Moose Country: NHL Draft preview

Note: This post will be updated throughout the week until Draft time so check back often and there will be more stories and information everyday.

2013 NHL Draft
June 30, 2013
4:00pm Atlantic time
NBC Sports Network
Prudential Centre, Newark, New Jersey

First round: 1. Colorado, 2. Florida, 3. Tampa Bay, 4. Nashville, 5. Carolina, 6. Calgary, 7. Edmonton, 8. Buffalo, 9. New Jersey, 10. Dallas, 11. Philadelphia, 12. Phoenix, 13. Winnipeg, 14. Columbus, 15. New York Islanders, 16. Buffalo, 17. Ottawa, 18. Detroit, 19. Columbus, 20. San Jose, 21. Toronto, 22. Calgary, 23. Washington, 24. Vancouver, 25. Montreal, 26. Anaheim, 27. Columbus, 28. Calgary, 29. Dallas, 30. Chicago

Will Seth Jones go #1? Or will it be our very own Nathan MacKinnon? Could a Russian go first overall for the second year in a row? Will a goalie be picked in the top 10 for the first time in 8 years?

All these questions will be answered on Sunday but for now lets see what the probability of them happening is.

JONES
Seth Jones has been a very good defenseman in the Western Hockey League for the Portland Winterhawks and was ranked #1 in the final CSS rankings.

Stories - Denver Post (June 18), Edmonton Journal (June 24), Canada.com (June 24), Rant Sports (June 23)

My prediction - It is very tough to pick a defenseman first overall as normally you want to build a great team around the first overall pick. Because of this I predict Seth to go 3rd overall to Tampa Bay especially after the Bolts freed up some space buying out their captain Vincent Lecavalier earlier in the week.

MACKINNON
Nathan MacKinnon was the top forward for our very own Halifax Mooseheads the past two years and led the team to a Memorial Cup championship with a hat trick and 5 points against rival Jones. He is ranked #2 in the CSS rankings.

Stories - Denver Post (June 22), Mile High Hockey (June 17), Metro News (June 24), National Post (June 17), Metro News (June 27), Sportsnet (June 28)

My prediction - Nate is everything that a team could ask for in a center, he scores A LOT, has great passing abilities and skating skills, and is also pretty good defensively. At the age of 17, he has his good games and bad but who doesn't at the age? It will be interesting to see how he will play after spending the last 17 months pretty much joined at the hip with Jonathan Drouin. With him being the best center in this year's draft, I predict Nathan will go 2nd overall to Florida, he will be a great asset and he already knows how to play with Jonathan Huberdeau.

FUCALE
Zach Fucale is the number #1 North American goalie in this year's draft and he deserves it after the two years he's had with the Mooseheads.

Stories - The Chronicle Herald (June 25), Canada.com (June 26)

My prediction - Some people predict that Zach will go in the Top 10, others believe he will be picked later in the first round. The top 10 teams, as they stand now, all need great goaltending badly and therefore will probably pick him up as soon as they can. As Paul Hollingsworth said Friday morning on CTV Morning Live, the host city of this year's draft could really use a franchise goalie now that Martin Brodeur is thinking about leaving the game. I predict that Zachary will go 14th overall to Columbus, as they really need a good solid goaltender.

DROUIN
Jonathan Drouin started out this past season with a far chance of being picked in the first round, now after taking over when MacKinnon got hurt and having an awesome World Junior tournament, he has quickly moved up to #3 on the final CSS rankings.

Stories - Canada.com (June 25), The Hockey Writers (June 17), The Gazette (June 27), The Chronicle Herald (June 27)

My prediction - Colorado keeps saying that they will pick a forward and that they would pick Nathan MacKinnon, but I believe they need a good winger to balance out their talented centers they already have. Therefore, I predict that Jonathan will go 1st overall to Colorado.

NURSE
Darnell Nurse of the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds was not able to help his team past the first round but he has stayed in the top 10 in the North American rankings.

Stories - Rant Sports (May 30), National Post (May 30), NHL.com (May 31)

My prediction - I predict that Darnell will go 5th overall to Carolina, he seems like he would fit with that group of young guys.

BARKAROV
As the top ranked European skater at the end of the season by CSS, there is little chance I believe that he will go top 3. I predict Alexander will go 7th overall to Calgary who seem to have a lot of Euro players on their team.

June 27 - The players are in New York City now and a few of them visited Yankee Stadium today to the watch the Yankees and Texas Rangers game. Here are some pictures...