6. Detroit Red Wings – Mason McTavish, C, Peterborough (OHL) – With the Michigan trio off the board and their D corps coming together, the Wings could use a “power” element among their forward prospects.
7. San Jose Sharks – Jesper Wallstedt, G, Lulea (SHL) – Maybe it’s a reach to grab a goalie this high but if there’s a draft to do so, it’s this one. Lord knows they need an elite goalie and Wallstedt is the best goalie prospect to come around since Andrei Vasilevskiy.
8. Los Angeles Kings – Brandt Clarke, RHD, Nove Zamky (Slovakia) – Doughty is going to need an heir apparent and I don’t think anyone in the system is equipped to pull that off. Given the depth and quality of their prospect pool overall, there really isn’t a pressing need that I can see, either.
9. Vancouver Canucks – Dylan Guenther, RW, Edmonton (WHL) – Elite skill is elite skill. Guenther has elite skill. If it’s available at this point in the draft, you go for it. Guenther would make for an excellent fit alongside the Canucks’ existing pool of talented forwards… while also not addressing the gaps on their backend!
10. Ottawa Senators – Matthew Coronato, LW, Chicago (USHL) – Having invested heavily in LD over recent drafts, the last of the top-10 prospects in the draft (Edvinsson) doesn’t really fit the organization’s needs. As such, they go a bit off-the-board and grab a high-end goal scorer after seeing what Caufield did for Montreal.