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

2009 Canadian World Juniors.

This years Canadian World Junior squad is very different from some star studded teams that have been put on the ice during Hockey Canada's recent spree of dominance over the last decade. They return just four players from last years gold medal winning team. John Tavares, the most high profile of the four, Zach Boychuk, P.K Subban, and Thomas Hickey. Tavares and Boychuk will be relied heavily on to produce a lot of the teams offense this winter and production is one thing you can count on with regards to Mr.Tavares. Tavares is the 2nd youngest player on the team next to Windsor Spitfire defensemen Ryan Ellis. He is however, a leader on the team and will be leaned on not just for point production, but for his leadership and ability to make others around him on the ice raise their games to his level. With such an unproven team internationally speaking, he will need to just do that. Which begs the question, who will step up for this team so that Tavares and Boychuk don't carry the full load of offensive production on their shoulders. Brett Sonne of the Calgary Hitman is the WHL's leading scorer and would be the logical person to step into that roll. Sonne has 55 points in just 34 games with the Hitman this season and could make for a terrific powerplay partner for Tavaras. Inevitably, someone, likely multiple players, will rise to the occasion, as players of years past have done.

As we have come to expect that, is there any doubt that Chet Pickard, the apparent front runner for the roll of starting goaltender will end up standing on his head and single handily winning the team a few games leading up to the medal run? I don't believe so. This team is one of Canada's more pint size groups in recent memory, only 4 players top the 200 pound mark on offense, and they weight in at 203,202,201, and 200. So size upfront is simply not there. The average size of a team Canada forward is actually 5'11 186 pounds. Will it be a huge issue? It depends really. Can a team that's built on purely speed dominate the tournament like years passed? They can, yes. Despite their size, this is a team I still see as being able to play physical.

Packed Scotia Center crowds in Ottawa will give these players every push they need to play bigger then they are. Which truly is the reason why Hockey Canada has had so much success at this tournament. Us. You and I. That's why these young men travel the globe each Christmas, to be away from their families. To play for you and I, and the love for this game we share with them. As a young man who shares his birthday with the first puck drop of this tournament every year that I can remember: 24 of them come next week. I have, like many others I'm sure, received the hope of that feeling you get watching these young men get golden symbols of our love for Hockey, dropped around their necks each year. It is the one Birthday, Christmas and New years present I can count on, each, and every year!

Go Team CANADA!