BRHL2

BRHL Mock Draft

It's almost here.

Enjoy the writeup. Should be an interesting draft.

#	Team	Selection	Summary
1	Toronto	Shane Wright	Shane Wright seems like such a Garrett pick, and to be honest, he's not wrong to make it. Wright/Cooley would be my personal choice for #1 overall
2	Detroit	Logan Cooley	Dan acquires 2nd overall to draft Logan Cooley, who will probably be the best player out of this draft when it's all said and done from an offensive standpoint.
3	Anahiem	Simon Nemec	Devon gets his man and drafts Simon Nemec who has the highest upside of all D in the draft. His AHL numbers indicate he could see NHL time next season. New Jersey should be a great place to develop with an up and coming team.
4	Seattle	Juraj Slafkovsky	Too bad for Rex there is no goalie to take here. He won't reach on one this early, instead he takes former #1 overall pick Juraj Slakovsky. While he might not be BPA at this spot, he is the best forward on the board and Rex wants Forwards.
5	New York R	David Jiricek	Best player left on board in my opinion and a legitimate threat to be the best defensemen out of this draft. Jiricek may have outperformed Nemec in the AHL last year by a smidge. Some NHL time is warranted for Jiricek next season.
6	Chicago	Jiri Kulich	I think Dave has proven in the past he's not afraid to go off the board, and he especially emphasizes D+1 seasons when considering who he will select. Kulich possibly had the best D+1 season of them all. It's a bit of a reach, but a safe one.
7	Calgary	Pavel Mintyukov	Kevin has proven himself to draft well and with 3 picks in the first round he could go with any position he wants. With this many picks BPA is a sound strategy and that would be Pavel Mintyukov. A lot of nice D in this draft.
8	Ottawa	Cutter Gauthier	Not sure if Steph keeps this pick, and there is no track record to base this off of besides his Villeneuve pick. Steph drafts Cutter Gauthier because it sounds french and Steph is faux-french himself.
9	Anahiem	Matthew Savoie	This is a tough spot as I feel the picks are not as safe anymore. Draft really opens up here but I believe Devon sticks with a forward after drafting a D with his first pick. Matthew Savoie might have the highest upside left in regards to forwards.
10	Winnipeg	Kevin Korchinski	I think Doc is happy to take Korchinski with this pick as he may be the BPA on board. Korchinski should gets lots of playing time in Chicago soon and should be in the NHL as soon as 2025.
11	Buffalo	Jimmy Snuggerud	Sneaky good pick here as Snuggerud and Kulich in my opinion are the biggest risers in this draft. Snuggerud went toe to toe with Cooley in the WJC showing that he does have a higher offensive upside then what was originally expected from him.
12	New Jersey	Marco Kasper	Former top 10 pick drops a bit. Kasper played against men this year and didn’t look out of place. He even got 1 NHL game to boot before getting injured. Offensive skill is there on display. Some risk with the pick but a potential payoff.
13	Vegas	Joakim Kemell	Kemell was once considered a top 5 pick in this draft class, but for some reason dropped a bit on draft day. He looked amazing in his short AHL stint. Guy is a safe pick in my opinion. Wouldn't surprise me to see him drafted at #9 either.
14	Vancouver	Jonathan Lekkerimaki	Rob picks another Canuck. It's not completely out of place to consider this pick here as Lekkerimaki was a favorite of mine on draft day. His D+1 season wasn't hot or much of a success when compared to some other Swedes. Still a good player.
15	Boston	Conor Geekie	Geekie falls a bit after being selected 11th overall in the NHL draft. He stagnated a bit during his D+1 season but big Centers with skill don't grow on trees. He wont ever be a PPG player but a solid 2nd line C w/ size is something teams want.
16	Seattle	Frank Nazar	Another forward is in order for Rex as he switches from stockpiling goalies to stockpiling forwards in an attempt to over-compensate. Nazar only drops due to injury but has one of the best offensive games in the draft.
17	Vancouver	Denton Mateychuk	I really like Mateychuk and it is a pick that Columbus seems to make almost every draft. The Blueline is starting to get crowded in CBJ so that is the only concern. Regardless, Mateychuk is BPA for D at this point. (Hutson to be discussed soon)
18	Calgary	Rutger McGroarty	I like his combination of size, skill and leadership. He had an impressive WJC showing and D+1 season. I have him here at #18 but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him taken as early as #12. Could be a top 6 energy guy in the future.
19	Toronto	Lane Hutson	Hutson is probably the drafts biggest riser, but to me his ratings wont translate to that of a top pairing defensemen in the BRHL. Expect ratings like Dougie Hamilton. If you're after offense, by all means draft him. He will be a PP1 QB.
20	Ottawa	Noah Ostlund	Of the three remaining Swedes who could go in the first round, I like Ostlund the best of the bunch. He plays a premium position and appears to have the highest offensive upside (although Ohgren may be the better goal scorer).
21	Detroit	Filip Bystedt	Filip Bystedt spent the most amount of time in Sweden's best hockey league last season out of the trio of Swedes. Just like Conor Geekie, teams love Centermen with size and Bystedt has that. He may be the most NHL ready of the trio.
22	Minnesota	Sam Rinzel	Al loves his Minnesota players and Sam Rinzel was born in Chanhassen, MN. This is only a few picks higher then where he was drafted in the NHL so it's not that much of a reach.
23	Anahiem	Nathan Gaucher	Gaucher is one of those guys NHL teams will love to have in their bottom 6. He's a winner. He may not have some upside as guys drafted below him here, but he's a safe pick. I would be shocked if hes not a full time NHL'r soon.
24	Seattle	Liam Ohgren	The trio of Swedes each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but Ostlund and Ohgren both mirrored each other in terms of performance in both Division 1 hockey and the SweHL. Ohgren may be the most complete goal scorer.
25	Arizona	Isaac Howard	A bit of a reach here at 25 considering the D+1 season he had, but I trust the Lightning and their ability to find diamonds with later draft picks. Howard will need to show he wasn’t a product of the system he played in as he joins Michigan next year.
26	St.Louis	Lian Bichsel	A bit of a drop for Bichsel here as he is just one of those steady defensive dman that teams prefer to draft in the late 1st/ early 2nd round. I like Bichsel as he has size and skates well. He is a decent puck mover as well. This has Eric written all over it.
27	Calgary	Ivan Miroschnichenko	Another drop in the first round, but Miroschnichenko had a rough season after being diagnosed with cancer. He has a long way to go for recovery but his upside is too high to pass up. I don't watch the KHL so unsure how effective he was in his return.
28	Ottawa	Owen Pickering	Another under the radar type defensemen who should have a successful NHL career when it's all said and done. Pickering will be playing in the AHL next season and should get a good look at NHL time in 2025.
29	Arizona	Filip Mesar	Mesar's transition to North America was hit and miss this season. He wasn't great for Kitchener but not everyone is successful before coming over. There is a possibility Mesar slips to the 2nd round. Could be Nikita Scherbak 2.0.
30	New York I	Danila Yurov	I'm probably low on Yurov, but that’s because I didn’t get to watch him this year. From what I've been told hes a pretty promising prospect so if he is available late in this draft it seems like a no brainer to scoop him up.
31	Seattle	Reid Schaefer	Homer pick for sure, Schaefer wouldn’t be in my first round but there are too many Oilers fans here to see him drop out of it.
32	Winnipeg	Brad Lambert	At pick #32, it's the perfect time to take a gamble on a high risk/high reward type of player like Brad Lambert. After a slow start to the season Lambert was the best Seattle Thunderbird in the Memorial Cup which included Dylan Guenther.