2009 NHL Mock Draft: 1.0
Updated (April 1st, 2009)
Total Pro Sports - Introducing the Total Pro Sports NHL Mock Draft, version 1.0! It is our intention to add more, more, MORE to this section each week, making TPS your one stop shop for draft analysis.
Changing team needs, player workout results, in-depth film study, character assessments, and all the other "measurables" play significant roles in where players are drafted. As new information becomes available, watch as players move up or down the draft board, possibly landing on your favorite team's roster.
Leave your comments or questions below and share your thoughts with us, as well as other NHL fans around the globe.
Lets take a look at the 2009 Mock NHL Draft: 1.0
Round 1
| Pos | Team | Player | Comments | Comparison | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
John Tavares, London (OHL), C | Nothing but a pure goal scorer. He doesn't have the greatest skating ability but can work magic with the puck and has tremendous hockey sense. | Mike Bossy |
- |
| 2 |  |
Victor Hedman, MoDo (SWE), D | Not too sure what his nickname is, but it could easily be "The Total Package". Big, physical, smooth skater and great at both ends of the ice. | Chris Pronger | - |
| 3 |  |
Jared Cowen, Spokane (WHL), D | Big, tough, physical d-man who's great in his own end. What's even better is that he's also very disciplined, has lots of character and has quality leadership skills. | Derian Hatcher | - |
| 4 |  |
Matt Duchene, Brampton (OHL), C | Excellent two-way player, explosive speed, great hands and a has a nice quick release. | Mike Modano | - |
| 5 |  |
Evander Kane, Vancouver (WHL), C | Great skater and can work magic with the puck with his excellent stick handling ability. | Marian Gaborik | - |
| 6 |  |
Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi, Timra (SWE), LW | Very fast and fluid skater, great playmaker and just as good at scoring goals. Has started to finally use his big frame in playing in high traffic areas and driving to the net. | Peter Forsberg | - |
| 7 |  |
Brayden Schenn, Brandon (WHL), C | Tough, physical and isn't afraid to drop the gloves. Terrific at using his body, great playmaker and posses a hard and accurate wrist shot. | Joe Thornton |
- |
| 8 |  |
Nazim Kadri, London (OHL), C | Great speed and playmaking ability. Can also dangle with the best of them and has a great shot. | Daniel Briere |
- |
| 9 |  |
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Leksand (SWE), D | Very mobile and smooth skater. Also posses great hockey sense, some nice hands and a top notch passer. | Tomas Kaberle | - |
| 10 |  |
Dmitry Kulikov, Drummondville (QMJHL), D | Mobile, with some good size and great passing ability. Also has a good shot from the point and is solid in his own end. | Sergei Zubov | - |
| 11 |  |
Jordan Schroeder, Minnesota (NCAA), RW | Small scrappy player with soft hands. Is also a quick skater and has great playmaking ability. | Corey Perry | - |
| 12 |  |
Simon Despres, Saint John (QMJHL), D | Has all the makings of a great power play QB. Big, mobile, great passing and an excellent shot from the point. | Rob Blake | - |
| 13 |  |
Scott Glennie, Brandon (WHL), C/W | Very fast and smart offensive player. Posses a great hard and accurate shot and is great at picking off other team's passes. | Mike Gartner | - |
| 14 |  |
Peter Holland, Guelph (OHL), C | Pure power forward. Big, strong and loves to camp out in front of the net. Is also an excellent skater and very aggressive on the forecheck. | Tomas Holmstrom | - |
| 15 |  |
Jacob Josefson, Djurgarden (SWE), C | Highly skilled two-way centre. Has very good hockey sense and is also very creative with the puck. More of a playmaker than a scorer. | Pavel Datsyuk |
- |
| 16 |  |
Ryan Ellis, Windsor (OHL), D | Small but quick offensive d-man. Has a rocket from the point and excellent hockey sense. Also a great passer and has solid positioning in the defensive end to help make up for his lack of size. | Brian Rafalski | - |
| 17 |  |
Carter Ashton, Lethbridge (WHL), LW | Another pure power forward. Big, physical, and has good hands down low. Is also an above average skater and oozes of character. | Brenden Morrow | - |
| 18 |  |
Drew Shore, U-18 NTDP (USA), C | Big strong center with some good speed. Is very strong on the puck, good hockey IQ, works his butt off every shift and has tonnes of character. | Patrick Marleau | - |
| 19 |  |
John Moore, Chicago (USHL), D | Big and mobile d-man who's been described as a "freakish skater". Posses great puck handling skills and a hard and accurate shot from the point. | Duncan Keith |
- |
| 20 |  |
Zack Kassian, Peterborough (OHL), RW | If you look up the word "power forward" in the dictionary you'll see a picture of this guy beside it. Hits, scores and brings a tonne of energy every shift. | Todd Bertuzzi | - |
| 21 |  |
Stefan Elliott, Saskatoon (WHL), D | Quiet d-man that likes to lead by example. Lets his play do the talking and it shows with his great offensive instincts and is just as solid in his own end. One of the better man-on-man defenders in the draft. | Jay Bouwmeester | - |
| 22 | |
Landon Ferraro, Red Deer (WHL), RW | Quick speedy forward who isn't afraid to get into the corners and play feisty when need be. Has become one of, if not the, best penalty killer in the WHL. | Geoff Sanderson | - |
| 23 |  |
Kyle Palmieri, U-18 NTDP (USA), C | Potentially the next big clutch player in the NHL. Plays hard, has some good hands and shows great vision on the ice. Has also shown an ability to score key goals when the game is on the line. | Steve Thomas | - |
| 24 |  |
Louis Leblanc, Omaha (USHL), C | Feisty player who also has some great skating ability. Great scorer, good passer and is one of the best forwards in one-on-one situations. | Rick Nash | - |
| 25 |  |
Ethan Werek, Kingston (OHL), C | A great combination of offense and grit. An above average passer who drives to the net hard. Uses his long reach to his advantage as he scores most of his goals around the crease area. | Ryan Smyth | - |
| 26 |  |
Calvin deHaan, Oshawa (OHL), D | Great skating d-man with excellent puck control ability. Is great in the defensive end as well and started to throw his body around a lot more in the second half of the OHL season. | Niklas Kronwall | - |
| 27 |  |
Chris Kreider, Andover (MA-HS), C | Very strong skater who uses his body very effectively. Has great hands, hockey sense and is also used on the point during power plays because of his great passing ability and shot. | Evgeni Malkin | - |
| 28 |  |
Jeremy Morin, U-18 NTDP (USA), C/RW | Pure goal scorer who's quick on his skates. Has a great quick release and is very accurate with his shot. | Tony Amonte | - |
| 29 |  |
Ryan O'Reilly, Erie (OHL), C | Has a great hockey IQ and a nice set of hands to go with it. Excellent without the puck, great defensively and is seen as one of the best penalty killers in the OHL. He also posses great leadership qualities. | Rod Brind'Amour | - |
| 30 | |
Jordan Caron, Rimouski (QMJHL), C | Has finally grown in and started to use his body this season. Is an effective two-way player that's used in all situations. | Jordan Staal | - |
Check back often for frequent changes during the NHL playoffs. Leave your questions or comments below. I will respond to as many as I can.
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I am curious as to what you think of Robin Lehner……..I have heard he is shooting up peoples draft boards and will most likely be the #1 goalie in the draft and from europe.
Could you see him entering the 1st round ?
I’m glad you brought him up. He has been playing some great hockey the last few months. With his size, age and obvious improvements during the season I’d definitely say he’s the #1 goalie heading into the draft. Some people have been blinded when it comes to Jaroslav Janus because of his great WJHC this year, but he’s been pretty inconsistent with the Erie Otters this year. Another one to look at is Olivier Roy from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, but he didn’t exactly take the bull by the horns so to speak like people had hoped he might this season.
Now where Lehner might be drafted is another question. The goalie crop isn’t all that strong this year so I don’t see him or any other goaltender being drafted in the first round.
I think that whatever teams end up losing out on the Jonas Gustavsson sweep stakes will look to draft Robin Lehner in the 2nd round or maybe even 3rd if he happens to drop that low, which I don’t think he will at this rate.
We have Lehner going early in the second round…he might even move up to the 29th or 30th pick….so stay tuned….a ton of potential there!!!!
Now that the Sharks are out the Islanders get the 26th overall not #30
I’m sorry dude, but some comparisons are laughable at best. How the hell could you compare a guy perpetually involved in the physical aspect of the game (Brayden Schenn) to a guy like Thornton, who’s not much of a big-banger?
And Chris Kreider to Evegeny Malkin? Now I know you’re probably taking the style of play of each player into consideration as a first criteria to compare them to current NHLers, but then again..? Kreider is much more similar to Eric Cole.
And you’re actually ranking Cowen before Duchene, who’s touted as the second coming of Joe Sakic by some scouts?
Good work, but I disagree with a couple of aspects there. Not that you care anyway
Haha, don’t worry, I do care.
I compare B. Schenn to Thornton because Thornton actually did bang his body around when he was younger, mostly in Junior and before the lockout. I believe Schenn will be the same. He’ll still bang, but as he gets older he’ll realize he’s better off not hitting so much and concentrate more on scoring and using his body for good positioning rather than hitting.
Yes, comparing Kreider to Cole is fairly accurate. However, as I said Kreider also plays the point on the PP, something Cole does not.
I’m not ranking Cowen ahead of Duchene, I put him there because I thought that Tampa would be better off drafting a shutdown d-man. But because of the lottery they now have the 2nd overall pick which I assume they’ll use on Tavares or Hedman if they don’t trade it. Plus, this was done on April 1, before Duchene’s stock started to raise, even though I’ve been high on Duchene since October.
FYI, an updated Mock Draft 2.0 will be done after the Conference Semifinals are over.
I went to high school with Chris Brown. With your predictions and his ranking of 30th with North American skaters and only a handfull of Europeans and no goalies taken in the first round I’d think he’d wind up somewhere in the early to middle 2nd round. Where do you think he’ll go and to what team?
If he’s one of the top few players on the board when the stars pick in the 2nd round, I’d think they’d take him like they did Austin Smith, another dallas native, in the 4th round in ‘07, but I don’t have much insight to the needs of all the teams.
Nice, it’s always good to see people you know have some success, unless of course you don’t like them, haha.
I see Chris Brown going anywhere from 30th-40th overall. I’d be very surprised if he was taken out of the 2nd round’s top 10. I view Brown has a future power forward and see Colorado or Atlanta probably taking him. I’m sure if he drops to Dallas they’ll take him.
Some other guys to keep an eye on for the 2nd round: D – Charles Olivier Roussel, D – Taylor Doherty, RW – Zach Budish, C – Tomas Tatar and C – Ryan O’Reilly. I did have O’Reilly as a 1st rounder, but because his offence and skating didn’t really improve all that much he’s dropped and will probably now be taken in the 2nd round.