2014 NHL Mock Draft, No. 1: Aaron Ekblad & Sam Reinhart Round Out Underwhelming Top Ten
The first mock draft of the summer is here!
We present the first of three mock drafts we'll have here on DBD over the next month, with Huw giving his own take on the first round later this week.
One thing that instantly jumps out about this draft is that this is perhaps one of the more underwhelming top five I've seen in quite some time for the NHL draft. These are all very talented players but isn't nearly the level of talent we saw in last year's first round, and the Top 30 overall in this draft are very, very fluid.
I think this will be one of the more impossible first rounds to accurately predict outside of the top three or so, and I expect there will be many picks in the latter half of the round where it was expected that player would be selected much later. This year will be at the whim of draft boards and in a year like this one, those boards will certainly vary drastically from team to team.
I've presented a comment on the top ten picks as as well as the Dallas Stars' pick; we'll have full commentary on each pick in the first round during our final mock draft later in June.
| Pick | Team | Player | League | Explanation |
| 1 | Florida Panthers | Aaron Ekblad (D) | OHL | We've seen how valuable top pairing defensemen have become. There's no way Florida can pass up one with the top pick of the draft. |
| 2 | Buffalo Sabres | Sam Reinhart (C) | WHL | The Sabres need a No. 1 playmaking center to rebuild the franchise around, and Reinhart will fill that role perfectly. |
| 3 | Edmonton Oilers | Michael DalColle (C/LW) | OHL | Exactly what the Oilers need: A good two-way winger with great size and amazing hands. |
| 4 | Calgary Flames | Leon Draisaitl (C/LW) | WHL | The Flames go with a skilled playmaking center in the first pick of the |
| 5 | New York Islanders | Sam Bennett (C/LW) | OHL | Bennett has great speed and a high motor; would not be surprising if he went higher. |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | Nick Ritchie (RW) | OHL | Ritchie is a power forward with every tool needed to be a star in the NHL. Great size, speed and hands. |
| 7 | Carolina Hurricanes | William Nylander (C/LW) | SHL | Talented yet undersized playmaking and versatile center and seems built to be a puck possession hound. |
| 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Jake Vertanen (RW) | WHL | Big physical power forward with tremendous hands and an underrated shot. |
| 9 | Winnipeg Jets | Nikolaj Ehlers (LW) | QMJHL | Ehlers will be one of those picks in the middle of the first round where five years later everyone wonders how he made it past No. 2. |
| 10 | Anaheim Ducks | Kasperi Kapanen (LW) | FIN | Play. Maker. |
| 11 | Nashville Predators | Brendan Perlini (RW) | OHL | |
| 12 | Arizona Coyotes | Haydn Fleury (D) | WHL | |
| 13 | Washington Capitals | Jared McCann (C) | OHL | |
| 14 | Dallas Stars | Kevin Fiala (RW) | SHL | The Stars address a major need by selecting a game-breaking offensive talent in Fiala, a right wing with incredible speed out of Sweden. |
| 15 | Detroit Red Wings | Robby Fabbri (C/LW) | OHL | |
| 16 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Alex Tuch (RW) | USHL | |
| 17 | Philadelphia Flyers | David Pastrnak (LW) | SWE | |
| 18 | Minnesota Wild | Nikolay Goldobin (RW) | OHL | |
| 19 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Ivan Barbashev (LW) | QMJHL | |
| 20 | San Jose Sharks | Dylan Larkin (C) | USHL | |
| 21 | St. Louis Blues | Sonny Milano (LW) | USHL | |
| 22 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Aaron Irving (D) | WHL | |
| 23 | Colorada Avalanche | Roland McKeown (D) | OHL | |
| 24 | Anaheim Ducks | Josh Ho-Sang (C) | OHL | |
| 25 | Boston Bruins | Anton Karlsson (LW) | SHL | |
| 26 | Montreal Canadiens | Markus Pettersson (D) | SHL | |
| 27 | Chicago Blackhawks | John Quenneville (C) | WHL | |
| 28 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Nick Schmaltz (C) | USHL | |
| 29 | Los Angeles Kings | Brycen Martin (D) | WHL | |
| 30 | New Jersey Devils | Jack Dougherty (D) | HS-MIN |
