2013 NHL Draft - MOCK DRAFT

[pilldoc]

With the NHL 2013 Draft only a mere 4 weeks away I thought now would be good to have an official "Thread".

I didn't know where to place this topic since I did not see a Draft sub-topic anywhere. Please feel free to move this thread to a more appropiate place.

Anyway......per the Flyers website.........

http://flyers.nhl.co...id=rss-morreale

1. Colorado - Seth Jones, D,

Portland (WHL) He was introduced to the game by Joe Sakic, so it's fitting the defender with great ability has chance to join the Avs

2. Florida - Nathan MacKinnon, C,

Halifax (QMJHL) The speed and pro-style game he plays could enable him to step right onto an NHL team and contribute

3. Tampa Bay - Jonathan Drouin, LW, Halifax (QMJHL) Ultra-talented forward who will bring fans to their feet; had 41 goals, 105 points and a plus-48 rating in 49 games

4. Nashville - Aleksander Barkov, C, Tappara (FIN) A shoulder injury sidelined him for playoffs, but showed this season he's a consistent two-way player; had 21 goals, 48 points in 53 games

5. Carolina - Valeri Nichushkin, RW, Chelyabinsk (RUS) The next Evgeni Malkin? Is big (6-4, 202), skilled, has a nose for the net and has shown himself to be clutch in key situations

6. Calgary - Darnell Nurse, D,

Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Has had a steady climb up the Central Scouting rankings; defends well, plays with an edge and is good off transition

7. Edmonton - Rasmus Ristolainen, D,

TPS (FIN) Solid skater and effective at both ends of the ice, including in front of his own net; plays with an edge

8. Buffalo - Sean Monahan, C,

Ottawa (OHL) The big, rangy center has great hockey sense, is tough and creative; had 31 goals, 78 points in 58 games

9. New Jersey - Elias Lindholm, C,

Brynas (SWE) Two-way forward possesses all the necessary tools; won a silver medal at the 2013 World Junior Championship

10. Dallas - Frederik Gauthier, C, Rimouski (QMJHL) Great hands and scoring touch for the 6-4.5, 214-pound center; one of the top two-way players in the draft

11. FLYERS - Hunter Shinkaruk, C/LW, Medicine Hat (WHL) Skilled, smart, deceptive and explosive with hands as quick as anyone eligible in the 2013 NHL Draft

12. Phoenix - Valentin Zykov, LW, Baie-Comeau (QMJHL) Leading point-scorer among first-year QMJHL players; had 40 goals, 75 points in 67 games

13. Winnipeg - Alexander Wennberg, C, Djurgarden (SWE-2) A 6-1, 190-pound work horse with good offensive instincts; likely will spend at least one more year in Sweden

14. Columbus - Ryan Pulock, D,

Brandon (WHL) The 6-foot, 211-pound blueliner offers one of the best shots of the entire draft; enjoys a physical game

Thoughts / Opinions? Depending on who drafts whom....do we try to move up? If yes for whom? and what are you willing to give up?

OC and FC have recently mentioned the increased potential of Nichushkin. Some even going as far as projecting him to be a Malkin type player (others have said a Russian version of Lindros). Do you try to trade up with either Nashville / Carolina and say screw a d-man this year, this is the type of player Giroux needs on this team.

Don't know much about Shinkaruk. Pass on Pulock here if he drops this far..........

Just trying to get a draft thread going here.

Edited June 2, 2013 by pilldoc

[OccamsRazor]

Don't know much about Shinkaruk.

Well they say he could be the 2nd best pure goal scorer in the draft...the only knock on him is his willingness to play defense when needed.

There is no way Nashville will pass on Nichushkin, so i would flip flop him and Barkov.

Maybe even Zykov instead of Shinkaruk even they already have two of his former team mates...ya neva know.

[pilldoc]

From Bleacher Report: (take it for what it is worth)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1640142-ideal-draft-picks-for-philadelphia-flyers-5-biggest-needs#/articles/1640142-ideal-draft-picks-for-philadelphia-flyers-5-biggest-needs/page/4

3. Hunter Shinkaruk, Scoring Winger

Courtesy hockeysfuture.com

The Flyers are in need of a scoring winger for the future. Scott Hartnell, the leading goal scorer during the 2011-2012 season with 37 goals, only had eight in 32 games this season. Luckily, wingers Jake Voracek and Wayne Simmonds elevated their play with 22 and 15 goals, respectively.

Matt Read, who played wing for a majority of the season, was impressive at times and could develop nicely into a scoring threat. But the Flyers need a natural goal scorer immediately.

And this is where Hunter Shinkaruk, the Calgary native, may be the team's answer.

Shinkaruk has been an offensive juggernaut for the past two seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League—scoring 49 and 37 goals in consecutive years. He has a blistering wrist shot and is an extremely shifty skater.

He has also been labeled a "playmaker" with the potential to carry his talent in the NHL, which is exactly what the Flyers need. In a recent article by Daily Sports News' Frank Seravalli, he suggested the Flyers need to bolster their top line to open holes for others to grow.

Shinkaruk may develop into an excellent top-line forward at the professional level, creating a positive domino effect on the rest of the team.

Edited June 2, 2013 by pilldoc

[murraycraven]

If they could make s move to grab Nich I would absolutely do it... Not sure what it would take honestly because I agree he is going to be taken by Nash at 4... And I don't think Nash is going to do is any favors after the Weber fiasco least year

[RonJeremy]

More than anything, we need a puck rushing, playmaking ,scoring defenseman, we have very little offensive out put from our dmen right now.. The defenseman who fits that bill, is Ryan Pulock. He can skate, has a booming shot , can setup plays and he has good size. If we do need a winger we can try and sign Nathan Horton whos an UFA. With the Laughton and Cousins almost ready, that makes Coots expendable to be traded for another defenseman, because we really need 2 defenseman not just one, especially with Timmonen having a year left, and the uncertainty of Bourdon and Grossman. i might even think about trading Coots for a higher first rounder to grab guy like Nurse,Zadorov or Risto and with our pick we grab Pulock. Then we can have one offensive guy and one physical guy for the future. Cousins and Laughton can be Coots replacement.

[murraycraven]

More than anything, we need a puck rushing, playmaking ,scoring defenseman, we have very little offensive out put from our dmen right now.. The defenseman who fits that bill, is Ryan Pulock. He can skate, has a booming shot , can setup plays and he has good size. If we do need a winger we can try and sign Nathan Horton whos an UFA. With the Laughton and Cousins almost ready, that makes Coots expendable to be traded for another defenseman, because we really need 2 defenseman not just one, especially with Timmonen having a year left, and the uncertainty of Bourdon and Grossman. i might even think about trading Coots for a higher first rounder to grab guy like Nurse,Zadorov or Risto and with our pick we grab Pulock. Then we can have one offensive guy and one physical guy for the future. Cousins and Laughton can be Coots replacement.

-- while I agree w/ you RJ a lot of scouts seem to think Pulock is near is potential and will not grow that much. I fully understand this is just scouting reports but this kid Nich is going to be a stud. Check out his highlight videos and it almost looks like a man amongst boys. If he was there I would take him in a heartbeat and not even think twice about it... the draft is always a risk and sitting at 11 could land us a franchise type player or an absolute bust...

I would put Nich into the "cant miss" category of prospects but honestly can't say the same about Pulock.

[RonJeremy]

Murray, another big reason we need to draft defense is,there are no UFA defensemen avaialable,other than a bunch of washed up 35 year olds and even if we offer up Coots, i dont think he is enough to land us an imapct defenseman. So we really need to get our scouting dept on the ball and finally land a good defenseman, preferably two. . We have so many questions on the blueline, Bourdon and Grossman are coming off concussions and Mez is coming off multiple surgeries.Gus has been injury prone m, but has looked good. If any of these guys miss significant time, then Timmoen ends up playing too many minutes and he wont hold up , then we are really in for a long season. Then again, even if we drat two great dmen, there is no guarantee they will be reay to step in.

We really need to build defensive depth, we have to finally take a chance. We cant keep trading for defense,and signing FAs like we have done for the past 30 years .Since there are so many good dmen available in this draft, this is really our best chance to finally land a top dman. Maybe some of our fellow posters up in Canada can give us full scouting reports on the defenseman There are some posters here who watch the Canadian junior league games.

I do see your point of landing a cant miss forward if hes avaialable, but if that happens, we still need to get a dman from somewhere. I think Subban has one more year before hes an UFA,

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I think Subban has one more year before hes an UFA,

one more year until he is a RFA.

[flyercanuck]

@RonJeremy

UFA defencemen have no bearing on us drafting a Dman. It'll likely be a few years before any defenceman we take actually plays for the Flyers. People have to take this into account. By the time one of these guys is likely NHL ready, those 35 year old UFAs will be retired. Not that I want us going after them, just stating a point.

[brelic]

I understand the BPA strategy of drafting, I really do.

But isn't there a point when you look at what you have in your franchise, and what your needs are, and you make the conscious decision to draft according to your needs?

If we draft a defenseman at a higher slot than he's ranked, we lose out on the *potential* that the BPA could give us. In our case, we draft Pulock three slots higher, and pass on Shinkaruk's potential. He could be a steal, or he could be a bust (and that applies to both players, btw). No one has a crystal ball, but we've at least drafted according to need.

If we draft BPA, and go with, say, Shinkaruk, we've got a nice player with potential. But we still haven't addressed our defense, and the *cost* of addressing that (and I mean young guys that will grow with the team, not a motley crew of castoffs) to me would seem to be higher than the loss of Shinkaruk's potential if we had drafted a D in the first place.

Does that make any sense?

[murraycraven]

@RonJeremy...

I completely understand where you are coming from here. If Nich was available to us I think it is a a no-brainer pick and think this kid has the potential to be the best in the draft. My fear is taking a defenseman that, as FC states, is not going to be ready for a few years. I am not sure Pulock would start with the big club for another year or two.

I also agree about trading for an over-the-hill defensman and would rather (w/ all other avenues exhausted) to see Gus and Lauridsen get the time. I am also not in favor of trading Coots for Yandle as I am not really high on Yandle and think he is another Carle. Nice to have but considering the pricetag I would stay away...

It is a very tough position for Homer but he went all out last year for Weber/Suter and now he needs to figure out a way to get this fixed. Having a Nich/Giroux/Jake line would be absolutely scary!!!

[Digityman]

@brelic It's a crap-shoot Brelic and what you said make's sense.

I agree with the two needs the flyers have.

1) Puck moving Dman with an offensive upside. It's arguable that they need 2 of this type of player by the end of next year.

2) A scoring LW that can create on this own to take Hartnell off the first line.

From Hockey's Future on Shinkaruk:

"Tenacious forechecking winger with great hands. Offensively skilled. Willing to pay the price to score goals. Will need to add bulk."

If that evaluation comes to fruition, having Shinkaruk - Giroux - Jake as your top line would be fun to watch.

If I were Homer and I was given the choice between Shinkaruk and Poluck, I would have to take Shinkaruk.

Then after the draft, evaluate what you have. If a move needs to be made during the summer, then do it (dman)

[JackStraw]

I understand the BPA strategy of drafting, I really do.

But isn't there a point when you look at what you have in your franchise, and what your needs are, and you make the conscious decision to draft according to your needs?

If we draft a defenseman at a higher slot than he's ranked, we lose out on the *potential* that the BPA could give us. In our case, we draft Pulock three slots higher, and pass on Shinkaruk's potential. He could be a steal, or he could be a bust (and that applies to both players, btw). No one has a crystal ball, but we've at least drafted according to need.

If we draft BPA, and go with, say, Shinkaruk, we've got a nice player with potential. But we still haven't addressed our defense, and the *cost* of addressing that (and I mean young guys that will grow with the team, not a motley crew of castoffs) to me would seem to be higher than the loss of Shinkaruk's potential if we had drafted a D in the first place.

Does that make any sense?

Once you get past the top 6-7 prospects there isn't a lot of consistency in the rankings. Personally I have zero interest in Shinkaruk. The last thing the team needs is a smallish center. There really is nothing reliable that suggests he would be the BPA over Pulock. Between the two I'd take Pulock without a second thought.

[brelic]

Once you get past the top 6-7 prospects there isn't a lot of consistency in the rankings.

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking too. There's more chance that he turns out to be an ok player than a bona fide stud, so why not draft what you need? The NHL is littered with ok players that we can get via trade.

[murraycraven]

Once you get past the top 6-7 prospects there isn't a lot of consistency in the rankings. Personally I have zero interest in Shinkaruk. The last thing the team needs is a smallish center. There really is nothing reliable that suggests he would be the BPA over Pulock. Between the two I'd take Pulock without a second thought.

100% agree here... we do not need another Center.

[JackStraw]

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking too. There's more chance that he turns out to be an ok player than a bona fide stud, so why not draft what you need? The NHL is littered with ok players that we can get via trade.

If there isn't a defenseman at #11 that they really like, assuming that someone like Monahan or Nishushkin doesn't drop to 11, then I think I'd just as soon they trade the pick for more assets.

[OccamsRazor]

Nishushkin

This is the kid i like.

I like McKinnon and Drouin as well Jones....but i would love for the Flyers to move up and get him....if not then i'm happy taking Risto or even maybe Pulock if they are there @ #11...

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/valeri-nichushkin/

...hard to imagine him being so dominate in the NHL to start but once he puts on some more weight look out...would not like this kid falling into the hands of the enemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pilldoc]

I understand the BPA strategy of drafting, I really do.

But isn't there a point when you look at what you have in your franchise, and what your needs are, and you make the conscious decision to draft according to your needs?

If we draft a defenseman at a higher slot than he's ranked, we lose out on the *potential* that the BPA could give us. In our case, we draft Pulock three slots higher, and pass on Shinkaruk's potential. He could be a steal, or he could be a bust (and that applies to both players, btw). No one has a crystal ball, but we've at least drafted according to need.

If we draft BPA, and go with, say, Shinkaruk, we've got a nice player with potential. But we still haven't addressed our defense, and the *cost* of addressing that (and I mean young guys that will grow with the team, not a motley crew of castoffs) to me would seem to be higher than the loss of Shinkaruk's potential if we had drafted a D in the first place.

Does that make any sense?

in essence it really is a catch-22 type of predicament the Flyers have gotten themselves into. That is where you really need to trust your GM and scouting department. At this point in time I really DO NOT trust Homer to make the right move. (if there really is a right move)

[pilldoc]

If you move up to draft Nishushkin...then what are you willing to part with? That has to factor in to this equation. It would be great to have him...but do you part with the likes of a Coots / Laughton . B. Schenn / or Read. ( I will assume Roo / Jake / Simmer are off limits at this point). Then lets just assume you lose say Coots and Read...you will have to replace these players somehow? Now I know we have Cousins with the Phantoms, but I want to see what he can do with the Big Boys. How far away is he. I know you also have McGinn waiting in the wings. Just some more added thought.

[JackStraw]

This is the kid i like.

I like McKinnon and Drouin as well Jones....but i would love for the Flyers to move up and get him....if not then i'm happy taking Risto or even maybe Pulock if they are there @ #11...

http://www.hockeysfu...eri-nichushkin/

...hard to imagine him being so dominate in the NHL to start but once he puts on some more weight look out...would not like this kid falling into the hands of the enemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think there's pretty much no chance he will be there at 11, but if he is the Flyers have to take him I think. I don't know if I'd be willing to part with what it would take to move up to get him though. If they were going to trade up I'd rather they go after Nurse. I think he's going to be a good one.

Edited June 3, 2013 by JackStraw

[OccamsRazor]

I think there's pretty much no chance he will be there at 11, but if he is the Flyers have to take him I think.

There is no way he gets pass Carolina or Calgary IMHO.

[JackStraw]

There is no way he gets pass Carolina or Calgary IMHO.

Assuming Jones and MacKinnon go 1-2 it wouldn't surprise me to see TB or Nashville take him either.

[OccamsRazor]

Assuming Jones and MacKinnon go 1-2 it wouldn't surprise me to see TB or Nashville take him either.

Yeah Tampa has some cap issues themselves they have about 6 holes to fill and only about 3.3 mill to do it...Ohlund maybe done and never play in the NHL again...Ryan Malone to me is an obvious buy out candidate...

...they need money VN would give them, with Stamkos the best 1 and 2 young centers in the NHL.

And Nashville are so deep on the blueline the will take the BFA...they need help all through their forwards ranks.

So yes it will be a Kings ransom to move up...but combined with Homer's desperation to save his job...hold on tight!

[brelic]

And Nashville are so deep on the blueline the will take the BFA...they need help all through their forwards ranks.

This seems to be a contradiction... if Nashville goes for BFA because they're deep on the blueline, then why wouldn't we pick the BDA since we're deep up front?

Sure, the forwards need to be restocked too, but there is a more desperate need on the backend.

[OccamsRazor]

then why wouldn't we pick the BDA since we're deep up front?

you know why remember who we're talking about here....

...it's the Flyers, for them to even come out with Gervias opening night on the ice without even first trying one of their blueline prospects, remember who had already been playing half a season despite the lock out....you mean noone should be called up?

Cause the whole Phantoms team sucked balls with Bryaden and Coots!

Surely someone anyone deserved a look besides Bruno....even Lilja was better than him he was just slooooow...

Not saying he started opening night but that he was even on the roster....HE CAN'T PLAY AT THIS LEVEL!

Made you long for Behold Randy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited June 3, 2013 by OccamsRazor