2018 NHL Draft – Round 1 and 2 Mock Draft

As an ongoing special to Burgundy Rainbow, Nathan Chapman (@ncchapman15) has provided the latest installment of his draft materials.

 

FIRST ROUND

1 Buffalo-Rasmus Dahlin, D Frolunda (SHL)
Easy choice as Buffalo needs defense badly and Dahlin is a franchise talent.

2 Carolina-Andrei Svechnikov, RW Barrie (OHL)
Like the 1st pick, an easy choice as Carolina needs offense and Svechnikov is also a franchise talent.

3 Montreal-Noah Dobson, D Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)
Zadina would be my choice here but with the emphasis on defense becoming more in recent years the Habs take who they think can be their Pietrangelo.

4 Ottawa-Filip Zadina, RW Halifax (QMJHL)
Ottawa finally catches a break and has Zadina fall to them who will make a big impact for them from day 1 to the chagrin of Avs fans.

5 Arizona-Evan Bouchard, D London (OHL)
Arizona has a good left side with OEL, Chychrun and some good lefty prospects but their right side is void of young talent so they take Bouchard and his video game numbers to fill a big need.

6 Detroit-Quinn Hughes, D Michigan (Big10)
Detroit has a lot of picks and needs everything so they take a chance on the slight but high upside Hughes. Detroit will build up with his defensive zone play to get an elite puck mover as they start the rebuild.

7 Vancouver-Brady Tkachuk, LW Boston University (H-East)
Vancouver needs defense the most but would be more than happy to have Tkachuk fall to them and bring some much needed physical presence among their forward core. The games between them and Calgary would be a must watch too.

8 Chicago-Oliver Wahlstrom, RW USA U-18 (NTDP)
Chicago’s biggest need is defense but adding Wahlstrom’s size plus scoring combo is too much for them to pass up here.

9 NYR-Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C Assat (Liiga)
A player who climbed the rankings fast at the end of the year and should crack the top 10. The Rangers are looking to have a fast rebuild and getting a potential #1 center who can play in all situations would be big for them.

10 Edmonton-Adam Boqvist, D Brynas (SHL)
Boqvist had a rough end to his year but the Oilers will be more than happy to add his puck moving ability as he falls to them. He’d compliment their current defense nicely and getting the puck to McDavid is a priority.

11 NYI-Ty Smith, D Spokane Cheifs (WHL)
The Islanders luck into this being such a deep draft for defense and get an elite puck moving dman in Smith who has elite potential. The Islanders also love their WHL players so Smith is a great fit.

12 NYI-Barrett Hayton, C Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
Thanks to Calgary not liking draft picks the Islanders find themselves with back to back picks. The Tavares situation isn’t great but they take an all situations center in Hayton to pair with Barzal as a great duo even if Tavares leaves.

13 Dallas-Grigori Denisneko, LW Loko (MHL)
Dallas loves to draft Russians high even though it hasn’t worked out well for them and take a home run swing here with Denisenko. They hope to find themselves their own Panarin after seeing him with Chicago for a couple years.

14 Philadelphia-Serron Noel, RW Oshawa (OHL)
With a deep defensive and goalie pool to go along with two high 1sts, Philly can afford to take the chance on Noel here and hope they get themselves a Simmonds replacement.

15 Florida-Rasmus Kupari, C Karpat (Liiga)
Florida loves their Finnish talent and goes back to the well here. Kupari is a versatile player with good size and could compliment Barkov nicely.

16 Colorado-Joe Veleno, C Drummondville (QMJHL)
The Avs should be more than thrilled if a talent like Veleno falls to them and he fills the big need of a bigger center to pair with MacKinnon. He won’t live up to the exceptional status he recieved but will still be a heck of a player.

17 New Jersey-Joel Farabee, LW USA U-18 (NTDP)
New Jersey loves their Americans and while Farabee is a safer pick he could very well fill the hole Parise left years ago.

18 Columbus-Vitali Kravtsov, RW Chelyabinsk (KHL)
Columbus has their #1 center in Dubois and small skilled winger in Panarin so they take the risk on Kravtsov to fill the other side of that line. With Panarin in the fold they mitigate the Russian factor with this pick.

19 Philadelphia-Akil Thomas, C Niagara (OHL)
As with the Noel pick, Philly goes high upside with this pick and could get the steal of the draft here. While Thomas isn’t overly big he plays with a Flyers attitude and can play both center and wing.

20 Los Angeles-K’Andre Miller, D USA U-18 (NTDP)
Miller is a raw player but the Kings go for upside here and bet on their ability to develop defense. He fits their mold as well and could solidify the left side for LA along with Clague for years to come.

21 San Jose-Bode Wilde, D USA U-18 (NTDP)
San Jose isn’t afraid of high risk dmen and while a rebuild is just around the corner for them they go high risk high upside here in the polarizing Wilde. If he hits they could be getting their Burns replacement.

22 Ottawa-Nils Lundkvist, D Lulea (SHL)
In 2008 they took a slight puck moving D which worked out pretty well for them and they do the same here with this late riser.

23 Anaheim-Dominik Bokk, RW Vaxjo (SHL)
The Ducks are one of the best drafting teams in the league and make a good pick here with the highly skilled Bokk. Anaheim can also afford to make the riskier pick here with how many hits they’ve had in recent years.

24 Minnesota-Alexander Alexeyev, D Red Deer (WHL)
The Wild go back to Red Deer and select a well rounded defenseman who could very well form their top pairing with fellow Rebels alum Matt Dumba.

25 Toronto-Isac Lundestrom, C Lulea (SHL)
Toronto has a lot of high end skill but take the lower upside 2-way pivot who can take on the tough matches to free up Matthews to feast on easier matchups.

26 NYR-Ty Dellandrea, C Flint (OHL)
Dellandrea is another big riser as the year went on and the Rangers continue to solidify their forwards ranks with the complete and versatile Flint product.

27 Chicago-Jett Woo, D Moose Jaw (WHL)
Chicago gets some much needed defensive help in Woo who is a slight faller because of injuries in his draft year but has all the makings of an elite dman.

28 NYR-Martin Kaut, RW Pardubice (Czech)
At the combine Kaut was found to have a heart issue which will likely cause him to fall but with numerous high picks the Rangers can afford to take the chance on kaut who would’ve been a top 20 pick without that issue.

29 St Louis-Rasmus Sandin, D Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
The Blues continue to look for their Shattenkirk replacement and might find it with Sandin. There is some risk with this pick as Sandin isn’t the biggest player and might have been sheltered on a strong Soo team.

30 Detroit-Jacob Bernard-Docker, D Okotoks (AJHL)
Detroit goes back to the Junior A league and takes a talented dman who was a high upside and is following Makar as a 1st rounder from the AJHL going the college route.

31 Washington-Kirill Marchenko, RW Khanty-Mansiysk (KHL)
The cup champs love their Russians and take another chance on a highly skilled one who has a high upside to go along with a lot of risk. The Capitals can at least get rid of the Russian risk given their current roster make up.

 

SECOND ROUND

32 Buffalo-Ryan McLeod, C Mississauga(OHL)
33 Detroit-Jared McIsaac, D Halifax(QMJHL)
34 Florida-Jesse Ylonen, RW Pelicans(Liiga)
35 Montreal-Nicolas Beaudin, D Drummondville(QMJHL)
36 Detroit-Ryan Merkley, D Guelph(OHL)
37 Vancouver-Jonathon Tychonick, D Penticton(BCHL)
38 Montreal-Jack McBain, C Toronto JC(OJHL)
39 NYR-Calen Addison, D Lethbridge(WHL)
40 Edmonton-Jonatan Berggren, RW Skelleftea(SHL)
41 NYI-Mattias Samuelsson, D USA U-18(NTDP)
42 Carolina-Jake Wise, C USA U-18(NTDP)
43 NYI-Albin Eriksson, RW Skelleftea(SHL)
44 Dallas-Benoit Olivier-Groulx, C Halifax(QMJHL)
45 St Louis-Jacob Olofsson, C Timra(SHL)
46 Washington-Jay O’Brien, C Thayer(USHS)
47 Colorado-Ivan Morozov, C Yugry(MHL)
48 NYR-Filip Hallander, C Timra(SHL)
49 Columbus-Jakub Skarek, G Jihlava(Czech)
50 Philadelphia-Kevin Bahl, Ottawa(OHL)
51 Los Angeles-Liam Foudy, C London(OHL)
52 Toronto-Adam Ginning, D Linkoping(SHL)
53 Pittsburgh-Olivier Rodrigue, G Drummondville(QMJHL)
54 Anaheim-Jakub Lauko, C Chomutov(Czech)
55 Arizona-Stanislav Demin, D Wenachee(BCHL)
56 Montreal-Cole Fonstad, C Prince Albert(WHL)
57 Boston-Kody Clark, RW Ottawa(OHL)
58 Colorado-Lukas Dostal, G Brno(Czech)
59 Tampa Bay-Jan Jenik, LW Liberec(Czech)
60 Winnipeg-Curtis Douglas, C Windsor(OHL)
61 Vegas-Riley Sutter, RW Everett(WHL)
62 Montreal-Milos Roman, C Vancouver(WHL)