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Draft Order
2019 NHL Mock Draft: Final Mock
Round 1 Picks 16-31
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Last Updated: June 21, 2019.
Colorado Avalanche: Cole Caufield, RW, USNTDP (USHL) 
- Colorado grabs the best winger on the board. The 5-7 163 lb Cole Caufield had 23 goals, 10 assists, and 33 points in 2017-2018 in the USHL. Caufield had 29 goals, 12 assists, and 41 points in 2018-2019.
- Cole Caufield may lack size. The slap shot power, slap shot accuracy, wrist shot power, and wrist shot accuracy is all there on tape. Cole Caufield is going to Wisconsin with USHL teammate Alex Turcotte who I mocked to Chicago at 3.
Vegas Golden Knights: Moritz Seider, D, Adler Mannheim (DEL) 
- The Vegas Golden Knights get a defender here. The 6-4 207 lb Mortiz Seider has the vision, offensive awareness, defensive awareness, and hockey IQ to defend effectively.
Dallas Stars: Matthew Boldy, LW, USNTDP (USHL)
- The 6-2 192 lb Matthew Boldy has the potential to be a line 1 left winger down the road. He's going to Boston College and will not be NHL ready right away. Dallas drafts him at 18 here because Boldy is the best player on the board and provides incredible value at this point.
- Matthew Boldy has the size, hands, stick handling, passing, wrist shot power, wrist shot accuracy, slap shot power, slap shot accuracy, vision, offensive awareness, defesnive awareness, and hockey IQ. You'd like to see him get faster and showcase more explosion, but he's a great skater who checks off most of if not all of the boxes on tape.
- Matthew Boldy had 12 goals, 23 assists, and 35 points in 2017-2018 in the USHl. Boldy had 17 goals, 26 assists, and 43 points in 2018-2019 in the USHL. Boldy was also an alternate captain behind Jack Hughes on the USHL Under 18 Team.
- Some experts have a top 10 grade on Matthew Boldy. If he makes it to Dallas at 18, then the Dallas Stars will pull the trigger and take Boldy here.
- Dallas may have a setback season in 2019-2020. By the time the 2020-2021 season rolls around Riley Tufte their 2016 first round pick who will play for the Texas Stars in the AHL this season after three seasons at Minnesota, Jake Oettinger their second 2017 first round pick will also be on the Texas Stars in the AHL, Ty Dellandrea their 2018 first round pick and Matthew Boldy their 2019 first round pick will all be ready for the NHL. Dallas may have three future studs at forward and their goalie of the future ready to help Dallas put together a Stanley Cup contender as early as next season in 2020.
Ottawa Senators: Victor Soderstrom, D, Brynas IF (Elitserien) 
- The 6-0 183 lb Victor Soderstrom played with Adam Boqvist on Brynas IF in 2018-2019 only posting 4 goals, 3 assists, and 7 points on Brynas IF in the Elitserien league.
- Despite what his stats say, the two-way defenseman checks all the boxes on tape. He has the speed, explosion, burst, agility, skating, foot speed, playmaking, passing, wrist shot power, wrist shot accuracy, slap shot power, slap shot accuracy, vision, offensive awareness, defensive awareness, and hockey IQ to succeed in the NHL.
- His competitive instincts make him a game changer. Ottawa will be hoping Victor Soderstrom is their next Erik Karlsson.
New York Rangers: Phillip Tomasino, C, Niagara IceDogs (OHL) 
- The New York Rangers need a line 2 center. Mika Zibanejad carried the New York Rangers with a career season with 30 goals, 44 assists, and 74 points in all 82 games.
- Phillip Tomasino is the best center on the board. He's a line 2 center on the Niagara IceDogs behind teammate Akil Thomas who was a first round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
- Akil Thomas had 38 goals, 64 assists, and 102 points in 2018-2019 after the Los Angeles Kings spent a first round pick on him last year. Phillip Tomasino had 34 goals, 38 assists, and 72 points in 2018-2019 as a line 2 center on the Niagara IceDogs.
- Phillip Tomasino could help the New York Rangers down the road. He won't make an immediate impact because with Thomas returning to Niagara next season for another year of development, Tomasino may end up needing two years of development in the OHL one as a line 2 center on Niagara and one as a line 1 center on Niagara before he reaches his ceiling in 2021.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Thomas Harley, D, Mississauga Steelheads (OHL) 
- The Pittsburgh Penguins get the best player on the board here. They also manage to address a need by adding someone to the blue line.
- The 6-3 192 lb Thomas Harley was a 2017 first round pick for the Mississauga Steelheads. Thomas Harley had 1 goal, 14 assists, and 15 points in 2017-2018. Harley had 11 goals, 47 assists, and 58 points in 2018-2019.
- He struggles defensively though. His -1 +/- ratio dropped to -15 in 2018-2019.
- Harley has the slap shot power, slap shot accuracy, wrist shot power, wrist shot accuracy, passing, and offensive awareness you look for. This guy can be a quarterback on the power play. He has good handles and can maneuver the puck effectively. He is terrible defensively though and needs to fix that area of his game. That's the biggest reason why some NHL teams have a late first round grade on him while others have a top 10 grade on him.
- Basically, Thomas Harley is a bigger version of Ryan Merkley who was only 5-11 165 lbs with more maturity then Merkley had. Ironically, Merkley was drafted twenty first overall in this exact spot by the San Jose Sharks last year in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Harley is elite offensively, but a project defensively.
- Kris Letang is 32-years-old. Pittsburgh needs more depth on their blue line besides Letang and Olli Maata. Thomas Harley is someone who can help the blue line down the road for Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh will need to be patient with him by giving him time to develop.
Los Angeles Kings: Spencer Knight, G, USNTDP (USHL)
- Starting goalie Jonathan Quick is 33-years-old. Their backup goalie is Jack Campbell a former 2010 first round pick who never panned out as a starter.
- The 6-3 198 lb Spencer Knight is the top goalie in this draft. He's also the most touted goalie to enter the NHL Draft since Jack Campbell. Some think he has a higher ceiling then Jake Oettinger who Dallas drafted out of Boston University in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. I've seen Knight mocked as high as thirteenth overall to the Florida Panthers.
- One team that really likes Spencer Knight is the Los Angeles Kings. It would make complete sense for the Kings to draft Knight as the successor to Jonathan Quick.
- Knight had a .902 save percentage in 18 games, but also had a 3.18 goals against average in the USHL in 2017-2018. Knight had a 2.21 GAA, and a .903 save percentage in 16 USHL games in 2018-2019. Knight is also going to Boston College to develop more as a goalie.
- The Los Angeles Kings can groom Knight to be their goalie of the future. Knight is someone who could take over for Jonathan Quick when he retires assuming the Kings develop him correctly.
New York Islanders: Ville Heinola, D, Rauman Lukko (SM Liiga) 
- The New York Islanders got Noah Dobson and Bode Wilde two first round prospects to be future Islanders on the blue line. The Islanders go with the best player on the board once again and make their prospect pool for players on the blue line even stronger when they draft Ville Heinola out of Finland here.
- The 5-11 181 lb Ville Heinola had 2 goals, 12 assists, 14 points, and a +7 +/- ratio in 2018-2019. Heinola is someone who can compliment the current core of defenders that the Islanders have as a future prospect.
Nashville Predators: Brett Leason, C, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) 
- The Tri-City Americans drafted Brett Leason. Leason blossomed once he got traded to the Prince Albert Raiders. In his first full season with Prince Albert, the 6-4 201 lb Leason had 36 goals, 53 assists, 89 points, and a +55 +/- ratio.
- Nashville takes the best player on the board. At that point, that player is Leason.
Washington Capitals: Nolan Foote, LW, Kelowna Rockets (WHL) 
- The Washington Capitals draft the younger brother of Callan Foote here. Nolan Foote is versatile enough to play left wing, right wing, or defender at 6-3 187 lbs. Nolan is not as big as his 6-4 220 lb older brother who gained 20 lbs of muscle since the Tampa Bay Lightning took him in the first round. I have a first round grade on Nolan Foote, but other scouting services have second and third round grades on my twenty fifth best overall player.
Calgary Flames: Nils Hoglander, LW, Rogle B.K. (Elitserien) 
- Calgary gets the 5-9 185 lb Nils Hoglander for depth. Hoglander had 7 goals, 7 assists, and 14 points on Rogle B.K.'s main roster in Sweden's Elitserien league now known as the SHL.
- Hoglander also wowed NHL Scouts at the 2019 NHL Combine in both the testing drills and the interview process. Hoglander was initially considered a second round pick, but has generated late first round buzz. One team that was wowed by Hoglander at the 2019 NHL Combine was the Calgary Flames.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Jakob Pelletier, C, Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) 
- The 5-9 161 lb Jakob Pelletier has the versatility to play left wing, center, or right wing with his versatility. Pelletier checks out all of the boxes despite his lack of size.
- Jakob Pelletier has the speed, explosion, burst, agility, skating, foot speed, playmaking, passing, wrist shot power, wrist shot accuracy, slap shot power, slap shot accuracy, vision, offensive awareness, defensive awareness, and hockey IQ to succeed in the NHL. He's even more versatile then some of the other faster skaters in this class despite being under 5-10.
- Tampa Bay can take Jakob Pelletier and groom him for the future. Jakob Pelletier had 23 goals, 38 assists, and 61 points in 2017-2018. Pelletier had 39 goals, 50 assists, and 89 points in 2018-2019. If Pelletier was taller and bigger, you could argue that he's a top 15 selection.
Carolina Hurricanes: Sasha Mutala, RW, Tri-City Americans (WHL) 
- Carolina grabs the best player on my board. Sasha Mutala is a guy on the Tri-City Americans that I have a first round grade on. He may end up falling to the second, third, fourth, or fifth round. I have a first round grade on him and I believe he's one of the thirty one best overall players in this class.
- His 20 goals, 21 assists, and 41 points are a big underwhelming. The 6-1 196 lb right winger defends well and has the vision and hockey IQ you look for on tape though.
Anaheim Ducks: Cam York, D, USNTDP (USHL)
- The 5-11 173 lb Cam York had 7 goals, 26 assists, and 33 points. York is considered a top 20 pick on most boards. I have a late first round grade on the future Michigan Wolverine so Anaheim gets a steal here at 29.
Boston Bruins: Connor McMichael, C, London Knights (OHL) 
- The 5-11 174 lb Connor McMichael had 36 goals, 36 assists, and 72 points in 2018-2019. NHL teams are projecting him as a third or fourth line center in the NHL. Boston has two good centers on their top two lines so McMichael can play on the back 6.
Buffalo Sabres: Vladislav Kolyachonok, D, Flint Firebirds (OHL) 
- The Sabres add another future prospect. The 6-2 181 lb Vladislav kolyachonok is someone I watched in the fall who I really liked as a sleeper prospect. Buffalo drafts the face of the Flint Firebirds to wrap up the first round.
