The fifth mock Hockey Buzz mock draft driven by the readers and a few special guests rolls into the next 10 picks. David Wong, OrcaBlue, selected 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’s pick for Nashville and Trevor Neufeld’s HB Flames blogger, selection for Calgary are both in (blog to be updated when rationale for Flames pick received) Feds91stammer, picking for Detroit, and Jacob Billingham, HB Jets blogger, selecting for Winnipeg are on deck.
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 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.
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 15th overall selection in the Hockeybuzz Mock Draft, the Nashville Predators, represented by eichiefs9, select Colby Barlow, LW, Owen Sound
New Nashville GM Barry Trotz has a simple draft philosophy. He instructed his scouts to "take some swings on some high-end guys". Colby Barlow has potentially the highest ceiling of the players remaining in the draft and fits Trotz's draft mentality. He scored nearly 50 goals in 59 games with Owen Sound this year while captaining the team as a 17 year old.
Rationale for Selection:
- Barlow possesses a deadly, versatile shot that he is able to get off quickly from either foot in short-order. Trotz's teams traditionally are not high-volume shooting teams and adding a player with a lethal shot has the potential to make shots count when they do occur
- Barlow is an above-average defensive player with a high-end motor and an active stick that causes turnovers. This will endear him to a new general manager who preaches a defense-first system and responsibility from all five skaters on the ice
- His compete is high-end and he's already a leader at a young age. Leading by example on the ice is important and Barlow excels at that. He was captain of Owen Sound at 17 and is on track to potentially hold a leadership role with an NHL club.
Ultimately, Barlow's higher-end goal-scoring ability and the versatility to play him on the penalty kill as well as the powerplay makes him worthy of Trotz "taking a swing" on his talent. There are undoubtedly concerns about his skating and transitional game but, given that he will be entering a prospect system that ranks among the top half of the league, he will have time to develop in juniors and with one of the better AHL affiliates in the league.
We see Barlow projecting as a top-six winger that can play a 200ft game. His floor likely lies somewhere around a middle-six/3rd line winger who can chip in a respectable number of goals.
Other players considered:
Brayden Yager, Eduard Sale, Andrew Cristall, Nate Danielson.
Yager's inconsistency, a dip in his goal-scoring production year-over-year, and scouts' wide-ranging opinions on him is ultimately what led the Predators to pass on him.
Sale seemed risky given being touted as a potential top-10 pick and having a bit of a down year. Plagued by inconsistency, Nashville decided to pass at 15.
Cristall is on the smaller side and there are plenty of concerns with the defensive side of his game. His skill, however, is undeniable. He would have likely been the choice if he were available and Barlow was gone but he projects to be a boom-or-bust type pick without the safety net of a strong dedication to defense
Nate Danielson likely projects to be a safe pick. He plays a 200ft game and is a highly-intelligent player. He lacks the dynamic skill to ever be a major factor on the scoresheet. He likely projects as an above-average 3rd line center that can contribute 40-50pts, which is great but not something that fits the new general manager's MO.
Conclusion:
Nashville feels that Colby Barlow has a high-end shot, NHL-frame, and plays the type of game that Barry Trotz loves. His goal-scoring ability is tantalizing. His compete level and defensive acumen mitigate the risk of him not panning out as a top-six goal scorer. In a relatively deep prospect pool he will be given the time to properly develop his skating in one of the better minor league systems among NHL teams. Given Trotz's mentality, he best fits the mold of what Nashville is looking for at pick 15
With the 16th overall selection in the Hockeybuzz Mock Draft, the Calgary Flames, represented by Trevor Neufeld, the team’s HB blogger, select Eduard Šalé, LW, Bryno (Czech)
While picking at #16 can feel like a bit of a bargain bin moment for teams in the past, the 2023 draft class presents some high-end options well into the mid-to-late 20s. #16 provides a number of choices for game-breaking offensive talent. Whether it’s Gabe Perreault’s NTDP record-breaking playmaking ability, Quentin Musty’s meteoric trajectory
if he can manage to find consistency, or Cal Ritchie’s enticing combination of size and hockey IQ — there are going to be a lot of fanbases happy with this draft over the next decade.
Speaking of happy fanbases, the Calgary Flames pick at 16.
It would be a lot of fun to go into who I would pick and why. Instead, we’re going to go with who will Craig Conroy ultimately select and why?
The answer to the first part of that question is generally pretty easy in the first round for Flames fans. It’s a poorly-kept secret in Calgary that one-time Flames general manager, Craig Button, and the current director of amateur scouting in Calgary, Todd Button, tend to share industry secrets when it comes to the NHL Entry Draft. Every season Craig rolls out several iterations of what is known as Craig’s List on TSN. You can safely bet that if he has a player or two sticking out in a reach spot within the top 30 (now 32), it’s likely because Calgary is high on that player and it was brought up over a round of golf.
With that said — easy one. The Calgary Flames select with the #16 overall pick —
Eduard Šalé.
The 6’2”, 174lbs dual-side winger finished #7 in the most recent edition of Craig’s List. In Button’s January 10 edition, Sale was ranked #4. One slot above Matvei Michkov. All we can do is make inferences on the information we have, but it seems very likely that Todd has been waxing about this player to his brother.
The rest of the scouting world isn’t exactly sure where to place Šalé within the top 32. Check out this amalgamation of rankings courtesy of eliteprospects.com.
The variance of opinion comes down to the one-dimensional nature of his game. First and foremost, Šalé oozes offensive skill. His ability to thread passes through traffic is on the higher end of this draft. His release is lightning quick and he has good instincts for finding lanes in the offensive zone. He’s able to corral the puck and get a usually dangerous shot off at top speed. He has an awkward skating style but certainly doesn’t look slow playing against men in Czechia’s top league.
His production wasn’t much, but very comparable to other former draft-eligible Czech players playing in the top Czech league. Šalé finished his draft year with seven goals and 14 points against men after rocketing out of Junior last season. A campaign that saw the left shot winger record 42 goals and 89 points in 39 games against players his own age.
Notable Czech Players in Their Draft Year Playing in the Czechia League
Hertl: 0.44 points per game
Necas: 0.33 points per game
Šalé: 0.33 points per game
The other side of his asset value is that you’re not going to see him bring much physicality to the rink. Šalé generally waits for his chance to dip into puck battles and will avoid contact in the hopes that he can sneak in and get off a pass. At times he seems like a ghost on the ice, but then the puck finds it’s way to him and he rifles home a pass that no one was expecting.
That kind of patience can be a virtue or a curse. Šalé won’t earn a regular spot in the NHL in a checking role, but in the words of Jarome Iginla when he first heard that the Flames had traded for Craig Conroy early in 2001:
“We have enough checkers.”
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 Šalé, LW, Bryno (Czech)
17 Detroit via NYI - Feds91stammer, Friday, June 23 am
18 Winnipeg - Jacob Billingham, HB Jets blogger, Friday, June 23 am
19 Chicago via TB - Zach Jarom, HB Blackhawks blogger, Friday, June 23 pm
20 Seattle - NYRangers1124, Friday, June 23 pm
21 Minnesota - TC88, Todd Piepho,
[email protected], Saturday, June 24 pm
22 Philadelphia via Columbus via LA - Bill Meltzer, HB Flyers blogger, Saturday, June 24, pm
23 NY Rangers - Jan Levine, Sunday, June 25 am
24 Nashville via EDM - eichiefs9, Sunday, June 25 am,
25 St. Louis via TOR - aecliptic, Sunday, June 25 pm
26 San Jose via NJ - Russ Cohen, Sunday, June 25 pm
27 Colorado - John Ryan, jryan88, Monday, June 26, am
28 Toronto via BOS - Michael Augello, HB Maple Leafs blogger, Monday, June 26, am
29 St. Louis via DAL - aecliptic, Monday, June 26, pm
30 Carolina - BINGO!, Chris Cole, Monday, June 26, pm
31 Montreal via FLA - Karine Hains, HB Canadiens blogger, Tuesday, June 27, am
32 Vegas- Brendan Smith, tbsmith, Tuesday, June 27, am
Looking forward to running this again. We had a ton of fun the last few seasons. That should be the same again this year with New York having the 23rd pick in the first round.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»