The NHL Draft is upon us for another year.
The biggest debate is whether the Edmonton Oilers will use the first pick to select Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires or Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers.
How the first round of the draft plays out could be extremely interesting. The top five could play out numerous different ways. Does Edmonton take Hall or Seguin. Which defenseman does Florida take third? Erik Gudbranson? Cam Fowler? Brandon Gormley?
Here’s how I see the top 15 picks playing out:
1. Edmonton: Taylor Hall, Windsor – Hall adds another young, offensively-skilled winger to the mix.
2. Boston: Tyler Seguin, Plymouth – The Bruins add a young centre that will not be expected to step right in next winter.
3. Florida: Erik Gudbranson, Kingston – A solid defenseman, Gudbranson gives Florida a physical defenseman who is solid defensively and can chip in offensively.
4. Columbus: Brandon Gormley, Moncton – Gormley adds a complete defenseman to the Blue Jackets lineup. Gormley is likely the most complete defenseman in the draft.
5. New York Islanders: Cam Fowler, Windsor – Fowler adds an offensive element to the Islanders blueline. Fowler will provide the organization with a nice complement on the blueline to John Tavares.
6. Tampa Bay: Brett Connolly, Prince George – Despite seeing limited action in 2009-10, Connolly is highly-skilled. The young forward was seen as a possible top three pick before the season.
7. Carolina: Nino Niederreiter, Portland – The Hurricanes need to add to their offense and the Swiss star fits the bill.
8. Atlanta: Vladimir Tarasenko, Novosibirsk – Highly-skilled, the only concern will be whether the Thrashers can get the Russian forward to report.
9. Minnesota: Ryan Johansen, Portland – A linemate of Niderreiter in Portland, Johansen brings a little bit of everything to the Wild lineup.
10. New York Rangers: Alexander Burmistrov, Barrie- Looking to add an offensively-skilled forward, the Rangers do just that with Brumistrov. The Russian forward has already adjusted smoothly to being in North America.
11. Dallas: Jack Campbell, US Under-18 – The Stars add some depth to their goaltending by taking the best netminder in the pool.
12. Anaheim: Jonathan Merrill, US Under-18 – With the retirement of Scott Niedermeyer, the Ducks will be looking to add to their depth on the blueline.
13. Phoenix: Quinton Howden, Moose Jaw – Howden can do a little bit of everything and fits well in the Coyotes system.
14. St. Louis: Jeff Skinner, Kitchener – One of the top goal-scorers in the draft, the Blues will be looking to take the best forward available.
15. Florida: Austin Watson, Peterborough - After taking Gudbranson with the third pick, the Panthers add a skilled, highly-competitive player.
And the rest of the first round:
16. Ottawa: Derek Forbort, US Under-18
17. Colorado: Mark Pysyk, Edmonton
18. Nashville: Ludvig Rensfeldt, Brynas
19. Los Angeles: Emerson Etem, Medicine Hat
20. Pittsburgh: Mikael Granlund, HIFK Helsinki
21. Detroit: Johan Larsson, Brynas
22. Phoenix: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Chelyabinsk
23. Buffalo: Tyler Pitlick, Minnesota State
24. Atlanta: Brock Nelson, Warroad
25. Vancouver: Jason Zucker, US Under-18
26. Washington: Kirill Kabanov, Moncton
27. Montreal: Stanislav Galiev, Saint John
28. San Jose: Charlie Coyle, South Shore
29. Anaheim: Nick Bjugstad, Blaine
30. Chicago: Calvin Pickard, Seattle
