First I question the impartiality of the draft lottery. New Jersey seriously? If I had first overall I would take Kappo. The reason is the playoffs. Little skilled men break easy when the whistle is put away. Jack Hughes is not overwhelmingly better than Kappo.
All that really matters will happen at Pick 15. The experts say the draft is deep this year. So deep that at 15 it should be a sure thing. The past few years the 15 th pick has been a mixed bag. Also it should be noted Joe Sakic, Alexander Radulove and Alexi Koveliv where all picked at 15.
Here are my picks if available. Some basic guidelines. No Americans, we have enough. Nobody under 6 ft, we have enough. Nobody who is not an excellent skater as we have no ability to teach people to skate. For the record I did not read Last Word on Sports before making my picks. One of these 3 is almost sure to be available at 15.
1) My nick for Aurthur is Ten, its a Dudley Moore ref. Ten has good hockey DNA. All he does is score. This player is a risk, however given Montreal's history of developing mercurial Russians it has to be a sure thing. Bet the farm Bergie.
2) My nickname for Raphal is Rock for Roxanne, Italian Renaissance ref. Rock is the Tom Wilson (16th overall) of the draft. A power forward with skill, hockey sense and a good skater. The reason he will be the pick is purely racist. I agree with the idea Montreal should have a team with as many qualified Quebecois as possible. Make it so Bergie.
3) My nickname for Moritz is Kettle for boiler which is one of the translations for his name. His ranking is as high as 11 and as low as 27. He is a huge man who likes to hit, a good skater with a heavy shot. His downside is he is not very good position ally.
If all else fails draft Nando, who needs no nickname.
