HW Community Mock Draft 2013: Day 5

On the board: HDZx. You have until 10:30AM CDT to make your pick!

Day 4 Recap

Day 4 for the Hockey Widlerness Mock Draft may have just busiest yet, albeit late at night.

This is where teams will start going off the because the future of prospects get even more blurry and unclear. Surprisingly though, all the picks were prospects projected at their proper place, creating very little surprises.

The only surprise came late when the Ducks select defenseman Ian McCoshen. McCoshen is a solid prospect but a few at FC have questioned his upside and whether he has the tools to become more than just a depth defenseman.

The only other notable news is that Columbus will seem to end with the most first round prospects with three selections: Frederik Gauthier, Adam Erne and Andre Burakowsky. Safe and smart pick, left the first round with no high risk picks but all have very strong potential.

Other than that, the first round to be finish by today and we should begin the 2nd round as well!

DAY 4 SELECTIONS

19TH OVERALL - The Columbus Blue Jackets select powerforward Adam Erne

General Manager Tony Wiseau:

The Blue Jackets have been in need of power forwards, particularly on the wing. With the acquisition of the hulking Frederik Gauthier, we feel we’ve partially fulfilled that. We double down on this strategy with the selection of Erne. Smaller than Gauthier, the 6’1’’ Erne is still no midget, and brings an element of the elite speed and grit that Gauthier can’t, and doesn’t yet provide. Erne’s shot, speed, and ability and desire to get into the “dirty areas” allow him to generate goals. My hope is something like a bigger Jason Zucker. The Blue Jackets prospect pool has just gotten bigger, stronger, and grittier this round, with yet another pick in the first. I’m pretty thrilled with my first round so far.

20TH OVERALL - The San Jose Sharks select two-way defenseman Ryan Pulock

General Manager J.A.Berty1330:

We pick Pulock because of his puck-moving abilities, cannon of a slapper, skating, physicality, and leadership. Pulock offers the complete package as a defenseman and could potentially land on the Sharks top pairing for years to come. Pulock is also a piece that the Sharks can build around to restock their prospect pool.

21TH OVERALL - The Toronto Maple Leafs select all-round forward Bo Horvat.

General Manager Corporal_Klinger:

Horvat is both an offensive talent and a dependable defensive player. He has good hands and a solid shot, can take faceoffs anywhere on the ice and play against an opposing teams best players and win. He has a good hockey IQ which makes him an effective playmaker, but he isn’t afraid to go into the corners and fight for the puck. His skating still needs some work, but already looks to be improving. He’s a strong, versatile center, and will be a terrific addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

22ND OVERALL - The Calgary Flames select mobile defenseman Josh Morrissey.

General Manager niemonster3:

He plays an extremely mature two-way game, but you can’t leave without feeling he has top-level offensive abilities, due to his skating, elite skill, and puck-moving strengths. Already pretty sound defensively and has a big cannon on the PP right point with his left hand shot. Confident and smooth, he can lead the rush, or quickly close down and stop the ememy’s attempt at one. At this point not overly large, but gets the job done. Controls gaps and will step up physically to stop the advance.

23RD OVERALL - The Washington Capitals select skilled defenseman Robert Hagg.

General Manager The Nooge:

Hägg is a 6’2" 200lb defensemen who plays for MODO and the Swiss U20 national team. He is highly touted as a two-way defensemen who has a great mind for the game. He plays strong on the puck and has a crisp breakout pass. He is a smooth, powerful skater with good top end speed and great acceleration. His ability to control the speed and tempo of a game as well as his hard, accurate slap shot makes him a strong presence on the power play.

Hägg displays maturity beyond his years, he will hardly be pressured into making a bad pass and he excels with setting up teammates on the rush. His defensive play was recently labeled as inconsistent but he has also showed a lot of upside with big hit capability and a strong presence in front of his own goal. He’ll play aggressive while maintaining gap control and an ability to cut down passing or shooting lanes.

Overall, we feel this kid has a lot of potential upside and may be NHL ready within a year or two.

24TH OVERALL - The Vancouver Canucks select hulking defenseman Samuel Morin.

HW Danccchan's Take:

The team lacks bluechip prospects in every position so they do with Morin, who has that dominate size to be a key player defensively. However, he compliments that with good skating and a strong first pass. Might take him 2-3 years but the idea of having a good skating 6-6 defenseman patrolling the Vancouver blueline is hard to pass up!

25TH OVERALL - The Montreal Canadiens select versatile forward Curtis Lazar.

HW Danccchan's Take:

The Canadiens have alot of depth and high quality offensive forwards. Galchenyuk, Collberg, Hudon, Bozon etc etc. What they could use is a character, versatile forward to compliment this group and add some grit and talent on their forecheck. Lazar is a special teams player (smarts on PK and his shot and hardwork on the PP) and have tons of versatility to play on their 3rd line forecheck, shutdown, 2nd line shooter etc.

26TH OVERALL - The Anaheim Ducks select all-round defenseman Ian McCoshen.

General Manager Kyle Nicolas:

Anaheim has some great skill coming through the ranks at nearly every position, however most of Anaheim’s defensive studs are offensively-minded. With the team still struggling mightily to keep the puck out of their net and an infuriating inability to prevent larger forwards from having a picnic in our goal crease, the team is in desperate need of a strong, sizeable, and defensively-minded blueliner to keep forwards at bay.

McCoshen can fill this role. Initially regarded as a brilliant shut-down defender thanks to his big nearly-6’3", 205lbs size, McCoshen stepped up his game and evolved into a great two-way guy who can contribute offensively while still playing amazing defense. He was second on his USHL squad last season with a +35 rating while leading all Waterloo defensemen by scoring 44 points in 53 games.

McCoshen is committed to Boston College for next season and will mature while facing some spectacular competition in Hockey East. However he also has the option to move to the CHL with the Saginaw Spirit should he choose to pursue the non-collegiate path.

27TH OVERALL - The Columbus Blue Jackets select speedy winger Andre Burakowsky.

General Manager Tony Wiseau:

Some may wonder if I’m being too focused on landing offense for the Blue Jackets’ system, but I don’t feel the defense is of urgent need with upgrading. A team that was just able to trade John Moore at the deadline, the Jackets still feature Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, and Fydor Tyutin as very good established NHLers, with Ryan Murray and Jack Johnson bringing up the rear in terms of young guns. I think it’s gonna be OK in that department.

Burakowsky offers high-end playmaking skill to the Blue Jackets, combining it with speed and grit. There are some concerns- he needs to fill out his 6’1’’ frame, and he was hella inconsistent last season in Sweden, but again, with three first rounders, I feel I can go for upside moreso with safety. On paper, I have added three prospects to the Blue Jackets system that have size (or in Burakowsky’s case, a projectable frame), speed, and grit, and they all play different roles. And we’re not even in Round 2 yet.

RULES

Remember the rules:

Drafting:

UPDATED RULE: TIME LIMIT WILL BE SHORTEN TO 6 HOUR FOR ROUNDS 2-7.

1. Picks will be made in the Mock Draft GDT that will be created every morning at 10AM.
2. You will have 8 hours to make your pick. Otherwise, you will be auto'd using HW rankings. Any time past 12AM will be automatically transferred to the next morning's 10AM thread (e.g 1 hour left + 10AM = 11AM deadline).
   
3. Make you pick in the comments section, with a short description following it.
4. This draft will continue until June 28th.
5. If you miss your pick twice, you will be replaced.
   

Trading:

1. Trading of picks will be allowed. Trading of players will NOT.
2. Send in your trades to my email - danccchan@gmail.com. I need one player to send the proposal, the second player to quote said proposal with a "I approve" statement in the email

Also, when you make your pick, you should make it ion the comments section in the following format:

SUBJECT: With the 1st overall pick, the Colorado Avalanche select Sidney Crosby

MESSAGE: "The Avalanche select Crosby because his free-flowing hair and his ability to grow a mullet"

DRAFT BOARD

ROUND 1

ROUND 2

ROUND 3

ROUND 4

ROUND 5

ROUND 6

ROUND 7

GM List - LINK HERE

We will be updating the picks as the draft goes along so check this post as well as our twitter, @hockeywildernes, for updates.

For a complete list of draft picks, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_NHL_Entry_Draft