NHL 2008 Draft: Mock Draft Board Top 10

Here is my mock draft of the top 10 prospects in the 2008 draft. I did pretty well last year, with the exception of that Thomas Hickey pick by Los Angeles. That threw my board off as far as defensemen go. He was supposed to be Karl Alzner, but whatever.

First Pick- Tampa Bay

Steven Stamkos. If you do not know why Stamkos is going first, you have not bothered to look. He is amazing and deserves to go first overall, but I just do not think Tampa Bay needs him. Congratulations Lightning fans you got Brad Richards back, but he’s a bit younger and much blonder. Tampa Bay still has no depth on offense or defense which they could have taken care of if they traded the pick. Now they have another first line center behind a top line center.

Second Pick- Los Angeles

Zach Bogosian. Assuming we do not have another Thomas Hickey incident, the Kings should take Bogosian. A lot of people think they should take Drew Doughty, but if I were the Kings I would think Visnovsky, Preissing, prospect Thomas Hickey, and prospect Peter Harrold would be enough puck moving defensemen. Zach Bogosian would be a replacement for the aging Rob Blake because he possesses the same hard-nosed style.

Third Pick- Atlanta

Drew Doughty. Outside of Tobias Enstrom, the Thrashers did not have a defenseman with over 15 points. I do not think any other team needs a puck moving defenseman like Atlanta does and Drew Doughty would be a perfect fit.

Fourth Pick- St Louis

Nikita Filatov. This is another pick where I disagree with most mock boards. Most people have the Blues picking up Alex Pietrangelo, but they already have plenty of first round defensemen. Ian Cole, Erik Johnson, Shawn Belle, Barret Jackman, and Christian Backman are the players St Louis has drafted in the opening round lately. An aging offense makes me think they should add this amazing Russian. Think about Lars Eller, Patrik Berglund, and Nikita Filatov as a possible top line. Scary.

Fifth Pick- New York Islanders

Alex Pietrangelo. To me, he seems like a better fit here than he would be in St Louis. Pietrangelo would bring some youth to the Islanders defense. I think the defense needs more work than their offense, which will get better next year. He could crack the New York line-up next year.

Sixth Pick- Columbus (probably to be traded)

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