2016 NHL Mock Draft: Latest Predictions for All 1st-Round Prospects

Have you had time to breathe yet?

The 2015-16 NHL season just concluded, and the 2016-17 is about to begin.

No, the Pittsburgh Penguins are not about to start playing just yet, but the 30 NHL teams are all ready to take their first major steps to the upcoming season at this week's draft.

That event will take place June 24 and 25 at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York, and while this year's prospects don't have the luster that came with the 2015 draft when the Edmonton Oilers selected Connor McDavid with the No. 1 pick and the Buffalo Sabres followed by taking Jack Eichel with the No. 2 pick, there are plenty of gems in this year's draft.

The No. 1 pick is expected to Auston Matthews of Scottsdale, Arizona. The 6'2", 210-pound center is a brilliant playmaker who can also find the back of the net, and he appears to have the kind of game that will allow him to become a star.

Matthews played with Zurich in Switzerland's top professional league this year and scored 24 goals and 22 assists in 36 games played. That comes on the heels of the 2014-15 season in which he scored 55 goals and 62 assists while playing for the U.S. Under-18 team.

His point total broke the previous record that was held by Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane, who had score 52 goals and 56 assists in 2005-06 at the junior level.

"The expectations were that he would be able to play [in Switzerland] but I don't think the expectations were that he'd be able to impact the way he did," NHL Central Scouting Director Dan Marr told Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com (via the Toronto Maple Leafs' official website). "I think anyone who has followed his career was pleasantly surprised how he was able to go over there and handle himself and contribute the way he did."

Matthews is expected to go to the Leafs with the No. 1 pick.

Pick	Player	Position	Team
1	Auston Matthews	Center	Toronto Maple Leafs
2	Patrik Laine	Right Wing	Winnipeg Jets
3	Matthew Tkachuk	Left Wing	Columbus Blue Jackets
4	Pierre Luc-Dubois	Left Wing	Edmonton Oilers
5	Jesse Puljujarvi	Right Wing	Vancouver Canucks
6	Olli Julolevi	Defenseman	Calgary Flames
7	Mikhail Sergachev	Defenseman	Arizona Coyotes
8	Logan Browns	Center	Buffalo Sabres
9	Jakob Chychrun	Defenseman	Montreal Canadiens
10	Alexander Nylander	Left Wing	Colorado Avalanche
11	Clayton Keller	Center	New Jersey Devils
12	Kieffer Bellows	Left Wing	Ottawa Senators
13	German Rustov	Center	Carolina Hurricanes
14	Michael McLeod	Center	Boston Bruins
15	Jake Bean	Defenseman	Minnesota Wild
16	Tyson Jost	Center	Detroit Red Wings
17	Carl Grundstrom	Right Wing	Nashville Predators
18	Charlie McAvoy	Defenseman	Philadelphia Flyers
19	Dante Fabbro	Defenseman	New York Islanders
20	Julien Gauthier	Right Wing	Arizona Coyotes
21	Rasmus Asplund	Center	Carolina Hurricanes
22	Max Jones	Left Wing	Winnipeg Jets
23	Alex DeBrincat	Right Wing	Florida Panthers
24	Yegor Korshkov	Right Wing	Anaheim Ducks
25	Dennis Cholowski	Defenseman	Dallas Stars
26	Luke Kunin	Center	Washington Capitals
27	Linus Lindstrom	Center	Tampa Bay Lightning
28	Libor Hajek	Defenseman	St. Louis Blues
29	Logan Stanley	Defenseman	Boston Bruins
30	Riley Tufte	Left Wing	Toronto Maple Leafs

Right wing Patrik Laine of Finland has a chance to be selected with the No. 2 pick by the Winnipeg Jets.

Laine is a 6'4", 206-pound forward with plenty of size and skill. He played in the Finnish Elite League in 2015-16 and scored 17 goals and 16 assists in 46 games.

Laine made a huge impression at the 2016 World Championships when he tied the tournament high by scoring seven goals for the silver medal-winning Team Finland.

"Laine is a player with great offensive instincts and a nose for the net," NHL Director of European Scouting Goran Stubb told Morreale. "He is not only a sniper, he's also a very effective playmaker and passer who knows his defensive duties. He has matured both on and off the ice."

Matthew Tkachuk, the son of former NHL star Keith Tkachuk, has an excellent chance to be drafted in the top five.

Tkachuk is a 6'2", 200-pound left winger who is not afraid to go in the corners and battle players his size or bigger and come away with the puck.

He scored 30 goals and an eye-catching 77 assists while playing 57 games for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League this year. Tkachuk came up huge in the postseason, as he scored five goals and three assists in four Memorial Cup games. One of those goals came in overtime of the final game.

"He's got a wonderful game down low," said Jim Johannson, the general manager of the U.S. Under-18 team, per Morreale. "He's an agitator and a guy who's at the net but who also has a really good stick and good hands as a scorer and playmaker. He also plays well in traffic and knows how to battle below the circles to create offensive opportunities."