NHL 2020 Mock Draft Picks 21-31 Presented by: VIGR Lifestyles
As we tried to navigate these strange times, and provide fans with a detailed primer for this year's entry draft, we thought there was no better man to turn to than former pro player, VIGR Lifestyles co-founder, and all things Hockey aficionado Jared Dumba to compile his notes, work his sources and come up with a first round mock draft for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Here are picks 21-31, and be sure to stay tuned for the complete list leading up to Monday's festivities and Jared's appearance on The SquadCast to break it down!
Without further ado, and as of this moment, no trades to announce, "Columbus, you are on the clock!...
21. Columbus Blue Jackets
Options: Lapierre / Amirov / Bourque / Perreault
French centers everywhere!!! At this point the Blue Jackets
could use defence or forwards of any position but the player who best fits the
Blue Jackets organization here is Rodion Amirov. Amirov is such a hard worker
and he possesses sublime skill to go along with it AND he’s a shark in the
shootout too. He would be my pick here if I was GM, but I think they go with a
center. Perreault is the fastest skater in the entire draft class even though
he rarely shows it and he has one of the best shots as well, he’s a pure sniper
who any team would love to get, but he was -34 this year so with Torts at the
helm I think they go with someone a little more polished at this point in his
own end. Lapierre might have one of the highest ceilings in the draft but has
already had concussion issues and only had 2 goals last year in a shortened
season, even more of a concern is he’s never had 20 goals in a season, not even
in bantam (side note: if he plays even 40 games this year I think he breaks 20,
his shot looks INCREDIBLE since returning to the QMJHL pre-season). With all
this said I think Bourque ends up being the pick here, he has an awesome shot,
he can skate, he’s always in the right place at the right time, and if he had
to go to the wing at the pro level he has one heckuva one timer, so he very
well could flourish at that position as well. He might even be better slated as
a guy who you put on the wing and tell to shoot everything from everywhere and
give him a little less defensive responsibility because he tends to fall asleep
in his own end from time to time, but his upside is too good to pass up here.
THE PICK: MAVRIK BOURQUE
22. New York Rangers
Options: Ryan O’Rourke / Lapierre / Perreault / Holloway
The Rangers can afford to take a shot at a guy like Perreault
or Lapierre, they have so many great prospects that they can swing for the
fences and it wouldn’t matter if the player didn’t turn out. They still don’t
have solid centre depth and could add depth at d as well. Ryan O’Rourke might
be the most underrated player in the draft in my opinion, he was type cast as
purely an offensive defenseman but when given more responsibility he flourished
and also showed he can play a hard hitting game as well. The best part about
O’Rourke is that he’s a good guy and a hard worker who has a ton of room to add
weight and muscle to his frame. Even so, I think the Rangers see Dylan Holloway
has fallen this far and are ecstatic that he did, Holloway is a guy who could
turn into the star center they didn’t get at #1. He didn’t put up great numbers
in his first year of college hockey, but he played well, especially in the
second half of the year, and his upside is too good to pass up.
THE PICK: DYLAN HOLLOWAY
He didn’t have the best start to the year, but his coaches
always trusted him, and he started scoring more in the second half. He is a guy
who could turn into a star.
23. Philadelphia Flyers
Options : Wallinder / Amirov / Grieg
The Flyers have one of the best prospect pools in the entire
NHL. Carter Hart is just getting started and they’ve got York and Zemula coming
up on d while Provorov, Sanheim, Myers, and Hagg are all still very young, any
number of them could end up being with the team for 10+ years. At center they
look strong after adding Kevin Hayes to the mix of Frost, Couturier, and
Laughton, and don’t forget they still have Nolan Patrick (“if” he can get
healthy) and Bobby Brink pushing for jobs. Brink is a big, strong, bruising,
center with skill who could end up being a great middle 6 center down the road.
If there’s any area they could use an extra player or two it’s on the wing.
Grieg is a great player who is a lot smaller right now than he will be when he
plays pro, the good thing with Philly is they’ve got great players everywhere
and already have good scoring wingers so wouldn’t have to rush a player like
Grieg, but I think they go with Amirov here. This is the guy I would take here
too, Amirov to me just seems to fit in perfectly with the Flyers mould. He has
unbelievable hands and is one of the best all around players in the draft, he’s
got a great shot, plays pp and pk, and finishes every single check hard. This
guy just hounds the other team when they have the puck. I think he goes around
#10 in a re-draft in the coming years. The Flyers just recently got a really
skilled, hard nosed player later in round 1 in Konecny but I think Konecny may
be a little more of a pest while Amirov is a quite a bit more skilled.
THE PICK: RODION AMIROV
24. Washington Capitals
Options: Brisson / Grieg / Neighbours / Lapierre / Robins /
Wallinder
Washington needs dmen, wingers, and goalies. The wingers
with the big club are all getting older besides Vrana who’s still 24, they also
have Daniel Sprong, Brett Leason, Connor McMichael, and Alexei Protas coming
up. I think Protas ends up being a great 2nd or 3rd line center in the NHL as
he’s big, strong, fast, and he shoots the puck a ton, he’s another guy who just
looks like a pro. Other than that, Weisblatt, Robins, and Neighbours are all
solid wingers who bring skill and aren’t afraid to get dirty, hearing any of
these names called would not surprise me here. Wallinder is still available
here and is said to be the next best dman available, but he doesn’t seem like
the type the Caps would pick to me, I think they see Lapierre is still
available and know he can play any forward position if needed and take him.
Lapierre only had 2 goals last year in 19 games due to injury but early in the
QMJHL season he looks INCREDIBLE having added about 20 lbs of muscle without
losing speed and having his shot look like all he did was sit in a garage
shooting pucks since Covid hit. I think he goes real high in a re-draft too. He
might be a guy who is on the ice assisting on Ovie’s goal to get past Gretzky’s
all-time goals record if he gets picked here, and if Ovie breaks the record,
which I say he does.
THE PICK: HENDRIX LAPIERRE
25. Colorado Avalanche
Options: Perreault / Lapierre / Grieg / Wiesblatt / Robins
The Avalanche are stacked everywhere, their defence looks
great and is very young, but they could use a bruiser here. If Guhle or
Schneider slipped they would be all over either one here, if Askarov slipped
they would jump all over that as well, but I think they wait on the goalies and
go for a couple of them in the mid rounds. With Perreault and Lapierre either
one could move to the wing if needed but maybe Newhook and Jost end up being
better suited for wing so a center like Perreault or Lapierre could make more
sense? In that case, Sakic would be over the moon to get a guy like Perreault.
Jacob scored 39 goals last year and can really fire the biscuit, he is also the
fastest skater in the draft even though he rarely shows it. This is something
we see sometimes from young guys who are that fast, they slow their game down to
the level they’re at, this may not be a bad thing in my eyes even though I see
him losing a lot of credit with scouts for it. Any of the WHL wingers would be
great adds and could be the pick here but I think they see Perreault still
available and take a chance on his upside even with the current defensive
concerns. (Which I don’t have).
THE PICK: JACOB PERREAULT
26. St. Louis Blues
Options: Grieg / Brisson / Wallinder / Poirier / Sourdif /
Mysak / Weisblatt / Robins
The Blues have a very deep roster all around at the NHL
level, they have a couple prospects to be excited about like Klim Kostin and
Nikita Alexandrov, and they’ve got some good young goaltenders in the system as
well with the most exciting of them being 6’3 Team Canada WJC tournament
all-star Joel Hofer. I have watched Hofer play a lot of junior games over the
years and I will say this, if I was a betting man, I would never bet against
him. Hofer is one of those guys who always seems to play better than expected,
and he is best in the biggest moments as the rest of Canada and the world
learned last December at the WJC’s. The Blues biggest need this draft is adding
character players or taking a swing for the fences with a guy like Wallinder, a
guy who has huge upside but may be a little further away from rounding out his
game and making the NHL, a bit of project player if you will. Poirier is the most skilled offensive defensemen in the entire draft hands
down, even with Drysdale involved. This guy has the best hands I’ve seen in a
while, and I’m talking any league (that's insane praise but watch him play or
better yet watch his highlight reel, it's disgusting). What he can do with the
puck is just awesome, he makes guys look silly, but its his ability to get
shots through that really opens scout’s eyes. Another thing that really opens
scout’s eyes with Poirier is his poor defensive play and how many goals get
scored against while he’s on the ice. This guy is either gonna round out his
game and be a superstar or he doesn’t make it at all is my guess, he’s one of
those guys who is so skilled that coaches may not be able to convince him he
needs to work on other parts of his game. He will be a project, but the Blues
can afford to take a chance and swing for the fences with this pick. Wallinder
is a left d as well and is a thin 6’5 at this point but if you’re taking a
chance on a guy why not take a chance on the best stick handling dman to come
along in a while. If you think Quinn Hughes has good hands you ain’t seen
nothin yet, but I don’t know anything about this kid’s personality or work
ethic so I may be taking a bit of an early gamble here. I say that because
Poirier over shoots sometimes and will often lose the puck trying fancy moves,
in both instances he could have had open teammates and he just won’t use them,
if he starts learning how and when to pass though look out. For defence rank
only he’s in a league of his own and that’s not a good thing, he’s just not
good at this point. But that could be because he’s always been so much better
than everyone else and so talented that he’s just relied on his top end
athleticism to get him by. He needs a good system to work with him and he has
to have a good attitude, if he can convince the Blues brass in meetings that he
has a good attitude then I’m thinking the Blues take a bit of a risk here and
go with Poirier.
THE PICK: JEREMIE POIRIER
27. Anaheim Ducks
Options: Greig / Mysak / Peterka / Wallinder
The Ducks need wingers and D the most but are looking pretty
good overall in the prospect department. They have Comtois, Zegras, and Tracey
on the rise who should all be on the team within a couple years time, Comtois
is ready now while Tracey and Zegras are probably ready next year or the year
after. They’ve also got young Czech star Lukas Dostal to look forward to
between the pipes one day, unless Gibson plays 6+ more years as a number 1 and
stays with the club which he very well could, Dostal’s job is to try make the
Ducks want to trade Gibson. The Ducks could also take another dman with this
pick, Wallinder is a guy who could have a high ceiling but at this point he
isn’t really great at any one thing, he’s just tall and pretty good all around
right now which a team will love but its hard to tell exactly what he’s gonna
be. With the Ducks taking Drysdale (in this fake draft anyway) with their 1st
pick of the 1st round they could afford to take a shot on a guy like Wallinder
and let him work on his defensive game for a couple few years and let him get
more comfy with the North American game, there’s no need to rush any prospects
for the Ducks at this point but I think the Ducks are gonna go for a winger
here. With so many good wingers still available there are many ways they could
go but something tells me they go for John-Jason Peterka. Peterka is known as
a purely offensive guy who can score and set up plays. But now, he’s added a
solid responsible defensive game to go with it. He needs to add some strength as
he can be pushed off the puck from time to time but JJ is built like a tank, so
I think that comes sooner than later. All in all, I think Peterka ends up being
a solid middle 6 winger who has those couple big seasons where he plays like a
1st liner.
THE PICK: JJ PETERKA
28. Ottawa Senators
Options: Neighbours / Mysak / Brisson / Weisblatt / Robins
What the Sens need at this point after taking two top
centers in the draft: not a whole lot. They are the most stacked organization
with prospects IMHO, and they all seem to be sexy names too. Josh Norris who
was acquired in the EK trade was the AHL rookie scoring leader last season with
31 goals and 60 points in 56 games and he just happens to be the best friend of
Brady Tkachuk. We know all about the 3 B’s in Brannstrom, Brown, and Batherson,
Formenton is right there too, Pinto, Abromov, and Kastelic could all one day
fill a regular spot while Jonathan Gruden could turn out to be a player too.
These are some great names already and we have only mentioned one dman so far,
never mind Lassi Thompson, Bernard-Docker and Tychonic. The system is loaded
and their #1 dman Thomas Chabot is JUST getting started. With a system filled
with high end prospects at forward and defense I think the positions that could
use yet another upgrade are defence and right wing especially if a guy like
Norris, Rossi, or Brown, ends up moving to the left wing in the show ( if they
take Rossi with an earlier pick ). With two picks already in the bank and both
being centers the Sens can afford to take a little bigger risk here on a guy
with more upside. On defence that could be William Wallinder but with so may
skilled d already in the system I think they go for a winger here. Robins would
be a great pick here (I would pick Robins here), as would Weisblatt but I think
the Sens go for Jan Mysak in this spot. Mysak had 9 points in 26 games against
the men in the Czech league before coming over to North America and joining the
Hamilton Bulldogs where he put up 15 goals and 25 points in 22 games. He was a
-12 but he played on a weak team and his defensive game is actually a positive
for this player, he is great on the pk because he reads the play so well. Mysak
already displays a pro style game and because he put up 25 points in 22 games
while switching to the North American game mid-season, I think he has even more
offensive upside than we realize yet.
THE PICK: JAN MYSAK
Mysak is a guy who could end up being a great 1st liner if
he gets in the right situation. He’s a guy who is slightly above average in
almost every area but the area that would make me pick him a little higher is
his adaptability and his ability to adapt to slightly different roles wherever
he plays. He’s great at adapting to different situations as we saw by his play
against men, then his WJC play, then his play in the CHL, he was “pretty good”
everywhere even though his points didn’t reflect that against men. He’s a guy
who I see as a filler on a top line or the driver of a middle six line who
could be the passer if needed, the shooter, or the guy who hangs high more
often. I see him as a jack of all trades type.
29. Las Vegas Golden Knights
Options: Grieg / Brisson / Neighbours / Weisblatt / Robins /
Bordeleau / Smilanic / Sourdif
The Knights are pretty good among all positions except
center, they need center depth. The rest of the list is pretty good actually,
its not the Senators list but there are a lot of pretty good names around
already. At this point of the draft there are still a ton of great players
available at all positions but there are a few in my opinion that have slipped
to this point, any name you see up top as an option for Vegas could already be
gone by this point of the draft on draft day. I would say the obvious that I’m
sure has been said 1000 times and will be said a 1000 more, that because of
McCrimmon Grieg is gonna be a lock here, but I don’t think that happens this
time. Robins and Weisblatt are both slightly underrated WHL guys that McCimmon
will know very well and could be the pick here but I think he goes for a center
and surprises a few people by taking Justin Sourdif in the 1st round as I don’t
think people are giving him enough credit for his game. I think he is one of
the most skilled players in the draft with some of the best hands, some of the
best moves, is one of the best playmakers and is tough as nails too. I don’t
know why Sourdif isn’t higher on almost everyone’s draft lists? I think he goes
top 15 in a re-draft in 5-10 years.
THE PICK: JUSTIN SOURDIF
30. Dallas Stars
Options: Wallinder / Brisson / Smilanic
Dallas doesn’t have a lot of recognizable names in their
system but hey, not a lot of people knew who John Klingberg was for a while
either. The Stars could really use a scoring winger or center, d depth wouldn’t
be a bad idea either. Wallinder here would make so much sense and he could step
right in and immediately start learning from fellow countryman John Klingberg
who has a lot more in common with the younger Swede than many may realize. They
shoot different ways but both are tall, lanky, swift skating players who can
make good decisions with the puck coming out of the zone, and both have come
along at a similar pace.
THE PICK: WILLIAM WALLINDER
Wallinder is a little more of a project than some other
players that could be taken here but when you already have a blueprint of how
to bring a guy along why not stick to that blueprint and take a guy with a
really high ceiling and wide wingspan to boot? Wallinder needs some work but
the sky is the limit for this player. Some see a lot of Philip Broberg in him.
We will see what he becomes.
31. San Jose Sharks
Options : Brisson / Smilanic / Bordelau / O’Rourke
San Jose could really use a centerman, defence is an option
here as well. Any of the centers I have listed would work great here but I
think the Sharks are gonna see O’Rourke here and be very excited to take the
young dman. O’Rourke has always been good offensively but last year when given
more responsibility his defensive game started to come around also, and he
started throwing the body around a lot more as well. I think he is very
underrated even though he is rated as a first rounder. O’Rourke could come to
the big club in 2-3 years and be a solid dman for years to come. He needs to add
some bulk and strength but this guy’s a player.
THE PICK: RYAN O’ROURKE
Comments
Post a Comment