Avalanche holds top pick
The Colorado Avalanche have plenty to choose from with the first pick of a talentrich NHL Draft.
Colorado will be first on the clock when the draft commences at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. NBC Sports Network will televise the event.
Colorado won the draft lottery and has flirted with the idea of picking a puck-moving defenseman in Seth Jones. But it appears the Avalanche are leaning toward a forward to take No. 1 overall, possibly the 17-year-old Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon, a 6-foot, 182-pound center, is a solid two-way presence with strong hands, stick handling and skating skills. He’s considered a natural scorer and very good puck distributor.
The Florida Panthers hold the second draft pick and the Tampa Bay Lightning are No. 3. Nashville and Carolina round out the top five. All seven rounds will be held on the same day for the first time since 2006.
OILERS TO CHOOSE SEVENTH
The Edmonton Oilers, parent club of the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, are in a different spot this year, holding pick No. 7.
Edmonton had the top overall pick the last three years, choosing Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov.
Oilers GM Craig MacTavish told reporters earlier this week he was seeking some grit to go with his talented young skill players.
STARS TO PICK 10TH
The Dallas Stars will pick 10th in Sunday’s draft. The Stars covet a pair of young centers, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm, but they are expected to go around picks 6-8.
Is it worth it to give up something to slide a couple of spots forward, or will Dallas stay at 10, where defensemen seem to be the “best player available?”
New Stars GM Jim Nill isn’t showing his cards, but he does admit he has asked around and found the price right now is pretty high.
“We’ve done our due diligence there and inquired, and the answers we’ve received are not something we would do,” Nill said. “So, then you just move on. If we stay where we are, we are very confident in the picks we have.”
SHARKS SITTING PRETTY
San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson didn’t try to disguise his excitement about the draft, as the team holds four of the top 58 picks in what is perceived as one of the deepest draft classes in a decade.
That gives Wilson plenty of options for a draft that he said features quality players “all the way through the second round.”
The Sharks have eight picks. In the first two rounds, they hold their own picks at Nos. 20 and 50, plus No. 49 acquired from the New York Rangers in the Ryane Clowe deal in April and No. 58 from Pittsburgh in the Douglas Murray trade in March. Clowe and Murray are set to become unrestricted free agents July 5.
The Sharks would not be afraid to package their early picks to move up and select a player they covet, but Wilson would also be content to keep what he has.
Depth at forward might be one of the Sharks’ more pressing needs, as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski are set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2013-14 campaign.
ISLANDERS NEED A GOALTENDER
The New York Islanders are in a rather new position: middle of the pack. They have their first non-lottery pick in six years after a modestly successful season, so the excitement surrounding their appearance on the draft floor is rather muted.
The Islanders hold the 15th pick in what is considered a solid first-round draft class.
Most of general manager Garth Snow’s time is taken up by trying to find a goaltender, the biggest need for the team this offseason.
Contract talks with Evgeni Nabokov, who started 41 of 48 games and all six playoff games last season, have stalled. The sides are not that far apart on a one-year deal, but the Islanders are not interested in giving the 37-year-old goaltender a decentsized raise off the $2.75 million he made in 2012-13. So Nabokov will head to free agency.
Snow has been involved in trade discussions, first for Jonathan Bernier, who went from the Kings to the Maple Leafs, and then for Roberto Luongo, who seems headed for a trade or a buyout of his onerous contract from Vancouver.
FLYERS LOOKING TO DRAFT BIG-SHOOTING DEFENSEMAN
The Philadelphia Flyers would love to select bruising defenseman Darnell Nurse in the first round, but unless they trade up, he probably won’t be there when they make the 11th overall pick.
Rasmus Ristolainen might be a nice consolation prize. The Finnish defenseman has a lot going for him. He’s a right-handed shooter, has imposing size (6-foot-4, 207 pounds), and is regarded as a strong player at both ends of the ice.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Ristolainen, 18, might be NHL-ready.
HURRICANES HAVE A PLAN
If all goes as planned, the Carolina Hurricanes will have the No. 5 pick, looking to choose a player who can jump into the lineup, produce immediately, excite their fans and get the Canes back in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Whether they take a Russian winger such as Valeri Nichushkin, a Swedish center such as Lindholm or a Canadian defenseman such as Nurse, the Hurricanes will have spent thousands of dollars scouting players in which they will invest millions. And millions more in revenue - in merchandise sales, gate receipts, playoff payoffs, you name it - could be at stake.
In 2010, with the seventh overall pick, the Hurricanes took Jeff Skinner. The forward would score 31 goals, win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year and become highly marketable.