The 2018 NHL Draft will be held in Dallas, TX June 22-23.
For mock picks 1-5, click
here
For mock picks 6-10 click
here
For mock picks 11-15 click
here.
For mock picks 16-20, click
here.
For mock picks 21-25, click
here.
26. NY Rangers (from Boston)--RW, Dominik Bokk. Rangers landed a gem with the pick of Bouchard early in the draft and have another pick at No. 28. They could go a number of ways but opt to add offense with the selection of Bokk, a raw talent with room to fill out his 6'1" 176 lb. frame. The word on Bokk is that he possesses elite stick skills and offensive-minded instincts but needs to work on his play away from the puck. Rangers have no problem with that as this pick helps strengthen the right side of solid prospect pool that allows Bokk adequate time to develop.
27. Chicago Blackhawks (from Nashville)--C, Ty Dellandrea. Hawks have balance at the top of the prospect pool between forwards and defensemen and opt for best player available which happens to be Dellandrea. The Flint Firebirds center has an NHL frame at 6'0" 183 lbs. while possessing keen on-ice instincts. Dellandrea was second in scoring (27 goals, 32 assists) on a Flint team that was last in the OHL's Western Conference and when watching him play you get the sense that there's some Jonathan Toews to his game, which suits him well having the 'Hawks draft him.
28. NY Rangers (from Tampa Bay)-- LHD, Adam Ginning. It's never a bad idea to have a defensive defenseman holding the fort while the rest of the skaters are on the offensive, and that's where Ginning comes into play. The 18 yr. old has great size at 6'3" 196 lbs. with room to grow into that frame. Word is that he'll need a couple more years in his native Sweden before making the move to North America which will give him time to build some upper-body strength and to acclimate to playing against pro talent. Which is fine with the Rangers. A project player with the third of three first rounders is a pretty solid approach to adding organizational depth, which they'll need as they'll always be in on top-priced free agents and will need quality players on the cheap to fill out the roster.
29. St. Louis Blues (from Winnipeg) RHD, Calen Addison. Blues are ticked that they missed out on a player like Fabree, amongst others in the top-15, but they can still land a good player that helps balance out a prospect pool a bit heavy on forwards in the top end. Addison is on the smaller side, but he's got moxie and is an extremely good skater who plays an offensive-minded game from the back-end. As with all players in the lower first round he'll need some work, which includes strength for the pro game, but the Blues may have gotten themselves a nice player here at No. 29.
30. Detroit Red Wings (from Vegas)--C, Jacob Olofsson. About the only thing stranger than both the Rangers and Blackhawks in their draft positions is the expansion Vegas Golden Knights trading away their first rounder for a playoff run and having the pick be the second-last in the first round. It's quite the rabbit hole we've fallen into. The Knights made it to the Stanley Cup Finals while the Red Wings have missed the playoffs two years running after a quarter century of playoff participation that included three Stanley Cups. The Wings snared a fine d-prospect in Boqvist early and land another fine prospect a No. 30. Although 10 goals and 21 points doesn't seem like a lot here in North America, Olofsson was named best junior player in Sweden's second-tier pro league joining previous winners Filip Forsberg and William Carlson. Oloffson might not be an elite scorer but his smarts, positioning and all-around play could see him as at least a top-nine pivot at the NHL level.
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