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TSN Director of Scouting

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The intrigue begins with the third overall pick in TSN Hockey's Mock Draft, with the Arizona Coyotes taking Erie Otters centre Dylan Strome and the Toronto Maple Leafs taking London Knights winger Mitch Marner fourth overall.

As mentioned in our scouting report, Marner - the best winger in the draft - has exceptional creativity with poise and passing skills that allow him to create offence quickly. The Leafs also have the 24th pick in the first round and are pegged to take Gabriel Carlsson from Linkoping of the Swedish League - a big, rangy, good-skating defenceman.

Toronto would be getting best of both worlds by taking the uniquely skilled Marner at No. 4, and bolstering the defence corps with Carlsson at No. 24.

At No. 15, the Calgary Flames take Colin White of the USA Under-18 team, who has all the makings of a solid second-to-third line centre. With Connor McDavid locked in at first overall, look for the goaltender-needy Edmonton Oilers to select the first goaltender of Round 1 in Ilya Samsonov.

The run of Canadian teams continues with the Winnipeg Jets at No. 17 and No. 25, adding Cape Breton winger Evgeny Svechnikov and Kelowna forward Nick Merkley to their already deep and talented crop of prospects both skilled and highly competitive. With the 18th overall pick, the Ottawa Senators should take Saint John Sea Dogs blueliner Jakub Zboril.

The Vancouver Canucks are at No. 23, selecting Tri-City defenceman Brandon Carlo while the Montreal Canadiens select big winger Brock Boeser.

Check out the full mock draft for Round 1 below. The final edition of the TSN Hockey's Mock Draft will be posted on Friday.

 

Craig Button's 2015 NHL Mock Draft

 
NO. TEAM SELECTION POS G A PTS
1 EDM Connor McDavid, Erie C 44 76 120
2 BUF Jack Eichel, Boston U  C 26 45 71
3 ARI Dylan Strome, Erie C 45 84 129
4 TOR Mitch Marner, London RW 44 82 126
5 CAR Noah Hanifin, Boston C D 5 18 23
6 NJ Pavel Zacha, Sarnia  C 16 18 34
7 PHI Ivan Provorov, Brandon D 15 46 61
8 CBJ Zach Werenski, Michigan D 9 16 25
9 SJ Lawson Crouse, Kingston LW 29 22 51
10 COL Mikko Rantanen, Turku TPS RW 9 19 28
11 FLA Kyle Connor, Youngstown LW 34 46 80
12 DAL Timo Meier. Halifax RW 44 46 90
13 LA Travis Konecny, Ottawa RW 29 39 68
14 BOS Matt Barzal, Seattle C 12 45 57
15 CGY Colin White, USA U-18 C 16 26 42
16 EDM Ilya Samsonov, Magnitogorsk G 2.66 .918 2
17 WPG E. Svechnikov, Cape Breton RW 32 46 78
18 OTT Jakub Zboril, Saint John D 13 20 33
19 DET Joel Eriksson Ek, Farjestad C 4 2 6
20 MIN Paul Bittner, Portland LW 34 37 71
21 BUF Oliver Kylington, Farjestad D 2 3 5
22 WAS Denis Gurianov, Togliatti RW 15 10 25
23 VAN Brandon Carlo, Tri-City D 4 21 25
24 TOR Gabriel Carlsson, Linkoping D 0 7 7
25 WPG Nick Merkley, Kelowna C/RW 20 70 90
26 MTL Brock Boeser, Waterloo RW 35 33 68
27 ANA Jake DeBrusk, Swift Current LW 42 39 81
28 TB Jacob Larsson, Frolunda D 8 11 19
29 PHI M. Blackwood, Barrie G 3.09 .906 2
30 ARI Thomas Chabot, Saint John D 12 29 41