Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Questions Before The Draft

06/18/2018 at 10:38am EDT

from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

From finding a trading partner for Erik Karlsson and Max Pacioretty to why Canadians could be shut out of the top five picks, here are eight questions heading into this weekend’s draft:

Will Ottawa trade Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman?

The Senators have the fourth and 22nd picks in the first round, but expect them to have plenty more if Karlsson and Hoffman are moved.

In Karlsson’s case, look for Vegas as a potential destination, with a package including centre Cody Glass (sixth overall, 2017) and defenceman Erik Brannstrom (15th overall, 2017), as well as a roster player such as Tomas Tatar. Hoffman won’t fetch nearly as much now that Ottawa is painted into a corner of having to move him, but it’s not unrealistic to assume the Rangers could offer one of the first-round picks they acquired from Tampa Bay or Boston.

Which top prospect is going to tumble?

It was a year ago when Gabe Vilardi fell outside the top-10 — despite being NHL Central Scouting’s fourth-ranked North American skater — because of concerns with his skating. That’s not an issue with Hughes or Boqvist, who might be the two best skaters in the entire draft.

But there are concerns surrounding their size. It’s not that just that the 5-foot-10 Hughes or the 5-foot-9 Boqvist are short — it’s that they are also slight, with Hughes weighing in around 170 pounds and Boqvist barely tipping the scales at 154 pounds. Maybe one of the teams picking in the top-five will look past this, but with the 6-foot-3 Dobson and 6-foot-2 Bouchard also available in that area, expect one of Hughes or Boqvist to drop.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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