Not much happening in the news today, so I'm going to jump into another mock draft that I recently completed.

After my last mock draft, the area that I identified that I needed improvement on was how I draft defensemen. That is why I spend considerable time discussing them in the first few rounds of this mock draft. Could it come at the expense of scoring at the forward position? Let's find out.

You can view the full results of this draft at my personal blog Goods Fantasy Hockey.

1-9 Kirill Kaprizov (MIN – LW)
I didn't put much thought into this pick, as he seemed like the best player available. The first round went mostly according to plan, especially at the top:

Connor McDavid

Kaprizov

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I mentioned in my last mock draft that I thought Vasilevskiy was too high because drafting a goalie in the first round is risky.

In terms of Suzuki at #12, Yahoo has him there, and he did reach 100 points last season. He's a brand-new entry to the first round this season. If he can maintain a spot around the 100-point mark, then he might be worth it. If you think that's high, Suzuki went #2 in another one of my recent mock drafts! Maybe a Montreal fan picked him there?

2-16 Auston Matthews (TOR – C)
I was really tempted to go with Evan Bouchard in the second round, but figured Matthews has fallen enough here. Picking Matthews makes sense if he can have some kind of bounce back season. Picking him in the first round is definitely a reach, even though he has often resided there in the past.

Not surprisingly, Bouchard was selected with the next pick. Bouchard is the fourth-highest-ranked defenseman by Yahoo, but he was also the league's top-scoring defenseman by 14 points last season. He's an excellent second-round pick and could even be in the Makar/Hughes tier.

3-33 Matthew Tkachuk (FLA – LW,RW)
I will try to go with defenseman soon, but there just don’t appear to be a lot of them in the third round. To give you an idea, Matthew Schaefer and Moritz Seider were selected with the first two picks of this round. As for Tkachuk, he could be another great value pick if he can stay healthy for the entire season. He has appeared in a total of 83 games… over the past two seasons.

4-40 Jakob Chychrun (WSH – D)
OK, I grabbed a defenseman in the fourth round in Chychrun. This is a reach to me, but that’s what you might have to do if you want to draft a quality defenseman. I will try for Jake Sanderson and Adam Fox next in the 5th and 6th rounds. Many power plays only feature one defenseman now, which is why it’s important to jump on those rare defensemen that can score.

5-57 Jake Sanderson (OTT – D)
I was thinking about Darren Raddysh here, as he might have the superior projections. However, we’ve only seen a year of fantasy-relevant production from him. The Leafs are making a big bet on the 30-year-old. Anyway, Sanderson has reached 50 points in back-to-back seasons and also provides healthy doses of power-play points and blocked shots. He is the safer pick.

6-64 Brayden Point (TB – C)
I was looking at Sidney Crosby and Mitch Marner for the next pick. Since they were both picked right before me, Point seems to make sense here. He’ll be drafted at a discount this this season after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign. (By the way, Yahoo has Marner ranked at #55, which I think is too low.)

7-81 Dylan Holloway (STL – LW, C)
Grab Holloway for the scoring and peripherals and don't look back. With 34 points in his last 26 games last season, Holloway showed how valuable he can be in multicategory leagues.

8-88 Shea Theodore (VGK – D)
Time for another defenseman. The Yahoo rankers must dislike Vegas or something, as Theodore is ranked 142. After a modest 39 points in 70 games last season, Theodore could have a comeback season if he’s back on Vegas top power play. That could happen because Pavel Dorofeyev was traded to the Rangers this offseason.

9-108 Alex Ovechkin (WSH – LW,RW)
Either Ovechkin or Matthew Knies was going to be my next pick, as I was looking for a right winger. Ovechkin is really falling this year and seems like a great value in this spot. Knies is also very undervalued with a Yahoo ranking of 100 and the ability to score and hit – kind of like Ovechkin.

10-112 Beckett Sennecke (ANA – RW)
Since Knies was selected two picks after Ovechkin, I decided to fill that other right-wing spot with Sennecke instead. Hey, I can pick young players! That was something I didn't do much of in my first mock draft.

11-129 Linus Ullmark (OTT – G)
Since we are now past pick 100, it's time to target goalies. Then maybe fill my other D spot with categories like hits and blocked shots. There's lots to choose from with goalies including Carter Hart, Jet Greaves, Juuse Saros, and Joel Hofer. Ullmark and Hart seem like the best options.

12-136 Carter Hart (VGK – G)
That means for my next pick I’ll go with Hart. Vegas should win lots of games again, but Hart may end up having to split starts with Adin Hill. Both are reliable goalies that you can obtain after pick 100.

13-153 Steven Stamkos (NSH – C,RW)
I had Darnell Nurse targeted for my last D slot for his peripherals, but someone selected him in between my picks. I don’t think Stamkos will score as many goals as he did last season (42), but he still seems like solid value here.

14-160 Nikita Zadorov (BOS – D)
I picked Zadorov strictly for hits. This spot might be streamable anyway, as I have only two picks left after this one. I'm going to look for some sleepers next.

15-177 Tristan Jarry (EDM – G)
No, I don't have Jarry as a sleeper. I ran out at time and Yahoo autopicked this one. Whoops! Yes, really – Jarry was not a player I had even queued. Yahoo really burns you if you aren't ready. But I guess with Frederik Andersen injured to start the season, Jarry will probably be playing a lot. Oh well. It's just a mock draft.

16-184 Ryan Leonard (WSH – RW)
My oversight with the second-last pick meant that Leonard is my last pick, but I was going to pick Leonard in the 15^th round and Michael Misa in the 16^th round. These damn 30-second mock draft picks. I get a full minute in my regular Yahoo league, which was even knocked down from 90 seconds after a league member complained about the draft taking too long. Anyway, my idea here is to try rookies and sleepers with your very late picks. If they pan out right away, then you’ve got a player that can really help you. If not, you can drop them early and look for something that will help you more in the near term.

Despite the late-round misunderstanding, I think I had a decent draft. I did a better job with my defense, although my scoring is filled with players coming off injuries or down years by their standards. That could either turn out very well or very poorly. These mock drafts happen very quickly, so there's not much time to reflect on your roster. Yet the ability to assess your team needs based on how the draft transpires is a useful skill to possess on draft day.

For more mock draft results, go to my personal blog Goods Fantasy Hockey and check out results for a 14-team Yahoo mock draft and a Fantrax mock draft. I may break these drafts down in a future Ramblings as well.

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