The fifth mock Hockey Buzz mock draft driven by the readers and a few special guests is in the final 12 picks. 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, and Toronto, with Michael Augello, HB Maple Leafs blogger, have made their picks. St. Louis, with aecliptic, and Carolina, represented by BINGO!, Chris Cole, are on the clock.
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 29th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Level Draft, the St. Louis Blues , represented by aecliptic, select Oliver Bonk, D, London, OHL
From the Hockey Writers:
"Oliver Bonk, son of long-time NHLer Radek Bonk, has been developing as one of the top two-way defenders of his draft class. Projected to go in the late first round, plenty of teams will have their eye on the mobile, defensively sound Ottawa native. His play in all areas of the ice show confidence in his own skills. His best plays begin in the defensive zone, starting with puck retrieval in board battles. While he isn’t a behemoth, he uses his 6-foot-1 frame well and plays a physical game. Once the puck is on his stick, it doesn’t take long for him to make a crisp transition pass or skate the puck out on his own.
While his point production wasn’t record-breaking, his 40 points just begins to scratch the surface of his true offensive potential. He makes smart passes and has a strong shot from the blue line, but during the aforementioned transitions, he sets up a lot of plays that he doesn’t necessarily get credit for on the scoresheet.
While speed isn’t his strongest suit, Bonk is able to use strong edgework and his great stick-checking abilities to shut down offensive rushes coming his way. He was a minute-eating defenseman who was trusted in all situations of play this season. Whoever drafts Bonk is likely securing a safe bet for a future top-four defenseman. He doesn’t have any glaring holes in his game, and while there are no stand-out skills that stick out above the rest, he is one of the safest defensive prospects to draft in the back half of the first round."
With the 30th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Level Draft, the Carolina Hurricanes, represented by BINGO, Chris Cole, select Bradly Nadeau, LW, Penticton, BCHL
Good hands. Good speed. Needs work on, well, everything else, but the Hurricanes aren't afraid to tackle a project player if the possible reward is high. And in Nadeau's case, the potential reward is very, very high.
Also considered Gavin Brindley, but was picked by the Rangers, Charlie Stramel, but he's not really what the Canes go for in a draft, and Oliver Bonk, but the Canes don't pick D in the first round anymore unless they're a sure-thing elite player.
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, 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 • 
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