Earlier I brought you the Round 1 of our NHL Mock Draft. You can read Part 1 (Picks 1-14) here and Part 2 (Picks 15-31) Here and Part 4 (Picks 49-65) here.
Before we move into the second round, lets quickly review the FAQs about this mock draft.
– Our draft Rankings are arrived at jointly, while the mock draft is my work alone. So if I go away from the rankings greatly that could be a reason why.
– The rankings are pure “Best Player Available”. The mock draft takes into account team style of play, the prospects already in the team’s system, and prior draft trends, this is another reason why I haven’t followed the ranks exactly.
– I am doing a mock draft with no trades (except those that have already been made).
– If you click the player’s name, you will get a link to their draft profile.
Got it? Good. Lets move to Round 2 of the mock draft.
31) Columbus Blue Jackets – Stefan Matteau
Previous Pick: Ryan Murray
We released this pick as our bonus pick in Round 1. Columbus takes Matteau to start the second round, getting a big, powerful forward with NHL bloodlines.
32) Edmonton Oilers – Dalton Thrower
Previous Pick: Nail Yakupov
After resisting the temptation to pick for need in round one, the Oilers quickly move to add a defenceman with their first pick in Round 2. Thrower has all around skills, and plays a tough game that will make him a popular prospect amongst Oiler fans.
33) Montreal Canadiens – Mark Jankowski
Previous Pick: Alex Galchenyuk
Montreal’s head scout Trevor Timmins has never been afraid to take kids who are playing high school hockey in their draft year. With Mark Jankowski’s uncle Ryan Jankowski working as a scout for the team, as well as recent hire Bobby Kinsella who drafted Jankowski in the USHL draft, there will be plenty of support for this pick amongst the Habs scouting department.
34) New York Islanders – Martin Frk
Previous Pick: Matt Dumba
The Isles take Frk who is the best skater on the board. They hope the talented Czech will eventually become a scoring line winger with John Tavares or Ryan Strone. Frk plays a pests game and will get under the skin of his opponents.
35) Toronto Maple Leafs – Andrei Vasilevski
Previous Pick: Filip Forsberg
With two picks in a row from Europe, Brian Burke is sure to infuriate Don Cherry. However the leafs believe that Vasilevski is the most talented goaltender in this draft and the Leafs hope to develop him to fill the void in their crease down the road. Even with Reimer and Scrivens in the system, Burke has never been afraid to load up on goalie prospects.
36) Anaheim Ducks – Damon Severson
Previous Pick: Mikhail Grigorenko
The Ducks defensive depth has taken a hit with the defection of Justin Schultz. They add the big and talented Severson from the Kelowna Rockets to help make up for the loss. With Cam Fowler, Luca and Sbisa on the NHL team, the Ducks hope to develop Severson to get a big three of great skating threats on the blue line.
37) Nashville Predators (from Minnesota, via San Jose and Tampa) – Jordan Schmaltz
This pick has been passed around quite a bit before the draft, and after 3 trades appears to have finally settled in the hands of Dave Poile and the Nashville Predators. This is Nashville’s first pick after trading their 1st rounder to the Buffalo Sabres in the Gaustad deal. The Preds have never been shy about their strategy of constantly building depth on the blueline and this year is no different as they take the offensively talented Schmaltz.
38) Carolina Hurricanes – Timothy Bozon
Previous Pick: Teuvo Teravainen
The Hurricanes take the best player available grabbing the sniper Bozon from the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. The American born, Swiss trained Bozon scored 36 goals in winning the WHL Rookie of the Year Award. The Canes hope he can develop and bring that goal scoring ability to the next level.
39) Winnipeg Jets – Tanner Pearson
Previous Pick: Jacob Trouba
The Jets are ecstatic to see Pearson still on the board. Keeping a close eye on their 2011 first round pick Mark Schiefele, the Jets have seen plenty of Pearson. With the chemistry between the two players, Kevin Cheveldayoff, is pleased to add Pearson to the system. The older Pearson will be ready to join the AHL’s St. John Ice Caps immediately for the 2012-13 season.
40) Tampa Bay Lightning– Daniil Zharkov
Previous Picks: Griffin Reinhart, Malcolm Subban
Steve Yzerman accumulated quite the cache of picks heading into this draft. He’s now traded two of his three 2nd rounders to address the teams goaltending adding Anders Lindback from the Nashville Predators. Yzerman uses the remaining pick to add the offensively talented Russian Zharkov. Yzerman has shown that he’s not afraid of the Russian factor with picks Kucherov, and Namestnikov in 2011. Zharkov’s talent is too much for the bolts to pass up.
41) Colorado Avalanche- Nicolas Kerdiles
After dealing their first rounder to Washington, this is the Avs first pick in draft. The Avs are pleased to find Kerdiles still on the board. The versatile forward from the US NTDP is an incredibly intelligent player who the Avalanche hope will be able to bring offence at the next level.
42) Buffalo Sabres – Scott Laughton
Previous Picks: Sebastian Collberg, Hampus Lindholm
After adding a sniping winger, and an offensive defenceman in the first round, the Sabres use their first of 2 second round picks on the two way centre from the Oshawa Generals. The best player available at this point in the draft, the Sabres are more than pleased to get Laughton who really started to blossom offensively down the stretch for the Generals.
43) Dallas Stars – Cristoval “Boo” Nieves
Previous Pick: Olli Maatta
Dallas lacks Centre prospects in their system right now. After taking Olli Maatta in round one they decide to take the best Centre available in round two. Nieves is a big centre, who is a sharp playmaker, and has excellent skating ability. The Stars hope that the player who spent his season playing high school hockey before finishing the year in the USHL will continue to progress under Red Berenson at Michigan.
44) Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary) – Jarrod Maidens
Previous Picks: Sebastian Collberg, Hampus Lindholm, Scott Laughton
This is thes Sabres 4th pick in the top 44. With so many high picks already the Sabres are prepared to gamble on Maidens. Maidens has first round talent as a power forward, however a concussion has kept him out for the second half of the season. With the surplus of picks, its worth the injury risk to the Sabres, as Maidens has the talent that could make him a draft day steal if he stays healthy going forward.
45) Columbus Blue Jackets (from Ottawa via Phoenix) – Oscar Dansk
Previous Picks: Ryan Murray, Stefan Matteau
Dansk slips a bit as there haven’t been many teams drafting lately with the big need for a prospect goalie. The Jackets’ may be starting to grow impatient with incumbent starter Steve Mason who just has not lived up to the promise of his rookie season. Dansk may be a couple of years away but he has the potential to be a number 1 goalie, and he’s not that far behind Subban and Vasilevski talent wise.
46) Minnesota Wild (frow Washington, via New Jersey) – Ville Pokka
Previous Pick: Morgan Rielly
As mentionned in Round 1, the Wild have a ton of offensive prospects in their system. They grabbed offensiver blueline Rielly with their first pick, and grab the two way Finn Pokka with their second pick. The Wild have had a lot of success with Finish born players and hope that Pokka can continue to bring the spirit of Sisu to Minnesota.
47) Carolina Hurricanes (from San Jose) – Patrick Sieloff
Previous Picks: Teuvo Teravainen, Timothy Bozon
After going for forwards with their top two picks, the Hurricanes turn to American blueliner Patrick Sieloff with their third pick. The Canes have a number of good young defencemen on their team and in their system, but don’t really have a prospect like Sieloff. An absolutely punishing hitter, and the Canes hope that he will eventually make opposition forwards think twice before crossing their blue line with their heads down.
48)Chicago Blackhawks – Andreas Athanasiou
Previous Pick: Derrick Pouliot
The Blackhawks have had a ton of organizational success with forwards from the London Knights, as Patrick Kane and Dave Bolland were key members of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champions. The Hawks head back to London taking the offensively talented Athanasiou with their 2nd round pick. Athanasiou will need to add more edge to his game, but his skating and stickhandling ability are both among the elite levels in this draft.
And that brings us to the end of Part 3 of my mock draft.
Part 4 (Picks 49-65) is available by clicking here.
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… and that’s the Last Word.
