The SBNation NHL mock draft continued yesterday with picks six through eight. Over the next eight days, the network of NHL sites here at SBN will run through 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. Up to this point in the draft, things have gone pretty much as expected. We’re getting into the range now where scouts’ draft rankings start to vary significantly. I don’t see a consensus for these spots so we’re going to start to see some interesting picks. Today’s picks feature three players who are all in the appropriate range but one who slipped a little further than I expected. This article will cover the Red Wings picking Adam Boqvist via Wingin’ it in Motown, the Canucks picking Noah Dobson via Nucks Misconduct, and Chicago picking Oliver Wahlstrom via Second City Hockey. The Sixth Pick - Adam Boqvist In discussing their pick of Boqvist, the WIIM crew wrote, He’s the shifty, offensively-creative defenseman that could turn out to be a stud in the NHL. Not only does Adam Boqvist have shift skating skills, he’s got explosive power. His numbers at the combine for the Wingate Cycle Ergometer Test were among some of the best. The Wingate Test measures the anaerobic power of the lower body. Boqvist ranked #2 for mean power output, and tied for #2 for peak power. Combine numbers should always be taken with a grain of salt, but his athletic ability should not be. Boqvist scored 24 points in 25 games this season playing junior hockey in Sweden. He also played well internationally scoring nine points in eight games for the U18 team including six points in six games at the World Juniors. While his offense is impressive, his defense is also improving according to HEOTP: It has been clear that the defender’s youthful enthusiasm has been a weakness when he has played at a higher level, leading him out of position in his zone. His impetuous charges when he makes a play on the puck rather than the opponent also shows that his reads in the defensive zone aren’t up to a professional level just yet. But Boqvist seems to have improved his defensive awareness and stabilized himself a little bit when he played at the junior level as the year went on, something that should bode well for his future. The Seventh Pick - Noah Dobson I can’t quibble too much with the Boqvist pick but this is where things start to get a little dicey for me. According to our consolidated rankings at Raw Charge, Dobson is the 10th best player while Wahlstrom who was still on the board is ranked 5th. Nucks misconduct shared some of their thoughts on Dobson here including the idea that Vancouver has a positional need on defense. The most attractive part of Dobson’s game is his ability to play in all three zones. He’s been capable in his own end for the Titans in his first two QMJHL seasons. Aside from scoring at almost a point-per-game, he was a major contributor defensively on a team that allowed the second-fewest goals in the QMJHL. At 6’3”, 179 pounds, Dobson presents himself as more of the complete package compared to guys like Adam Boqvist and Quinn Hughes. While that matters less in today’s NHL, Dobson does have a similar skill set in terms of his speed and passing ability. He’s not as dynamic as a Boqvist or a Hughes, but his overall package should be enticing for any team with the chance to draft him. Dobson scored 69 (nice) points in 67 games this season for Memorial Cup Champion Arcadie-Bathurst Titan. While he’s likely to be a very good player, I think this is a couple picks too early for him. Even if positional need is a factor, which I don’t think it should be this early, Evan Bouchard who scored 87 points in 67 games for the London Knights is still on the board. I wouldn’t call this a bad pick but I do think this is the first spot where we could have a spirited discussion about the options. I would have gone a different direction but the Nucks crew went with Dobson. The Eighth Pick - Oliver Wahlstrom The previous pick of Dobson created an interesting choice for the Second City crew at eighth overall. Wahlstrom or Bouchard? Both would be great picks and they decided to go with the forward. Wahlstrom put up 48 goals with the US National Team Development Program and has one of the best pure shots in the draft. Chicago gets great value at their pick here which, as a Lightning fan, I object to strongly. Here’s what Second City wrote about their hopes for Wahlstrom. Prior to knowing who was selected I figured the top available players for the Hawks would be Dobson, Wahlstrom and Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Each player would fill a need for the Hawks, and the team would be smart to pick any of them. I decided to go with Wahlstrom and his goal scoring prowess with the hope that he could step into the Hawks lineup as the team’s No. 2 right winger behind Patrick Kane. A similar path to Brandon Saad’s is what I’m hoping for, but Wahlstrom being two seasons away is probably more realistic like Vancouver’s Brock Boeser. Projected top-6 with Wahlstrom for 2019-20 season and each player’s age: Alex DeBrincat (21) - Nick Schmaltz (23) - Patrick Kane (30) Brandon Saad (27) - Jonathan Toews (31) - Oliver Wahlstrom (18) And with that, we’re through the top eight picks of the draft. We’re still mostly on track but Evan Bouchard still being on the board is a surprise. We’ll update you with the next three picks tomorrow. That’ll be picks nine, ten, and eleven with the Rangers, Oilers, and Islanders on the clock. SBNation NHL Mock Draft Recap:<doc-sep>Day 5 of the SBNation Mock NHL Draft brings us our next pick trade, as we enter the part of the draft where this is fairly plausible in a real draft. With so much disagreement over prospects outside the top 10, teams might decide that moving the pick gets them who that want and something else too. Day 1 SBNation Mock Draft Day 2 SBNation Mock Draft Day 3 SBNation Mock Draft The Vancouver Canucks site selected Noah Dobson with the number 7 pick. They haven’t got an article yet, so here’s a scouting report from another site: 2018 NHL Draft prospect: Defenceman Noah Dobson has size, speed & skill - Eyes On The Prize A dual-threat defender, Dobson would be a great addition to any NHL team. Day 4 SBNation Mock Draft Day 5 SBNation Mock Draft Okay! This trade stuff is complex. But Lighthouse Hockey, after starting all this yesterday, just picked Ty Smith today with their second pick: Like last year, we turned to LHH regulars North Dakota Red Eagle* and CanadianIslesLifer** for guidance. With the 11th and 12th picks looming, they endorsed my plan to engage the Capitals in a discussion of Grubauer. Both advisers had their eyes on the trio of Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, U.S. hockey left winger Joel Farabee, and Spokane (WHL) defenseman Ty Smith. I agreed to let our Capitals sibling site on SB Nation, Japers’ Rink, have first choice. They grabbed Kotkaniemi. With that future center off the table, we decided to replenish the defensive pipeline with Smith, who is this year’s draft-eligible standout coming out of the WHL. He is a mobile blueliner with great vision, and his team gave him license to join the rush, which is how he finished second (73 points) in WHL scoring among defensemen to real-world Islanders prospect David Quenneville (80). With that straightforward bit of business done, the trading started. Broad Street covers this very well, and delves into the ideas around pick value, so if you’re interested in that, read the full article: Trade No. 1: Philadelphia trades the 14th pick in the 2018 draft and the restricted free agent rights of Petr Mrazek to the Dallas Stars for the 13th pick in the 2018 draft. We were approached early on in the draft process about a possible move for Mrazek by the Dallas contingent over at Defending Big D, as they had heard that the Flyers were unlikely to retain Mrazek’s rights this summer. Ben Bishop’s first year in Dallas went reasonably well (lack of team success notwithstanding), but Dallas has no other legitimate NHL goalie under contract or in its system, and their reps in our network figured that Mrazek would make some sense in that role and wanted to get first dibs on signing him. Trade No. 2: Philadelphia trades the 13th and 127th picks in the 2018 draft to Colorado for the 16th and 58th picks in the 2018 draft. As we went on the clock with the 13th pick, the fine folks over at Mile High Hockey reached out to us to see if they could move up a few spots from their perch at the 16th pick. Clearly, there was someone they really liked at that pick, and (perhaps motivated by the potential to jump division-rival Dallas at No. 14) they were willing to pay to get there. Mile High Hockey chose Jeo Velano: That brings us to Joe Veleno. Drafted by the Saint John Sea Dogs first overall in 2015, Veleno has steadily improved over the course of his three seasons; 0.69 points per game in his rookie year, 0.88 as a 17-year-old in his second year, before putting up 31 points in 31 games as captain for the Sea Dogs in his final season with the club before he got traded at the deadline to Drummondville for a playoff run. 48 points in 33 regular season games and 11 points in 10 playoff games is how he ends his draft eligible season. Defending Big D, picking at 14, tool Joel Farabee: He has character. Nill likes to draft prospects that are known to be leaders on their teams. He looks for prospects that are going to be good for the organization both on and off the ice. When Nill traded for Stephen Johns several years ago, he said at the time (emphasis mine), “The other thing that I love about the young man is he’s a leader on and off the ice. He’s very respected. He works in the community. He’s a character guy through and through and you can’t have enough of those guys in your organization.” I think Philly would make that deal to move up one spot any day. The rights to Mzazek don’t mean anything to them, and that’s the best kind of trade. The second trade is more complex, in that Philly moved down two in the first round, which is a big drop, and swaps their 127th for the 58th, which is not much of a gap. I know that’s a somewhat contentious thing to say, nonetheless, it’s true. Would you make that deal to swap mid-first-round picks?<doc-sep>Day 4 of the SBNation Mock NHL Draft brings us our first pick trade! Day 1 SBNation Mock Draft Day 2 SBNation Mock Draft Day 3 SBNation Mock Draft The Vancouver Canucks site selected Noah Dobson with the number 7 pick. They haven’t got an article yet, so here’s a scouting report from another site: 2018 NHL Draft prospect: Defenceman Noah Dobson has size, speed & skill - Eyes On The Prize A dual-threat defender, Dobson would be a great addition to any NHL team. Day 4 SBNation Mock Draft First up, Blueshirt Banter has chosen defender Evan Bouchard after their hopes for Wahlstrom were dashed: Were we sitting in a panic hoping Chicago wasn’t going to talk Wahlstrom? Of course we were! Was I thrilled secretly because the Dobson pick at 7 gave me one of my (personal) Big 8? Of course I was. So we naturally took Evan Bouchard (ranked #7 in the BSB Profile here). Honestly, read that profile on a far more in depth review of Bouchard. If you want a quick glance, here’s a blurb from our review: Next, Copper and Blue took Martin Kaut. This was a surprise pick to me, and while they made it before his health problems were announced, 10th is still very high for him to be taken. He’s well known at the site though, and they think he’s a draft steal. If you’d never heard of Kaut before Christmas I wouldn’t say I blamed you. Before the season he was projected anywhere between round 2 and 7 and not even being considered a first round pick. He began the season ranked 11th for European Skaters and ended it ranked 4th. It all began at the World Juniors. Unheralded Kaut showed up and ended up getting 7 points in 7 games. That is a tremendous showing for a player in his draft year. If you look closer he was also a member of the Gold Medal winning Czech team at the Ivan Hlinka Tourney where he had 4 points in 5 games. He took that World Junior success back to the Extraliga (Czech pro league where he played against men as an 18 year old) where he started scoring much more consistently and turning heads. He kept that streak going to the Playoffs where he got 5 points in 7 playoff games (noticing a trend yet in clutch games? ). Lighthouse Hockey had picks 11 and 12, and they decided to address a need by moving one of them: Still, holding picks at #11 and #12 lets the Islanders shop at least one of them for a roster player. One significant hole in the Islanders lineup is at goaltender, where Jaroslav Halak is an unrestricted free agent and Thomas Greiss is coming off a career-worst season. So should the Isles dangle one of those picks for a “pretty good, could be a legit starter” goalie like Philipp Grubauer? Well, that’s exactly what we did with our first selection in this year’s SB Nation NHL Mock Draft. Lou Lamoriello’s done this before, of course. In New Jersey, he sent the #9 pick overall at the 2013 draft for goalie Cory Schneider. We did something similar, then, in trading the 11th overall pick for Grubauer and Washington’s 30th/31st (depending on the Stanley Cup final outcome) pick. That left Japers’ Rink to make a pick much earlier than they’d been expecting. The Stanley Cup Final and a near top-ten pick? Not fair. Yep, we traded up. New York Islanders blog Lighthouse Hockey approached us with a trade offer we couldn’t refuse - their 11th pick for Philipp Grubauer and our first-round pick (which has yet to be determined as between picks 30 and 31... hopefully that gets settled tonight). Is this trade far-fetched? Not really. In fact, the Isles’ interest is apparently there and Craig Custance has since suggested the possibility. They do a great job of assembling expert opinions and some video highlights on this rising star in the draft. Don’t be surprised if he goes higher than this in the real thing. That was fun! Today’s picks include the Islanders getting to go for real with pick 12 and Dallas and Philadelphia picking after. We’ll update you on those choices tomorrow. Now, would you have traded that pick if you were Lou?<doc-sep>Day 6 of the SBNation Mock NHL Draft brings us to the mid-point of the draft, and the area where it is possible for everyone to have a different trio of choices. Day 1 SBNation Mock Draft Day 2 SBNation Mock Draft Day 3 SBNation Mock Draft The Vancouver Canucks site selected Noah Dobson with the number 7 pick. They haven’t got an article yet, so here’s a scouting report from another site: 2018 NHL Draft prospect: Defenceman Noah Dobson has size, speed & skill - Eyes On The Prize A dual-threat defender, Dobson would be a great addition to any NHL team. Day 4 SBNation Mock Draft Day 5 SBNation Mock Draft Day 6 SBNation Mock Draft Litter Box Cats picked Bode Wilde, who really should be a surfer and not a defeceman. I think he needs to go to LA myself, but here we are: n 2017-18 with the USNTDP U-18 team, Wilde scored 12 goals, added 29 assists and racked up 65 PIM in 61 games. In an additional 25 games for the USNTDP junior team, he produced 16 points (3G/13A) and finished with a +19 rating. Wilde was also member of the U.S. team that won bronze at the 2018 World Junior Championship in Buffalo. In seven tournament games against the best in world, Wilde didn’t produce any points, but the experience will only benefit him in the future. Broad Street (who traded for the pick) took the other Rasmus and got a centre: 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. All About the Jersey picked Barrett Hayton, another centre: This was not an easy decision in that there were a lot of directions we could have gone with. That winger Joel Farabee, defenseman Bode Wilde, and center Rasmus Kupari were picked right before us made it a bit harder. However, we decided that when a potential top ten or twelve pick drops to #17, then it is best to not overthink it. It also helped a lot that Hayton is one of the more solid first-round caliber prospects. I will go into more detail a little later, but the short and sweet version is that Hayton is a very smart and skilled center who played in all situations on a strong Greyhounds team at the young age of 17. Pretty much most prospects have a notable flaw to their game; but Hayton’s projects to being some kind of useful NHL player. In a draft where the Devils only have the one first round pick in the first three rounds, getting a useful NHL player is a priority. Their story is a very comprehensive profile on Hayton, so check it out. No poll today, this question has too many answers: Who do you think has been overlooked at this point? Who should go next?<doc-sep>
We are already up to Day 3 of the SBNation Mock NHL Draft. Today we have picks six through eight, and we are just dipping our toes in the part of the draft where a lot of people can argue for months about who goes before whom. Years, maybe. Day 1 SBNation Mock Draft Day 2 SBNation Mock Draft Day 3 SBNation Mock Draft The Vancouver Canucks site selected Noah Dobson with the number 7 pick. They haven’t got an article yet, so here’s a scouting report from another site: 2018 NHL Draft prospect: Defenceman Noah Dobson has size, speed & skill - Eyes On The Prize A dual-threat defender, Dobson would be a great addition to any NHL team. Adam Boqvist is a really interesting choice. He’s the second ranked skater from Europe by NHL Central Scouting, and the question is how far below Rasmus Dahlin will he go? Winging it in Motown said: Boqvist has been called a natural QB for a PP squad, and his ability shows it. While he’s not the biggest defenseman in his class, he’s making up for it with raw talent and athletic ability. When you add in an NHL organization’s guidance, development, and training — the ceiling is sky-high. It’s interesting to see Noah Dobson go right after Boqvist. Two more different defenders are hard to find. From the link above: Dobson’s biggest asset is his skating, and he uses his smooth strides along with great edgework to make plays happen at both ends of the ice. He’s not a small body at 6’3”, but he’s able to glide in and out of opposing teams’ defences with ease, thus allowing himself and teammates more space to try to make plays happen. It is unusual to see this combination of size and skating ability in a prospect, and it is the primary reason why the defenceman is regarded so highly. Those are qualities that are heavily coveted in a blue-liner on their own. When they combine, they give a player a crushing advantage over opponents. Second City Hockey went with American winger Oliver Wahlstrom and they talked a lot about their selection process, recognizing that the choice wasn’t obvious: The selections went as expected for the most part depending on how somehow values the order of the three defenseman taken. If there is a surprise, it’s defenseman Evan Bouchard not being in the top three. The right-handed shot led all OHL defenseman in points last season with the London Knights. He’s an offensive defenseman like so many in this year’s draft. Prior to knowing who was selected I figured the top available players for the Hawks would be Dobson, Wahlstrom and Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Each player would fill a need for the Hawks, and the team would be smart to pick any of them. I’m surprised Bouchard and Kotkaniemi are still available at this point too. Will they go today? Today’s picks are the Rangers, the Oilers and the Islanders, with their first of two in a row. What do you think about these picks? Would you have taken someone else?