Tomorrow the NHL Draft's 1st round will commence and while the 1st pick isn't going to be a surprise, the rest of the draft might be pure chaos. Here is a look at whom I think will be drafted by the team and also how I would draft if that team's GM (in italics and based on that draft order).
For review, you can click on my top 130 Big Board here.
1. Blackhawks - Connor Bedard - (Bedard)
2. Ducks - Adam Fantilli - (Fantilli)
3. Blue Jackets - Will Smith - (Carlsson)
4. Sharks - Leo Carlsson - (Smith)
5. Canadiens - Ryan Leonard - (Simashev)
6. Coyotes - Dalibor Dvorsky - (Michkov)
7. Flyers - Matvei Michkov - (Benson)
8. Capitals - David Reinbacher - (Leonard)
9. Red Wings - Samuel Honzek - (Dvorsky)
10. Blues - Nate Danielson - (Reinbacher)
11. Canucks - Zach Benson - (Danielson)
12. Coyotes - Tom Willander - (Wood)
13. Sabres - Quinton Musty - (But)
14. Penguins - Oliver Moore - (Honzek)
15. Predators - Colby Barlow - (Perreault)
16. Flames - Brayden Yager - (Yager)
17. Red Wings - Gabriel Perreault - (Moore)
18. Jets - Dmitri Simashev - (Barlow)
19. Blackhawks - Matthew Wood - (Nadeau)
20. Kraken - Eduard Sale - (Sandin-Pellikka)
21. Wild - Lukas Dragicevic - (Fisker-Molgaard)
22. Flyers - Ethan Gauthier - (Sale)
23. Rangers - Calum Ritchie - (Bonk)
24. Predators - Axel Sandin-Pellikka - (Stenberg)
25. Blues - Koehn Ziemmer - (Willander)
26. Sharks - Daniil But - (Musty)
27. Avalanche - Alex Ciernik - (Gauthier)
28. Maple Leafs - Otto Stenberg - (Gulyayev)
29. Blues - Mikhail Gulyayev - (Edstrom)
30. Hurricanes - Bradley Nadeau - (Dragicevic)
31. Canadiens - Oliver Bonk - (Ritchie)
32. Golden Knights - Oscar Fisker-Molgaard - (Morin)
While the actual draft will be riddled with trades and GMs exiting the 1st round for proven veterans this mock draft is just meant to see how this ages over time. For instance, I firmly believe that in 5 years everyone will see that Dmitri Simashev is a superstar in my opinion.
I think that if the Blackhawks had Matthew Wood still on the board they'd be ecstatic. I do have a suspicion though that the club likes some lesser thought of forwards like Bradley Nadeau and Alex Ciernik (players most have in the 25-45 range). We will see, but this should be fun!
Let's all enjoy the draft tomorrow and Thursday! Go Hawks!