With Burkes policy of not drafting smaller players Bob Mackenzie's ranking have these guys in our area if we get a late first in a trade.
If the team finishes from 16-24 there is:
17. D OHL Roland Mckeown-A fast D-man with good passing who could quarterback your powerplay, not the greatest defensively and could play more physical
19.RW USHL Alex Tuch-a 6'4 Physical player with good offense Boston College committed plays a grinding role for the top line, forechecks and protects the puck well.
20. C USHL Dylan Larkin-Hockey sense and can spell intensity, same team as Tuch, 1 less point. Drives the net and plays a bit of a power forward role as well only 6'0 tall though so Tuch's game may translate better to the pros.
21. LW WHL Nikita Scherbak-An opportunistic scorer with good skating, vision whos not afraid to get physical, not the best defensively but a hardworker who learns fast. Can play C/RW and work the point on the powerplay.
If the team finishes from 25-30 there is:
25. C USHL Nick Schmaltz-Good hockey sense, puck skills, more of a playmaker with good hands, plays well under pressure, hard worker. His brother was picked at 25 by the blues in 2012 and is progressing nicely.
27. LW SHL Adrian Kempe-A good skater who relies on his skating and size to create chances is physical and good on the forecheck with a good shot. He has looked good after being called up to the SHL and is showing he can play a physical game against men.
28. RW WHL Conner Bleackley-Competitive and willing to drive the net, 6'0 but 192 pounds already progressed from 18 in 66 to 59 in 54 this year. He has good skating and has commited himself to putting in the required work to be considered for the nhl.
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/jrh...222057269.html
Considering our scouting staffs bias towards bigger guys who are on a high progression rate i think Alex Tuch and Conner Bleackley could be targets this year. While Kempe and Larkin also seem like they would be high on our list as they play a physical game. There is a lot of smaller players in this draft though just going by the metric of no players below 6'0 we are leaving 11 players off out of McKenzie's top 30. The lack of size in the draft this year could cause some of these players to be off the list for us because of bias towards players with size by some teams.
