If you’re wondering what sort of player is available at the eighth spot, consider these five players: Toronto star forward William Nylander, plus all-time greats such as forwards Jeremy Roenick and Darryl Sittler, plus defensemen Ray Bourque and goalie Grant Fuhr. Last summer’s No. 8 pick, Ryan Leonard, selected by Washington, notched 31 goals and 29 assists for 60 points in 41 games for Boston University.
The various draft prospectus rankings point to this summer’s draft class to be heavy on defensemen, including NCAA Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov and Russian-born Kontinental Hockey League defenseman Anton Silayev. That pair has projected most often as the first two defenders off the board, but NHL scouts and draft gurus list Zeev Buium (NCAA champion Denver), Sam Dickinson (Ontario Hockey League London), Zayne Parekh (OHL Saginaw) and Carter Yakemchuk (WHL Calgary) as defensemen that can go as high as second and third.
“Everybody's talking about the amount of D that are in the top group, right?” said Francis. “There's a lot of D at the top, which is normally not the case.”
After Celebrini, 17, and the first Hobey Baker NCAA Player of the Year award winner to potentially be picked No. 1 overall, three forwards have gathered the most attention from scouts and mock drafts: Centers Berkly Catton (Western Hockey League Spokane) and Cayden Lindstrom (WHL Medicine Hat), along with wing Ivan Demidov (Russian junior league SKA).
Tuesday’s lottery was “chalk” or resulted in the exact 16-team order when the day started, fittingly enough, with the upcoming draft bound for Sphere in Las Vegas. San Jose picked up Pittsburgh’s No. 14 pick to join the Celebrini selection. During an on-air ESPN interview, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman revealed (“worst-kept secret,” he said) that Sphere choice will represent the first live event broadcast from the newly opened Vegas attraction.
