2014 NHL Mock Draft, No. 2: This Draft Is Going To Be Random Y'All
It's nearly the draft and its going to be an odd one.
A quick note to start with. I wrote these without looking at Brandon's before hand. In fact I only looked at his mock draft when I was putting this article together and I didn't change them after I looked at them.
So without further ado. Here's my attempt to predict the 2014 NHL Draft. I look forward to your comments and observations.
| Pick | Team | Player | League | Explanation |
| 1 | Florida Panthers | Sam Reinhart (C/LW) | WHL | Huw: The Panthers take the top center in the draft and help add to their already intimidating forward grouping. He'll help a lot and could make the jump next year. Brandon: |
| 2 | Buffalo Sabres | Sam Bennett (C) | OHL | The Sabres decide to bolster their already impressive center prospects with this talented player. |
| 3 | Edmonton Oilers | Leon Draisaitl (C/LW) | WHL | The Oilers are really happy that this big skating and offensive forward is there. He can be a bit of size alongside their other smaller but talented forwards |
| 4 | Calgary Flames | Sam Reinhart (C/LW) | WHL | The Flames decide to take another Reinhart and this one is the best of the lot. He's a player they can rebuild and focus their team around in the years to come. |
| 5 | New York Islanders | Michael Dal Colle (C/LW) | OHL | The Islanders need some winger prospects. Dal Colle is that and he oozes potential. Imagine him playing with Tavares sometime in the future. Scary. |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | Jake Virtanen (RW) | WHL | The Canucks decide to go for the large hometown boy who can score while at the same time can brutalise the opposition. |
| 7 | Carolina Hurricanes | William Nylander (C/LW) | SHL | The Hurricanes take another uber talented Swede this time round. Nylander is just so offensively talented the Hurricanes can't pass up on another talented Swede |
| 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Nick Ritchie | OHL | I look at Nick Ritchie and I just think this is a player that the Maple Leafs and their fans would adore. A big physical powerforward? The Leafs are going to be drooling at this pick. |
| 9 | Winnipeg Jets | Haydn Fleury | WHL | The Jets needs to improve their backend prospect wise so they decide to go after the second best defensive prospect in this draft. Fleury can do anything and everything pretty well. |
| 10 | Anaheim Ducks (Via Senators) | Nikolaj Elhers | QMJHL | The Ducks need to replace Selanne after all, why not go for the most talented player out of the Q this season who might be the steal of the draft. |
| 11 | Nashville Predators | Kevin Fiala | SHL | The Predators are picking up talented forwards who have played out in Sweden. Fiala would make a nice addition next to Forsberg. |
| 12 | Arizona Coyotes | Jared McCann | OHL | The Coyotes go for the best centerman still on the board and who makes their prospect strength up the middle even more dangerous. McCann does it all the Coyotes are more than happy to take that. |
| 13 | Washington Capitals | Alex Tuch | USHL | The Capitals really quite like those big powerforwards and this one has offensive potential by the barrel load. |
| 14 | Dallas Stars | Kasperi Kapanen (RW) | SM-Liiga | The Dallas Stars pick this offensively talented winger from Finland who was ranked the top European player by the NHL CSS. He's good at both ends of the ice and will probably turn into a better NHL player than his father Sami Kapenen. |
| 15 | Detroit Red Wings | Robby Fabbri (C/LW) | OHL | The Red Wings take the smaller but uber skilled player who tore up the OHL. They are delighted he's still on the board. |
| 16 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Dylan Larkin (C) | USHL | Larkin is one of the most interesting centermen in this draft and can do it all. He's got the size and skill and the Blue Jackets are willing to wait for him to play for the University of Michigan. |
| 17 | Philadelphia Flyers | Sonny Milano (LW) | USHL | The Flyers love this offensive winger who has some of the best hands and skill in the draft. |
| 18 | Minnesota Wild | Brendan Perlini (LW) | OHL | The Wild need to build some depth on their wings in the prospect pool and Perlini gives them a huge boost. |
| 19 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Julius Honka (D) | WHL | The Lightning need some more talented defensemen on the backend. Honka may be small but he's held his own in the rough and tumble of the WHL. |
| 20 | San Jose Sharks | Nick Schmaltz (C) | USHL | Schmaltz is a very talented offensive player whose available to San Jose because of issues of consistency. The Sharks have the depth to wait for him to resolve those issues. |
| 21 | St. Louis Blues | Conner Bleackley (C) | WHL | Bleackley strikes me as a Blues type of forward. He's big, consistent and willing to put his body on the line. He's a good two-way forward whose going to need to work on his footwork. |
| 22 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Nikita Sherbak (RW) | WHL | The Penguins just love this offensive dynamo from the WHL. He's rocketed up the rankings this year and just is pure offensive menace. |
| 23 | Colorado Avalanche | Josh Ho Sang (RW) | OHL | The Avalanche are happy to take the incredibly talented Ho-Sang, even with the murmurs about his character. It just makes their forward unit even more powerful. |
| 24 | Anaheim Ducks | Nikolay Goldobin (RW) | QMJHL | The Ducks add another incredibly talented play making forward out of the Q. He's fallen this far because of his defensive concerns but his offensive talents are top of the range. |
| 25 | Boston Bruins | Travis Sanheim (D) | WHL | The Bruins get a big two-way defenseman in Sanheim who could well be a steal this far down in the draft. He's a little lanky but he's got time to work on that. |
| 26 | Montreal Canadiens | Ivan Barbashev (C) | QMJHL | The Habs take the impressive two-way forward from the Wildcats and hope that his lack of consistent top end offensive talent is made up for by his consistent defensive work. |
| 27 | Chicago Blackhawks | Adrian Kempe (C) | SHL | The Blackhawks take this big two-way forward from Sweden. He's not the most offensively talented player but in Chicago he won't need to be. They need those forwards who can be responsible in their own zone. |
| 28 | Tampa Bay Lightning (Via Rangers) | Jack Dougherty (D) | USHL | The Lightning are thanking their lucky stars for being able to grab another offensive talented defenseman. |
| 29 | Los Angeles Kings | Anthony De Angelo (D) | OHL | The LA Kings take an interesting one with De Angelo. His offensive skills are undeniable, his character issues are also undeniable too. If they straighten him out they'll have an incredible player on their hands |
| 30 | New Jersey Devils | Jakub Vrana (LW/RW) | SHL | The Devils add to their prospect depth on the wings and take this offensive winger out of Sweden. He's got consistency problems but if it works out it will work out very well for the Devils. |
