The third mock Hockey Buzz mock draft driven by the readers and a few special guests kicked off last Monday. The first five were Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, Tim Sturzle, Marco Rossi and Cole Perfetti. Kicking off the next five was Anton Lundell followed by Alexander Holtz, Lucas Raymond, Jaroslav Askarov and Jaime Drysdale. Jake Sanderson was the first pick in the next round of selections followed by Jack Quinn, Dawson Mercer Seth Jarvis, Ryan O'Rourke, Hendrix Lapierre, Dylan Holloway, Kaiden Guhle and Braden Schneider . The selection by New Jersey, with redmonsters picking, is below with Columbus, represented by Thomas Townsend, on the clock and the Rangers, represented by me, on deck. Below is the voting poll, please weigh in with your view.
After this pick, the following selection was to be posted Sunday am. Thomas Townsend informed me today he is away for the weekend and the pick will be to me Sunday night. Since I am out of pocket until Monday night, I will post the pick then. If any Rangers news breaks, I will post a blog on that. I will post the Rangers' pick Tuesday am, allowing us to remain on schedule.
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. In addition, after each pick in the summary below, I have added in the % that approved the pick in the poll and total number of votes.
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: the team’s selector will email me at [email protected] their pick, rationale and any alternatives for that selection. I will post that pick and rationale on the site and create a voting poll. That poll will likely include alternatives that were considered with each voter allowed to select one option.
With the 20th Overall Pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the New Jersey Devils, represented by redmonsters, select Jacob Perreault, C/RW, Sarnia (WHL)
Rationale for the selection with scouting report along with alternatives considered (both players and trades):
As I mentioned in my last post, I am not so sure the Devils will retain both the 18th and 20th pick. I believe they will try and trade to a troubled salary cap team and get some NHL talent OR they will trade down from here to get some more draft capital.
But since I have to make a pick rather than trade here, I took a little risk here with potential high reward. Jacob has some holes in his game, but with proper coaching should be corrected. He scored 39 goals and 31 assists for 70 points in just 57 games for the rebuilding Sarnia Sting so he did this without the support other top prospects had. Perreault was one of the best skaters at the CHL Top Prospects Game, coming in first in multiple events including the forward skate, forward skate with puck, reaction time, and weave agility with the puck. He was also second or third in a number of other categories. He is an absolutely elite skater with outstanding speed and acceleration.
Perreault is a dangerous offensive player. Perreault combines his slick hands with his excellent skating ability. Perreault can also score in a variety of ways. He has the moves to beat goalies in tight, an excellent wrist shot with a deceptive release, an outstanding one-timer, a very good snapshot, as well as a strong backhand. OK, now for the warts. Perreault’s defensive game is very much a work in progress. He needs to work on his maturity as he has a tendency to puck watch and stop moving his feet. He can also abandon the defensive zone early, looking for a long breakaway pass. Perreault needs to be harder on the puck and more physical on the boards. He can also be a bit careless with the puck at times.I believe these defensive lapses are a sign of immaturity that with aging and proper coaching can be addressed.
2020 NHL DRAFT FIRST-ROUND ORDER AND GMs (plus yes votes/total votes, % of votes that agreed with selection)
1. New York Rangers - Jan Levine - Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski, OMJHL (349/398, 88%)
2. Los Angeles Kings - Kooleus, Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury, OHL. (405/566, 76%)
3. Ottawa Senators (via San Jose Sharks) - spatso, Tim Stutzle, C, Mannheim, DEL (310/332. 93%)
4. Detroit Red Wings - feds91stammer, Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa, OHL, (116/235, 52%)
5. Ottawa Senators - spatso, Cole Perfetti, LW, Saginaw, OHL (102/289, 35%)
6. Anaheim Ducks - optimus-reim, Anton Lundell, C, HIFK, LIIGA (62/222, 28%)
7. New Jersey Devils - redmonsters, Alexander Holtz, RW, Djurgarden, SHL (183/333, 55%)
8. Buffalo Sabres - KilkennyDan, Lucas Raymond, RW, Frolunda, SHL, (191/266, 72%)
9. Minnesota Wild - dudestar, Jarsolav Askarov, G, SKA-NEVA, VHL (73/142, 51%)
10. Winnipeg Jets - Ross77, Jamie Drysdale, D, Erie, OHL (278/305, 91%)
11. Nashville Predators - slimtj, Jake Sanderson, D, NTDP-U18, USDP (121/163, 74%)
12. Florida Panthers - jimbo, Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa, OHL (110/138, 80%)
13. Carolina Hurricanes (via Toronto Maple Leafs) - Bingo, Dawson Mercer, C, Chicoutimi, QMJHL (124/193, 64%)
14. Edmonton Oilers - maximumbone, Seth Jarvis, RW, Portland, WHL, (210/277, 77%)
15. Toronto Maple Leafs (via Pittsburgh Penguins) - Michael Augello, Ryan O'Rourke, D, Sault Ste Marie, OHL (107/423, 25%)
16. Montreal Canadiens - Vivian Lapeirre, Hendrix Lapierre, C, Chicoutimi, QMJHL, (109/239, 45%)
17. Chicago Blackhawks - Theo Fox, Dylan Holloway, C/LW, Wisconsin, NCAA, (179/216, 83%)
18. New Jersey Devils (from Arizona) - redmonsters, Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert, WHL (84/133, 63%)
19. Calgary Flames - deddie, Braden Schneider, D, Brandon WHL (82/109, 75%)
20. New Jersey Devils (from Vancouver via Tampa Bay) - redmonsters, Jacob Perreault, C/RW, Sarnia, WHL
21. Columbus Blue Jackets, Thomas Townsend, Columbus blogger on site, Sunday, Sept. 27 am
22. New York Rangers (from Carolina) - Jan, Tuesday Sept. 29 am
23. Philadelphia Flyers - Flyersfan328, Phil Brunner, Tuesday Sept. 29 pm
24. Colorado Avalanche - climbdenali12, Ryan Armstrong, Wednesday, Sept. 30 am
25. Washington Capitals - winerydog, Wednesday, Sept. 30 pm
26. St. Louis Blues, jediman, Brendan Smith, Thursday, Oct. 1 in am
27. Anaheim Ducks (from Boston) - optimus-reim, Luke Herrington, Thursday, Oct. 1 in pm
28. Vegas Golden Knights - JRR1285, Josh Ruiz, Friday, Oct. 2 in am
29. Ottawa Senators (acquired from New York Islanders in JG Pageau deal) spatso, Friday, Oct 2 around 5 pm
30-31. Pick order TBD - picks will be Monday Oct 5 in am and Monday, Oct 5 in pm
Dallas (Russ Cohen, sportsology)
San Jose (acquired from Tampa Bay in Barclay Goodrow deal (Jeremy Barber, user id: barberjw, email: barbjw26@gmail)
Looking forward to running this again. We had a ton of fun last season. That should be the same again this year with New York having the first and 22nd picks in the first round.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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