Year twelve of mock drafts with the same crew, just wrapped up my picks for our first mock draft of the season, after trading our seventh to Pittsburgh for Nashville's 2026 6th...
A couple of other trades affected the placement of later picks so don't get too caught up on that, more just a first look at some mid/later round guys who seem interesting.
1-7 - C Caleb Desnoyers
Top six went Schaefer, Hagens, Martone, Misa, McQueen, Eklund - naturally I was happy to land Desnoyers at seven.
2-55 - LW Kristian Epperson
Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Kristian Epperson, 2006-05-16 Mequon, WI, USA USA. Most recently in the OHL with Saginaw Spirit. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com
From daily faceoff who ranked him at #49
"Epperson was passed over after posting mediocre numbers with the U-18 USNTDP team last year – he even got demoted to the U-17 team. But he is a key piece of Saginaw’s attack this year, with the winger expected to put up more than 30 goals and 60 assists. He’s also one of the toughest players on any given shift, playing a bit of a power forward game (although he can be subject to some dumb penalties from time to time). However, his ability to produce while being smart away from the puck makes Epperson the best second-year eligible prospect available."
3-93 - RD Carlos Handel
Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Carlos Händel, 2007-03-31 Erlangen, GER Germany. Most recently in the QMJHL with Halifax Mooseheads. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com
Saw him live twice at the WJC and his skating makes him jump out right away. Any right shot D who moves that well is going to have a chance.
Daily faceoff had him at #50
"The World Juniors was a perfect opportunity for Händel to show just how capable he is with and without the puck. He was Germany’s best defenseman despite being just 17. He’s not afraid to get engaged on the rush and is capable of leading a power play, too. Händel is producing at half a point per game with Halifax, but scouts have noticed that it didn’t take him too long to figure out how to create and make moves on the smaller North American ice"
4-103 - RW William Belle
Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of William Belle, 2007-01-14 Minnetonka, MN, USA USA. Most recently in the USHL with USNTDP Juniors. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com
Every scouting report on this guy makes him seem like an absolute menace who may be able to play.
By Mitchell Brown
2025-01-04
As usual, Belle was a wrecking ball. He flipped a Lumberjack into their own bench, one of several big collisions. He's an effective defender. He lines up opponents, but only after guiding them into the wall. With the puck, he has some vision and dynamic elements every now and then. He takes pucks off the wall, attacks the middle, uses east-west movement, and attacks with pace. He's not always finding the best play because he doesn't use space up or consistently make those plays in transition, but he could develop that in time. Not much of an off-puck offensive game in this one, either. The execution and acceleration will have to improve, but it's not hard to see him filling a bottom-six role in the NHL. He's fast enough, very physical, and has the flashes of skill.
5- 135 - RD Roman Bausov
Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Roman Bausov, 2007-04-28 St. Petersburg, RUS Russia. Most recently in the MHL with MHK Dynamo St. Petersburg. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com
Noticed a huge RHD was in Bob McK's honorable mentions on his recent two round list. Projects as a pure shutdown guy and can be stashed infinitely in Russia while developing, we should make more of these picks.
5- 156 - G Elijah Neuenschwander
Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Elijah Neuenschwander, 2006-10-17 Biel-Bienne, SUI Switzerland. Most recently in the U20-Elit with HC Fribourg-Gottéron U20. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com
Huge Swiss goalie ranked seventh among European goalies by CSB. Has strong numbers on loan in their second division pro league, although had a bit of a rough showing at the WJC in a small sample.
6- 167 - C David Granberg
Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of David Granberg, 2005-05-14 Piteå, SWE Sweden. Most recently in the SHL with Luleå HF. Complete player biography and stats.
www.eliteprospects.com
Double overager but I thought he was one of Sweden's top players at the WJC. Good size and a great skater, played a smart two way game with urgency. He's full time in the SHL this year as a junior after captaining his J20 team with great numbers last year. Leave him over there to mature for a couple years and he may be a potential character center.
I'm sure he would have helped but not to that degree.
www.nytimes.com
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