2009 SBN NHL Mock Draft: Day 6: Blue Jackets take Rundblad

by James Mirtle on Jun 21, 2009 6:00 AM CDT Comment 6 comments

Welcome to Day 6 of SB Nation's mock draft, where the Blue Jackets, Blues and Habs all have made their picks:

#	Team	Pick	Blogger's notes	More analysis:
1	N.Y. Islanders	John Tavares, London (OHL)	The sexy pick, the consensus pick, the right pick. He's what this team and franchise needs most. Get ready for "Islanders goal scored by #91..." because they're coming in bunches.	Lighthouse Hockey
2	Tampa Bay	Victor Hedman, Modo (Swe)	A boy playing among men in the Swedish Elite League (and thriving) the past two seasons, Hedman starts immediately on the TB blueline and can contribute at both ends of the ice.	Raw Charge
3	Colorado	Matt Duchene, Brampton (OHL)	No big surprise here; we’ll take whichever of the big 3 is available and immediately offer them a position as GM & coach.	Mile High Hockey
4	Atlanta	Evander Kane, Vancouver (WHL)	Named after Atlanta boxing legend Evander Holyfield, Kane adds some scoring punch to Atlanta's top six — perhaps as early as this fall.	Bird Watchers Anonymous
5	Los Angeles	Braydon Schenn, Brandon (WHL)	Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson is the popular pick here, seeing as how the Kings need a left winger badly, but I'm counting on Dean Lombardi's love of grit and distaste for Swedes to influence his decision here. Plus, I really wanted to upset Toronto fans.	Battle of California
6	Phoenix	Jared Cowen, Spokane (WHL)	The Coyotes are deep on forward prospects and badly need young defensemen. Cowen is a beast who could play in the NHL very soon if his recently repaired knee doesn't hamper him.	Five For Howling
7	Toronto	Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson, Timra IK (Swe)	Most of Canada already hates him, so he'll fit in just fine. Plus he provides the high-end Swedish forward that the Leafs have been missing since last April.	Pension Plan Puppets
8	Dallas	Oliver Ekman-Larssen, Leksand IF (Swe-2)	Dallas is fortunate to not only draft the best player available but also pick a defenseman that fills a glaring need in the Stars' system.	Defending Big D
9	Ottawa	Nazem Kadri, London (OHL)	With Ottawa's recent emphasis on drafting skilled defencemen, Kadri gives the Senators a good skilled forward to fill out the team's development systems — maybe even one of those ever-elusive top-six forwards.	Silver Seven
10	Edmonton	Ryan Ellis, Windsor (OHL)	No 17-year old defensemen has ever led the OHL in assists — not even Bobby Orr. That is, no one has done it until Ryan Ellis did this year. The only thing keeping him out of the top three is his height.	Copper & Blue
11	Nashville	Jordan Schroeder, University of Minnesota (NCAA)	He may be short in stature, but he's long on talent and strength. Just as he played alongside Colin Wilson at the World Juniors, he projects to be the next top Predators prospect to come out of collegiate hockey.	On The Forecheck
12	Minnesota	Zach Budish, Edina Minnesota (USHS)	After missing last season for the Hornets with a torn ACL from his football playing days, Budish has added size and strength during his rehab. Now at 6'3" and 229 pounds, Budish is the type of power forward the Wild have always lacked.	Hockey Wilderness
13	Buffalo	Zack Kassian, Peterborough (OHL)	At 6'3" and 215 pounds, Kassian is the most NHL-ready prospect in the draft. His offensive upside may not be as great as some of the other prospects but he makes up for that with size, speed and strength. He is everything the Sabres are not. Big, strong and tough.	Die By The Blade
14	Florida	Louis Leblanc, Omaha (USHL)	It's no secret Florida is in dire need of offensive-minded centers, and LeBlanc - the USHL Rookie of the Year - has impressed by leading his club in scoring and having a way-cool hockey name.	The Litter Box
15	Anaheim	Dmitri Kulikov, Drum'ville (QMJHL)	I haven't seen a draft projection that has him picked later than 16th, and I'll have to assume he has some value. The Ducks don't have a great history of picking Russian defensemen with their top picks so I may be off-base.	Battle of California
16	Columbus	David Rundblad, Skelleftea (Swe)	The Blue Jackets look to add some serious skill on the back-end. Rundblad will quickly become a vital piece to the young core in Columbus.	The Cannon
17	St. Louis	Chris Kreider, Philips-Andover Academy (USHS)	A center with exceptional size and skating ability, Kreider is also blessed with a goal-scorer's touch. A character guy on and off the ice, Kreider is everything the Blues' scouts typically look for in a player.	St. Louis Game Time
18	Montreal	Scott Glennie, Brandon (WHL)	Glennie is the closest thing to a sure bet the Habs could get at the 18th slot. A competitive, responsible, focused player who displays good maturity and poise, Glennie is a projected top six forward, who should make his place on the Habs within three seasons.	Eyes On The Prize
19	N.Y. Rangers
20	Calgary
21	Philadelphia
22	Vancouver
23	New Jersey
24	Washington
25	Boston
26	N.Y. Islanders
27	Carolina
28	Chicago
29	Detroit
30	Pittsburgh

Head on over to Blueshirt Banter (Rangers), Matchsticks & Gasoline (Flames) and Broadstreet Hockey (Flyers) to join the discussion on who will be picked 19th through 21st tomorrow.

0 recs | Comment 6 comments | Add comment | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Glennie at 18th seems like a good pick. If Ellis is gone, as I think he will be, I could see the Oilers taking Glennie if they needed a forward.

I’m surprised Jacob Josefsson is still out there. Hasn’t he been Top 10 all season? If Gainey opts for a defenceman, maybe he settles for Simon Despres.

by TD O'Dell on Jun 21, 2009 7:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Your link to Blueshirt Banter goes to the Jackets blog… ha ha.

Blueshirt Banter - Because You Wish You Were a Ranger Fan

by Rob Luker on Jun 21, 2009 11:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You didn't hear?

Traded the pick for a bag of pucks. :)

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Jun 21, 2009 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’ve already supplied the boo-birds for Robert over at EOTP for this one. Glennie, like many overhearlded linemates of great young players, is getting an extreme bump into a first rounder due to his high output alongside Brayden Schenn. Much like Andrew Ladd, Eric Chouinard, Rob Schremp, and all the other coattail riders in junior hockey history, I don’t expect a huge showing from Glennie down the line. If he makes the Habs down the line, it’ll be as a winger, not the centre Robert has coveted. And he’ll be more like Matt D’Agostini than anyone else in the Habs’ system. Glennie screams bust to me… and when I’ve seen him live, he really hasn’t stuck out.

At #18, I guess you can’t expect a lot, but it would suck to already know that right from the get go.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Jun 21, 2009 11:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Like Esposito and Radulov?

I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Glennie play live, but just as Esposito dropped all the way to 20th from his lofty perch, I figure Glennie’s fall from the Top 10 to 18th still offers good upside.

Since Draft Day 2007, I’ve had the chance to see Angelo play live on a half-dozen occasions. I can’t say that he has impressed me as much as a Top 10 guy should, but as a 20th pick, you can’t ask for much more. I see more need for a Simon Despres in the system, with the loss of Emelin and Valentenko, so I’m kinda hoping that Glennie and Josefsson are both gone by the time Gainey (Beliveau?) takes the podium.

by TD O'Dell on Jun 21, 2009 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Like Leblanc

I’ve been watching alot of him since I live in Omaha.

Is Budish moving up that much on draft boards?

Draft guru in training.

by tj.hendricks on Jun 21, 2009 7:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

From The Rink: An SB Nation Community

Network Bar

From The Rink -

SB Nation's hockey blog