler Bozak to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Wayne Simmonds. For the Leafs, they add another high end winger who’s dangerous in front of the net and can be dominant on the power play. For the Flyers, they get back into the first round for a third time and as we’ll see shortly, they continue to make smart picks. To start, we’ll look at pick 25 forthe Philadelphia Flyers via Broadstreet Hockey followed by the New York Rangers via Blueshirt Banter, Chicago via Second City Hockey, and the New York Rangers via Blueshirt Banter again. The 25th pick for the Rangers was acquired from Boston in the Rick Nash trade and the 28th pick is the Lightning’s pick that was included in the Ryan McDonagh trade. The 25th Pick - Nils Lundkvist In previous posts in this series, I’ve complimented the Flyers twice. First, when they picked Rasmus Kupari. And again when they picked Vitaly Kravtsov. I’m going to have to compliment them again because Lundkvist is another smart high upside pick at a prime position. Right handed defenders are so hard to find and the Flyers have grabbed one with lots of potential here. This is what Broad Street Hockey wrote about their pick: Nils Lundkvist is a late riser and one of the younger players available in the 2018 NHL entry draft. He spent time not only with Lulea’s SHL team, but also played for their SuperElite team and for the Swedish National team at the WJC. He has exceptional puck skills and excels as an outlet passer. He’s not a big defender, but he doesn’t shy away from physical hockey while defending or when he needs to take a hit to make a play. He’s a very good skater and his ability to adjust to the faster pace of the SHL showcased his hockey sense and smarts. They continued later in the same profile: Watching video of Lundkvist, especially after he became acclimated to the SHL, was a treat. In our review, we saw a well rounded defenseman that was outstanding in the transition game. He did a good job reading plays in the neutral zone and adjusted well to the situation in front of him. The bulk of the video we watched was from later in the year (which was after he got comfortable in the SHL) and more than a few of us were surprised that early draft rankings had him so low. Despite the fact he was picked in the mock draft, in the real draft, Lundkvist might be an option for the Lightning in the second round. He’s a player who has the potential to slide to where the Lightning are picking and if he does, he would be a great addition at that spot. The 26th Pick - Akil Thomas The Rangers make good use of Boston’s pick here taking Akil Thomas. Lightning fans are probably familiar with Thomas because he’s from the Tampa area. He scored 81 points in 68 games this year in Niagara and I doubt that he will fall this far in the real draft. But for this mock, this is a great pick for the Rangers. Here’s what Blueshirt Banter wrote about Thomas in their profile: Thomas averaged 0.46 primary assists per game, which was good for third among U18 forwards in the OHL. It’s a number that ranks higher than what Nick Suzuki and Morgan Frost, now considered two of the top playmaking center prospects in hockey, produced in their draft season. However, Thomas is notably older than both were as well. It’s a mixed bag for him as a shooter, though. Isolating for his shot, he reminds me of Derek Stepan, sort of, in that he can roof a pretty hard wrist shot if given time and space to get off the shot on his own terms. But as he moves on to pro hockey, and eventually maybe the NHL, he won’t be afforded the same time and space. Not as frequently, at least. When it comes to getting off a quick release, he lacks the poise to finish. Here are a few examples from my viewings where he clearly shows this lack of finishing ability off of quick passing sequences. This is an area where I think he could work with a skills coach on improving. Defensively, Thomas is strong. He’s not going to “wow” you in any particular way, but he covers his assignments, checks his man, and battles along the boards. He was a go-to penalty killer for Niagara Head Coach Billy Burke. Not many 17-year-old centers in the OHL get tough assignments like Thomas, but he did a more than respectable job in the role. The Rangers have three first round picks. They’ve used the first two so far on Evan Bouchard and Akil Thomas. That’s an impressive haul. They’ll pick again at 28 and have a chance to add a third good decision. The 27th Pick - Calen Addison Another righty defender goes of the board at 27 to Chicago in Calen Addison. He put up 65 points in 68 games in the WHL. Any number around a point per game for defenders in the CHL is impressive but according to those who watched him, his defense is not on par with his offense. Here’s some more info on his game via Habs Eyes on the Prize:<doc-sep>Our goal with the 2018 SBN Mock Draft was to provide an entertaining, and somewhat realistic, experience for our readers and for ourselves. That led to us being active in discussing trades with numerous other SBN blogs. We completed three deals, and the last one was certainly the biggest. We (on behalf of the Flyers) traded forward Wayne Simmonds to the Toronto Maple Leafs (as represented by Pension Plan Puppets) for forward Jeremy Bracco, the rights to pending UFA center Tyler Bozak, and the 25th overall selection in the 2018 draft. First and foremost, we have to make it clear that a group of hockey bloggers that skew to being analytic advocates will very likely have a different value than real life NHL GMs for a player like Simmonds. That heart and soul leadership, gritty toughness, and willingness to play through pain is prized by most of the men currently running NHL clubs. So, if the return seems a bit underwhelming, keep this in mind. When it came to a Simmonds trade, we certainly appreciated the blood, sweat, and tears he shed for the Flyers since arriving in Philadelphia in the summer of 2011. Simmonds has been a consistent producer and an elite power play weapon. He’s been the only consistent physical force among the Flyers forward group. He’s played through injuries that would see a lot of guys miss serious time. In short, we fully recognize that Wayne ”Mr. Train” Simmonds is a shining example of what people think of when the say Philadelphia Flyers. There’s not a single contributor that was happy to see a Simmonds trade, even this fake one, because we do hold him in the highest esteem. But when looking at the situation with our head and not our hearts, we decided to entertain offers. It wasn’t that we had settled on a mindset that we absolutely had to deal Simmonds, but we certainly were going to test the waters. The combination of Simmonds’ age, probable decline in the near future, and uncertain contract status convinced us to listen to offers for the power forward. Simmonds will be 31 when the 2019-20 season begins and he plays a physically demanding style that often lends itself to injuries and steep decline in performance. This, in conjunction with Simmonds being an unrestricted free agent next summer, worries us. If Simmonds had two or three years left on his current deal, I doubt we would have been exploring trade options. Simmonds could sign a short term, high-AAV deal with the Flyers, but both the player and his agent are fully aware that his next contract is likely Simmonds last shot to secure a long term deal, similar to the one TJ Oshie signed with the Washington Capitals last summer (Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman made that comparison earlier this week). Unfortunately, despite the Flyers being in an advantageous cap situation this summer, soon players like Ivan Provorov, Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny will be coming off cheap entry level deals and eating more significant cap space. Paying Simmonds $6 to $7 million per year at that stage makes the cap situation difficult, at best. If he does hit his decline, then they are in real trouble with a deal like that. In entertaining offers, it was obvious blogs representing other teams had similar concerns. There was only one real offer from Hockey Wilderness that we haggled over, involving a swap of 1st round picks and an NHL player coming back, but we felt it simply wasn’t enough for us. We made our selections at 16 (Rasmus Kupari) and 19 (Vitali Kravtsov) and figured we were done ... until Toronto called asking us about Simmonds. It was the first offer we had gotten of a 1st rounder for Simmonds straight up, and they were also willing to add a prospect. The key piece of the trade return was the 25th pick, and we were thrilled to have another chance to add an outstanding prospect from the first round. As for the other pieces, Toronto was willing to part with second tier prospects, which eliminated guys like Travis Dermott, Timothy Liljegren and Kaspari Kapanen. Trust me, we tried. We discussed a handful of others, before settling on 21 year old winger Jeremy Bracco. Despite his smaller stature (he’s listed at 5’10” 171 lbs on NHL.com) we loved his speed and offensive production at lower levels. Bracco was a prolific scorer for the US National junior team and in the OHL for Kitchener and Windsor. He made his pro debut in 2017-18 with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and posted 6 goals and 26 assists in 50 games. We viewed Bracco as the best prospect of the ones made available to us in the offer. In addition, we decided to ask for the rights to Tyler Bozak. The goal would be to sign him to a 2-3 year contract and provide us with a very solid third-line center option. Bozak is certainly capable of the job, posting a respectable 11 goals and 32 assists last season in that very role for the Maple Leafs. Even though Bozak is in his early 30s, he’s still producing strong play-driving stats, especially relative to his teammates (53.3 CF%, 4.5 CF REL% last season) and has been a good faceoff man over his career. At 6’1” and 199 lbs, he brings a bit of size to the mix as well. All in all, we were content with the trade, given the condition that we were forced to recognize our SBN brethren weren’t willing to overpay for Simmonds and we really liked the opportunity to add another prospect. Bozak fills a need that GM Ron Hextall made clear he was going to address this summer and Bracco adds more skill and speed to our forward group. If SBN was doing a mock free agency period, I would expect us to be very active in trying to address the winger slot opened by trading Simmonds. We’ll have more on our selection at the 25th pick soon.<doc-sep>Flyers GM Ron Hextall spoke to the media today ahead of next weeks NHL Draft, talking mostly about the draft but covering some of what the team plans on doing in free agency in addition to some injury updates among other things. Hextall, who owns two first round picks (No. 14 and No. 19), opened by saying that he anticipates making both of those selections at this time but also left open the possibility of moving up or down the draft board if the right deal came along. As has been the case since Hextall took over as general manger, he placed a ton of emphasis on how important every draft pick is — even those two seventh rounders he has this year. While Hextall wasn’t tipping his hand there, he did mention specifically that he liked the centers in this draft and was on the lookout for defensemen. Hextall also went out of his way to mention how the Flyers want and need skill on the back end, while adding that he’d be “shocked” if the team didn’t select at least a couple defensemen in this draft. That said, there were interesting tidbits. The acknowledgement that RHD is a stylistic need. The reiteration that they're looking more for shorter-term UFA options than players who will require lots of years. These are important things to hear and to remember. — Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) June 14, 2018 As far as free agency, Hextall again didn’t rule out the possibility of veteran center Valtteri Filppula returning. That’s not really a change from his stance during the season and after the Penguins series ended. Filppula will go to free agency on July 1, and will have to take a pay cut down from the $5 million he made this season to mitigate any type of return. Wayne Simmonds is under contract for another season, but Hextall said he plans to talk to Simmonds’ agent around when free agency opens on July 1. Simmonds, 29, is entering the final year of the six-year, $23.8 million deal he signed with the club back in 2012 that has proved to be a heck of a value for the Flyers over the last few years. Given Simmonds’ track record of production, health, and his value in the locker room, the Flyers would no doubt love to extend the power forward at some point. For those clamoring for the Flyers to make a push for John Tavares (myself included), Hextall noted that he’d like to sign shorter-term free agents as opposed to the long-term deals you typically see early in free agency. That would lead you to believe that the Flyers won’t be in the potential Tavares sweepstakes, but who really knows as Hextall was as tight lipped as ever. On the injury front, Hextall said that Brian Elliott had a minor procedure after the season but will be ready for camp. As for Sam Morin, who was injured in the Phantoms’ Calder Cup playoff run, he’s progressing well according to Hextall but likely won’t be ready to play until February. Those were the only surgery notes, as both Sean Couturier and Ivan Provorov have recovered from their injuries suffered in the playoffs without requiring surgery. The 2018 NHL Draft will be held June 22-23 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Flyers are slated to have nine picks, with six picks coming in the first five rounds.<doc-sep>
Here at Broad Street Hockey, we decided to start the 2018 SBN mock draft by hanging a sign that read “Open For Buisness”. And cousin, let me tell you, business is a boomin’. We completed three trades, including this one: The Philadelphia Flyers traded right wing Wayne Simmonds to the Toronto Maple Leafs for forwards Tyler Bozak and Jeremy Bracco as well as the 25th overall pick. We decided it would be unfair to our draft pick to go into deep detail about the trade here, and a trade of a fan favorite like Wayne Simmonds — even a fake one-deserved it’s own story and deeper explanation. To recap the draft so far: * Trades:NY Islanders traded the 11th pick to Washington in exchange for the 31st pick and Phillipp Grubauer. Dallas traded the 13th pick to Philadelphia in exchange for the 14th pick and Petr Mrazek. Philadelphia traded the 13th pick and the 127th pick to Colorado in exchange for the 16th pick and the 58th pick. Philadelphia traded Wayne Simmonds to Toronto for Tyler Bozak, Jeremy Bracco and the 25th pick. So without further delay, The Philadelphia Flyers are pleased to select, from Lulea HF of the SHL, defenseman Nils Lundkvist. The Basics Position: Defenseman Birthdate: 7/27/2000 Measurements: 5’11.3”, 172 lbs Team/League: Lulea HF, SHL (Sweden) Handedness: Right 2017-18 Statistics: 3 G, 11 A in 26 GP (SuperElite) 2 G, 3 A in 28 GP (SHL) 0 G, 2 A in 7 GP (WJC Tourney) 1 G, 3 A in 8 GP (International-Jr ) Even though the Flyers have a fine stable of young defensemen with legitimate NHL potential, it was hard to pass up a skill set like this. Nils Lundkvist is a late riser and one of the younger players available in the 2018 NHL entry draft. He spent time not only with Lulea’s SHL team, but also played for their SuperElite team and for the Swedish National team at the WJC. He has exceptional puck skills and excels as an outlet passer. He’s not a big defender, but he doesn’t shy away from physical hockey while defending or when he needs to take a hit to make a play. He’s a very good skater and his ability to adjust to the faster pace of the SHL showcased his hockey sense and smarts. Here’s a brief highlight video of Lundkvist’s exploits: Watching video of Lundkvist, especially after he became acclimated to the SHL, was a treat. In our review, we saw a well rounded defenseman that was outstanding in the transition game. He did a good job reading plays in the neutral zone and adjusted well to the situation in front of him. The bulk of the video we watched was from later in the year (which was after he got comfortable in the SHL) and more than a few of us were surprised that early draft rankings had him so low. Obviously, there are limits to simply reviewing all the available video, so we also utilize the expertise and knowledge of others who prioritize prospect scouting and are well connected to those who did the in depth study on these players, and for the most part found that the general assessment was similar to ours. His puck skills and passing were universally lauded, as was his skating and hockey sense. He rarely showed panic with the puck on his stick, remaining calm even under aggressive forechecking. The fact that he was a late riser won’t scare off the Flyers. GM Ron Hextall’s first selection as GM, defenseman Travis Sanheim shot up the draft ranking in his draft year and looks ready to seize a job in the Flyers top four this season. Lundkvist seems even more well rounded than Sanheim, who had more work to do on his game away from the puck than Lundkvist at a similar stage in his development. Bill Meltzer of Hockeybuzz recently wrote a great in depth prospect preview in which he used Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman as a comparison for Lundkvist: In the 2018 NHL Draft class, there is a player who is a virtual clone of a young Strålman, and not just because they are both righthanded shooting defensemen from Sweden. Nils Lundkvist, a defenseman who played 28 SHL games for Luleå HF this season, has a very similar build (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) and playing style...Early this season, there was no buzz about Lundkvist in terms of being a top-end candidate for the NHL Draft.