2013 NHL Mock Draft Final Edition

The NHL's 2013 draft is upon us. Draft geeks and hockey fans alike will gather on Sunday afternoon to watch the future stars, grinders, plugs and faceoff specialists achieve their dreams. I posted my first mock draft of the season back in May, which only encompassed the lottery selections. This final mock draft will be a complete 1st round. I've tweaked, prodded, and manipulated this list to the point where I believe I am officially out thinking myself in some ways. I spent a lot of time forming opinions on most of these players in this mock, outside of the Europeans which I have seen very little of outside of game highlights and scouting reports. I feel as though my grasp of the other 23 players is as good as it will get for someone who has seen a few of them play many times, and the other half or so just a handful. So after attempting to build a potential crutch for when I turn out to be completely wrong on 90% of these selections, I will say that mocking is about taking  a stand, and sticking your neck out for what you believe to be the case.Competitive educated guessing I like to call it. With that said, here is my final mock of the year in which I will not have Hunter Shinkaruk going 21st overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs like Sportsnets Sam Consentino did in his 2013 NHL mock draft. Good grief. Oh, and I flirted with the idea of including trades in this mock and getting very fancy, faced with the possibility of a monstrosity of endless trade possibilities I decided to forego that in favour of a more linear approach to trying to predict what is going on in the mind of 24 different NHL GM's. (Chicago, Boston, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh, St.Louis and Minnesota are all without 1st round picks)

If you have a google account be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts below, share, tweet or use as a digital paper weight at your leisure! Thanks for reading and most of all, enjoy the draft!

Disclaimer: I have used a highly volatile combination of opinions, bias, intelligent thought, team need, best player available, impressions, fact and speculation in the creation of this mock draft. If you disagree with much of what you see here, chances are, you're a hockey fan. 

1. Colorado Avalanche - Nathan MacKinnon

Center - Halifax Mooseheads

2. Florida Panthers - Jonathan Drouin

Left Wing - Halifax Mooseheads

3. Tampa Bay Lightning - Seth Jones

Defenseman - Portland Winterhawks

4. Nashville Predators - Alexsander Barkov

Center - Tappara (SM-I)

5. Carolina Hurricanes - Samuel Morin

Defenseman - Rimouski Oceanic

6. Calgary Flames - Sean Monahan

Center - Ottawa 67's

7. Edmonton Oilers - Darnell Nurse Defenseman - Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds

8. Buffalo Sabres - Valeri Nichuskin

Left Wing - Traktor Chelyabinsk (KHL)

9. New Jersey Devils - Hunter Shinkaruk

Center - Medicine Hat Tigers

10. Dallas Stars - Elias Lindholm

Center - Byrnas (SEL)

11. Philadelphia Flyers - Zachary Fucale

Goaltender - Halifax Mooseheads

12. Seattle Supersonic (Phoenix) - Bo Horvat

Center - London Knights

13. Winnipeg Jets - Anthony Mantha

Left Wing - Val'dor Foreurs

14. Columbus Blue Jackets - Rasmus Ristolainen

Defenseman - TPS Turku

15. New York Islanders - Nikita Zadorov

Defenseman - London Knights

16. Buffalo Sabres - Valentin Zykov

Right Wing - Baie Comeau Drakkar

17. Ottawa Senators - Max Domi
Center/Left Wing - London Knights

18. Detroit Redwings -  Curtis Lazar

Center - Edmonton Oil Kings

19. Columbus Blue Jackets - Kerby Rychel

Left Wing - Windsor Spitfires

20. San Jose Sharks - Ryan Pulock

Defenseman - Brandon Wheatkings

21. Toronto Maple Leafs - JT Compher

Left Wing - USNTDP

22. Calgary Flames - Robert Hagg

Defenseman - Modo (SEL)

23. Washington Capitals - Alexander Wennberg

Center - Djurgardens

24. Vancouver Canucks - Adam Erne

Left Wing - Quebec Remparts

25. Montreal Canadiens - Frederick Gauthier

Center - Rimouski Oceanic

26. Anaheim Ducks - Mirco Mueller

Defenseman - Everett Silvertips

27. Columbus Blue Jackets - Justin Bailey

Center - Kitchener Rangers

28. Calgary Flames - Tristian Jarry

Goaltender - Edmonton Oil Kings

29. Dallas Stars - Ryan Hartman

Right Wing - Plymouth Whalers

30. Chicago Blackhawks - Josh Morrissey

Defenseman - Prince Albert Raiders