The NHL Expansion Draft is tomorrow, and later today here at BSH we’ll publish our full thoughts on who we think the Flyers will lose to the Vegas Golden Knights.
But what does the rest of the hockey world think will happen? Below, we’ve compiled a bunch of mock drafts from around the media.
As perhaps you might expect, a lot of folks have the Knights taking Michael Raffl, which makes sense given his versatility as somebody who can play anywhere in the lineup.
But Michal Neuvirth is seen as a potential pick by more people than just BSH Radio’s Bill Matz. A lot of people may be reading too far into George McPhee’s connection with Neuvirth from his time in Washington, or into the quote from a few weeks ago in which McPhee was glowing about Neuvy. There are lots of good goaltenders in this draft, and Neuvirth doesn’t seem quite good enough to be taken. But who knows?
Other picks on the list include Matt Read, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Jordan Weal was only taken by two people in the mock drafts we’ve highlighted below, which could be just a matter of a lot of folks not doing more research than looking at his season-long stats. Or it could be because he is a pending free agent.
In any event, Raffl and Neuvirth are the overwhelming favorites to be taken according to most of the mocks we see.
A bunch of Mock NHL Expansion Drafts
| Source | Player Taken | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Knights On Ice: Tommy Chalk | Jordan Weal | “McPhee should approach Weal with the promise of a consistent NHL roster spot, and in return, he may get a surprising amount of goals.” |
| Knights On Ice: Danny Webster | Michael Raffl | “He’s someone who could anchor the third or fourth line for Vegas” |
| SBNation.com: Pat Iversen | Matt Read | |
| SBNation.com: Satchel Price | Michael Raffl | |
| SBNation.com: Mary Clarke | Michal Neuvirth | “McPhee is extremely high on the Flyers backup.” |
| ESPN.com: Andrew Knoll | Jordan Weal | |
| ESPN.com: Chuck Gormley | Michal Neuvirth | |
| ESPN.com: Tal Pinchevsky | Michal Neuvirth | |
| Las Vegas Review-Journal | Michal Neuvirth | “He’s a suitable backup and at $2.5 million, he might be affordable though Raanta and Pickard seem like better options.” |
| NHL.com | Michael Raffl | “Goal scoring potential” |
| Sporting News | Michael Raffl | “Can be a good, hard-working top-nine forward” |
| Sportsnet.ca | Matt Read | |
| Washington Post | Michael Raffl | “Raffl played in just 52 games this past season, but he scored eight goals, and he is just two seasons removed from a 21-goal season.” |
| Yahoo Sports: Greg Wyshynski | Michael Raffl | “Raffl over Michal Neuvirth, just because I’m not sure what level of nostalgia trip this is going to be for McPhee with ex-Capitals.” |
| Yahoo Sports: Sean Leahy | Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | |
| Yahoo Sports: Justin Cuthbert | Michael Raffl | |
| Toronto Sun | Michal Neuvirth | “Like Raanta, he’s marketable trade bait at 29.” |
