2011 NHL Mock Draft

The NHL Draft is tonight at 7 ET on VERSUS and TSN for you Canadian readers. The big news draft wise was Philadelphia grabbing Columbus’s 8th pick in the Jeff Carter trade, with the biggest non-draft draft day news will be the possibility of Winnipeg announcing their team name tonight. But the main intrigue tonight is that there is no Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin in this draft. Ryan Nugent Hopkins is generally considered to be the top talent, but the top 5, and the whole first round really, good go in a seemingly infinite number of permutations. To characterize the following as a shot in the dark wouldn’t be too far off (hopefully no one got posted twice):

1. Edmonton – Ryan Nugent Hopkins, C, Red Deer (WHL)

2. Colorado – Adam Larsson, D, Skelleftea (SEL)

3. Florida – Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Kitchener (OHL)

4. New Jersey - Sean Couturier, C, Drummondville (QMJHL)

5. New York Islanders – Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW, Saint John (QMJHL)

the rest of the picks are after the jump

6. Ottawa – Ryan Strome, C, Niagara (OHL)

7. Winnipeg – Mika Zibanejad, C, Djurgardens (SEL)

8. Philadelphia – Ryan Murphy, D, Kitchener (OHL)

9. Boston – Dougie Hamilton, D, Niagara (OHL)

10. Minnesota – Sven Bartschi, W, Portland (WHL)

11. Colorado – Mark Scheifle, C, Barrie (OHL)

12. Carolina – Mark McNeil, C, Prince Albert (WHL)

13. Calgary – Tomas Jurco, RW, St. John (QMJHL)

14. Dallas – Duncan Siemens, D, Saskatoon (WHL)

15. New York Rangers – Jamie Oleksiak, D, Northeastern (Hockey East)

16. Buffalo – Rocco Grimaldi, C, USNTDP

17. Montreal – Brandon Saad, LW, Saginaw (OHL)

18. Chicago – Oscar Klefbom, D, Farjestad (SEL)

19. Edmonton – Joel Armia, RW, Porin Assat (SM-Liiga)

20. Phoenix – Tyler Biggs, C, USNTDP

21. Ottawa – Joe Morrow, D, Portland (WHL)

22. Anaheim – Boone Jenner, C, Oshawa

23. Pittsburgh – JT Miller, C, USNDP

24. Detroit – Jonas Brodin, D, Farjestad (SEL)

25. Toronto – Matt Puempel, LW, Peterborough (OHL)

26. Washington – Connor Murphy, D, USNTDP

27. Tampa Bay – Johnathan Gibson, G, USNTDP

28. San Jose – Ty Rattie, RW, Portland (WHL)

29. Vancouver – Vladisav Namestnikov, RW, London (OHL)

30. Toronto – Zack Phillips, C, Saint John (QMJHL)