The fifth mock Hockey Buzz mock draft driven by the readers and a few special guests has completed the first round. TC88 selected Brayden Yager for Minnesota followed by Bill Meltzer, HB Flyers blogger, adding Daniil But for Philadelphia. The Rangers, represented by me, selected Gavin Brindley, with eichiefs9, bringing Mikhail Gulyayev on board for Nashville. St. Louis, represented by aecliptic, selected Calum Ritchie and San Jose, with Russ Cohen picking, added Danny Nelson. Colorado, represented by John Ryan, jryan88, brought in Riley Heidt while Toronto, with Michael Augello, HB Maple Leafs blogger, drafting, selected Luca Cagnoni. St. Louis, represented by aecliptic, selected Oilver Bonk, while Carolina, represented by BINGO!, Chris Cole, added Bradly Nadeau. Montreal, represented by Karine Hains, HB Canadiens blogger, and Vegas, with Brendan Smith, tbsmith, picking, closed out the round with their picks.
Zach Jarom did not go off the board with the Blackhawks pick, selecting Connor Bedard first overall, while Ryan Armstrong, climbdenali12, selected Adam Fantilli with Anaheim's pick, Zak McMillian, HB Blue Jackets blogger, went with Leo Carlsson's with Columbus' selection. Ken Peterson, Hockeygm. selected Matvei Michkov with Karine Hains picking Will Smith for Montreal. TJ Reilly selected David Reinbacher for Arizona while Bill Meltzer grabbed Ryan Leonard for Philly. Optimus-reim picked Zach Benson for Washington, Feds91stammer took Oliver Moore for Detroit while aecliptic closed out the top-10 with Dalibor Dvorsky for St. Louis, Below is the selection and voting poll, please weigh in with your view.
Picks 11-20 started with David Wong, OrcaBlue, selecting Axel Sandin-Pellikka for Vancouver with TJ Reilly adding Dimitri Simishov for Arizona. Paul Schott, lonsabres, picked Tom Willander for Buffalo with mkrisnosky, Matt Krisnosky's went with Matthew Wood for Pittsburgh. eichiefs9 added Colby Barlow for Nashville while Trevor Neufeld, HB Flames blogger, snagged Eduard Sale for Calgary. Feds91stammer selected Nate Danielson for Detroit, and Jacob Billingham, HB Jets blogger, picked Andrew Cristall Winnipeg. Zach Jarom, HB Blackhawks blogger, added Gabe Peerault for Chicago, with NYRangers1124 closing out the 10 picks with Quintin Musty for the Kraken.
First, some logistical information just for this blog: Thanks to all who have agreed to participate. All teams are spoken for, meaning we have a full complement of General Managers. As a reminder, when you have your pick, rationale for the selection, who else you considered and if you weighed a trade, please send that to me via email to
[email protected]. As said previously, for those who agree to participate, please make sure I have your real name to go with your Hockey Buzz ID.
In terms of trades, I am happy to have them proposed, but for ease of purpose of the draft, I would prefer not to slow down the making of picks and the voting by waiting for a vote on if the deal is fair. Due to the late start for the draft, my view for this year's iteration is no trades.
The draft is June 28 and we are starting the draft Thursday, June 15 in the morning. That will give us 13 days or so to complete the draft, even factoring in the Sabbath. For weekdays and Sunday, I will post a pick in the morning, then a second in the evening with voting in between, for at least the first half or so of the draft. The second half or so, we can run three per day if needed so we get all 32 picks by or on the morning of June 28.
As a reminder, for each pick, included should be: a) Selection and reasoning/scouting report, and b) Alternatives considered(both players and trades). Please provide me via email your pick with the aforementioned information following the posting of the prior pick on the site. If I become aware of a pick or a few picks in a row, I will email you to help facilitate moving the mock draft along. I will post the blog with the pick and the voting poll within each blog.
Overall Rules and Process
As mentioned previously, there is a little kicker. After the pick or trade is made, a poll will be posted to rate the selection or deal. If the majority of people like the pick or trade, that selection stands and it moves on to the next team’s picks. If not, the majority rules and that’s what happens with that team and pick. I have the last right of refusal to keep everything on the up and up and avoid ballot box stuffing. My request to you is that you take this seriously and not make a mockery of the mock draft, because that would be an insult to the others who are participating and makes the whole process a sham. But by playing this out, we get to have healthy debate and conversation to remain engaged up and possibly beyond the draft. If teams make deals and they occur before a team’s selection is due, that deal will play a part as to when each person’s selection occurs.
Here how this will work: each evening (for now, one pick per day, but we will go to two when we get to second half of the mock draft and possibly even before that, so that we complete on time) the team’s selector will email me at [email protected] their pick and their rationale for that selection. If making a trade, the same applies, and all the selectors have been listed below along with their screen name if from this site or their twitter handle if external to help facilitate making trades. I will post that pick and rationale on the site and create a voting poll. For now, I was thinking solely just a yes or no vote for the poll, but if people want me to list other options for the selection at that pick number in cases of a no vote, I am happy to do so, to help make it more robust.
With the 31st overall pick, the Montreal Canadiens, represented by Karine Hains, the HB Montreal blogger, are proud to select from the Try City Americans of the Western Hockey League, defenseman Lukas Dragicevic
Montreal has got plenty of left-shooting defensemen in its system, but the cupboard is far from well stocked when it comes to right-handed blue liner. When Kent Hughes was appointed as the Canadiens general manager, he said that ideally, Hughes’ Canadiens would be offense orientated and play a fast-paced game and Dragicevic is made for that kind of hockey.
At 6’1” and 181 lbs, Dragicevic has got a big frame that he moves almost effortlessly on the ice. A very offensive defenseman, the youngster got 75 points in 68 games last season in Try City and he’s a real minute muncher.
Dragicevic is known for his ability to launch the attack and join the rush, he can also take the puck and fly with it from one end of the ice to the other, much like P.K. Subban used to do in Montreal in his heyday. Just like Subban though, there are deficiencies in the defensive side of his game but hopefully, those can be ironed out in time. After all, he only started playing defense full-time when he was drafted to the WHL which can help explain how much of a threat he is with the puck.
In an interview with Russ Cohen, Dragicevic said: “My two-way game is something I’m still taking steps to improve. […] I’ve only been a defenseman for three years now. The position is pretty much brand new to me. So, I’m working very hard on the defensive part of my game. And keep getting better at that. I know that’s what is going to get me to the next level.” He’s aware that he still has work to do and the Canadiens feel they’ll be able to help him polish his understanding of the defensive side of the game.
While it was tempting to opt for a goaltender with this selection, the special offensive package that is Dragicevic was too good to pass on and there’s always pick 37 to get a much-needed netminder.
With the 32nd overall pick the Vegas Golden Knights, represented by Brendan Smith, tbsmith, select from the Vancouver Giants, LW, Samuel Honzek
The reigning champions have traded most of their high draft picks/prospects in their brief history in exchange for established talent that ultimately lead to the 2023 Stanley Cup. Having held onto this pick, Vegas will simply go for the best player available. And with a surprising fall to number 32, Honzek is a no-brainer. Most draft boards have him as a mid-first round pick and Vegas is thrilled to get a player of his talent to close out the first round. In his first WHL season he collected 56 points in 43 games and saw time for Slovakia at the WJC. A balanced, well rounded forward that seems to do everything "well", Honzek will benefit from Vegas' patience as they continue to contend in the playoffs. He looks to be a focal point both for Vancouver and Team Slovakia in 2024.
2023 NHL DRAFT ORDER
1 Chicago - Zach Jarom, HB Blackhawks blogger, Connor Bedard, C, Regina (WHL)
2 Anaheim - Ryan Armstrong - climbdenali12, Adam Fantilli, C, Univ. of Michigan
3 Columbus - Zak McMillian, HB Blue Jackets blogger, Leo Carlsson, C, Orebro HK, (SHL)
4 San Jose - Ken Peterson, Hockeygm, Matvei Michkov, RW, SKA, KHL
5 Montreal - Karine Hains, HB Canadiens blogger, Will Smith, C, US NTDP
6 Arizona - slimtj, TJ Reilly, David Reinbacher, D, Kloten (SWISS)
7 Philadelphia - Bill Meltzer, HB Flyers blogger, Ryan Leonard, RW, US, NTDP
8 Washington - optimus-reim, Zach Benson, LW, Winnipeg, WHL
9 Detroit - Feds91Stammer, Oliver Moore, C, US NTDP
10 St. Louis - aecliptic, Dalibor Dvorsky, C, AIK, Slovakia
11 Vancouver - David Wong, OrcaBlue, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D, Skelleftea Jr. (SWEDEN-JR.)
12 Arizona via OTT - slimtj, TJ Reilly, Dimitri Simishov, D, Yaroslavl Jr. (RUSSIA-JR.)
13 Buffalo - Paul Schott, lonsabres, Tom Willander, D, Rogel BK, Sweden
14 Pittsburgh - mkrisnosky, Matt Krisnosky, Matthew Wood, RW, University of Connecticut
15 Nashville - eichiefs9, Colby Barlow, LW, Owen Sound
16 Calgary - Trevor Neufeld, HB Flames blogger, Eduard Sale, LW, Bryno (Czech)
17 Detroit via NYI - Feds91stammer, Nate Danielson, C, Brandon (WHL)
18 Winnipeg - Jacob Billingham, HB Jets blogger, Andrew Cristall, LW, Kelowna, (WHL)
19 Chicago via TB - Zach Jarom, HB Blackhawks blogger, Gabe Perreault, RW, US NTDP
20 Seattle - NYRangers1124, Quintin Musty, LW, Sudbury (OHL)
21 Minnesota - TC88, Todd Piepho,
[email protected], Brayden Yager, C, Moose Jaw, (WHL)
22 Philadelphia via Columbus via LA - Bill Meltzer, HB Flyers blogger, Daniel But, LW, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, (KHL)
23 NY Rangers - Jan Levine, Gavin Brindley, RW, University of Michigan
24 Nashville via EDM - eichiefs9, Mikhail Gulyayev, D, OMSK Jr
25 St. Louis via TOR - aecliptic, Calum Ritchie, C, Oshawa (OHL)
26 San Jose via NJ - Russ Cohen, Danny Nelson, C/W, US NTDP
27 Colorado - John Ryan, jryan88, Riley Heidt, C, Prince George, WHL
28 Toronto via BOS - Michael Augello, HB Maple Leafs blogger, Luca Cagnoni, D, Portland (WHL)
29 St. Louis via DAL - aecliptic, Oliver Bonk, D, London (OHL)
30 Carolina - BINGO!, Chris Cole, Bradly Nadeau, LW, Penticton, BCHL
31 Montreal via FLA - Karine Hains, Lukas Dragicevic, D, Tri-City (WHL)
32 Vegas- Brendan Smith, tbsmith, Samuel Honzek, LW, Vancouver (WHL)
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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