Offical 2011 NHL Draft Thread

[Nolan]

I know we have the preseason ranking thread, but I thought i'd start an offical thread for the draft to bring some life to this board.

Right now the top 30 prospects look like this:

1. RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS C 6'0 170 L Apr. 12/93 Red Deer WHL
2. ADAM LARSSON D 6'3 200 R Nov. 12/92 Skelleftea SweE
3. GABRIEL LANDESKOG LW 6'0 207 L Nov. 23/92 Kitchener OHL
4. SEAN COUTURIER C 6'4 195 L Dec. 12/92 Drummondville QMJHL
5. RYAN MURPHY D 5'10 176 R Mar. 31/93 Kitchener OHL
6. TYLER BIGGS RW 6'2 210 R Apr. 30/93 USA Under-18 USHL
7. RYAN STROME C 6'0 183 R Jul. 11/93 Niagara OHL
8. DUNCAN SIEMENS D 6'3 197 L Sept. 7/93 Saskatoon WHL
9. DOUGLAS HAMILTON D 6'4 193 R Jun. 17/93 Niagara OHL
10. NICKLAS JENSEN F 6'2 188 L Mar. 6/93 Oshawa OHL
11. BRANDON SAAD LW 6'1 208 L Oct 27/92 Saginaw OHL
12. JOEL ARMIA RW 6'3 191 R May 31/93 Assat FinE
13. JONATHAN HUBERDEAU C 6'1 168 L June 4/93 Saint John QMJHL
14. ALEXANDR KHOKHLACHEV F 5'10 188 L Sept. 9/93 Windsor OHL
15. DAVID MUSIL D 6'3 200 L Apr. 9/93 Vancouver WHL
16. ROCCO GRIMALDI C 5'6 163 R Feb 8/93 USA Under 18 USHL
17. DANIEL CATENACCI C 5'9 180 L Sep 3/93 Sault Ste. Marie OHL
18. MYLES BELL D 6'0 209 R Aug 19/93 Regina WHL
19. DMITRI JASKIN RW 6'2 196 L Mar. 23/93 Slavia CzeJr
20. MARK MCNEILL C 6'1 204 R Feb. 22/93 Prince Albert WHL
21. TY RATTIE LW 5'11 170 R Feb 5/93 Portland WHL
22. COLIN JACOBS F 6'1 205 R Jan 20/93 Seattle WHL
23. SCOTT MAYFIELD D 6'4 197 R Oct 14/92 Youngstown USHL
24. VICTOR RASK C 6'1 194 L Mar. 1/93 Leksands SweAI
25. JAMIE OLEKSIAK D 6'7 244 L Dec 21/92 Northeastern H.E,
26. SVEN BARTSCHI LW 5'11 175 L Oct 5/92 Portland WHL
27. MIKA ZIBANEJAD C 6'0 183 R Apr 18/93 Djurgarden SJ18A
28. MATTHEW PEUMPEL LW 6'0 198 L Jan 24/93 Peterborough OHL
29. NICK SHORE RW 6'0 191 R Sep 26/92 U18 USHL
30. TOMAS JURCO RW 6'2 193 L Dec 28/92 Saint John QMJH

Which prospects do you like? Who do you want your team to pick?

[Nolan]

As it stands right now my Oilers should be picking #1 for the second season in a row. We already have a great group of young talented players so I see us passing Nugent-Hopkins and picking Adam Larsson. Larsson looks like he could be a great 2 way defenseman and thats exactly what we need right now.

[ajaX82]

I'll sticky this for you

Oilers should definitely grab a d-man with so many good young forwards.

For my wings, a big physical stay at home defenseman would be nice

[Nolan]

^
Really hope we keep losing so we can pickup Larsson. All we need to do before we can call this rebuild complete is beef up the back end.

[fazon]

If the draft was today, I'm pretty sure the Oilers would take Larsson. I think they're forward depth is much greater than their defensive depth, and a PMD like Larsson is just what they need.

[Mike Hunt]

I find it interesting that Couturier was in the top group all of last year. At the beginning of this year, he seemed to be on an island at #4, looking up at the top 3 guys (of Nugent-Hopkins, Larsson and Landeskog) and down at the next tier (6-7 guys or so). Now, it looks like most have him firmly in that second tier.

[Nolan]

^
Couturier's a great talent but a lot of guys have made some huge jumps this season. There's also a few concerns about his game, some scouts think he doesn't play physically enough and people are questioning his somewhat lack of progression this past season.

[Nolan]

Lottery just happened. Here's what the top 5 looks like:

1. Edmonton Oilers
2. Colorado Avalanche
3. Florida Panthers
4. New Jersey Devils
5. New York Islander

[Nolan]

Nugent-Hopkins is really starting to look like the clear cut #1 and i'm really starting to warm up about the idea of us picking him. I really like Larrson and he fills a huge need. But Nugent-Hopkins is just so damn talented and we could also use a great play making center. Him and Hall playing on the same line could be just amazing.