DailyFaceoff 2017 NHL Mock Draft

With the Expansion Draft behind us it is time to turn our attention to the NHL Entry Draft, which goes Friday and Saturday in Chicago. The 2016 Draft was top heavy and fairly deep, but the belief is that this year’s draft class is one of the weakest classes we’ve seen in recent years.

The New Jersey Devils won the Draft Lottery and will pick No.1 overall, while the newly selected Vegas Golden Knights currently sit with three picks in the first round, including their first pick ever at No.6.

With the Draft just a few days away, I tried my hand at a Mock Draft, but there are sure to be a few trades which will change the entire draft landscape. All of the draft pick trades are marked with a * and the trade details can be found at the bottom of the post.

Pick  Team Player 2016-17 Stats 1 Nico Hischier (F) GP(57) | G(38) | A(48) | P(86) – Halifax (OHL) 2 Nolan Patrick (F) GP(33) | G(20) | A(26) | P(46) – Brandon (WHL) 3 Miro Heiskanen (D) GP(37) | G(5) | A(5) | P(10) – HIFK (Liiga) 4 Cale Makar (D) GP(54) | G(24) | A(51) | P(75) – Brooks (AJHL) 5  Gabriel Vilardi (F) GP(49) | G(29) | A(32) | P(61) – Windsor (OHL) 6 Cody Glass (F) GP(69) | G(32) | A(62) | P(94) – Portland (WHL) 7 Casey Mittelstadt (F) GP(24) | G(13) | A(17) | P(30) – Green Bay (USHL) 8 Elias Pettersson (F) GP(43) | G(19) | A(22) | P(41) – Timra IK (Allsvenskan) 9 Timothy Liljegren (D) GP(5) | G(0) | A(1) | P(1) – Timra IK (Allsvenskan) 10 Owen Tippett (F) GP(60) | G(44) | A(31) | P(75) – Mississauga (OHL) 11 Michael Rasmussen (F) GP(50) | G(32) | A(23) | P(55) – Tri-City (WHL) 12 Martin Necas (F) GP(41) | G(7) | A(8) | P(15) – HC Kometa Brno (Czech) 13 * Juuso Valimaki (D) GP(60) | G(19) | A(42) | P(61) – Tri-City (WHL) 14 Nick Suzuki (F) GP(65) | G(45) | A(51) | P(96) – Owen Sound (OHL) 15 *  Kristian Vesalainen (F) GP(9) | G(1) | A(0) | P(1) – HPK Hameenlinna (Liiga) 16 Lias Andersson (F) GP(42) | G(9) | A(10) | P(19) – HV71 (SweHL) 17 Eeli Tolvanen (F) GP(52) | G(30) | A(24) | P(54) – Sioux City (USHL) 18 Callan Foote (D) GP(71) | G(6) | A(51) | P(57) – Kelowna (WHL) 19 Klim Kostin (F) GP(8) | G(0) | A(0) | P(0) – Moscow (KHL) 20 Erik Brannstrom (D) GP(35) | G(1) | A(5) | P(6) – HV71 (SweHL) 21 Nicolas Hague (D) GP(65) | G(18) | A(28) | P(46) – Mississauga (OHL) 22 Kailer Yamamoto (F) GP(65) | G(42) | A(57) | P(99) – Spokane (WHL) 23 * Urho Vaakanainen (D) GP(41) | G(2) | A(4) | P(6) – JyP HY Jyvaskyla (Liiga) 24 * Robert Thomas (F) GP(66) | G(16) | A(50) | P(66) – London (OHL) 25 Isaac Ratcliffe (F) GP(67) | G(28) | A(26) | P(54) – Guelph (OHL) 26 Ryan Poehling (F) GP(35) | G(7) | A(6) | P(13) – St. Cloud St. (NCAA) 27 * Josh Norris (F) GP(25) | G(12) | A(14) | P(26) – USNDT (USHL) 28 Conor Timmins (D) GP(67) | G(7) | A(54) | P(61) – Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 29 * Jake Oettinger (G) 21-11-3 | GAA (2.11) | SV% (.927) | SO(4) – Boston U (NCAA) 30 Kole Lind (F) GP(70) | G(30) | A(57) | P(87) – Kelowna (WHL) 31 Shane Bowers (F) GP(60) | G(22) | A(29) | P(51) – Waterloo (USHL)

• VGK acquired the No.13 overall pick and a 2019 3rd round pick from WPG for the No.24 overall pick (via CBJ) and Expansion Draft Considerations.
• VGK acquired the No.15 overall pick, a 2019 3rd round pick, Mikhail Grabovski and Jake Bischoff from NYI for Expansion Draft Considerations.
• ARI acquired the No.23 overall pick, a 2018 2nd round pick and a 2019 4th round pick from MIN for Martin Hanzal, Ryan White and a 2017 4th round pick.
• WPG acquired the No.24 overall pick (via CBJ) and Expansion Draft Considerations from VGK for the No.13 overall pick and a 2019 3rd round pick.
• STL acquired the No.27 overall pick, a conditional 2nd round pick, Brad Malone and Zach Sanford from WSH for Kevin Shattenkirk and Pheonix Copley.
• DAL acquired the No.29 overall pick from ANA for Patrick Eaves.