Basterd Scouting – Season 30 Mock Draft Y31 – Conference Finals Edition
- Updated: March 30, 2021
And its that time of year again, time to look forward to the draft as the finals are in progress. For now, I’m predicting the Stars to win the DHL Cup and pick 30th. Basterd Scouting had already provided a top 30 list last season to help create this mock draft though with the pandemic, its been difficult to scout & project young players due to a loss of playing time.
This was one of those very odd year’s with the draft lotto. The top 5 teams all moved down just 1 spot and the lucky winner of the top spot was the Rangers who finished 25th overall and originally projected to be picking 6th. Rangers GM Ajay has recently said, “Is Byfeild #1 guy? I wasn’t expecting to pick 1st, did little scouting on him.” I think most GMs will say the same thing that yes, he’s the consensus #1 guy and this mock confirms that.
So now to the pick predictions:
| Pick | Team | Player | Quick Note |
| 1 | Rangers | C Quinton Byfield | Consensus top pick in the Y31 draft, Rangers finally get a little lucky to win lotto and add a 1C to go with the other top forwards in the org in Newhook, Hoglander & Podkolzin |
| 2 | Pittsburgh | C Anton Lundell | May take some flack for this but a 1-2 punch of Dach/Lundell at C will be tough to beat and with Tolvanen, N.Robertson, Holtz and Denisenko, I didn’t see a fit at wing |
| 3 | Islanders | L Lucas Raymond | Raymond is a perfect fit the Isles, they need offensive prospects and he’s one of the top 3 in this draft |
| 4 | Philly | C Cole Perfetti | Playing pretty well in the AHL already, Perfetti looks the part of a potential top 6 center in the NHL as early as next season and Philly could use a center to play with B.Tkachuk |
| 5 | Edmonton | Jamie Drysdale | Oilers could use a lot of everything even after winning the lotto last yr but I think a top pairing d-man already in the NHL makes sense at this spot |
| 6 | Columbus | C Dylan Holloway | This could be a wild card type of spot that I could see Keith trying to move up or down with this pick. But Holloway is a good fit if he stays here as he had a great 2nd season in NCAA and many have him penciled in to play alongside McJesus soon enough |
| 7 | Minnesota | C Dawson Mercer | I kinda flipped a coin here but figured the Wild take the higher ranked prospect and add another scoring winger |
| 8 | Ottawa | C Connor Zary | The other guy I considered at #7 but I think the Sens are happier that a top 6 center falls to them |
| 9 | Chicago | R Jack Quinn | Quinn seems like a risky proposition but the Hawks GM has been well known to go against the grain and I think it makes sense as well |
| 10 | Worshington | C Hendrix Lapierre | This pick was just synergy as Lapierre was drafted by the Caps in the NHL and I think he could be a nice addition to the retool in Washington |
| 11 | Anaheim | L Jake Neighbors | Lance’s Ducks could use another top 9 winger since he’s pretty set at center and I didn’t like any of the d-men available so basically BFA at this spot |
| 12 | Winnipeg | D Kaiden Guhle | The Jets depth at forward let them take a chance on a potential top pairing d-man for them but he doesn’t come without a lot of risk |
| 13 | Vegas (via Calgary) | C Jan Mysak | No question that a forward would be the Knights target and Mysak would be a nice addition for Jamie’s rebuild efforts |
| 14 | Vegas | C Thomas Bordeleau | A rare back-to-back pick scenario the Knights add a smaller center in Bordeleau who had an impressive freshman yr at Univ. of Michigan |
| 15 | Columbus (via LA) | C Ridly Greig | Keith could end up using this pick to move up but I don’t see Greig falling much past this spot |
| 16 | Florida | C Mavrik Bourque | Less of a knock against Bourque that he slides a couple of spots but the Panthers will be happy to jump on a center at this spot |
| 17 | San Jose | R John-Jason Peterka | The Sharks also feel lucky here and take the BFA as well but Peterka is a perfect fit for the Sharks who could use another goal scorer on the wing |
| 18 | Islanders (via St. Louis) | D Shakir Mukhamadullin | Isles take a bit of a chance here grabbing a d-man but with several picks in the 1st round, they could also look to move up from this spot. |
| 19 | Vancouver | R Sam Colangelo | Gifted with great size already, I think the Canucks wouldn’t mind taking a chance on him and can be patient while he develops |
| 20 | Minnesota (via Carolina) | L William Cuylle | His style of play is a perfect fit for the Wild and I think he will provide more than just the typical #20 pick would |
| 21 | Columbus (via Boston) | R Tristen Robins | Another Jackets pick and its a bit of a risky one with Robins but with this amount of 1st rounders, Keith can keep taking big swings like this |
| 22 | Detroit | C Gage Goncalves | Although an overager, Gonclaves looks the part of an NHLer so he’s a safe bet for the Wings at this spot |
| 23 | Worshington (via New Jersey) | C Ty Smilanic | Caps take another chance on a solid forward though Todd could look at a d-man here too, Smilanic had a really solid freshman yr that its a low-risk type pick |
| 24 | Montreal | L Daniel Torgersson | Trevor can be patient and hope this pick works out but he won’t hesitate to move this pick either |
| 25 | Columbus (via Toronto) | R Luke Evangelista | Jackets and high-risk-high-reward picks seem to be the norm and I don’t see why we change that with Preds forward Evangelista |
| 26 | Vegas (via Nashville) | D William Wallinder | While a bit of a risk, Jamie has already picked 2 forwards in this draft so smart to grab a d-man that was rated much higher |
| 27 | Islanders (via Buffalo) | L Danil Gushchin | While I don’t expect this to stay with the Isles, Cordelle could do worse than Gushchin who I think will be a decent forward prospect to add to his pool |
| 28 | Montreal (via Tampa Bay) | G Drew Commesso | The expectation is the Habs will be trading a goalie (or maybe even 2) this offseason so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to grab another one to develop |
| 29 | Columbus (via Colorado) | D Tyler Kleven | With all the selections of forwards, the Jackets would be smart to pickup a d-man this late in the 1st round…though this pick could be traded as part of a package as well |
| 30 | Dallas | D Lukas Cormier | Projecting the Stars as the Cup champions (the only of the final 4 teams to have their own pick), Mangone takes a high scoring d-man at this spot |
This was a challenging draft to put together the top 30 picks due to lack of play and guys displaced because of that. I doubt this is how it will all end up but I think the list won’t be too far off. I could definitely see the usual late 1st round pick thats a recently signed prospect displacing someone though, I just wasn’t sure which prospect that would be.
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