2015 NHL Mock Draft: Edmonton Oilers Select Evgeni Svechnikov

Today we continue the Fansided NHL Mock Draft, but first a quick look at who has been taken.

Oil On Whyte proudly chose Connor McDavid with this year’s first overall selection.

The Buffalo Sabres team at Sabre Noise went with the no brainer, selecting Jack Eichel as the number two pick.

The Arizona Coyotes group at Howlin Hockey  bulked up for the future selecting Dylan Strome as the number three choice.

Fourth, was the Toronto Maple Leafs writers at Editor in Leaf selecting good ol’ Ontario boy Mitch Marner.

The fifth overall pick belonged to the Carolina Hurricanes and the team at Cardiac Cane were ecstatic to have Noah Hanifan fall into their lap.

At sixth overall, the group at Pucks and Pitchforks, the New Jersey Devils website selected Mathew Barzal.

The Flyers website Broad Street Buzz, picked seventh, and easily selected Lawson Crouse.

The Columbus Blue Jackets had the eighth pick in this years draft, and the team at Union and Blue went with Zach Werenski.

The team at Blades of Teal, representing the San Jose Sharks went with Pavel Zacha as the ninth overall pick.

Rounding out the top ten was Mile High Sticking an on behalf of the Colorado Avalanche, they selected Mikko Rantanen.

The Florida Panthers had the eleventh spot this time around, and the team over at The Rat Trick selected Ivan Provorov.

The Dallas Stars came up next, and the team at Blackout Dallas grabbed Jeremy Roy as the twelfth pick of this year’s draft. 

The team at Rink Royalty ended up with the thirteenth slot. On behalf of the Los Angeles Kings, they went out and drafted Paul Bittner.

The Bruins website Causeway Crowd had the fourteenth selection, where they took Travis Konecny.

I helped out the Flames team at Flame For Thought, selecting Jakub Zboril for them. 

Drum Roll Please…

Now that we have recapped a stellar first half of the draft, Oil On Whyte will kick off the back end of round one by selecting Evgeni Svechnikov from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the QMJHL.

Svechnikov played in his first year with the Screaming Eagles after coming over from the MHL in Russia. He had a successful year scoring 32 goals and 46 assists for 78 points in 55 games played. According to Corey Pronman, he has also been playing center as of late.

"Incredibly skilled offensive winger. Has a remarkably accurate shot to go along with some magic hands. Could be better defensively, but his game is based around his acute sense of what is happening on the ice in the offensive zone. All-in-all, a deadly player who possesses good size, elite-level skill, and smooth skating. – EP"

"“His offensive hockey sense is outstanding, as well as his shot,” the coach said. “Both are equal assets. He’s got an amazing wrist shot and one-timer, but he’s also able to distribute the puck tremendously well.” – Screaming Eagles Head Coach Marc-Andre Dumont"

Svechnikov is an outstanding young prospect. Standing at roughly 6’2, 200 lbs he is a dominant force on the ice. His size, skill and tenacity to get after the puck is somethings unmatched. I have seen people compare him to Rick Nash, a player many Oilers fans have yearned for.

Some people are concerned that Svechnikov could bolt back to Russia, but I would imagine that if he got acquainted with Yak² (Bogdan Yakimov, Nail Yakupov), he would certainly feel at home in Edmonton.

He has the talent to be a very solid top six winger in the NHL and would look deadly a few years down to road with the current crop of young players and prospects.

A top six of McDavid, Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov and Svechnikov could be a very troublesome group for teams to defend against in the future.

There are some questions regarding his defensive play. He hasn’t been considered a liability, but would need some work like any other player coming into the NHL.

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The Cape Breton Star did a story on him soon after his debut with the Screaming Eagles, and he was described as the team’s “designated comedian”, an “endless source of entertainment” and it seems that he loves to show people his perfected moonwalk.

The beauty of drafting Svechnikov is that we could send him back to the QMJHL and allow for his game to grow and evolve.

Hockey At The Forks, you are now on the clock.