First, all of the following predictions assume no trades are made. Of course, on draft day, there are plenty of trades! I've put an asterisk (*) next to those teams that I think are likely to trade. I explain my rationale after the list.
1. Edmonton Oilers*: Nail Yakupov
2. Columbus Blue Jackets: Alex Galchenyuk
3. Montreal Canadiens: Mikhail Grigorenko
4. NY Islanders: Mathew Dumba
5. Toronto Maple Leafs: Filip Forsberg
6. Anaheim Ducks: Ryan Murray
7. Minnesota Wild*: Cody Ceci
8. Carolina Hurricanes: Teuvo Teravainen
9. Winnipeg Jets: Morgan Rielly
10. Tampa Bay Lightning*: Jacob Trouba
11. Washington Capitals* (from Colorado): Griffin Reinhart
12. Buffalo Sabres*: Radek Faksa
13. Dallas Stars: Derrick Pouliot
14. Calgary Flames: Sebastian Collberg
15. Ottawa Senators: Brendan Gaunce
16. Washington Capitals: Zemgus Girgensons
17. San Jose Sharks: Pontus Aberg
18. Chicago Blackhawks: Matthew Finn
19. Tampa Bay Lightning (from Detroit): Malcolm Subban
20. Philadelphia Flyers: Slater Koekkoek
21. Buffalo Sabres (from Nashville): Tomas Hertl
22. Pittsburgh Penguins: Olli Maatta
23. Florida Panthers*: Andrei Vasilevski
24. Boston Bruins: Brady Skjei
25. St. Louis Blues: Thomas Wilson
26. Vancouver Canucks*: Hampus Lindholm
27. Phoenix Coyotes: Martin Frk
28. NY Rangers: Michael Matheson
29. New Jersey Devils: Oscar Dansk
30. Los Angeles Kings: Stefan Matteau
The reason I've selected certain teams as likely to trade during the draft.
Edmonton: they don't need yet another young, high caliber forward. They need skilled defensemen.
Minnesota: MN general manager likes to trade at the draft. The almost complete lack of defensive prospects necessitates trying to get a second 1st round pick. I look for them to try to acquire Washington, Tampa or Buffalo's pick or simply to trade down 1-3 spots. It also depends on how many of the defensemen they want are still on the board at number 7.
Washington, Tampa and Buffalo: All three teams have two 1st round picks. They may package them to move up. I'd be surprised if at least one of them didn't do that.
Florida: They have a lot of young, talented prospects. They may trade one of them with a pick for an established NHL player.
Vancouver: They want to move Roberto Luongo. Indeed, perhaps they'll move him to Florida.
This site discusses everything MN Wild and follows the development of their prospects. The real value of the site aren't my blog entries as much as the embedded statistics on MN Wild prospects that can be reached via the links on the right of the page. The site uses statistics from eliteprospects.com. Prospects are listed in order of their draft class. Click on the right of this page to view current and past statistics for each draft class. Visit often!
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