2021 NHL Entry Draft: Predicting all first-round picks

The Detroit Red Wings are building a solid core for the future. With Moritz Seider looking like a future number one defenseman and a nice crop of young forward talent, drafting one of the best goalie prospects since Carey Price should be a no-brainer for General Manager Steve Yzerman.

I believe Kent Johnson has the most upside out of all the forwards in this draft. He’s a skilled and entertaining player to watch that will fill in nicely with San Jose’s talented group of young forwards. GM Doug Wilson goes with best available for his pick at seventh overall.

First, I believe there is a strong chance that this pick gets traded. However, GM Rob Blake could find some great talent at 8th overall, with the best goal scorer in the draft falling to him. Guenther is a north-south type of forward. He’s somewhat one-dimensional, but that one dimension is scoring a lot of goals. Adding his finishing capabilities with playmakers like Kopitar and Byfield, the Kings get a great addition to the number one prospect pool.

Vancouver has done pretty well drafting some good playmakers such as Podkolzin and Hoglander in the last couple of drafts. Adding a goal-scoring center like McTavish will help down the middle. Mason has good size at 6’2″ and showed some of that scoring touch during the U-18s in Texas wearing the “C” for Team Canada.

Right behind Los Angeles in the prospect pool rankings are the Ottawa Senators. Tim Stutzle figures to be a superstar in the making, and adding the potential of Lysell, who was ranked as high as number one in some draft rankings earlier in the year, helps grow that outstanding prospect pool even more.