The Sports Corner

TSC’s early NHL Mock Draft: Top 14

With the NHL playoffs in full flight and the rest of the draft order soon to be decided, TSC gives you the early version of the 2009 NHL Mock draft. The order for the top 14 are set, so who goes where?

This year’s draft features strong offensive prospects and good puck-moving defenders, but lacks in goaltending. Four of the top six CSS ranked European skaters are Swedish defensemen, the top five North American skaters are all centres.

Based on team needs and availability, here’s TSC’s early edition of the 2009 NHL mock draft (included with the name is position and 08-09 team):

1. New York Islanders - John Tavares, C, London: The consensus number one pick all year long, it would be an absolute shock if the Islanders do not pick JT. His skating is the biggest question to his game but the pure scoring talent makes up for it. The man can turn the goal light on, that’s for sure. Whether he becomes a Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby is yet to be seen, but Tavares is a definite franchise building block, one that NYI desparately needs.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning - Victor Hedman, D, MoDo: Hedman would be a perfect fit in Tampa Bay. With a strong young group on offense, the Lightning need help on the blueline and the 6′6″, 220 lbs Swedish monster would be a great fit. He’s already playing in a men’s league in Sweden, and scouts are saying he has the potential to be a 40 to 50 point defensemen. Let’s just hope Tampa’s ownership don’t screw it up this time around.

3. Colorado Avalanche - Matt Duchene, C, Brampton: No doubt the fastest skater in the draft, Duchene is a game changer. One scout I talked to compared him to an early Mike Modano, while others have named Steve Yzerman as a comparison. Duchene is skilled, fast, smart, and a complete hockey player. He’s also learned and played with Vancouver’s prospect Cody Hodgson in Brampton, so that only adds to his maturity level. Northwest Division teams beware because Colorado is getting the next Joe Sakic.

4. Atlanta Thrashers - Jared Cowen, D, Spokane: This pick could either be Cowen or Kane, depending on what route the Thrashers want to go. Last season they picked up another defensemen in Zach Bogosian, a more offensive-focused blueliner. Cowen is a defensive d-men and the two could make a massive duo on the backend for the Thrashers. Atlanta has young forwards, while the blueline prospects list after Bogosian is very weak. Don’t let Cowen’s season-ending knee injury in February fool you, the 6′5″, 218-lber is still a force on the backend.

5. Los Angeles Kings - Evander Kane, C, Vancouver: L.A. will most definitely be looking to get a forward this time around after stocking up on defensemen the last couple drafts, and Kane would definitely add grit to a skilled young offensive group. The Vancouver native is a consistent scorer with great speed that isn’t afraid to get in the dirty areas. Although he’s not the biggest guy, Kane can make things happen, and with stars like Frolov and Kopitar already on the roster, Kane just might be the player to help this improving team over the top in the next two years or so.

6. Phoenix Coyotes - Brayden Schenn, C, Brandon: Another organization prospering from stocking up on young talent, the Coytoes would be taking a big risk to pass on Schenn if he’s still available. However, Phoenix might opt for a blueliner if one fits their need. The younger brother of Toronto’s Luke Schenn, Brayden is a great two-way forward, with some comparing him to Mike Richards. In other words, he’s the typical Canadian player, who plays a gritty style and has a good track record of putting up points.

7. Toronto Maple Leafs - Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, LW, Timra: With all the rumours of Brian Burke wanting to trade up in the draft, the Maple Leafs might not end up at seven. But if Paajarvi is still available, as plenty of scouts have him in their top five, then Burke would be getting himself one highly-skilled Swedish winger. It’ll be hard to not draft Paajarvi, who is listed as a playmaking forward. As shown during the WJC, this 18-year-old is a tremendous skater who can go around players and draw penalties, not to mention the typical Swedish skills he possesses.

8. Dallas Stars - Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Leksand: A question mark is probably surrounding Larsson as to how high he should be drafted, but Dallas would be making the right move picking up the slick puck-moving Swedish defender. The Stars have one blueliner prospect worthy of mentioning (Ivan Vishnevskiy), so adding Larsson to that list would not be a mistake. The 6′2″ defensemen is noted to being one of the best tape-to-tape passers in the draft, and has tremendous offensive talent, how Swedish of him.

9. Ottawa Senators - Nazem Kadri, C, London: Kadri was ranked as high as top-five at one point for the draft but a jaw-injury might have knocked him down a few notches. Although listed as a centre, Kadri was put on the wing quite a bit with the Knights and with the Senators probably targetting a forward, Kadri would make a good forechecking speedster in the years to come. His skating is his biggest plus and he put up 78 points with London in 56 games, so the offensive skill is obviously also there.

10. Edmonton Oilers - Dmitri Kulikov, D, Drummondville: Probably the first Russian who will be chosen at this draft, Kulikov showed he can produce more then a point-per-game all regular season long in the QMJHL. He also proved that he’s not the type to run back to Russia, much like a few of his fellow-countrymen, when things get tough in North America. Kulikov is an offensive defensemen and the Oilers could definitely use a future blueliner that can jump into the rush and has a decent game all around.

11. Nashville Predators - Jordan Schroeder, RW, U of Minnesota: Most likely the first American player taken this draft, Schroeder could potentially join another American in the Predators system, their first round pick from last year, Colin Wilson. The two had great chemistry for Team USA at the WJC and could reunite in Nashville. Schroeder puts up offensively and does so consistently, racking up 45 points in 35 games as one of the youngest players in college. Although he’s small in size, it hasn’t seemed to affect him yet with some comparing him to Brian Gionta.

12. Minnesota Wild - John Moore, D, Chicago (USHL): There are better players then Moore in the draft that Minnesota can take at number 12 but the Wild will need a puck-moving defensemen in the future. Besides Duchene of course, Moore just might be the second best skater in this draft. Think Scott Neidermayer. It’s unlikely Moore will make the jump to the NHL right away, as he has areas he needs to work on -such as confidence - and maybe playing a year in the OHL might help. This American defender’s skill level is high and could be a big plus for Minny’s prospect pool.

13. Buffalo Sabres - Scott Glennie, C, Brandon: To sum up the Sabres’ need in one word, everything. So it would be best for Buffalo to just get the next best player, in this case it would be another Brandon Wheat Kings product, Glennie. Having played alongside Brayden Schenn in the WHL, Glennie has been compared to his linemate most of his draft year. Despite breaking his elbow in January, Glennie should rebound from it, and possibly even make him a better player. He’s a better scorer and skater then Schenn but is not as gritty. A complete player who could very well be considered a steal at the 13th spot.

14. Florida Panthers - Ryan Ellis, D, Windsor: If Florida wants to take the best player available at this spot, they’ll chose Swede’s Jacob Josefson, but they have a few centres lined up already in the system. If they want the grittiest player, a Milan Lucic clone, they’ll take Zack Kassian with this pick. But with Jay Bouwmeester possibly gone this offseason, the Panthers will need to revamp their blueline for the future, and that means picking up the small powerplay specialist Ryan Ellis. Canadians all saw his magic at the World Juniors and Ellis is incredible at controlling the puck.

Other names to possibly crack the top-14: Jacob Josefson, C, Djurgarden; Louis Leblanc, C, Omaha; Zack Kassian, RW, Peterborough; David Rundblad, D, Skelleftea; Simon Depres, D, Saint John.