Memorial Day Mock Draft! (2 Rounds) What may happen after Connor Bedard is a Blackhawk.

We now have only 30 days until we hear Kyle Davidson say, "From the Regina P..." which is ALREADY an amazing feeling. Knowing exactly how it will go down and whom will be a Chicago Blackhawk. If you remember back to the same timeframe in the 2007 draft (the last time / first time we had the #1 pick) it wasn't so cut and dry. Patrick Kane was certainly the main option because of his puck skill, but there were still questions on whom to take. James van Riemsdyk was an option, a player with a size advantage on Kane afterall. Obviously, things happened the way they did and the Chicago Blackhawks clearly made the correct decision.

This time around is much different, we don't have another top 3 pick already in the fold as well as we know exactly whom we are taking. Connor Bedard is just the start of it all though, as this draft (in my view) is extremely stocked with both quality and depth.

The below 2 round mock draft is one that I have done based on if "I" were GM. I go pick by pick and do not "ear-mark" players for certain teams. I also know that alot of readers go based on "consensus" on what they read. I warn you that just because 9/10 media or amateur scouts think a player is in a certain range, doesn't make it true. In every single draft there are big mistakes on players everyone likes, then there are reaches that pan out as well as reaches that were just as we thought. So if I have a player that makes you go, "no way bud", just know that I have watched these players at length. From full games, to shift by shift breakdowns, from talking to some of my most trusted scout friends in media... This is how "I" would draft. So, no need to argue or yell at, simply debate and discuss to see how I saw it.

I will not being doing mock-trades as they are impossible to predict at this stage. Certainly I do 100% believe that Blackhawks will either move up from 19 or (more likely in my opinion) move up from 35 into the late first round. This is an important draft yes, but one in which mission #1 is already accomplished after all.

1st ROUND

1. Blackhawks - C Connor Bedard

2. Ducks - C Adam Fantilli

3. Blue Jackets - C Leo Carlsson

4. Sharks - RW Matvei Michkov

5. Canadiens - C Will Smith

6. Coyotes - RD David Reinbacher (You'll note I had this pick from a long time ago)

7. Flyers - RW Ryan Leonard

8. Capitals - C Dalibor Dvorsky

9. Red Wings - RW Zach Benson

10. Blues - C Samuel Honzek

11. Canucks - RW Gabriel Perreault

12. Coyotes - LW Matthew Wood

13. Sabres - C Oliver Moore

14. Penguins - C Riley Heidt

15. Predators - RD Tom Willander

16. Flames - RD Axel Sandin-Pellikka

17. Red Wings - C Nate Danielson

18. Jets - RD Dimitri Simashev

19. Blackhawks - LW Andrew Cristall

20. Kraken - LW Brayden Yager

21. Wild - LD Mikhail Gulyayev

22. Blue Jackets - LW Colby Barlow

23. Rangers - RD Oliver Bonk

24. Predators - LW Quinton Musty

25. Blues - RW Koehn Ziemmer

26. Sharks - LD Tanner Molendyk

27. Avalanche - LW Alex Ciernik

28. Maple Leafs - RW Eduard Sale

29. Blues - LW Daniil But

30. Hurricanes - RW Gavin Brindley

31. Canadiens - G Michael Hrabel

32. Golden Knights - RD Lukas Dragicevic

2nd ROUND

33. Ducks - D Etienne Morin

34. Blue Jackets - C Calum Ritchie

35. Blackhawks - C Otto Stenberg

36. Sharks - C Noah Dower-Nilsson

37. Canadiens - RW Mathieu Cataford

38. Coyotes - RW Jayden Perron

39. Sabres - D Beau Akey

40. Capitals - RW Ethan Gauthier

41. Red Wings - RW Charlie Stramel

42. Red Wings - C Gracyn Sawchyn

43. Red Wings - LW Aydar Suniev

44. Blackhawks - D Maxim Strbak

45. Sabres - D Caden Price

46. Predators - C Oscar Fisker-Molgaard

47. Predators - RW Bradley Nadeau

48. Flames - C William Whitelaw

49. Islanders - G Carson Bjarnason

50. Kraken - D Danny Nelson (Also plays forward)

51. Blackhawks - LW Lenni Hameenaho

52. Kraken - D Theo Lindstein

53. Wild - RW Kasper Halttunen

54. Kings - LW Carson Rehkopf

55. Blackhawks - G Jacob Fowler

56. Oilers - RW Martin Misiak

57. Kraken - C David Edstrom

58. Devils - LW Timur Mukhanov

59. Ducks - D Hunter Brzustewicz

60. Ducks - LW Kalan Lind

61. Stars - C Jaden Lipinski

62. Hurricanes - LW Nick Lardis

63. Panthers - LW Emil Jarventie

64. Wild - LW Nico Myatovic

As you can see there are still alot of great players on the board after these 2 rounds. I have another 13 players with 2nd round grades which speaks to the quantity of quality prospects in this years draft class. While I understand that I have some players lower or higher than alot of the "consensus" out there, I must again remind everyone that the consensus is always wrong year after year.

How could you draft that player over player "X" and so forth and so on. At the end of the day this is how I see it if I were GM of each team given whom is on the board. As a Blackhawks fan I would be thrilled if we walked out of these rounds with Bedard, Cristall, Stenberg, Strbak, Hameenaho, and Fowler. I also think that these are very real possibilities. Most mock drafts out there are copy-cat articles... Where hey this player is really moving up, then all of the other sites follow suite etc. I honestly do not get it. I've even noticed some of my own prior projections finding their way out there. This is about NHL projection, plain and simple. So while everyone loves Charlie Stramel; I see a hard checking, physical third line wing with limited scoring traits. If he's a top 6 player scoring 45-60 points a year than I will have been wrong on him. That's just the way this goes sometimes.