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, made pick #11 for Vancouver with TJ Reilly now up for Arizona and Paul Schott, lonsabres, on deck for Buffalo. Below is the selection and voting poll, please weigh in with your view.
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,
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 11th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Vancouver Canucks, represented by David Moore, orcablue, select Axel Sandin-Pellikka, D, Skelleftea Jr. (SWEDEN-JR.)
One of the Canucks biggest needs is at the right side defence position and it so happens Axel Sandin-Pellikka falls into the 11th spot. He is one of the most gifted offensive defenseman in this year's class with the smarts and slick puck-moving skills. He is at the very top in patrolling the offensive blue line amongst his peers in this year's crop.
At the NHL Combine, he finished first in the Bench Press generating the most power while lifting 50 per cent of his body weight. He also finished 9th in the Aerobic Fitness VO2 Max. And yes, his interview was outstanding.
Here are some scouts comments -
Chris Peters - Flo Hockey - June 7th: "One of the more gifted puck movers of this class, Sandin Pellikka is not the biggest, but he is one of the smartest."
Tony Ferrari - The Hockey News - June 5th: "The draft’s top offensive blueliner is a wonderful skater and excellent passer, blending those tools in all three zones to make an impact. Sandin Pellikka can run a power play with intelligence and poise, walking the blueline to find passing and shooting lanes while having the recognition and skill to step into open space to generate a scoring chance for himself."
Scott Wheeler - The Athletic - June 5th: "Though he’s not big, he’s athletic and he plays hard and engages in battles in the defensive zone with some sneaky strength. He’s got a good stick.
Vancouver was open to trading down, but nothing materialized.
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, Wednesday, June 21, am
13 Buffalo - Paul Schott, lonsabres, Wednesday, June 21, pm
14 Pittsburgh - mkrisnosky, Matt Krisnosky
15 Nashville - eichiefs9
16 Calgary - Trevor Neufeld, HB Flames blogger
17 Detroit via NYI - Feds91stammer
18 Winnipeg - Jacob Billingham, HB Jets blogger
19 Chicago via TB - Zach Jarom, HB Blackhawks blogger
20 Seattle - NYRangers1124
21 Minnesota - TC88, Todd Piepho
22 Philadelphia via Columbus via LA - Bill Meltzer, HB Flyers blogger
23 NY Rangers - Jan Levine
24 Nashville via EDM - eichiefs9
25 St. Louis via TOR - aecliptic
26 San Jose via NJ - Russ Cohen
27 Colorado - John Ryan, jryan88
28 Toronto via BOS - Michael Augello, HB Maple Leafs blogger
29 St. Louis via DAL - aecliptic
30 Carolina - BINGO!, Chris Cole
31 Montreal via FLA - Karine Hains, HB Canadiens blogger
32 Vegas- Brendan Smith, tbsmith
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.
The Rangers introduced Peter Laviolette as their head coach today. All the hand-wringing we had about whether he was the right man for and who we wanted to see get the job somewhat goes out the window. The hope now is that he does what he was brought in to do, get the best out of the roster and deliver a Stanley Cup.
Laviolette didn't break any new ground or say anything earth-shattering at the press conference. What we saw is what we expected, Lavioette to hearken back to his blue collar roots from growing up in Boston. Laviolette mentioned that the Rangers need less finesse and more resolve and grit. In addition, he mentioned defense is a priority but attacking, pressure and puck pursuit are the keys to his system.
The handful of quotes from the conference bore out his views. New York better bring their lunch pails to play that attacking style.
"There's a lot of skill and a lot of talent on this team, from the goaltender to the back end to the forwards," he said. "We definitely need to embrace that, because you find that the teams that go deep into the playoffs and win championships, they're loaded with skill. And, so, that has to be a part of it."
What I'm about to say is not trying to take away from that in any manner," he added. "But when you watch the playoff games right now, the final four and the final two, it's just a reminder that the compete inside the game is what makes teams great. It drives them to success. I don't think that's something you can just ask for. I think that you have to practice that on a daily basis. It has to become habit, it has to become your identity, part of the DNA of who you are. And it has to start in training camp. It has to be held to a level of accountability. When you have that and you have the skill, that's how teams push on and they compete for Stanley Cups, win Stanley Cups and become really good hockey teams."
What certainly is different from Gerard Gallant is that Laviolette is building a relationship with each player. Gallant was hands off, which he noted at his initial press conference. Laviolette talked about establishing lines of communication with each player, a process he has already started. Maybe that level of interaction and personal knowledge of each player will be a difference maker.
This relationship building hopefully carries over to the youth on the roster. Laviolette said the right things about giving Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko opportunities to take on larger roles, recognizing the importance of growth from those players. He didn't say they would be given anything but afforded opportunities with the implication they would need to show they would make the most of them.
"Inside of the framework of a team, everybody wants to feel that responsibility," he added. "They want to feel valued with what they do. You're talking about a couple of players who are coming off, I think, maybe their best years, and they're still really young players. There's a growth that goes with that. You certainly would like to see them take the next step. More minutes, maybe a little higher up the lineup, maybe more power play time. With that, there has to be opportunity. These conversations will take place. I certainly would like that, and those opportunities will be there for them to grab that ice time and to push."
In no surprise, the beat writers did not ask several questions, though even if they did ask the ones below, the answer would have been no comment or organizational decision. Laviolette and Chris Drury did not discuss why Laviolette was the best candidate for the role from the eight individuals that interviewed, a number reported by Steve Valiquette. Drury was not asked or did not speak about why Jim Ramsey was no longer a member or the organization. The playoff failures of Artemi Panarin, especially, and Mika Zibanjead were not broached along with how Laviolette would get the most from each. How Laviolette's system differs from Gallant's was also not asked, save for a bit opuck pursuit.
The coach is hired. Michael Peca is rumored to have been hired as one assistant coach, though Laviolette would not confirm that today, saying all will be revealed down the road. Larry Brooks pushed for Marc Savard as an option as an assistant coach, which to me would be a great move. Who else will be brought on board remains to be seen.
Accountability was a big buzz word in the press conference. If under Gallant the view was players were not held accountable enough, that no longer will be the case. Be it my first choice or not, I sure hope Laviolette proves to be the right man for the job. If not, you can fill in the rest.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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