That's One Vote For Ellis: TSN Mock Draft

Of the defencemen that will possibly be available at the 10 pick, I like

Eckman Larsson>Kulikov>Ellis

Malloy has Eckman Larsson going 6th to the Coyotes. I don’t think he will get picked before the other Swede Magnus Pajvaari Svensson. He also has Kulikov dropping to 15th. Most mock drafts have him going much earlier. As LT says, Bob Mackenzies draft guides are historically about as accurate as it gets. He has Eckman Larsson 8th, Kulikov 9th and Ellis 12th.

Glennie would be great, don’t get me wrong, normally I agree with picking the best player available but I am not 100% certain of that this year. With the Oil needing grit and size, I would tend to lean that way. The reason I would in this case is that if a big gritty player that can put up a lot of points, if he gets to the NHL and can’t quite put up the expected points, he still has great value on a 3rd or 4th line as a tough gritty guy that still has some hands. If a smaller very offensive guy gets to the NHL, he only has one trick to stay and if he doesn’t put up the points, he is useless.

I think a bigger grittier guy will have a much better chance at playing in the NHL with the Oil because he will still be able to fit a need and that is a need the Oil definitly need and they don’t have much stock on the farm of that type of player in a few years. Those guyse will start to become harder and harder to get in the future.

guy like Kassian is big, strong, gritty, tough and can put up a lot of points he also

Kassian doesn’t have a lot of things that top six wingers should have. He really doesn’t belong in the conversation at 10th overall. 12th or 13th I could see, but I think it would be a reach.

My top picks

Forwards
1. Tavares
2. Duchene
3. Kane
4. Schenn
5. MPS

Defence
1. Hedman
2. Cowen
3/4 (pick’em) OEL & Kulikov

I am happy if any of these guys fall into the Oilers hands at 10. If all 9 are off the board then Kadri, Ellis, Moore, Glennie, Schroeder, Derpres and Kassian are all the next tier IMHO. Moore is the guy with the highest up side (size, skating, smarts) of the bunch and Glennie is probably the safest pick.

There are reasons to believe that Glennie may not be a forward who contributes a great deal to an NHL team. His playing a “soft” perimeter game in his draft season and lack of offensive tools might indicate more of a second-line talent not capable of going power vs. power in the NHL.

Larsson is a player who I am greatly interested to now more about. We hear about his meteoric rise in the second half of the season but not a lot of detail as to how. His season is hard to gauge as well since he was playing in the Sweden’s top minor league rather than the SEL. His 17 points in 39 games is not very impressive in this context, though apparently he led the league in +/-.

He supposedly had a phenomenal U18 which might explain the increase in his draft position, putting up 12 points in 16 games. Small sample size though.

Otherwise he’s described as being a smooth skating defenseman with decent size but lacking a physical game. Sounds like a player in Tom Gilbert’s mold.

I think it will be very interesting to see where he goes on draft day.

“As for big players, there are a couple who might be worth a flyer – Benjamin Casavant out of the QMJHL would be a nice midround pick, as one example.”

I took him 129th overall in a recent mock draft.

His skating is pretty ugly but he racks up garbage goals like Smytty,

Jon Kerber:

I think the best way to describe Lasrrson is he’s fluid. Beautiful skater, very agile, his transition from defense to offense is seamless, great instincts.

Unlimited potential.

As for Glennie.. I hope we pass on him. I think he’ll have a transition to pro similar to the way Marc-Antoine Pouliot did.