NHL Mock Draft 1.0: The Liberty Yell Top 15

It’s finally NHL Mock Draft season! The picks were secured after we sat and watched nobody move (first time since 2010) in the most boring NHL Draft Lottery broadcast ever.

Let’s be serious, the entire show could have simply been an email or maybe a powerpoint? Whatever. Let’s get into the first edition of The Liberty Yell NHL Mock Draft.

It’s time for Derek Dunn and I to give the top 15 of this draft our first crack!

---

The Liberty Yell: NHL Mock Draft 1.0:

1. SJS

Derek: Macklin Celebrini 

I don’t think we need to dive too deep into this one!

Chris: Macklin Celebrini

It’s the Bedard-esque pick here in terms of it not being much of a question—the hopeful future #1-star center for the Sharks. 

---

2. CHI

Derek: Artyom Levshunov

Ivan Demidov has risen to the top of public boards for good reason, and I do believe he’s the second-best prospect in this class. 

But I also believe that Demidov AND Bedard are kind of a luxury, and the two being on the same line may even be tenuous. 

What isn’t a luxury? A stud #1 defenseman. 

I very nearly went Anton Silayev, figuring they’d chase the massive Russian’s equally massive upside. But his shutdown properties are somewhat covered by standout defensive rookie, Alex Vlasic.

I could easily see them doubling down on that, but I chose the aggressive and all-around Levshunov.

---

Chris: Artyom Levshunov

It’s between an RW and an RHD for Chicago since they are pretty deep at C with Bedard, Nazar, and Oliver Moore. And it’s really hard for me to not go Demidov here because if it were me I’d love to pair him and Bedard up. But…

After nabbing the best forward in last year’s draft, I think Chicago decides to grab the best defenseman in this year’s class. Levshnov scored 35 points in 38 games for Michigan State University as a freshman. And as Derek said, it’s not just offense from this kid. He does everything. 

---

3. ANA

Derek: Ivan Demidov 

The Ducks are hardly lacking for standout offensive talent. But they aren’t deep down the right wing either. 

I think Levshunov is their guy if he makes it here. He seems like he’s tailor-made to play the game that Greg Cronin wants them to play. He is a big, strong skating defenseman with offensive skills who can both cover his man and jump into the play at a moment’s notice.

It’s a unique blend that I don’t think is replicated by another RHD here. 

So they go with the second-best forward in this class, and arguably its brightest pure talent in Ivan Demidov.

He’ll be the puck carrier and playmaker for Mason McTavish, who is well on his way to becoming a devastating net-front scoring center.

Chris: Ivan Demidov

Whoever Chicago doesn’t take, ANA will be sitting at #3 waiting to pick up the “scraps”. As Derek said, yeah, Anaheim has Gauthier, Zegras, McTavish, and Leo Carlsson up front. But they don’t have depth on the right side. Demidov will add another dynamic element to that future top six. 

ANA also has Zellweger and Mintyukov on the backend. So they are in a great spot. Sit and wait to see what Chicago does and either add an elite RW to your already-loaded forward group, or a stud #1 defenseman to an already-loaded defensive pool.

---

4. CBJ

Derek: Anton Silayev

The rumor mill has already claimed that Columbus (and Utah) are Silayev’s most interested suitors. 

The towering defenseman has all of the tools you could desire, but he’s about as raw as you’ll ever see a prospect. The good news is that Torpedo’s head coach Larianov is one of the foremost hockey minds that Russia has to offer, and his ability to develop players is unassailable. 

So, if you have the time to wait an extra year or two, that isn’t a big deal. Columbus is waiting for some names like Ivan Provorov to clear their books anyway. 

Once that happens? I expect a fully actualized Silayev to pay quick dividends in the Columbus top 4 as a stabilizing presence for players like Damon Severson or Adam Boqvist.

Ultimately, I expect him to take matchup minutes in place of Zach Werenski, who can cook offensively in softer minutes as he begins to enter the later stages of his prime. 

Chris: Cayden Lindstrom

It’s between Lindstrom and Silayev here for me. Columbus has their future #1 center in Fantilli but the idea of adding a prospect like Lindstrom behind him is too good to pass up. 6’3, 210 pounds, and can skate with the best of them. 

His ability to drive inside lanes in traffic and still possess the puck is top-end. You can’t just attribute it to him being “bigger than the competition”. His combination of IQ, puck protection skills, and ability to leverage his body down-low is extremely impressive. 

Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, Cayden Lindstrom, and Gavin Brindley are a pretty solid center prospect group. 

---

5. MTL

Derek: Cayden Lindstrom

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… WE GOT HIM! 

I expect that, or something like it, to be the exact reaction of the Montreal front office when they discover that Lindstrom is still on the board. 

I suspect he’s the second-highest forward on their board in terms of talent grade. They’ve recently placed a premium on outlier physical tools, and there is nobody in this class whose tools are as outlier as Lindstrom.

He’s a massive centerman with a strong and detailed physical game, and he skates like a player who is five inches shorter and thirty pounds lighter. That’s everything Montreal could ever want. 

He has unquestioned star upside, and the floor is a goal-scoring 2C with defensive utility. 

Between him, Dach, and Suzuki? Montreal assumes they have their future contender-worthy 1C.

Chris: Berkly Catton 

Catton hurt his hip last season so I’m sure that hurt his draft stock a little, but I don’t know why this kid is falling in this draft besides the fact he’s 5’11. 

If you want to talk about pure skill, Catton is up there with the best of the best in this draft. Bobbing and weaving through defenders with stick handling and gap awareness, Catton is one of the best in the draft. 

His edges in tight are elite and I think he has the best hands in the draft. MTL should be ecstatic with this add. 

He had 54G-62A-116P in 68 games for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL this year. 

---

6. UTAH

Derek: Zayne Parekh

Utah seems primed to reap the rewards of Arizona’s long process. A lot of talent has already been cultivated for the recently relocated franchise, but I noticed one hole. 

A number 1 puck moving d-man. 

Simashev is likely their go-to guy for eating tough match-ups, but who is the PP1 quarterback? Who is the guy being sent over the boards to cook with Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley when the team needs a goal?

For such a role, it’s hard to find a more capable prospect than Zayne Parekh. He’s as dynamic as defensemen come.

Chris: Anton Silayev

An towering presence standing at 6’6 207 pounds. Utah selects the defenseman who broke the KHL record for most points by a U18 defender. 

Played 63 games in the KHL last year with 3G-8A-11P. He maintains good gaps defensively and has held his own as a 17-year-old in a pro league.

Still a little bit raw in terms of development but if shown patience and developed by the right people this could turn out to be a massive pick for Utah.

---

7. OTT

Derek: Konsta Helenius

Ottawa, for my money, lacks defensively responsible forwards who can keep the games low-event while their stars are catching a breather. 

I know. You COULD get those guys from free agency if you wanted bottom sixers. I’m choosing Konsta Helenius if I’m Ottawa because I think he can fill that role while bringing real top 6 upside. 

He’s one of the smartest players in this draft with strong contact balance which allows him to play a surprisingly heavy offensive game. 

He wins pucks on the forecheck. He uses a lethal blend of patience and manipulative guile to open up passing lanes, then he rips his opposition apart with those plays. If you threaten him during that process, then you’re left to contend with a kid who seems preternaturally strong on his skates. 

There is some doubt as to his true offensive upside. Does the game I describe result in a true star? Maybe. Maybe not.

For Ottawa, he will be everything they need regardless of when he’s sharing a top 6 with dynamic centerman Tim Stützle.

Chris: Zayne Parekh

Ottawa is pretty familiar with a right-handed defenseman (cough Erik Karlsson) who may need a little work defensively but is an absolute force offensively and in transition. 

Meet Zayne Parekh. 

96 points in 66 games for the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL. This kid is one of the best skaters I’ve seen in a while. And with Ottawa’s prospect pool being ranked 31st by Scott Wheeler, this would be a pretty good start in helping to improve that. 

Their #1 ranked prospect right now is Tyler Kleven. Parekh would easily make #1 on that list.

---

8. SEA

Derek: Sam Dickinson

The formula for the Kraken isn’t hard to spot or to describe. Of all the teams who seek to emulate the Hurricanes, they seem to be doing it the most faithfully besides the Panthers. 

They need a defenseman who will generate quick stops in the defensive zone and then easily transport pucks through the neutral zone with both an incisive pass and a dynamic carry. 

Their offensive zone play isn’t the most imaginative I’ve seen. They don’t utilize activations from their defensemen. Instead, they’re content to let those defensemen bomb away from the point 

That suits Dickinson wonderfully. A player whose sole weakness with the London Knights has been an aversion to activations in the offensive zone, and a player with a bomb of a clapper to unload from the blue line. 

Elite talent meets perfect fit.

Chris: Sam Dickinson 

This seems like a pretty easy pick. Dickinson was mocked to go higher if I remember correctly months and months ago. He just won a championship with the London Knights a few nights ago as well. 70 points in 68 games in the regular season for the 17-year-old. 

His breakout pass from his blue line to stretch the defense has been noticeable in the games I’ve watched with him.

6’3 205 pounds, Dickinson is a fantastic defender who can skate extremely well and has a crisp, elite first pass. The perfect combination for a defenseman and a really solid pick by Seattle.

---

9. CGY

Derek: Tij Iginla

There is no way they pass on Jarome’s son. Not unless the legendary Iginla, a new addition to the organization, insists on them doing so to avoid nepotism accusations much like the Flyers did with Mattias Samuelsson, a son of one of their scouts. 

I don’t think that happens here. And even if Tij’s last name was different, his game is a fit for Calgary. 

With him, as with Cole Eiserman who’s even younger, I choose to focus on what they can do. Tij wins pucks with a combination of immaculate battle habits and strong small-area skating.

He’s one of the best puck handlers in the class, capable of using his quick hands to bring pucks off of the boards and attack the middle of the ice with aplomb. He has one of the better shots in this draft class, and his playmaking has quickly come around to being arguably above average. 

He has a chance to be a star, and the comparisons to Brad Marchand (beyond the antics) are not unwarranted. 

Chris: Tij Iginla

There’s just absolutely no way that CGY doesn’t select Iglina here. And not for a feel-good story or any of that jazz, no, Tij deserves to be in the top 10 of this draft class. 

One of the most skilled and hardest working players in the draft, there’s no other way to describe this kid’s game other than “fun”. 

That’s what he is. From tenacious forechecking to soft hands that allow him to create space for himself along the boards, or his electric shot that seems to get better every time I watch. This kid has it all. 

I’ve seen multiple scouts call him the best 1v1 player in the draft with the way he can beat and create space on rushes. 

---

10. NJ

Derek: Cole Eiserman

I am genuinely terrified by the thought of Cole Eiserman playing for New Jersey, which is exactly why they’d select him given the choice.

He is the draft’s best goal scorer. He’s among the best goal-scorers to come out of any draft in recent memory. He has a realistic 50-goal upside, and he’s one of the very few prospects who wouldn’t shock me if he rained 60 of those suckers down on the heads of his opposition. 

Besides his nuclear weapon of a shot, Eiserman separates himself as a goal scorer with outlier off-puck offensive instincts and being inhumanly malleable when he’s receiving a pass. He has the world’s largest wheelhouse. 

His passing is very inconsistent. Some would describe it as bad, but they’d be wrong. Or at least, their thoughts would be incomplete.

At times, Eiserman shows genuinely above-average playmaking ability. He’s creative and he has good hands. His problem is that the entire game of hockey, for him, is processed in the same way he processes scoring goals. 

He doesn’t value possession. He doesn’t manage pucks. He throws 10 home run passes in a game, not because he believes he’ll hit all 10 of them… but because he correctly understands that it only takes one to score a goal. 

I wonder if that ultimate adventurism ultimately scares teams off. But it shouldn’t. I expect Jay Pandolfo to manage reigning him in while simultaneously avoiding any stifling of his creativity. 

And if that happens, the team who selects Cole Eiserman will have a new superstar in town.

Chris: Beckett Sennecke

I think NJ goes with the fastest riser in this year’s class, Beckett Sennecke. With his terrific play in the playoffs for the Generals of the OHL, Sennecke has a lot of people putting him in the top 15. 

NJ has Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Hischier, Meier, and Holtz but the idea of adding a playmaking power forward like Sennecke will be too good to pass up.

His two-way play is regarded as high-end and standing at 6’2 110 pounds, he skates very well for a guy his size. I saw something on X the other day talking about how Beckett was 5’11 when he first got to the OHL. And he is now 6’2-6’3.

Once he fills into his body he’s going to be a force.

---

11. BUF

Derek: Carter Yakemchuk

Buffalo has a surplus of left-handed defensemen, but they don’t have much as far as natural right-handers with top-of-the-lineup upside. 

Furthermore, they’re one of the teams who have embraced an interchangeability of forwards and defensemen in their attack. There’s a reason they valued Bowem Byram so heavily. 

It takes a defenseman with a very particular set of skills to seamlessly assume the role of a forward. 

Yakemchuk is one such defenseman. He has dangles for days, and he can make plays in the offensive zone. He has uncanny finishing ability for a D-man. 

On top of that, he brings a very particular brand of nastiness to the way he plays hockey. He has things to learn defensively. A lot of them. There’s inconsistency in his game. 

And nobody in Buffalo cares because they just drafted a likely difference-maker.

Chris: Konsta Helenius

Buffalo adds one of the smartest players in the draft and a perfect guy to put behind Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens. I think Konstas’ skill gets downplayed a little too much because his two-way game is already so solid. His game is very mature for his age. 

He’s extremely balanced as Derek mentioned in his skating, though no an explosive skater. He’s calm and allows defenders to make their first move before he reacts. 

He’s one of my favorite players in this draft. 

---

12. PHI

Derek: Berkly Catton

The Flyers played FAST. They didn’t always play with much intelligence. Their feet often moved faster than their brains or hands. They generated a ton of rush chances because they played at an ungodly pace through the neutral zone. 

They were aggressive and they were daring. They took chances on breakouts. They had their wingers fly the zone early and stretch the ice vertically. 

“Safe is death,” their coach once said. 

Berkly Catton is Steve Nash on skates. Perhaps you don’t love cross-sports comparisons. But in this case, I can’t resist. 

Berkly Catton plays fast. The transition game is his home. The Nash Suns went under the moniker “7 Seconds or Less.” 

They’d find a high-quality shot within the first 7 seconds of the shot clock. That was the product of their point guard: Steve Nash. He attacked ruthlessly in the open court, constantly challenging defenders 1 on 1 with his special ball handling. 

He made decisions at a breakneck pace. He found passes for layups as soon as they presented themselves. Nash was one of those rare few players who could think and handle as fast as he could run. 

So is Berkly Catton. He handles a puck instead of a ball. He skates with immaculate crossovers through the neutral zone instead of running down an open court. 

But he plays with the same high-octane aggression as Nash. And more importantly, he plays with the same tactical brilliance as the Hall of Fame point guard once did. And he did it at that same pace. 

Catton can go end-to-end with his elite skill and high-end skating as quickly as he can work a complex give-and-go with a teammate to crack open opposing defensive structures. 

He’s relentless. By far the best player on his team, Catton was burdened with upwards of 30 minutes a game on several nights. 

Chris: Cole Eiserman

Never did I think Cole Eiserman would fall to the Flyers laps like Michkov did last year but here we are. 

You can talk about his defense all you want, but I don’t care (it’s not THAT bad) when he’s one of the best goal-scorers to come out of the USNTDP program. 

(Most goals all-time beating Cole Caufield’s record) 

His shot is pure electricity and he would instantly bring help to the Flyers power play, that was one of the worst power players in NHL history last year. 

Derek and I were talking and, ironically, people talk about Cole’s playmaking side of his game as if it’s non-existent. It’s there, and he’s good at it.

Does he go to it? No. Should he go to it more? Yeah because he’s absolutely capable and quite frankly, elite at it.

I think Cole is going to surprise whatever team selects him with his added offensive passing skills that he seems to holster at times.

---

13. MIN

Chris: Zeev Buium

This is probably way too low for a guy of Buium’s skill level but this draft is honestly a pretty hard one to predict. He could go anywhere from 6 to 13 in my opinion. Here, Minnesota is quite literally floating to the table

Buium made a couple of plays during the WJC-20 that caught my attention defensively. His gap control is very good, purposely tricking defenders into bubbles of space so he can quickly take it away with a step-up or quick stick. 

With 50 points in 42 games, Zeev is honestly a two-way defenseman in my eyes. He’s fantastic in transition and can help offensively but is also extremely reliable in his end for a guy who isn’t the biggest.

Derek: Zeev Buium

From a value standpoint, this is pure robbery from Minnesota and we don’t need to think much deeper than that. This is a guy with 1D upside, and could easily see himself thriving on a top pair with Brock Faber in the not-too-distant future. 

He’s a magician in transition, and he defends fairly well for his size. 

I have some concerns that his offensive game is made for a league in which the skaters opposing him aren’t particularly aggressive or explosive. For all of his wiggling at the blue line, he rarely actually beats his man 1 on 1 and instead just uses backward movement to buy himself time to make a play. 

That will work to a degree in the NHL, but his path to a top-pair role in the NHL will be through engineering offense. And it’s fair to wonder if he has the legs to make that happen in the way he has to date in the NCAA.

But it’s also fair to wonder if he just changes his game in the NHL, and adapts to this new environment as the hyper-intelligent player he is.

14. SJS

Chris: Carter Yakemchuk 

After grabbing Celebrini, San Jose goes with one of the best right handed defenseman in the draft in Carter Yakemchuk. 

Carter stands at 6’3 190 pounds and can skate extremely well for a guy his size. He has a bomb of a shot from the point and loves to activate inside of the offensive zone. 

He’s also a very physical player (maybe a little too much) who will not shy away from contact. He was the 5th most penalized guy in the WHL this season.

Derek: Beckett Sennecke

The late riser figures to go higher than this on draft day. He’s a tall, lanky forward who has hands of silk but had missed the engagement level to consistently impact games. 

In the latter half of the year, he began displaying that consistent engagement and it culminated in his OHL postseason run. 

I’m a little more weary of him than most, but his stock is elevating fast.

15. DET

Chris: Michael Brandesgg Nygaard

Detriot has Edvinsson (LHD), Sandin-Pellikka (RHD), Kasper (C) , and Danielson (C) in their top5 for skaters in their pool. 

Lets give them someone who can shoot the puck and thats Michael Brandesgg Nygaard. 

He made a name for himself and opened eyes at the WJC-20 where he had 5 points in 5 games. 

He’ll have to improve his two-way game but he’s a guy that works hard and has a hell of a shot. 

Derek: Michael Brandesgg Nygaard

The hardest-working, most ferocious forechecker in the draft who is already showing goal-scoring upside in the Hockey Allsvenskan. He seems tailor-made to be the Zach Hyman type of player who can take your star player to the next level. 

I could see the Sharks looking to amplify Celebrini with someone like him, but if he makes 15, I think you just have to embrace the value of a very safe top-6 NHLer even if dreaming of him as a top-line anchor is difficult.

Join The Chase

---

Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Kozub/GettyImages

---