Round one of the draft begins tonight at 5 p.m. MDT and will wrap up around 9 p.m. It is a long night, but a very exciting one for players, families, scouts, management and fans.
History tells us to expect a significant trade, and Oilers fans are hoping it involves their team, but Anaheim, Buffalo, Arizona and Calgary are other teams to watch. There will likely be a trade no one has been discussing either. Those are the best, because they surprise everyone.
Tonight, 30 young men will fulfill their dream of being drafted, while another 181 will wait until tomorrow to hear their name. What a ride it will be for them, and  for fans across the NHL, who will wait with anticipation to see what moves and selections their teams make.
Let’s get it going.
While Auston Matthews is #1 on the majority of rankings, he wasn’t the consensus #1 pick. A few people ranked Patrick Laine higher, but Matthews is the overwhelming favourite to go to the Maple Leafs, and there is no doubt in my mind Toronto will pick him.
Laine and fellow Finn, Jesse Puljujarvi, should be the second and third picks, but we’ve seen teams go off the board before.
We put together the top-60 from five different publications. Bob McKenzie’s list is based on conversations he’s had with all 30 NHL teams. They are not his rankings, while the other four are rankings by individuals or scouting services. Every evaluator will have a bias, we all do, and that’s why we see many different names in the top-60 and slotted in varying spots.
If you want a complete scouting report on the players I highly recommend getting the Black Book from HockeyProspect.com. It is extremely detailed. Mark Edwards and his staff do a great job. The names in bold are Edmonton and area players, and ones I wrote about in this piece.
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Bob McKenzie 
Craig Button 
Hockey Prospect 
Hockey Prospectus 
Corey Pronman
1.
Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews 
Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews
Patrik Laine
2.
Patrik Laine
Patrik Laine
Patrik Laine
Patrik Laine
Auston Matthews
3.
Jesse Puljujarvi
Jesse Puljujarvi
Jesse Puljujarvi
Jesse Puljujarvi
Jesse Puljujarvi
4.
Matthew Tkachuk
Pierre-Luc Dubois 
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Jakob Chychrun
Clayton Keller
5.
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Matthew Tkachuk
Matthew Tkachuk
Alex Nylander
Pierre-Luc Dubois
6.
Olli Juolevi
Clayton Keller
Olli Juolevi
Matthew Tkachuk
Matthew Tkachuk
7.
Alex Nylander
Logan Brown
Logan Brown
Olli Juolevi
Alex Nylander
8.
Clayton Keller
Mikhail Sergachev
Mikhail Sergachev
Clayton Keller
Olli Juolevi
9.
Mikhail Sergachev
Olli Juolevi
Clayton Keller
Michael McLeod
Tyson Jost
10.
Logan Brown
Alex Nylander
Tyson Jost
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Dante Fabbro
11.
Tyson Jost
Tyson Jost
Dante Fabbro
Charles McAvoy
Jakob Chychrun
12.
Jake Bean
Jake Bean
Alex Nylander
Luke Kunin
Logan Brown
13.
Jakob Chychrun
Kieffer Bellows
Charles McAvoy
Alexander DeBrincat
German Rubstov
14.
Charlie McAvoy
German Rubstov
Jakob Chychrun
Dante Fabbro
Kieffer Bellows
15.
Michael McLeod
Charlie McAvoy
Jake Bean
Mikhail Sergachev
Alex DeBrincat
16.
Dante Fabbro
Dante Fabbro
German Rubtsov
Tyson Jost
Mikhail Sergachev
17.
Julien Gauthier
Jakob Chychrun
Luke Kunin
German Rubtsov
Luke Kunin
18.
Kieffer Bellows
Brett Howden
Kieffer Bellows
Wade Allison
Tyler Benson
19.
Max Jones
Michael McLeod
Michael McLeod
Logan Brown
Jake Bean
20.
Luke Kunin
Luke Kunin
Max Jones
Kieffer Bellows
Michael McLeod
21.
Riley Tufte
Alex DeBrincat
Rasmus Asplund
Jake Bean
Vitali Abramov
22.
Logan Stanley
Cam Dineen
Boris Katchouk
Tyler Benson
Kale Clague
23.
German Rubstov
Vitali Abramov
Riley Tufte
Vitaly Abramov
Samuel Girard
24.
Brett Howden
Carter Hart
Jonathan Dahlen
Riley Tufte
Julien Gauthier
25.
Dennis Cholowski
Dennis Cholowski
Julien Gauthier
Jonathan Dahlen
Rasmus Asplund
26.
Libor Hajek
Will Bitten
Dennis Cholowski
Julien Gauthier
Max Jones
27.
Tage Thompson
Samuel Girard
Brett Howden
William Bitten
Charlie McAvoy
28.
Lucas Johansen
Dillon Dube
Tage Thompson
Trent Frederic
Dmitri Sokolov
29.
Boris Katchouk
Jordan Kyrou
Vitaly Abramov
Sam Steel
Carl Grundstrom
30.
Kale Clague
Logan Stanley
Logan Stanley
Max Jones
Sam Steel
31.
Rasmus Asplund
Janne Kuokkanen
Tyler Parsons
Rem Pitlick
Adam Fox
32.
Pascal Laberge
Tage Thompson
Libor Hajek
Dillon Dube
Brett Howden
33.
Alex DeBrincat
 Matthew Phillips
Alex DeBrincat
Max Zimmer
Joey Anderson
34.
Jordan Kyrou
Henrik Borgstrom
Tyler Benson
Jake Ryczek
Will Bitten
35.
Henrik Borgstrom
Pascal Laberge
Filip Gustavsson
Mitchell Eliot
Jordan Kyrou
36.
Nathan Bastian
Rasmus Asplund
Carl Grundstrom
Rasmus Asplund
Alexander Polunin
37.
Dillon Dube
Mitchell Mattson
Joseph Woll
Ivan Kosorenkov
Pascal Laberge
38.
Markus Niemelainen
Adam Fox
Lucas Johansen
Evan Fitzpatrick
Ryan Lindgren
39.
Tyler Benson
Tyler Parsons
William Bitten
Ryan Lindgren
Adam Mascherin
40.
Carl Grundstrom
Taylor Raddysh
Connor Hall
Luke Green
Jonathan Dahlen
41.
Sam Steel
James Greenway
Givani Smith
Matt Filipe
Riley Tufte
42.
Taylor Raddysh
Max Jones
Mark Niemelainen
Cam Dineen
Cam Dineen
43.
Janne Kuokkanen
Julien Gauthier
Carter Hart
Adam Mascherin
Victor Mete
44.
Filip Gustavsson
Tyler Benson
Adam Mascherin
Janne Kuokkanen
Linus Lindstrom
45.
Samuel Girard
Riley Tufte
Kale Clague
Tage Thompson
Dillon Dube
46.
Ryan Lindren
Braydon Burke
Taylor Raddysh
Brett Howden
Jacob Moverare
47.
Will Bitten
Cameron Morrison
Nathan Bastian
James Greenway
Libor Hajek
48.
Tyler Parsons
Noah Gregor
Pascal Laberge
Carl Grundstrom
Anatoli Golyshev
49.
Filip Hronek
Boris Katchouk
David Bernhardt
Jacob Moverare
Taylor Raddysh
50.
Cliff Pu
Lucas Johansen
Cameron Morrison
Carter Hart
Jesper Bratt
51.
Vitali Abramov
Givani Smith
Henrik Borgstrom
Colton Point
James Greenway
52.
Wade Allison
Aapeli Rasanen
Timothy Gettinger
Tyler Parsons
Sebastian Aho
53.
Adam Mascherin
Adam Brooks
Frederic Allard
Dennis Cholowski
Filip Hronek
54.
Trent Frederic
Jonathan Dahlen
Evan Fitzpatrick
Henrik Borgstrom
Frederic Allard
55.
Adam Fox
Kale Clague
Sam Steel
Logan Stanley
Logan Stanley
56.
Joey Anderson
Sam Steel
Noah Gregor
Lucas Johansen
Aapeli Rasanen
57.
Carter Hart
Adam Mascherin
Janne Kuokkanen
Kale Clague
David Quenneville
58.
Sean Day
Markus Niemelainen 
Wade Allison
Artur Kayumov
Janne Kuokkanen
59.
Cameron Morrison
Artur Kayumov
Jordan Sambrook
Adam Fox
Yegor Rykov
60.
Luke Green
David Quenneville
Dillon Dube
Victor Mete
Simon Stransky
It is interesting to compare how will these ranking will look compared to what actually unfolds tonight and tomorrow.

QUICK HITS…

  • Both the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens are interested in Cam Fowler. The Sabres won the eighth pick, while the Habs have #9. Could we see a significant trade in the first ten picks? I sure hope so. There is always a lot of talk and conjecture leading up to the draft, and often most of it doesn’t come to fruition. Hopefully this year we see a few deals.
  • I fully expect to see more trades on Saturday. And not just trading up or down in the draft, I mean NHL players moving teams. They might not be big names, but keep in mind that starting at midnight EST NHL teams can start discussions with unrestricted free agents. If a team feels comfortable they have a deal with a UFA, they will make moves accordingly to fit them into their payroll.
  • The Minnesota Wild really want an NHL centre, and they’d be willing to move Jonas Brodin or Marco Scandella. Keep an eye on the Wild.
  • Edmonton product Mark McNeill was drafted 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011. He hasn’t been able to crack their lineup, and he’s been very good in the AHL. He was the team captain and he is a name I would expect to move over the weekend. I could see Nail Yakupov moving and also Quinton Howden out of Florida with the new management in place.
  • It made sense for the Oilers and other teams to see if Marc Bergevin was interested in trading P.K Subban, but I doubt it happens. There are very few legitimate #1 defenders in the league and Subban is one of them.
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