2009 NHL Entry Draft

 TSN.ca - AT LEAST FOUR FIRST ROUND PICKS CAN BE HAD AT DRAFT
With the first round of the NHL Entry Draft taking place tonight in Los Angeles, all the league's general managers are in the same city, which means that trades, and trade talks will likely dominated the day. So far, there appears to be a fair share of first round picks that look to be on the market.

 2009 Mock NHL Draft
Here is a mock up of the 2009 NHL draft with a brief description of the player and team making the selection.

1. New York Islanders - John Tavares

Tavares is the consensus number 1 pick and the Isles would be fools to pass on this budding scoring star. Tavares broke the OHL record for most career goals. He tied the record for most goals by a Canadian at the WJC. He has been touted as the number 1 pick since he entered the OHL at age 14 and still remains the top prospect according to many despite some challenge from others.

His skills are undeniable. He may not have the big hulking size of a Lindros, or the swift feet of a Crosby, but he has the hands and smarts to put up big offensive numbers. He is a sniper. He has the inate ability to find seams and open ice and find ways to create space for himself to gain excellent scoring opportunities. He has a nose for the net and while not the biggest man around, he is very strong on the puck and may be a handful to handle.

He is the most marketable player in this draft. Someone the Isles and the league can build with and definitely the star power attraction the Isles could use for their long term future.

 Drafting, The Inexact Science: 2006 Review
Now I know it’s likely a little early to be doing this as it has only given the players three seasons to develop, but I was not able to locate my older issues of The Hockey News Draft Preview.  I moved and the 2006 edition was the oldest one I could find.  In brackets you will see the rankings from THN, ISS & McKeens.  I just thought it would be interesting as like this year’s draft, past the top 6 nothing is certain and it could be possible to trade down and still get the player your team wants.

 Canadian Team Mock Draft
Canadian teams hold 3 of the top 10 spots in the draft, with Montreal holding onto spot 18 and having the draft in Montreal will be looking to leave an impression.  Here`s a look at a Canadian team Mock Draft

 The Battle for The Coyotes (Otherwise Known as the 3rd Bettman-Balsillie Battle)
So we all know what has been dominating the Hockey headline the past two weeks and will for a very long time. The Bettman - Balsillie Battle. During one of the most exciting playoffs to occur in a very long time, the battle for the Coyotes has stolen the limelight and is threatening to blow up into an all out war.

 Tavares: Likely An Islander
Ok, yes this is another John Tavares article. This is a little different from the rest and I hope it puts the Tavares debate to rest. I really am growing sick and tired of all the ridiculous trades being proposed and although I would love to have John Tavares on the Leafs it won't happen.

 Burke on Draft Day.
Brian Burke has made it clead to the media that he has reached out to both New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning that he expresses interest in acquiring one of the top two picks in the NHL entry draft of 2009.

Burke has made contact with both clubs showing interest in acquiring the first or second pick for Superstar John Tavares, who is ranked 1st overall with the likes of D Victor Hedman.

 Early Mock Draft
So as the end of the NHL season comes near, speculation will begin to ramp up on the draft and everything that follows for teams that miss the playoffs. As one team will go down in history as the winner of the 2009 Stanley Cup, other teams look to the future and hope that they can pick that one player who may lead. I will try and go through, team by team, and pick players that they might pick depending on their positioning, team needs and prospect depth. Some picks may be the same as the ISS top 30 while others might surprise you, but i will try and put forth an unbiased top 30. For arguments sake, I will have the draft order be the same as the standings and assume that the last team overall wins the lottery.

 Mock Draft 09
It isn't for sure that the Islanders will get the 1st overall pick as they are only 4 points behind Tamp[ bay. Many teams are in the race for 1st overall: Tampa bay- 55 points, Atlanta- 55 points, Colorado- 59 points, Ottawa- 60 points, phoenix- 61 points.

1st round:
1. Islanders- C, John Tavares (OHL)
2. Tampa Bay- D, Victor Hedman (SWE Jr)
3. Atlanta- C, Matt Duchene (OHL)
4. Ottawa- LW, Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi (SWE Jr)
5. Leafs- C, Brayden Schenn (WHL)
6. Colorado- C, Evander Kane (WHL)
7. Phoenix- D, Jared Cowen (WHL)
8. L.A.- C, Nazem Kadri (OHL)
9. St.Louis- C, Scott Glennie WHL)
10. Minnesota- RW, Jordan Schroeder (USA)
11. Anaheim- C, Jacob Josefson (SWE Jr)
12. Dallas- D, Dmitry Kulikov (QMJHL)
13. Nashville- C, Peter Holland (OHL)
14. Edmonton- D, Ryan Ellis (OHL)
15. Colombus- C, Drew Shore (USA)
16. Carolina- D, Simon Despres (QMJHL)
17. Buffalo- RW, Zach Kassian (OHL)
18. Pittsburgh- D, John Moore (USHL)
19. Florida- LW, Carter Ashton (WHL)
20. Rangers- RW, Landon Ferraro (WHL)
21. Vancouver- C, Kyle Palmieri (USA)
22. Montreal- C, Louis Leblanc (USHL)
23. Philly- C, Jeremy Morin (USA)
24. Chicago- D, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (SWE Jr)
25. Phoenix (calgary)- D, Stefan Elliot (WHL)
26. Washington- C, Jordan Caron (QMJHL)
27. New Jersey- C, Ethan Werek (OHL)
28. Detroit- C, Chris Kreider (USA)
29. Boston- D, David Rundblad (SWE Jr)
30. Islanders (Ottawa via San Jose)- D, Calvin De Haan (OHL)

 2009 Mock Draft
This is my 1st post on here I have been reading this site for about 3 years and finally made an account. This is an 2009 NHL Mock Draft and I realize there has been one or two on here already but this is mine and i have stats thus far in there junior seasons on each draftee. Also at this point what NHL teams are ranked to pick where.(I could not find stats for some players)

 Tavares Goes Down

 My 2009 Mock Draft

 John Tavares: The best since the great one

 Draft Winners, Losers

 Draft Day Thread