Anaheim Ducks: 2019 Top 10 Early NHL Mock Draft

3rd Overall: Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago was the envy of the fans of teams in the NHL Draft Lottery, moving up all the way from 12th into the 3rd slot is something most fanbases can only daydream about but for the Central Division Blackhawks, that is a reality. The next 3-4 prospects are a bit of a blender, there’s no real consensus on who will go where, or which player is drastically better than the ones before and after them, so I think a lot of it will come down to which player the team selecting them likes best and positional need first and foremost.

Chicago could go either way in regards to positional need, they have young stud forwards in Dylan Strome who’s career resurgence once being traded to Chicago was remarkable and Alex DeBrincat who continues to show the league that just because you’re small doesn’t mean you can’t score 30 goals and I think they have something in .

While on the blue-line they have something in Mackenzie Entwistle who was a 3rd round pick for Arizona in 2017. On the defensive side of things, they have their first-round pick from last year Adam Boqvist who was taken 8th overall, Henri Jokiharju who was taken at the tail end of the 1st round in 2017.

Overall I think that while the Blackhawks have some solid prospects at both forward and defense, they don’t have a defender the caliber of Bowen Byram in their system. Byram is a special player who has the characteristics of a future captain. He’s level headed and carries himself in a way that commands respect.

Byram plays a mature game playing a responsible, yet potent offensive game while also maintaining high-end defensive tendencies. Byram projects as a top line defender and will likely be the QB of a team’s powerplay for years to come. At the end of the day, I think that the idea of Boqvist and Byram taking the reigns as the future Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook for the Blackhawks will be far too much to pass up and they will take the top-ranked defender in the draft.

4th Overall: Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are in a position that should be the envy of every fan in the league. They have just about everything, they have a dynamic 1-2 punch at forward (Nathan Mackinnon and Mikko Rantanen), they have a stud defender who is just now breaking into the league and is already making an impact (Cale Makar) and several other young players who seem poised to make an impact in the future. That’s not even mentioning the fact they’re picking 4th overall while waiting patiently for the 1st round of the playoffs to conclude to find out who their 2nd round opponent will be.

So, what do you buy the team who has everything? More top end talent slightly different than the top end talent you already possess. Dylan Cozens brings that to the Avalanche, a taller, lankier version of Mackinnon who possesses high-end speed, slick puck-handling ability, smooth passing, and a laser of a shot, while not shying away from a hit. Cozens has it all and will add another dimension to a forward corps that is already making noise in the playoffs.